The Brotherhood Chronicles: The Truth of Self

Ah, we come to that point were things will slowly start to come together. But we are nowhere near the end, and I have a few dozen twists or so planned. Be warned, the silliness will return in a few chapters, but right now, some more drama.

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Mexico

"Needle in a god damn haystack…" Blob muttered as he looked at the pyramid. "Laura, I think we're gonna want to bring in some more help here."

"What did you have in mind Cous?" X-23 asked.

"Give Mike and Betsy a call." Blob answered as he watched X factor strategies.

"On their honeymoon?" X asked. "That's kinda cruel Cous."

"We need help. And I don't trust Val's new team. Not entirely." Blob said simply. "I want family on this. Mike and Bets would have wanted to know if anything went wrong." Blob explained simply.

"Okay." Laura sad as she took out her cell phone. "I'll try Mike." Laura said as she dialed a familiar number.

"Hello?"

"Mike?" X asked.

"Hey. What's up X?" Mike answered. X could hear the worry in his voice.

"Problems." X answered simply.

"Do tell." Mike grunted sarcastically.

"Okay. First, Pietro took off to court Val, but got kidnapped by Legion, and had the shit beat out of him. He's on Asteroid M recovering with Wanda and Todd. Next up, Forge turns out to be a traitor, and is working with this alpha class mutant named Shadow King. Apparently they kidnapped Lance and have been experimenting with him. Not to mention his Very Pregnant girlfriend is at our house, probably going through our stuff right now out of boredom." X explained.

"So wait. Let me get this straight." Mike repeated everything X23 told him. "Pietro's near death, Lance is in the hands of this Shadow King mook, and Forge is a traitor? And you left Kitty alone in our house? No telling what she'll do!" Mike's voice shouted.

"Aren't you a little off topic focusing of Shadowcat?" X asked innocently. Blob just shook his head.

"Yeah, I am getting off topic here. Look, I gotta go. Ninjas kidnapped Betsy after we beat the crap out of Juggernaut with the help of his bastard kid, and now I'm busy fighting a Fruit Loop that looks like the Ultimate Warrior. No time to explain." Mike said simply. "I'll call later." Mike said as he hung up the phone

"What?" X asked into the dead phone.

"What'd he say?" Blob asked.

"I don't know…" X said simply. And I'm not sure I really want to." X replied innocently.

"Great. Well, let's move out and try to find Lance." Blob said as he started walking towards the pyramid.

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Inside

"I think this is a good place to start…" X said as they came to a pile of ruble.

"No. You think…." Strong Man said dryly. "Hey Blob. I need you to do me a favor."

"What's that?" Fred asked.

"Hit me. It will allow my mutation to trigger and I can then help you move these stones." Guido explained after he received the confused look from Fred. Blob simply shrugged.

"You're funeral." Blob said as he belted Strong Man in the chest, causing the young mutant to grow twice his original size. "Then again…"

"Let's get movin'." Strong Man said as he began to move the ruble. Soon Blob joined in. Meanwhile, X sniffed around, trying to get Lance's scent.

"Anything?" Val asked as she walked over with Polaris.

"No. The only scent's I'm getting are (Sniff) Mold, (Sniff) Apocalypse, but that's old… and (Sniff, Sniff) Something… evil." X said in a low voice.

"Evil has a scent?" Lorna asked in disbelief.

"Yea. It's a dark, and sinewy smell. Like the very air despises the presence. And I'm smelling a lot of it coming from that direction." X said as she pointed to where Blob and Strong Man were moving the ruble. They were about halfway through the ruble; sweat was dripping from their frames as they exerted themselves, trying to create a passage into the abandoned pyramid.

"How welcoming." Alex said as he walked over. "I'm not looking forward to this."

"It's not your Brother on the other side." X snapped. "It's mine. And heaven help who ever gets in my way." X-23 snarled as she popped her claws out.

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Elsewhere in the pyramid

"My head…" Lance said as he slowly woke up. He felt the sticky sensation of dried blood oh his forehead. He blinked a few times to clear the blood from his eyes; HE was face down on cold stone. He slowly pushed himself up, only to collapse again, with a horrible burning sensation in his left arm, from shoulder to wrist. "Ugh…" Lance groaned as he rolled over to get a better view of his arm. The tunic he was wearing when his grandfather led him into the chamber was torn, the sleeves looked like they were burned off. His left arms had large dark swirls going up and down it, a very intricate Tribal tattoo stood out on his light skin, going up and down the entire length oh his arm. He recognized the symbols from his training. It was the mark of the Shaman. Lance had apparently passed the test. To bad the pain in his head wouldn't let him enjoy the feeling.

Yet another wonderful predicament…" lance thought as she sat up, putting his weight down as he straggled to stand. He felt pulses through the stone, and he knew that there were trespassers a few levels above him. "Hm…" lance thought as he held his sore arm. I wonder." Lance said as he held out his good arm. The earth yielded to his command, and opened up a passageway to the surface. "Either the 'Hood is here for me, or somebody's getting a beating." Lance thought with a slight smirk as he walked forward through the dark tunnel.

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A few minutes later…

"You feel that?" Valerie asked as the ground began to tremor.

"This feels familiar." Blob said as he put a hand on the wall to steady himself.

"Look…" X said as she pointed to the wall in front of them. The wall slowly melted away, and Lance stoop their, taking in rabid gasps of air. He was wearing a pair of loose pants and a torn tunic, with torn red robes. His left arm was burned with a tribal mark and his hair hung in his face.

"Hey guys…" Lance said with a weak smile. "I'd like to go home to my children now."

"I guess there really wasn't need for rescuing…" Polaris said in shock.

"Yea." X said with a small smile.

"Welcome back Lance." Fred said with a huge smile. "You okay?"

"Never better Reverend." Lance said with a smile. "Let's go home."

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Next Time on The Brotherhood Chronicles: Home Coming. Lance, Fred and Laura return Home, but find more than Kitty waiting for them. Who else is there? Find out next time.

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Peace out all,

Descendent