Author's note: I continue to live. Freaky. This is a pretty short chapter, but after the cliffhanger I figured I'd better deliver or get my online ass kicked. Read Rio's threat in the reviews if you don't believe me! (Just kidding Rio, I know you wouldn't really tie me to a flag pole… would you? –sweatdrop-) Anyway. Disclaimers du jour- I don't own Tony Hawk or his mad skateboard stylies. Just a little note, there's a wee bit of naughty language, so if your ears burn, you might want to avert them… or your eyes. I'm confused… I'll shut up. Here goes.
"Can't you drive any faster?" Evan snapped at Xander for the third time.
"Forgive me Tony Hawk, but perhaps you'd like to skateboard there? I'm already pushing fifty, and no one's gonna get rescued any faster if we get arrested."
"Or if I throw up on both of you," Jean said, still trying to shake the nauseous feeling in her gut from reaching out and touching several someones in the Bronze. She slid across the back seat to open the window for some air, only to see a familiar face keeping up with them.
"Hey, sorry to bug you, do you know how to get to U.C.- Gray?!"
"Pietro?!" Jean cried. Xander sighed.
"Friend of yours?" he asked Evan as Jean opened her door and hauled Pietro in.
"Hardly," Evan muttered. Pietro looked at Jean, then Evan, then Xander.
"Okay, wherethehellarewegoing, wherethehellismygirlfriend, and whothehellisthe oldguy?" Pietro snarled.
"Wow, you really need to discover the decaf kid, and who the hell are you calling old?" Xander replied.
"We're going to the cemetery, your girlfriend's been kidnapped by a pack of freaky vampires, and he's Xander, he's helping," Jean replied.
"Rogue's been kidnapped," Pietro said flatly. Jean nodded and swallowed hard. The string of curses which came out of his mouth was almost as loud as it was fast, and almost as creative as it was unintelligible.
"Andwhenallthisisfinished-"
"Pietro."
"I'mgonnahave a long talk withthatbaldbastard aboutsending my girlfriend anyplace-"
"Pietro!"
"-called the hellmouth ever a-fucking-gain!"
"PIETRO!"
"What?!"
"We're here, jackass," Evan snapped. All four got out of the car and walked up to the cemetery. Jean blinked.
"The others are already here. Xander, do you know where the Dewey Crypt is?"
"Yeah, it's-"
Pietro's foot drummed on the ground like a rabbit freebasing cocaine.
"Gray, yank the directions outta what's his name's head, I've wasted enough time."
Jean glared narrowly at Quicksilver, but did as he asked. The moment he knew where he was going, Pietro was gone, the others' ears assailed by a loud crack as he broke the sound barrier.
Rogue woke with a deeply sick feeling in her stomach, and rolled over, getting so violently sick that she thought her ribs would break.
"Charming," a voice said coolly. Rogue struggled to her feet, getting ready to bolt. "Don't bother," the voice continued. "You're as good as hotel furniture."
Rogue glanced down to see a shackle around her right ankle that would have looked very much at home in the dungeons of the Spanish Inquisition, chained directly to the floor.
"My friends'll find you," Rogue said, feeling strangely ashamed as she wiped off her mouth.
"Yeah, they probably will." The person she spoke to finally emerged. It was the boy who had knocked on her door in the first place, looking angelic and way too young to be a monster. "But the thing is, you'll already be dead."
"That won't make you any less dead," Rogue replied, sounding far more certain and indifferent than she felt. The boy smiled.
"Actually, the colloquial term is 'undead,' but I know what you're getting at," the boy replied. "By the time I'm done with you, your friends won't be a problem." Rogue just rolled her eyes and laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"I'm just picturing your head seared off at the neck. Or maybe just entirely crushed."
The boy narrowed his eyes.
"You know, I always told myself I wasn't going to do this sort of thing when I became an evil mastermind, but I'm going to make an exception and tell you just what I've got on deck for your death."
"Lemme guess. Hellmouth thing, big ol' ritual sacrifice-"
The boy gave a short laugh.
"Hellmouth. Don't give me that superstitious shit. I'm not one of the witchdoctors crawling this place."
"Then what are you?"
"I'm a scientist. And a damned brilliant one, Miss Mutant."
"How the hell do you know about mutants?" Rogue snarled.
"Not everyone is born and dies in this backward little hole. I've been many places and I've learned plenty about you and yours. So much, in fact, that I've come up with a handy little invention."
The boy paced in a circle just out of Rogue's range, making her feel like a leashed guard dog.
"Not an invention really, a chemical compound. You were dosed with it while you were having your little nap. You see, vampires get their strength from the blood of live victims. Mutant blood was always of particular interest to me, but it turned out to be just like human blood. Nothing special. Until my little compound, anyway. It preserves the activated X-gene and integrates it into a vampire's physiology," he paused and smiled. "I'm still waiting on the patent."
Rogue blinked at him.
"I have no idea what the hell you just said." The boy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Stupid mortals. Because I injected you with my patent-pending compound, I will retain all the powers that come with your mutation. After slitting your throat and drinking your blood of course. Just takes a while for the compound to take effect. You should be ready right around midnight. Then I'll use your mutation to drain the life out of your friends and the slayer, without all the nasty messy throat biting. Much more sanitary this way. Oh, shoot, I just remembered something!" he exclaimed smacking his forehead.
"What?" Rogue asked. The boy smiled benevolently.
"You don't need to be conscious."
His fist slammed into her face and the world faded to red, then black.