Uncanny Excalibur

Chapter 25: She Knows Stuff- Part 1

By

The Uncanny R-Man

Disclaimer- 'Squadron Forty! DIIIIIVE'- Prince Vultan (Flash Gordon)

The Lake House-

Jamie Madrox stumbled in the direction of the kitchen of the Lake House, Excalibur's headquarters on the banks of the River Thames. The man known as the Multiple Man had been drinking heavily, as he could tell by his splitting headache. It felt like Galactus was tap-dancing on his brain.

'Ohhhh, my aching head...' Jamie groaned.

'Jamie! I was wonderin' where ye'd gotten to!'

Jamie turned around to see Theresa Cassidy strolling towards him with a great big grin on her face. Much to Jamie's surprise, the giggling Irish redhead wrapped her arms around his shoulders and planted a great big kiss on his lips.

'Jamie, what's wrong?' A concerned and slightly puzzled Terry asked once she noticed that Jamie hadn't returned her kiss. 'Did I do something wrong last night?'

'Last night…?' Jamie blinked in confusion. 'Uh…'

'Don't tell me that ye've already forgotten.' Terry sighed. 'We spent last night together.'

Jamie's eyes widened in surprise. Had he just heard her right? Did he really have a night time liaison with the redhead?

'Any way, I'm going tae have a shower.' Terry smiled as she pinched Jamie's backside. 'Yuir welcome tae join me…'

Jamie just stood there dumbstruck. His wind was awhirl. He really didn't remember getting up to anything with Terry the night before. He didn't get that drunk, did he?

Once Terry had disappeared into the ladies' showers, Jamie continued onwards to the kitchen. Perhaps some coffee could clear his head.

'Man, what a night…' An eerily familiar voice groaned. The voice made Jamie stop in his tracks. The clone-maker slowly turned around to see somebody that looked suspiciously like him walk out of the men's showers.

'Uh-oh.' The Dupe grimaced. 'Awkward.'

'Oh, hell.' Jamie groaned into his hands. 'It's too early for me to process stuff like this. Just… tell me what went on between me, uh… you and Terry.'

'What do you think went on between us?' The dressing gown-clad Dupe snickered. 'We did a little dance, made a little love. We pretty much got down last night.'

'Okay, I think I've heard enough.' Jamie sighed as he reached out to reabsorb his wayward Dupe. 'That's enough out of you.'

A little later-

All of the members of Excalibur were gathered in the kitchen. It was time for Pete Wisdom to give them their morning briefing as well. The former spy had a nasty habit of interrupting the most important meal of the day with news of another bad guy causing a ruckus, but a stern 'talking to' from Brian and Meggan convinced the English mutant to change that particular habit.

'At least you had the decency to wait until I'd finished my morning tea, Wisdom.' Brian Braddock stated as he folded up his newspaper and placed it beside his empty mug.

'Everybody knows that it isn't proper to interrupt a gent's tea, me old mate.' Wisdom answered as he stirred some sugar into his own mug. 'Now, are we all ready to get down to business?'

A wave of general acceptance came from the gathered heroes. They were eager to get the briefing finished as soon as possible, then they could carry on with whatever it was they had planned.

'Now, it seems that some old friends of hours have decided to rear their ugly heads.' Wisdom explained.

'Who is it this time?' Meggan asked. 'It isn't the Crazy Gang or somebody stupid like that, is it?'

'Gee, you guys have all the coolest villains.' Guido snickered. Wisdom just ignored that and dropped an open file down on the kitchen table.

'Oh, no…' Meggan grimaced as she opened the file and read the contents. 'Why did it have to be those two?'

The file contained photos of two figures. One of the figures, who may or may not have been human, was clad in a white egg-shaped suit of armour. The other was dressed in a more normal-shaped blue armoured suit. He was also carrying a great big gun.

'Nanny and the Orphan Maker.' Wisdom explained. 'This photo was taken by an MI13 agent late last night.'

'Do you think those two are responsible for the recent spate of parent killings and child kidnappings?' Amora remembered.

'It looks likely to me.' Forge nodded in agreement. 'Isn't that their usual MO?'

'Do those MI13 guys know where Nanny's got herself holed up?' Guido asked. 'Or do we gotta tear London apart while we search for her ourselves?'

'My contacts think that Nanny's hiding out in an old abandoned hospital somewhere in Whitechapel.' Wisdom told the group.

'Oh, that's just lovely.' Meggan grumbled. 'Right in Jack the Ripper's old stomping grounds.'

'So, what are we waiting for?' Terry asked. 'Let's go rescue the wee ones!'

Somewhere in Whitechapel-

In an old abandoned hospital somewhere in the historical district of London known as Whitechapel, once famous as the haunt of the infamous Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper, the cyborg former scientist known as Nanny was holding several mutant children hostage. Nanny believed that the parents of mutant children were evil, especially those that abandoned their empowered children. Nanny and her assistant, the Orphan-Maker, travelled the world 'rescuing' mutant children and murdering their 'wicked' parents. The captured children were then placed under Nanny's mind control. The X-Men had bumped into her several times in the past.

One such child that Nanny had captured was a little blonde girl called Layla Miller, who had been holidaying in London with her parents. Nanny and the Orphan-Maker had attacked the hotel the Millers had been staying at and kidnapped Layla, killing her parents in the process.

Poor little Layla was strapped to an old operating table while Nanny prepared to do her thing.

'You won't get away with this, you monster!' Layla yelled as she struggled to free herself from her bonds. 'People will come here to rescue me!'

'And who would that be, my dear?' Nanny responded. 'I doubt it would be the police. That bunch of sillies couldn't find their bottoms with a map and a pack of hunting dogs.'

'Do you want me to shut her up, Nanny?' The Orphan-Maker asked, aiming the butt of his gun in Layla's direction.

'Now, Peter…' Nanny admonished her assistant. 'There's no need for any sort of nastiness. Just keep watching the monitors. We don't want nasty people to come and interrupt our good work, do we?'

'No, Nanny.' The Orphan-Maker shook his head as he did as he was told and toddled off to keep watch for any intruders. Once he had gone, Nanny proceeded to continue with her work.

'Now that we're alone, I can carry on without any interruptions.' Nanny stated as she moved some sort of ray gun beside Layla's head. 'This shouldn't hurt much.'

'You're going to regret this.' Layla stared up at her captor. 'You're going to get hurt.'

'Now, let's not be nasty about this.' Nanny tutted as she flicked switches and pressed buttons on her mind control ray. 'I have your best interests at heart. Anyway, what makes you think that anybody will come here to rescue you?'

A slight smile spread across Layla's lips.

'I'm Layla Miller. I know stuff.'

TBC…

Next: She Knows Stuff- Part 2

Will Excalibur be able to rescue Layla Miller and the other children from Nanny's clutches? Tune in next time to find out…