Hey, nobody said they were good at their job.

Sinister, Chapter 03

"Do you think that was loud enough?" Jean Grey asked, standing with her hands on her hips over a pile of concrete rubble beneath a hole leading back up to the surface. Avalanche was already walking down the corridor, and Toad was still perched on a chunk of concrete. "They probably already know we're here!"

"I asked you if you knew a better way in, you didn't, so I made a door," Avalanche defended. "So, let's go find Gambit."

"Is this what passes for leadership in the Brotherhood?" Jean asked as she followed. Toad hopped along behind them. "Just break everything and hope it works out?"

"Yeah, and the X-Men knock and wait for someone inside to let them in?" Avalanche shot back.

"At the very least, we would've considered our options before going with a plan that alerts all the guards!" Arriving at an intersection with a separate corridor, the trio encountered the team of Cyclops, Colossus and Pyro... and behind them was a similar pile of rubble, and light filtering down from above. "...How did you guys get in?" Jean asked tentatively.

"We ran out of options, so Piotr made a door," Cyclops replied. Jean did her best to avoid looking towards Avalanche, but she could already see his smug grin from the corner of her eye. "Kitty's already inside. Since we're starting at opposite ends, we're moving towards the center. Jean, have you gotten a chance to scan someone?"

"No," Jean explained. "So far, we haven't run into anyone. I think right now, our best strategy is to... uh, find... Gambit." As the team moved forward, an armed guard appeared at the very end of the corridor. Colossus stepped in front of the others, shielding them as the guard aimed his rifle.

"Stop right there!" the guard yelled. "Bravo One, we've got-" Before he could finish, Colossus slugged him, sending him skidding to the end of the corridor. Quickly, Toad jumped towards him and pulled the helmet off with his tongue, bringing it towards him and snapping the microphone. The guard tried to draw a pistol from a side holster, but Jean pulled it away from him and levitated him towards her. Cyclops and Avalanche seized him, keeping him in place while Jean concentrated.

"Relax, and she won't hurt you," Scott warned the guard. Jean put her hands to her temples and closed her eyes; her hair started to float slightly, only subtly defying gravity. The guard struggled initially, but after a moment, he stopped, staring blankly at Jean. A moment later, he closes his eyes and went limp. Cyclops was preparing to set him down gently, but Avalanche quickly dropped his side of the load, forcing Cyclops to do the same. "Watch it, Alvers! Jean, what's the situation?"

"They don't know where Essex is," Jean explained. "They're answering directly to Gambit, and he's keeping them in the dark."

"He must've known we'd try this," Cyclops remarked.

"We'll have to keep going this way," Jean said, pointing down the corridor. "If we can reach the central room, we'll have a better idea of how big this place is. I'll be able to detect any guards, but..."

"Yeah, we'll keep our eyes open for Gambit and Nathan," Avalanche said, leading the way.

--

"They're in," Gambit announced, putting the radio down on the table. Lorelei and Abyss looked up at him anxiously, and started to follow him as he walked out into the adjacent hall. "Okay, gang, it's time for you to earn your keep. Lorelei, go down the left. Abyss, you'll go right."

"Why left?" Lorelei asked.

"No idea, I just chose one," Gambit replied, taking the key to Abyss's collar. "Now Styger, are you going to behave?"

"No," Abyss replied.

"Good," Gambit said, unlocking the collar. Abyss's arms suddenly sagged as the springiness returned to them. "You've got a playdate with our new friends." Gambit twirled his staff. "In fact, I think I'll get a little of that action myself." As Abyss ran towards the right, as requested, Gambit ran left, followed by Lorelei.

"And may I ask why you're also going this way?" Lorelei.

"Both ways lead to where I'm going," Gambit explained. "And given the choice between walking with a toothy freak and a shapely blonde, well, one takes the more pleasant company."

"I want nothing to do with you," Lorelei snarled.

"Sure you don't, cherie," Gambit grinned. "Sure you don't."

--

"I guess that's everyone," Cyclops said, once all three groups had converged in a large, central room within the base. The room itself was mostly plain and empty, though holes in the wall and overhead, broken pipes suggested that the room had once houses some large piece of machinery. At the center of the room was a large metal square, and directly above it, the ceiling had a similar decoration. They had arrived from two separate directions, and there were two more doors out of the room- one on the floor level, and the second on a railed balcony, with a staircase leading to it.

"What's wrong with you?!" Kitty scorned Lance as he arrived. "With your little rockslide, it's a wonder the whole-"

"Save it, Jean already did this," Avalanche told her, rolling his eyes. "Oh, and Cyclops here had the same idea. I've already gotten the third degree, so give your pal Scott some, would you?"

"Great," Kitty said, rolling her eyes. "Look, we don't have time for this. We've been here for about twenty minutes and we haven't seen anything besides a few dumb guards, who didn't have anything to add. I'm beginning to think we're too late."

"Yeah, why ain't there anyone here?" Toad asked, looking around. Somehow, everyone had instinctively grouped themselves by team; Cyclops, Jean, Rogue, Kitty and Colossus stood together, while Avalanche, Blob, Toad, the Scarlet Witch and Pyro stood apart from them.

"What next, do we just go look for some more clues?" Blob asked.

"I imagine they are waiting to spring a trap," Colossus suggested.

"Yeah, I think so, too," Cyclops said. "We've already covered some group, but we'll need to split up into groups again if we want to make sure we've got everything."

"Alright, Team A right here," Avalanche said, holding up his hand. "We'll take the high road."

"Okay, I guess that means my group is Team B," Cyclops guessed. "We'll go with the second door. Once we're far enough in, we'll split up even further to cover more ground. Remember, our objective is Dr. Essex."

"Thank you, I never would've remembered that," Avalanche groaned.

"Just once, Alvers," Cyclops began. "Just once, can you save it?"

"Both of you, cut it out," Kitty berated. "We're not in high school anymore. If it makes you feel better, Scott, I'll go with Lance and keep an eye on him."

"Yeah, we'll trade Kitty for Pyro," Avalanche said. "He'll... uh... he'll add some strength to your team."

"Damned right," Pyro said, oblivious to Lance's true intentions. "And it's about time you dicks recognize my talent."

"You know what? I'm not good with stairs," Blob said. "I'll go through the lower door."

"Then allow me to take your place," Colossus offered. "It would be a waste to have both strongmen on the same team."

"Yeah, alright, I've seen your work. You can cover for me," Blob said, shaking his hand.

"Is that settled?" Cyclops asked, looking at both teams. "Okay. Jean, Rogue, Blob and Pyro, follow me. Lance, the stairs are all yours."

"Alright. Want to make a little bet out of this?" Avalanche said, smiling. "Losing team buys lunch."

"You're on," Cyclops said. "We have Fred on our side, remember?"

"Hope you're willing to pay up, Lance!" Blob taunted, taking Scott's comment in good humor. Kitty and Jean looked at each other before rolling their eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," Avalanche groaned. "C'mon guys, let's find us a mad scientist." As Avalanche started towards the stairs, the higher door opened suddenly. Gambit appeared, looking down at his opponents like a Roman emperor regarding gladiators.

"Can't let you do that, ladies and gentlemen," Gambit said, flanked by Lorelei. "So, while the Doc finishes up, we're going to keep you company."

"Jean, take the team and keep looking for Essex," Cyclops said. "I'll deal with Remy."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Avalanche said. "I'm not gonna let you play hero alone. We're both staying."

"Suit yourselves," Gambit said, jumping over the railing, flipping before landing on the ground level. Lorelei watched with an impressed smirk, but quickly returned her focus to the matter at hand, descending the staircase. Looking towards Jean's team, who were heading for the lower door, she retreated through it, coaxing them into following. While Jean led her team through the door, Wanda took her own squad back up the stairs, hoping to find Essex quickly.

Left alone with Cyclops and Avalanche, Gambit drew his staff and twirled it confidently. "So guys, what'll we be having today?"

"My foot up your ass!" Avalanche yelled, creating a small fissure in the ground. Gambit jumped, spinning in the air and landing next to Cyclops, tripping him with his staff. Avalanche came up behind him with his fist raised, but Gambit caught it- though he struggled to hold it, as Avalanche was a bit stronger than him. An optic blast knocked Gambit away (forcing Avalanche to stumble slightly), but he recovered and drew a pair of cards.

"We're playing for keeps this time, mes amis," Gambit stated. "All or nothing. You want to play? Let's play."

--

Karl waited near the modified sensory depravation chamber in a small, hidden room. The chamber was connected to various cables leading to various medical machinery, all operating in unison. Karl was anxious to know what was going on elsewhere in the base, but his attention had to remain with Dr. Nathan. Nathan had been quite nervous about going inside the chamber, and needed Karl to remain closeby in case anything went wrong.

The operation was based on advanced techniques Nathan had only recently developed; originally, grafting human parts and powers onto a human was a difficult and mostly hypothetical process. Nathan had performed it before, though the human body often rejected the new coding, or would react in unexpected ways. Wade Wilson's operation had required numerous surgeries to graft healing-factor enhanced skin cells onto his body, directly into his organs, and into parts of his brain. After several months, Wilson's healing factor took effect, though it radically altered his appearance and, as far as Nathan could tell, continuously altered Wilson's body chemistry. His blood type constantly changed and he showed different allergies and reactive conditions at various times. Even his brain was in a state of perpetual change, rendering Wilson effectively insane.

But Nathan had improved the process. Surgery was no longer required; now, using a mutant's blood as the main ingredient of a special serum, Nathan could inject mutant power directly into a subject's body. However, this only granted temporary use of this gift; it would wear off when the serum left the subject's system. He had already sacrificed a sample from Nightcrawler in order to escape Mystique. In order to make the change permanent, other factors had to be introduced. Nathan had only done it once, when he gave himself protection against mental intrusion. He wasn't sure if his aged body would be able to survive the process that would give him more than one trait. The incomplete Rebirth formula from Omega Red's blood would help, and so would the irradiated Cyttorak gem acquired by Sauron.

The chamber had been humming steadily for several minutes, but now stopped. Karl looked up, anticipating the result. Was it finally over? The chamber's door opened just a crack to let out excess smoke from inside, too hot for any human to withstand. Once the pressure had been relieved, the door swung open, letting the thick smoke pour out.

Karl could see only a shape inside the smoke, slowly and cautiously stepping out of the chamber. After a moment, the smoke cleared, and someone new stood before Karl, taking the place of the wilted Dr. Nathan.

"It is complete," Dr. Essex said, his voice similar to that of the old man's, but somehow clearer and more energetic.

Dr. Essex's physique had been transformed, as if sixty years had been taken off his body. Though not especially muscular, he had significantly more mass than before. His hair was full and black, coming down to a slight widow's peak at the forehead, which ended with a small red growth in the shape of a diamond.

His face was now unrecognizable. His skin was corpse-white, though somehow he felt healthy and youthful. His age had been wiped away, wrinkles removed and skin tightened around his face. There was a dark ring around his eyes, which had become a shocking black color. His pupils could only be vaguely discerned, slightly red in tint, but disappearing inside the shining black orbs.

"Doctor... is that you?"

"I think so," Essex replied, looking at his more youthful hands. He grinned excitedly, and began to feel his face. "Yes... yes, I've done it! Karl, could you hand me a mirror?" Slightly anxious, Karl took a small handheld mirror from a table and passed it to the doctor, than backed away. Admiring himself, Essex couldn't help but wonder why he looked so inhuman. He rubbed the diamond on his forehead, curious as to what it was. He ran his fingers through his hair, sweeping it back. "Well, I don't look that bad. I feel... refreshed. Yes, that's a good word for it. But appearances aren't everything, this will have been entirely pointless if all it did was grant me a mutated youth."

Essex wandered over to the table where the mirror had been and took a scalpel. Without hesitation, he plunged it into his left palm, then pulled it out and threw it aside. In no time at all, the wound sealed itself... much faster than even Wade Wilson's healing factor. Essex allowed himself another smile, which quickly turned into a victorious, excited grin.

"I've done it... I've finally done it! Words can't describe how happy this makes me, Karl! I feel alive again! Oh, what should I do first? I feel like just going outside and running aimlessly. It's been ages since I've been able to run without hurting myself..."

"Doctor, there's a battle going on inside the base, we need to worry about that," Karl reminded him.

"Yes... yes, you're absolutely right," Essex said, shaken from his distraction. "Karl, I'm so sorry to do this to you, but you'll have to cover my escape."

"Cover your... Dr. Essex, what are you...?" Karl quickly realized what Essex had in mind. "Oh no, don't..."

"I promise I'll come and get you once I've established contact with my financier." Essex took the remote control to Karl's inhibitor collar and pressed the button.

--

"Commander," Denti called, entering the control center, followed by two masked guards. Bishop, leaning over another agent's shoulder and watching something on a screen, turned to look at the arriving lieutenant. "Everything's set. I left the guards in place. We just need to wait for the Brotherhood to get started."

"Colonel Fury spoke with Xavier," Bishop informed him. "The X-Men won't be involved. So, everything's coming together. We'll get our results soon enough." Bishop looked over Denti's shoulders to the guards tailing him. "Has Denti been behaving himself?"

"Yes, sir," one of them called back. "We've kept an eye on him."

"Good," Bishop said. "Denti, I've cleared Agent Carter to keep watch the situation. She'll be taking over for you."

"Taking over?" Denti asked. "But sir, I've been on this assignment from the beginning."

"It's only for a moment," Bishop replied. Denti exhaled. "But come with me, we need to discuss a sensitive matter."

"Ah," Denti said, realizing that he and Bishop had the highest security clearances in the room. They could not risk discussing something of greater importance with the lesser agents. Bishop left the control center with Denti, though the two masked guards followed. The hall outside was long and narrow, but entirely empty. There were no doors, and no visible security cameras.

Behind Bishop, Denti motioned to the two guards. They nodded and continued following them.

"Denti," Bishop said, stopping and turning to his lieutenant, "You've done some fine work. You've been instrumental in testing the first mutant strike force. I have faith in this team, and once they've passed their evaluation, they'll be taking on greater responsibilities than finding runaway prisoners. And you'll be moving on to greater things, too."

"It's an honor to serve," Denti said, putting on the face of modesty, but he knew what was coming.

"I'm going to recommend you for a promotion to Lieutenant Commander," Bishop revealing, turning away from Denti and walking with his arms behind him. "You'll still be working under me, but you'll have greater responsibilities, and more agents at your command."

"Thank you, sir," Denti said, motioning to the guards while Bishop's back was turned. "But... I don't think I can stand working here any longer." The guards pointed their rifles at Bishop's back, but in the blink of an eye, Commander Bishop had turned around and pointed his fists at them, knocking them against the walls harshly with twin blasts of crimson energy. Surprised, Denti drew his own pistol and aimed it at his commanding officer. "You caught them off-guard, but you won't get me!"

"You're sloppy," Bishop said, keeping his fist aimed at Denti. "I had tracers on those guards you killed. If you'd been smart enough to look for them before you disposed of their bodies, you might've been able to fool me with your doubles. So what else are you playing, Denti? Whose side are you on?"

"I'm sick of this," Denti growled. His hands were shaking nervously as he pointed the gun at his commander. "I'll do what I have to. You mutants think you're so great. You think you can just toss us aside! We're human beings, damn it, and just because we can't fly or shoot lasers from our fingers doesn't mean we're worthless!"

"Easy, Denti," Bishop said. "Let's try to stay calm. Nobody's faulting you for being human, Kevin."

"I am," Denti replied, his voice quivering. "He won't let me ask Essex for help... but maybe he's right! Better to get rid of all of you before you do the same to us, and we're going to start with your little pet squad!"

"Who's 'he?'" Bishop demanded. "Who are you working for?!"

"Humanity!" Denti screamed.

"You're going to tell me what I want to know, Denti." Denti's breathing became heavy, and sweat was starting to drip down his forehead. There was a distant look of fear in his eyes, but Bishop remained calm and focused. Aftering seeing his two impostor guards taken down so quickly, Denti knew his chances of hitting Bishop before he fired were slim. His shaking hands didn't help. Bishop's blasts weren't very loud; a gunshot would draw attention, and every soldier under Bishop's command would be on him. Assuming he survived... well, Denti was familiar with SHIELD's interrogation techniques.

He was out of options. For his own sake and for the sake of his allies, there was only one thing he could do. And Bishop was quick- he would have to do this quickly, before Bishop had a chance to disarm him. He thought twice about it, wondering if there was some chance he could still kill Bishop and escape from the base. Denti had one option left. He realized that tears were already forming in his eyes. There were ten different endings to this confrontation, and none of them were good. But he had to keep strong. He was a man. An agent of SHIELD, albeit a treasonous one. No matter how terrified he was of what he now understood he had to do, he had to maintain his resolve. It wasn't an easy decision, but he made up his mind.

"Put the gun down and surrender yourself," Bishop insisted.

"Long live humanity!" Denti abruptly shouted, quickly pulling the pistol away from Bishop and putting it at his right temple. Before Bishop could react, Denti fired. With a loud pop, a red spray coated the wall, and Denti's body dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

After taking a moment to register what had happened, Bishop went to his lieutenant, kneeling next to the body. Bishop had considered Denti one of his better agents. Denti had revealed himself as a traitor to SHIELD, showed his anti-mutant prejudice, and killed himself to protect those to whom he was truly loyal, all in the span of a minute. Bishop's thoughts quickly returned to the case at hand, and the realization that Denti wouldn't be providing any answers. He looked up- after hearing the gunshot, several agents were running down the hall.

"Commander, are you alright?" one of them asked.

"Yeah," Bishop replied grumpily. "But Denti's not who we thought he was. He killed himself to evade capture. But the guards there were working for him. Take them in. Once they wake up, get them to talk. You know what to do."

As the two unconscious impostors were dragged away, Bishop stood up, keeping his eyes on Denti. His death was a true shame; Bishop had considered him a fine agent.

"Prep me a squad," Bishop said to one of the agents standing with him. "The Essex test has been compromised. We'll need to step in."

The plot thickens.