X-Men: The Winds of Change

By Ldynwaitin

Chapter Twenty Six

A Fit Reward for a Traitor

Charles sadly shook his head. "I feared it was Cyclops. I'm just glad he left before the others caught up with you. Sinister is still unaware of my ruse. Hurry, I will endeavor to keep Sinister busy for as long as possible."

Once Charles pulled back, Magneto shoved the Nob away. He didn't like how Charles still found a way to communicate with him. He would allow it, for now. Returning his attention to where he was, Charles saw Sinister leading him down a corridor. He was taking him back to the first cavern. As he followed him, Charles tried to think of how Cyclops could have betrayed them. When he first tried to probe his mind, he found a part of it was blocked to him. This had to be the work of Sinister. He went through every memory he had of Cyclops stay in the Mansion. He had no idea how much time had gone by, until he heard Sinister say, "Ah, we're here."

Looking up, he saw they had reached the lab. Sinister nodded his head and motioned for Charles to enter first. Peter wheeled him in, he refused to leave Charles side. Several Nob's also skittered into the room, they stood in a dark corner. Sinister strutted in, he stood in front of a row of refrigerators. "You see before you the accumulation of a mutant gene bank that I have been working on for many years."

"Really," Charles said. "How long have you been here? It must have taken you a long time to create this place."

"For nearly forty years now. Creating it actually didn't take long. The Nob's have a special gift. They can manipulate rock. They created this entire complex in a few short months."

"They are remarkable," Charles sighed. Peter was standing next to him, he smiled at Charles.

Sinister shook his finger in a scolding way. "There you go again Charles, praising something that I created on a whim." Charles noticed several more Nob's silently walking into the lab, they joined the others that stood in a corner.

"Look upon this." Sinister motioned to the row of refrigerators on the wall. "This is my true masterpiece. There are hundreds of mutant genes preserved within this room. I can literally create and design any kind of mutant that I want." Smiling he added, "What we want. Speaking of which..."

Sinister walked towards the tables. It was then that Charles noticed that someone was strapped to one of the tables. His face was looking away from him. Lying on his back, Charles saw thick black stitches used to close an incision made under the man's head.

"This is my latest work," Sinister enthused. He grabbed the man's head and turned it. Charles was shocked to see that the man was Neale. He moaned as Sinister began unstrapping him from the table. Centurion vibrated and separated. His copy rushed to the table and lifted Neale up.

"This is how I deal with traitors," Sinister told Charles.

Neale wavered where he stood. His eyes were heavily hooded. He felt dizzy, the last thing he remembered was Sinister telling him that he would make him live his worst nightmare. He felt strange inside, his legs seemed weak, as if they could no longer hold him up.

Sinister stood in front of Neale, "You dared to double cross me?" he angrily spat out. "I told you to bring every mutant here, especially him." He pointed to Charles. "But you not only chose to keep him for yourself, you were going to auction him off like Chattel. I do not tolerate disobedience, Neale."

Neale became frightened as he felt a deep pain inside his bones. "What did you do to me?" he gasped.

Sinister coldly smiled, "I needed to devise a way to set you as an example, Neale. So I searched into your mind, it was quite easy, actually. I found your dirty little secret. You are a coward, through and through, a spineless worm, a yellow belly. Now your outside will show your true nature."

Neale howled in agony as he felt as if every bone in his hand was breaking and cracking. In minutes Neale changed, his skin turned a bright yellow, his eyes grew large and pale until they were pearlescent. The fingers on his hands joined, his yellow body absorbed them.

"No, nooooo," Neale wailed. "Noot, thisss."

Sinister coldly smiled. "I made sure that the change for you will be slow and painful. First the skin, and your fingers, in the days to come you will soon change into a mirror of what you are on the inside…a spineless worm. You hated mutants so much, despised them, and now you are going to be one. Be proud Neale, that you will now be a part of the future, my future." He stepped back and looked at Neale with disgust. "Get him out of here, Centurion. Put him with the others."

The Centurion copy grabbed Neale's arm and began to drag him out of the lab. Neale's pale eyes pleaded with Charles.

"Please, Xavier. Help me," he drawled. "You have to help me."

Charles looked away, there was nothing he could do for him. Unaffected by what had just happened, Sinister walked up to one of the refrigerators. Opening it he searched inside. "Ah, here we are." He pulled out a small jar. Inside Charles could see something floating in a golden liquid. "Your salvation, Charles." He reverently carried the jar and gently placed it on a table.

"This will give you back what was cruelly taken away from you." He smiled and stroked the glass. "She was remarkable, she could heal any wound on herself, as well as others. I found her on the battlefield during World War I. She worked secretly on healing the wounded. She was from Germany, a beautiful woman. I believe I almost felt pity for the poor girl. But I learned early that a true scientist must not allow their emotions to interfere with their work."

Sinister noticed a look of sadness flow across Charles face as he watched the Centurion copy carry Neale down the hallway. "My dear Professor, it appears that I still need to work on that conscious of yours."

Charles bit his lip, he had to remember to hide his true feelings from Sinister. "Sorry," he apologized. "I cannot help what I am."

"No, of course not, you just need to…Centurion you failed me!" Sinister suddenly shouted. His face was a mask of rage. Looking at the entrance to the room, Charles saw Cyclops standing in the doorway. He was panting hard. From the looks of it, he must have run the entire way here.

"If he is here, that means his companions made it past you."

Centurion's eyes glowed brightly. He shook his head as they returned to normal. "I'm sorry, Sir. They blocked the passage on the blue glacier. The one I sent is still trapped on the other side. He's been trying to find a way back, he, uh...he didn't want to let you know..."

"Of your failure!" Sinister finished for him. "I told you they are children, how could you let this happen?"

"I'm sorry, sir." Centurion bowed his head. "I don't know how they were able to make it past the security in the front."

"This means I have intruders in my Facility. This is why I created you, Centurion. Fix it, find them and stop them before they do anything to harm my work."

"It shall be done," Centurion said, with a bow. Standing up Charles saw his body vibrating. But this time it was faster. He saw a duplicate Centurion step out of his body and run out of the Lab. Then he saw another, then another. When he stopped vibrating, ten Centurions had run out of the Lab. Centurion's eyes glowed brightly, "I will keep in constant contact with them this time, sir. I'll let you know the minute they find them."

"Don't fail me, Centurion. As you can see," he pointed to Charles. "You can be replaced."

Again Charles saw a look on Centurion that chilled him, jealously had reared its ugly head. Charles threatened his little world. He was no longer Sinister's number one man. Charles was now that man.

For just a split second Charles dared to give Beast a warning, it was just four words, "He knows you're here."

"Magneto," Beast shouted. They were nearing the end of a long tunnel. "I have a message from the Professor. 'He knows we're here'."

Magneto shook his head, he not only had to figure a way of helping unknown fabricated mutants from this Bedlam, he now had to contend with an unknown threat. The only saving grace was that Sinister still had no idea that he was alive. He would try to keep that as an advantage for as long as possible.

He stopped at the end of the tunnel. The warm breeze that flowed through the tunnel came from here. Shouts, screams and moans drifted down into the tunnel. Magneto saw the Nob's standing in the tunnels mouth, then he looked back at Mystique.

"We need to know what we're up against." He pointed to the Nob's.

Nodding her head in understanding, she quickly shifted her image. She appeared to shrink down in size until she looked identical to a Nob. Taking in a deep breath she walked out of the tunnel.

The first thing she saw was the cavern filled with cages of every kind and size. She saw mutants that appeared normal, and some that were so hideous looking she had to look away. She saw hundreds of Nob's working in the cavern. Taking care of the mutants, feeding them looking after them. Scanning the cavern she saw the Marauders that attacked them in the Steel mill. Some held guns, other's used their mutant ability to guard the ones that were held prisoner within this cavern. She saw the quilled mutant. Long sharp quills stuck out from its back and chest. He stood high on a mezzanine, looking down at the cavern.

Mystique walked further into the cavern, she tried to spot each position that the guards held. Hearing the mutants suddenly begin to scream in fear she saw a huge man walking towards her. It was the same one she saw back on the glacier. The one Benny called, Centurion. She couldn't imagine how he was able to get back. Her answer came minutes later when she saw another Centurion, identical to the one that passed by.

He was dragging a man with bright yellow skin. Seeing the Nob's skitter away bowing she did the same. Looking up she was shocked to see the man Centurion was pulling was the same man she saw on the monitor, Benny's father. She could almost feel his anguish as Centurion dragged him to a small cell. Opening it, he threw him in. Neale ran to the door, but it was slammed shut in his face. Mystique saw Centurion pressing a red button on the side of the cell. She now knew how to open the cells.

"Please," Neale sobbed. "Centurion, don't leave me like this. You fought by my side, don't let him do this to me."

Centurion stood in front of the cell. "This will teach you not to betray Mister Sinister," the large man rumbled. "You hated Mutants, now you are one. Get used to this, Neale. It will be your new home from now on. In the coming days your change will be slow and painful. This is the perfect price for you to pay for your treachery."

Grinning, he lumbered away. He stopped close to where Mystique was standing, slowly he turned his head, his eyes scanning the cavern. Nodding his head he said, "This is Centurion 3 reporting, nothing here, I'll be checking with the others in the southern cavern."

Mystique froze when he looked right at her. "All of you, come with me,"

The Nob's next to her bowed their heads and quickly followed him as he walked towards a large tunnel to the left. Mystique began to follow him until she was grabbed by four Nob's, they quickly hid her behind them. She saw one of them smiling at her. Touching her she mentally heard a voice say, "Friend."

She realized that the Professor must have told them to look after her. She didn't know how they knew she was not one of them, but she was thankful that they helped her hide. Once Centurion was out of sight she thanked the Nob's and made her way back to the tunnel her companions were hiding in.

She quickly told Erik all that she saw. She whispered to him the part of Neale. If Benny and Nelson knew what happened to their father, they wouldn't hesitate to go after him.

"What do we do now?" Havok asked. "We know there are at least 3 Centurions out there, who knows how many more?"

Magneto grabbed Benny's arm. "You said you knew this place?" Jerking her arm from his grip, she nodded her head. "Can you take us to the lab?"

"I think I can, but what about my father? I'll only help you if you promise me you'll help me find my father."

Magneto pointed to Mystique. "She said she saw him, but he's well guarded. If we can reach the lab and rescue Charles first, I promise you that we'll go after your father next. Is it a deal?"

Benny looked at Mystique, "Is he all right?" she asked her.

Mystique saw Magneto shake his head. She knew he didn't want her to tell her the condition she found him in. If she did, Benny would want to go after him. "He's alive and well," she truthfully replied.
Benny checked her gun, holding it tightly in her hands, she pointed it ahead, "We need to go that way first. It's on a higher level, and in another cavern."

Magneto stared into the cavern, "We need a diversion."

Mystique immediately turned back into a Nob, "I have an idea," she shouted, as she ran back into the cavern. She sprinted to where the cells were located. She raced down a block of cells, pressing the red button she saw the Centurion use to lock Neal in his cell. Each cell's bars opened up, the mutant inside immediately ran out. Whooping and hollowing in joy.

After opening a full wall of cells, Mystique ran back to the tunnel where her companions were hiding. She quickly fazed back to her original form. "That should keep them busy for a while."

"Excellent, Mystique, let's get going to the lab," Magneto said.

"Wait," Beast said. "The Professor told me he wanted us to find a way of helping Sinister's mutants escape first, then go after him."

Magneto continued to walk away, "We did help them escape, well a few. Now we need to get Charles out of that lab. I don't trust Sinister, he knew Shaw. And if he's anything like him, Charles is in greater danger than he thinks." Spinning around, he pointed his finger at Beast, "And don't let him know we're coming, he's got enough on his mind pretending to be Sinister's puppet. Now come on, if you're with me or not, I'm still going."

Beast didn't like it, but he had to admit, that was the whole reason why they came here. Sighing in resolution he said, "Come on guys, let's go. He's going to need someone to watch his back."

Banshee and Havok took the rear. Looking back they saw the creatures called Nob's following them. Several of them ran ahead. Banshee saw some of them closing up the passage behind them, insuring that no one would follow them. He smiled to himself, leave it to the Professor, he could make friends in the most inhospitable places. Skipping, he ran to catch up with the others.