Chapter Seven
It didn't take to long for the others to find a
cab. When they got one, they all
climbed in.
"So, where to?" Asked the cabby. The license said his name was Moe Shrevnitz.
Wolverine leaned forward and asked him, "You know
any good bars around here?"
"Yeah." Moe nodded his head. "There's a nice little blues bar not too far
away. That good for you?"
Logan looked at his companions. They were nodding. "Sounds good."
"Ok, hang on tight." Said Moe, starting the
meter. Then they were off. In less than the time it takes you to say
"Beer" they were there. The cab
screeched to a stop in front of a rather nondescript little place with the name
"Joe's " written in blue lights on the side. The three shaken X-Men got out of the cab, and while Logan paid the
cabby, Gambit and Psylocke looked around. When Logan rejoined the others, Gambit said,
"Well, dat was certainly de most int'restin' cab
ride Gambit ever been on."
"Yeah," Psylocke added. "He was driving a little
fast for my tastes."
Logan didn't say anything; he just went into the
bar. As soon as he entered, he knew he
would like the place. It was dim, smoky
and it had good music. He picked a
booth over in a corner, and waited for Remy and Betsy to follow him. A waitress came over, and they ordered beers
all around. The waitress nodded, then went to get their drinks. While she was away, Remy looked around "Dis
a nice place, non?"
"Yeah, it's not too bad." Betsy said, as she tapped
her fingers on the table along with the beat of the music. Logan leaned back apathetically, not really
caring one way or the other.
"Come on, Logan, lighten up." Betsy said. "Try to
relax."
"This is me, relaxing." He said to her. "Now get off my back."
"Oookay."
Their beers came, and the three of them relaxed,
listening to the music. After a while,
Logan started to get bored, so he watched the other patrons. There was a tall man with long dark hair
pulled back into a ponytail talking with the owner of the bar. Even over the music, he didn't have to
strain his ears to hear what they were saying.
"Something attacked the Watcher Headquarters?" The
ponytail man asked, sounding surprised. "Do you know what it was?"
"No," The bar owner answered. "We just know it was
big, and strong. It picked up a desk
and threw it at the wall. Those desks
weigh a ton. They needed to use forklifts to get them in there."
"Hey, guys," Logan said to his friends. "I think I
may have just found out why we're here."
"What is it?" Asked Psylocke.
Logan told them what he had overheard the men
talking about.
"How you know dat's what Cerebro picked up?" Gambit
asked. "Coulda been somethin' entirely
diff'ren'."
"It's something to fight, ain't it?" Logan
asked.
Neither of them got a chance to answer, because
right then, the wall with the door blew in with the force of a small bomb. Big chunks of rock flew everywhere. A huge humanoid monster entered and punched
a fist into the stairway to the balcony, and it went flying. Patrons screamed and ran as the monster
started throwing tables around.
"Looks like you'll get your wish." Psylocke shouted
over the din.
The demon stopped in front of the bar. "Are you Duncan Macleod?" It asked the man with the long hair.
"Who's asking?" was the reply. He pulled a sword out
of his coat and attacked the demon, slashing at its midsection. The demon smashed the blow aside and
grabbing it's own sword, attacked in turn. The man rolled out of the way, and stabbed it in the back. The demon roared in pain, and spun around to
stab the ponytail guy in the stomach. He fell, but didn't give up. He
was on his feet in an instant, holding his side with his left hand, and
slashing with the other. When he got
hit again, Logan jumped up on the table and shouted,
"Come on, let's get him!" With a "snikt" his claws extended, he dived at the big demon,
trying to slash it in the back.
Psylocke and Gambit shrugged at each other, and slid
out to attack too. Gambit reached into
his coat to pull out a handful of cards, and Psylocke manifested her Katana. Then they too, jumped into the fray. Gambit
threw a bunch of cards at it, and they all hit their mark. The demon turned, spotted the Cajun, and
advanced on him, roaring.
"Oh, no you don't." Psylocke warned as she slashed
at it with her sword. She didn't hurt
it too badly, but it did get it mad at her. It turned and strode towards her. Suddenly out of nowhere, Wolverine jumped on its back, stabbing at it. While it was trying to get Wolverine off its
back, Gambit threw a handful of cards at it, and Psylocke stabbed it in the
chest. It roared again, and spun
around. The force of the turn sent Wolverine flying into a table, but he was up
in a second, and attacking again.
During this wild exchange our man with the ponytail
is staring with wide-mouthed amazement. He turned to the bartender, who shrugged. They had never seen anything like this before, and they wanted to
see every second of the fight.
Wolverine and Psylocke coordinated their attacks,
and stabbed at the same time, Psylocke in the back, and Wolverine in the front,
while Gambit ran around and threw cards. Again, the beast roared in pain, but this time it decided it had had too
much, and ran away, bashing through another wall on it's way out.
"We did it, mes amis!" Gambit shouted joyously. "We beat de monster!"
"Don't start gettin' cocky, Gumbo." Logan said.
The man with the long hair and the owner of the Bar
came over. The ponytail guy said to the
three of them,
"My name is Duncan Macleod. Thank you for helping me fight that thing."
"Oh, dat? Dat was nuttin'." Gambit said.
"I think what Remy means is, you're very
welcome." Psylocke said. "My name is Betsy Braddock, this is Remy
LeBeau, and that guy over there is Logan." She indicated all of them as she
introduced them.
"It's an honor to meet you all." The owner
said. "My name is Joe. Joe Dawson. Thank you for saving my bar."
"We didn't do much along the lines of saving it."
Logan said.
"Very true." Joe said, looking at the holes in the
walls.
Macleod looked at Psylocke's sword, still glowing in
her hand. "How are you doing that?" He
asked her.
She glanced at her sword as well. "Have you heard about mutants?" She asked as she got rid of her sword. Macleod started.
"No, cher, don't tell dem." Gambit said.
"Well, I don't see how we have much of a choice,
Remy." She said. "They did see us use
our powers."
"Yeah, think about it, Gumbo." Logan added.
"Ok, fine." Remy conceded.
Just then, they heard sirens approaching.
"Damn," Logan said. "Someone called the cops."
"You guys go." Joe said. "I have to stay to give my statement, and help clean up." He grabbed a cane and quickly limped away to
meet the cops.
"Ok." Macleod agreed. "Let's get out of here before the police come in. Come to my place. We can talk there."
"Alright." Psylocke said. "But we should get our friends. You should meet them too."
"More? There's more of you?" Macleod sounded overwhelmed.
"Yes, two more." Said Psylocke. "You two go on to his place, and I'll get
Rogue and Jubilee, and meet you there." She said to her friends.
"Sounds good to me." Said Macleod. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a
card. He gave it to her and said,
"This is my address. It says my dojo, but I live above it."
"Ok." She said. She looked at the card, then put it in her pocket. "Alright, I'll see you there." She turned and went out the side hole the demon had made, and in a moment she was gone.
