Previously on Tempest…
With the exception of Logan, Storm, Jean, Bobby, Boom Boom, Betsy and Kitty – all the X-men as well as Lance's family and Angel were kidnapped by the dastardly Hellfire Club! Mystique takes Scott captive to exact her revenge for leaving her in Area 51. So while the Acolytes and Brotherhood being re-called for the rescue mission, the captives are finding out what a perilous situation they've got themselves into…
Hellfire Mansion, NY.
"So what does it feel like?" He asked her.
As she raised her head her eyes met his, and he cocked his head to a side as he searched within those big brown eyes for what he wanted. He took a step towards her and she flinched slightly, and there it was. What he wanted her to feel…
Fear.
He took another step towards her and though she didn't flinch away this time, her pupils widened slightly, giving away how uncomfortable he made her feel. How his mere presence disturbed her more then anything else in this world possibly could.
He loved the power of it…the anticipation of death – theirs, not his of course! The fear of the unknown…what he would do, where he would draw the line, where he would end it.
It made him feel like a God.
He took another step forward and got right in her face so she could feel his breath on her face. "I said how does it feel little girl, knowing you're going to die?"
"You get the hell away from her"
Gage chuckled and turned away from the girl to the couple on the other side.
"Tom is it? " He asked. "I believe we've already had the pleasure of meeting."
"Is that what you call it, you sick son of a bitch?" spat Shelly. She was next to her husband, and like him, was bound from her hands to her feet to iron chairs on the opposite side of the room to Arianna, who had been chained by her wrists to a lighting fixture.
With her arms above her head, she looked slightly like a cute little puppet. 'And I am the puppet master' thought Gage to himself smugly as he swiftly pulled out his gun and fired a shot at the woman.
"Mom!" screamed Arianna as the shot ricocheted off the wall behind Shelly's head, causing debris to spray all over her parents.
"When I want your input Lady," said Gage, "I'll ask for it."
He laughed when she merely glared at him. What else could she do, but hope to stave off the moment of her impending death? He turned back towards the girl.
"Little Arianna," He surveyed her from head to toe. "I remember the last time I saw you girlie. Just a couple years old….what a pretty lil' thing you turned out to be" He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head back sharply. "Pity I'm going to have to kill you!" he growled in her face.
Shelley struggled against her bonds. "Let her go!" she said desperately
Arianna didn't say a word. Her eyes which were locked with her captors showed fear, but when she finally did speak, her voice was even.
"Not if Lance kills you first"
TWHACK!
"No!" shouted Tom as he fought against his bonds. Shelly fought sobs next to him as Gage slapped her daughter viciously again before grabbing her by the throat and slamming her head roughly against the wall.
Arianna gasped from the pain but she held back the tears. He wouldn't make her cry. She wouldn't let him make her cry. Lance would never cry. He would never give Gage the satisfaction. Thinking of her brother gave her courage, and she stared Gage back resolutely in the face as his grip on her throat tightened tightly.
"Your precious brother, who you love sooooooo much little girl," said Gage, "is gonna die too." He released his grip on her throat and took a step back.
"He'll pay for my lost years, I guarantee it. So don't you worry about him. I'd be more worried about yourselves right now, if I were you."
"Well you're not us thank God, and we're proud to be nothing like you." Said Tom evenly, trying to draw this mad man's attention away from his daughter. He may be incapacitated thanks to his bonds, but there was no way he was going to sit idly by and let him torture his kids any more.
"Proud of yourself and your pretty lil' family are you Tom?" asked Gage, "Mutant scum of a son, his sister and your pretty lil' whore of a wife?"
"Hey! Just because you didn't get a date in high school, no need to call the rest of us girls' names!" Sneered Shelly
"I think I'm gonna shoot you first!" snarled Gage "You are just as annoying as the brats you brought into your life! You should be begging me to kill you, so you can be free of them forever."
"As long as I don't have to listen to your incessant whinging anymore, I don't care" retorted Shelly.
Gage grinned sinisterly. "Tough guy huh? What you don't like the sound of my voice, the way I dress?" He leaned in towards her and caressed her face with his rough hands, grabbing her firmly by the chin as she tried twist her head away from him. "The way I touch?"
"Get away from my wife you creep!" snarled Tom
"Now why would I wanna do that?" Gage chuckled as if this was all a big joke to him, "She's a hottie! I just wanna eat her right up!" With those words he slowly licked the side of her face.
"Eurgh!" Whimpered Shelley in disgust as she tried to wrench her head away from him.
"I'm warning you!" shouted Tom
"What you gonna do Tommy boy? You can't do anything to stop it. Stop me killing your wife, your kids. You are going to sit and watch. That is all you can do!"
"We're not afraid of you!" said Shelley, "You better thank your lucky stars these ropes are holding me back, because if I ever get my hands on you, you are going to pay for touching my daughter. Believe me!"
Gage laughed again. "Oh I believe it already. Except you're not free. You can't stop me." As if to prove his point he viciously punched her husband in the face. Tom grunted but didn't cry out in any way "And you are scared Lady, if not for yourself, then for your darlin' husband and that little bitch you adopted."
He pulled a knife out of his pocket advanced on Arianna menacingly.
"Hey!" screamed Shelley, "You wanna hurt somebody, then hurt me, she never did anything to you!"
"No – see, she has hurt me. Her whole family screwed me over, and then you two, her new family, screwed me over to!"
"Just leave her alone." Reasoned Tom, "What do you want from us?"
"Oh we're way past bargaining Tommy boy, " said Gage as he turned back towards Arianna, "What I want is to see you suffer your worst nightmare…I'm gonna kill your little girl and you are going be watching, powerless to stop it."
He laughed as he swiped at the girl's face. Enjoying the sound of her parents' screams and the sight of that thin trickle of blood coming from the cut on her cheek, making its way down that pretty, little face.
Hellfire Mansion - Basement
Rogue opened one eye.
She groaned as the glare from the fluorescent lighting flooded her vision, and then blinked rapidly as she sat up.
At the sound of another groan her head snapped around. It was then she realised that everything was very, very wrong.
"Where tha hell are we?" she asked as she took in her surroundings. She was in some kind of cage with Professor McCoy and Jamie. She looked down at herself and realised she was in her nightgown, with her arms and lower legs exposed. Feeling slightly naked at having this much skin on display with no protective cover at all, she edged herself into the corner, giving Hank and Jamie as much room as possible to manoeuvre about without getting hurt.
"Urgh" was all the reply she got from Jamie regarding their whereabouts.
"It appears to be a containment cell of some sort" answered Hank as he examined his surroundings.
"What the hell are these thingy's?" asked Jamie as he shook his wrist around, showing off a gleaming metal bracelet.
"Yah don't think they've neutered us do yah?" asked Rogue. "That would explain why they stuck me in a cell with other folks, in mah nightie of all things!"
"I believe a bit of brute strength may provide the answer" said Hank as he charged at the glass screen separating their cell from the outside world. "Arggggggh!!" He screamed as he was shocked by electricity running through the glass and was thrown back several feet.
"Oh mah god! My McCoy! Are you OK?" asked Rogue as she inched nearer to him, taking care to touch him in anyway though.
A stricken "Ow" was all she got in reply.
Jamie grunted in frustration! "I can't multiply!!" He then leaned over Hank and grabbed for Rogue.
"Jamie, no-" she shouted in fear
"And I can touch you!!" Rogue gasped as she stared down at Jamie's small bare hands around hers. His hand was warm and kinda clammy. It was actually not that great.
Rogue slowly pulled her hand out of his and tentatively put her hand on Beast's shoulder "They have neutered us" She said in slight wonder as she helped Beast sit up.
She went as close as she dared to the glass and looked outside. Opposite there was another cell, with Jubilee, Ray and Roberto in it. She shouted out a warning as Ray went to touch the glass. But he did it anyway and went sent flying back away from it, just like Beast.
She realised she didn't hear him scream, though she could see his mouth open in exclamation, and Jubilee and Roberto asking if he was OK. "The cells are soundproof" she muttered as she saw Jubilee frantically gesture to Rouge's right, warning what Rogue guessed were the others not to try to break through the glass.
A few moments later, Jubilee palmed her face in despair so Rogue guessed at least one more person had been zapped by the glass.
The cell next to Jubilee was emitting a slightly green glow, but there were no lights on in there. Rogue couldn't make out what, if anything, was in there.
Suddenly, the all the lights in the entire corridor clicked on, and the room with the green glow was illuminated in the garish glow provided by the fluorescent lighting.
"Oh my god!" gasped Rogue as she saw what was in there.
"Professor X" cried Jamie in surprise, "What have they done to him?"
"It looks like a smaller version of the chamber used to contain Juggernaut" observed Beast.
"They've put him in suspended animation," she realised. "Does that mean the Professor's too powerful for these doo-dah's? " Asked Rogue, indicating the metal band on her wrist.
"We didn't think it would be wise to find out."
Rogue heard Jubilee give a clear "Huh?" and cries and shouts of the others
"They put the sound back on!"
"Who said that"
"Whose there?"
Rogue recognised the voices to be of Amara, Sam and Angel. How many of the others were down here?
"As our guests, we thought we'd make sure you're all comfortable" said the voice again and a blonde woman walked into view followed by the Hellions.
"Emma Frost" growled Beast
"That's the White Queen to you my dear." Replied Emma
"What have you done to us?" said a voice Rogue recognised as Evans, followed by Sam
"Why are we here?"
"What do you want with us?" asked Beast
"Well I thought that would be obvious…" chuckled Empath, "You're the bait"
"Bait?" asked Jubilee in surprise
"Yes, little girl" said Roulette in a condescending manner, "You are what's gonna get the rest of your little X-brigade to return our stuff!"
"You're trading us for the gems? Seeing as Ah'm guessin' yah've already got yah hands on the anti-mutant rock?" asked Rogue
"Well, that's what your friends believe anyway…" shrugged Emma, "But as you know things don't always go to plan…"
"What's you're game Frost?" asked Evan
"Thiss one would make a purrfect lab rat" hissed Catseye maliciously as she recognised Evan. "Hows the leg Spikey?"
"What?!" Exclaimed Hank, astonished.
"Now, now," gloated Emma, "It's only right to test a product before we send it out to the masses."
"Yeah, and as soon as we trap the rest of your friends – we'll have a whole lot of testers." Uttered Jetsream
"Let's go!" Barked Emma, " The cells and bracelets are working as we hoped. Jetstream – turn the sound dampeners back on. Catseye – get the lights."
Catseye stopped at the doorway and grinned at them all. "Sweet dreams"
Rogue gasped as the darkness became absolute, apart from the green glow provided by the Professors chamber.
"Oh man, we're screwed" breathed Jamie
Somewhere in New York...
Scott groaned. He rolled onto his front and raised himself onto his hands and knees, shaking his head slightly to clear the cobwebs.
The cool breeze rustled his hair, rippling his clothing and chilling his skin. It was then he realised he didn't have his glasses on and the attack by the Hellfire Club.
He gasped as he began to feel around his surroundings. 'Where am I?' He cried out as one of his wandering hands slipped over the side of the surface throwing him off balance, making his face slam unexpectedly into the stone floor. Scott pulled back his arm and edged away, only to hit a wall a few feet later.
'Hello?' he called in the vain hope that someone was nearby. Preferably someone who could see and get him down from here... "Anybody?"
When there was no reply, Scott stayed still and evaluated the situation. He was definately outside, and if he wasnt mistaken - very high up, judging from the faint sounds of a city he could hear below and how cold the air was despite the fact it was nearing Summer. He was also undoubtedly in an extremly precarious position, the edge of a roof, maybe. And most importantly, he couldnt see.
"Great" he muttered to himself. Rationalising that he couldnt possibly hurt anyone this high up he decided to take a quick peek in order to ascertain his position.
He opened his eyes briefly for a second and flicked them up and around before cursing under his breath and shutting them quickly. Bracing himself against a small pile of rubble descending downards from an object he had just accidentally hit with his eye beams.
Pieces of rubble from a concrete torch to be exact.
He jumped a voice rang out from nowhere. A voice he knew all too well...
"See how you like being trapped Cyclops" cackled Mystique as she shifted into a bird and flew away, leaving Scott Summers alone and helpless.
Scott groaned again as the extent of the situation sunk in. He was alone, sightless and had been dumped on the head of the Statue of Liberty by none other then Msytique.
"Bad day, bad day, bad day..." he muttered to himself.
...and...SCENE! Sorry once again for the delay, shall try and be a lil' quicker in the future! Hope you guys enjoy and dont forget to review as its always ace to know what y'all think!
Until next time ...
Ciao!
Soulstress!! xx