X-men: The Winds of Change
By Ldynwaitin
Chapter Twenty Five
Betrayed, Beguiled and Bewildered
Magneto was pacing furiously. It had been nearly an hour since he last heard from Charles. He hated not knowing what was happening. Suddenly he saw five Nob's quickly run out of the cavern. Minutes later Charles contacted him.
"Erik, they're here."
Magneto stopped his pacing. "Who's here?"
"My X-men, as well as Raven, Angel and Riptide. They've just arrived."
"Good," Magneto slapped his fist into his palm. "Then it's time for you to play me, I'm tired of hiding in the dark."
"I've just sent five of the Nob's to fetch them. You can meet them half way in the tunnels, just one other thing, Erik. I found out from Sinister that one of my X-men is linked to him. I have my suspicions, but for now when you meet them do not let them know that I've been in contact with you, that is imperative."
" A traitor, Charles, who do you think it is?"
Charles hesitated, Erik had a temper, he was one to strike first, ask questions later. "I cannot tell you now, but be assured that I am working on how to break that link between him and Sinister. He's not dangerous for now, but if he becomes so I will let you know immediately."
"Fine, speaking of Sinister, what is happening with you and him right now?"
Charles returned his attention back to where he was. They were currently walking through one of the many caverns in the facility. Here Sinister said was where he kept his most dangerous mutants. Charles saw heavy bars, and heard inhuman growls and screams coming from behind the bars. Charles main objective still remained the same. He had to find a way to stop Sinister from creating a mutant that carried a gene that could kill off nearly the entire human race. He knew of only one way to get him back to the lab. He had to accept Sinister's ultimate offer.
Sinister was explaining to Charles the properties of the mutant imprisoned in this cell. "Mister Sinister," Charles said. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if your offer still holds?"
"What offer is that?" Sinister waited to hear him say it, to accept it, to finally prove to him that he was under his full control.
"My legs," Charles looked down on them, then he looked hopefully at Sinister. "You said you could fix them, can you…can you do it now?"
"Yes," Sinister nodded his consent. "It was never rescinded."
"Oh, thank god," Charles signed in relief. "If it is possible, could we start soon? I am tired of being pushed around, I want to stand on my own two legs again."
Sinister patted Charles on the back, "And so you shall, so you shall." Turning on his heels, he quickly walked back they way they came. Peter had to hurry to keep up with him.
Charles knew he needed to keep this from Eric. He could not know the reason he used to bring him back to the lab. But to save his X-men, Magneto had to be with them. Alone they could never stand up to Centurion and Sinister's Marauders. For now, he would have to lie to Erik. For he knew he would not hesitate to try and stop Sinister from experimenting on him.
"I managed to talk him into taking me back to the lab," Charles told him.
"How did you manage that, Charles?"
"Actually it was quite easy. I appealed to his ego. I told him I wanted to see how all this began," Charles quickly replied.
"Really?" Erik said, suspicion lacing his tone.
"Yes, really, I'm sure I can keep him busy for hours talking about his work. I should be fine. In that time I need you to find a way of releasing the mutants Sinister created. They're under…"
"I'm doing what?" Erik angrily shouted. "Oh no, Charles, that's not going to happen. As soon as I meet the others we're coming for you, and this facility is going down in flames."
Please, Erik." Charles pleaded. "You don't know the anguish I've felt, the agony that these hybrid mutants have had to endure. Most of them were captured, experimented on against their will. They did not ask to be here. I made a promise that I would help them. They don't' deserve to die here, although most of them have asked me to do just that, to end their agony and anguish. We need to help them escape from here, and destroy Sinister's gene bank. We need to stop him from creating more monstrosities."
"I don't like this, Charles. I don't like this at all," Erik angrily replied. "You're alone with the creator of this mad house.'
"No I'm not, Peter is with me."
"He's not going to be any help to you." Magneto's frantic pacing returned.
"I, help," they both were surprised to hear Peter say.
Charles felt Peter's hand touching his shoulder, "I help, we help."
"Of course you will, thank you, Peter. See Erik, you don't have to worry about me."
"That's very reassuring, Charles, a promise of help from your abductors creations. Even if I do help these hybrid mutants escape. What do we do with them? Your mansion is not big enough to hold them."
"Then you'll do it?"
"I'm still thinking about it. Did you figure out how we're going to break out these fabricated mutants, save you and destroy this place?"
"You didn't mention Sinister."
"He's already on the top of my dance card. Now tell me, what do you have planned?"
"Well to tell the truth, I haven't really figured that part out yet. Sort of winging it."
"Well when you get tired of flapping, let me know. I'm off to meet the others. And Charles…"
"Yes?"
"Promise me you'll let me know immediately if things go bad."
"Of course, you'll be the first to know." Charles hesitated, they were just leaving the second cavern, heading back to the lab. Sinister was ecstatic about getting started. Centurion walked just behind Sinister. He glanced back at Charles. He saw a cryptic smile on the large mutant's face. He wished he could read him, then he noticed something. Something that he missed earlier when Centurion split apart, the halo that he wore looked different, then he realized it was a copy of the halo. He wondered if this would affect the way it worked. He kept his head down as they walked down dark corridors, hopefully this could be a mistake that he could profit from.
"Heading back to the lab," he told Magneto. "Please go now, there isn't much time."
"Be careful, Charles," Magneto hurried out of the cavern, the Nob's in the cavern all followed him. They silently moved through the dark tunnels. Magneto had no idea what they were going to do. This was Sinister's house, they had to play by his rules. The only thing they had going for them was Charles being on the inside. Magneto softly whispered, "As you put it Charles, the next few hours will be anything but dull."
Beast followed the small creatures. They led the humans into a narrow corridor. Coming to the end they stopped just in front of a solid rock wall. Touching the wall Beast saw a large hole begin to open in the rock. Once it was large enough for them to go through, the creatures waved their arms, urging them to go inside.
Mystique held onto Havok, "Are we really going in there?"
"It's inside this mountain, where we wanted to go," Beast said. Without hesitation he rushed through the opening. Cyclops followed, with Banshee and Havok. Benny and Nelson were right behind them.
"We going?" Angel asked Mystique.
She glanced around, taking in a deep breath, she said, "Yes, but let's hold back, if we're walking into trouble I want them to walk into it first."
Once they walked through the hole, the creatures inside touched the rocks, closing the hole they created. Ahead in the tunnel they saw a bright light. They rushed towards it, coming out into a larger tunnel. The creatures rushed ahead, leading them down the tunnel. They were all thankful that a warm breeze flowed through the tunnel. Pulling off their hoods and visors, they were actually able to open their parkas.
It felt as if they were walking for hours when they heard a sound ahead. They could hear bare feet slapping on the ground. Seeing a curve ahead, Beast immediately stopped, he pulled everyone to the side. They plastered themselves to the wall as the five creatures kept walking. Cyclops placed his finger on his visor, he was about to press his button when he heard…
"What took you so long?"
Immediately everyone recognized the voice. Mystique ran down the tunnel, turning the curve she saw Magneto standing in the tunnel. She nearly jumped on him, hugging him tightly she whispered, "Don't ever do that again."
Magneto softly replied, "I missed you too."
Standing back, she noticed something. Grabbing a bag that she had been carrying, she pulled out Magneto's helmet. "We found this back at the steel mill. I thought you'd want it back."
Magneto immediately snatched it and placed it on his head. He did not want to take a chance of Emma getting into his mind. He never realized how naked he felt without it. He saw Charles X-men, as well as Angel and Riptide. He also saw something that Charles failed to tell him.
"What are they doing here?" he hissed. He pointed at Nelson and Benny.
Beast stepped in front of them. "Their father was taken too," he said. "We're giving them the chance to rescue him."
"If he is here, he does not deserve rescuing. He is a menace to all mutants."
Benny stepped around Beast, "You won't find a better hunter, my father was the best. He trained us both. You'll be needing us, for we have an advantage, we've been here before."
"What the hell?" Havok shouted. "Why didn't you tell us you were here before?"
"I had no idea where it was located. We came here by plane, we were never told where we were going. All I knew was that it was cold and in the mountains."
"When were you here last?" Magneto demanded.
"It was over a year ago, when my father made a deal with this Mister Sinister. We stayed here a couple of days. What I can tell you about the place is that it's huge. He has an entire complex dug out into the mountain. He called it 'The Facility'. I saw two caverns, but he said that he had lots of room for his creations. He told my father that he was going to help him change the world."
Benny pointed ahead, "From the smell drifting down the tunnel I can tell you that we're near the second cavern. In that are mutants that Sinister created."
"Then that's where we're going," Magneto said. "We need to find a way to help those mutants escape from this horror."
"What about the Professor?" Beast asked.
Magneto eyed Charles students. He looked at each one in the eye. He craned his neck and looked back, but only saw Angel and Riptide.
Fisting his hand, he snarled, "One of you is missing."
Beast sighed with relief, "Okay Professor," he said out loud. "It was Cyclops, and he's headed your way."
"What?" Mystique said. "How long have you been in contact with him?"
"Since we landed," Beast said. He recalled the first time Charles contacted him. It was when they first exited the plane. Staring up at the mountain, he was searching the area, until he heard something that nearly made him jump.
"Beast, don't jump," he heard Charles say.
Beast kept his eyes trained ahead. "Professor, is that you?" he mentally asked.
"Hank, do you know another male telepathic? Because I'd love to meet him."
"No, Professor, just very surprised to hear your voice."
"I have to say, I'm very proud of you and the others. How were you able to find me?"
"Alessia," he explained. "Frost used her when she took Magneto., I had a tracer built into her, in case anything happened to you."
"Well done, Hank," Charles said. "But look, I don't have much time. I need to let you know that the man that kidnapped me knows that you and the others are here. His name is, Mister Sinister."
"How is that possible, Professor?"
"I'm afraid that we've have a traitor in our midst, Hank. Someone that had a run-in with Sinister as a young boy."
"What? Who is it, Professor?" Beast snarled. He saw Cyclops looking at him, he continued to stare in the distance. It was then that he actually saw something important, a plane hidden ahead.
"I am not 100 percent certain. For now, I don't want anyone to know that I've made contact with you. I knew that you were the only one I could truly trust. I've seen your entire childhood, as well as Banshee's. But Havok and Cyclops, their childhoods have always been blocked to me. I'm afraid it may be either one of them. Listen to me very carefully. I am being held by a very dangerous, and demented man. His evil aspirations makes Shaw look like the Pope. Magneto is safely hidden within this place Sinister calls, 'The facility'."
"How did you do that, Professor?"
"Well, to tell the truth, I actually had to kill him. But don't worry, he's quite fine now, fully recovered. I need you to lead the others to the facility. Once there I'll send some friends that will take you to Magneto. You'll know them by their white skin and light grey eyes. Once inside I should be easy to find, I'm actually sitting on Alessia, Sinister is unaware of what she can do. It is because of her that I'm able to contact you."
"Professor, what about the traitor?"
"Beast, I believe that he is unaware of Sinister's hold on him. For now he is not a threat to you or the others. I'll try to help you as much as I can. I...I need to leave now, there is much happening here. I'll keep in touch."
Beast quickly told them the gist of his conversation with Professor X. "Cyclops," Havok said. "I can't believe he would betray us."
"The Professor said he wasn't aware of Sinister's hold on him. That's why I didn't tell any of you where we were going, or that the Professor was in contact with me."
"It's a good thing you did," Magneto said. "Sinister believes that he has total control over Charles. His only contact with me has been through the Nob's."
"The what's-it's?" Banshee asked.
"The Nob's." Magneto pointed to the small creatures. "They're Sinister's creations. But somehow they've changed since Charles came here. He, well honestly I believe he made them smarter."
Beast jumped up as he heard Charles say, "Beast, is Magneto there? I can't contact him."
"He's wearing his helmet," Beast told him.
One of the Nob's touched Magneto, immediately he heard Charles say, "Erik, you must hurry, there is not much time."
Magneto wanted to pull his arm away, he did not like how Charles was able to contact him with the helmet on, but he knew for now, he was not a threat to him. "We're going, but a warning, Charles. Your traitor is on his way."