Rating: PG-13 for language and violence
Disclaimer: All Marvel characters belong to Marvel. All non-Marvel characters belong to the authors of this story. No money is being made off of this story.
Archiver's Note: I haven't had access to the internet for several months, that's why it took me so long to post this chapter.
It was now past one; Jamie had left an hour ago, and the kids were finally back in bed, thanks to Leilee. Cara stood by her window, staring worriedly down at the street below. Jamar still wasn't back. Cara felt lonely without him.
/Where can he be?/ She wondered. For some reason unknown to her, he had closed the mindlink between them. /Maybe Amanda has him out somewhere on some sort of business, because she isn't here either. But, what kind of business? She didn't tell the team what was going on, but from the emotions I sensed from her, it must be pretty big. Everything is so crazy around here, all of the emotions are flying sky high. It's very disturbing./
Cara decided to go up to Sammi's loft, to see how things were going there. Sammi and Jonas's honeymoon had been postponed, and she hoped that things were going okay for them. As she reached the stairway, an extreme wave of angry emotions suddenly crashed down upon her, leaving her gasping for air and writhing on the floor in agony. Cara couldn't pinpoint what had happened, but she remembered that pain from before.
/Anon.../ Cara thought, as she shuddered. Anon was definitely back, and Cara knew that meant trouble. Cara got up quickly, and ran up the stairs to Sammi's loft. When she reached the door, she burst in, just in time to see Rogue bringing a badly injured Warren Worthington in through the window.
"Stars and Garters!" exclaimed Hank as he rushed over to take Warren from Rogue.
"What happened?!" exclaimed Cara as she rushed over to Rogue.
When she looked into Rogue's flashing green eyes, she knew her worst nightmare had come true.
"They've got my baby and Sammi...and they're gonna pay if they hurt either one of them," Rogue said as she turned and flew out the window.
Cara rushed to the window and watched Rogue fly off into the distance. She turned back around at a curse from Hank where he was bending over Warren. He looked over at Cara.
"Cara, you've just been recruited as a nurse. Get some bandages and--" Hank ordered, and Cara ran off to get the items that he requested.
Rainfall
Hope appeared on the scene.
"Go help your friends. I shall assist, Hank," Hope told Cara.
Cara thanked her, then ran out the door in search of Rogue. Hope conjured everything that she thought that Hank would need.
"Would you like me too--" Hope began, but she was cut off by Hank.
"Not now, Hope. I have to get his bleeding to stop," Hank told her.
She knew that he didn't mean to snap at her, but it still hurt her feelings. Poor Warren lay so still, he looked like a broken bird she had once seen. Hope reached out to him, only meaning to smooth the blonde hair back from his sweating forehead. His crystal blue eyes opened and they were pain-filled. She had no control over the power that poured into Warren. Hank stepped back, wide eyed with shock.
Warren sat up gingerly.
"Man I feel great!" He fluttered his wings. "Where did Rogue and Cara go?" He asked.
"To help," Hope muttered in a small voice, watching as Hank began to pick-up the unused bandages.
"Thanks, Hope," Warren leaned in and kissed her cheek as he took off to help the others. Hope and Hank stayed behind to watch the kids.
"Are you upset at me?" Hope asked Hank.
"No. Why should I be upset at you? Seven years of medical school and 4 years residency all undone by a little wiggle of your nose, or a twitch of your fingers," Hank wasn't sure what made him lash out at her. All Hope ever does is help the people that really need her. He just couldn't help himself. A part of him felt threatened.
Lady_Yann
The door of the loft was suddenly flung open. Hank and Hope turned around, only to see a very wet and disgruntled Xavier in his hover chair, coming through the doorway.
"Don't ask," is all he said, as he went to the guest room to change.
Magneto entered a short time later, also dripping wet.
"Don't ask," he said to the gaping Hope and Hank. Then he, too, went to one of the guest rooms to change.
Rainfall
The restaurant was suppose to be one of the best in the Bay area. So far it had proven true, Xavier thought as he leisurely glanced around the place. They had a terrific view of the golden gate bridge.
"Excuse me," Magnus called out to one of the waiters as he passed.
"This fork is dirty," He told the poor guy as he started to hand him things from the table.
Xavier sighed. It never failed. In all of the years that Xavier had been friends with Magnus, he never failed to drive the poor unfortunate waiters and waitresses crazy with his demands. Xavier was a little sick of it. He just wanted one meal out that Magnus couldn't find something to pick apart.
By the time that Magnus had finished, he had sent back a fork, a napkin, the salt shaker that had some salt on the lid, and a water glass. By this time, Xavier no longer had any patience left. Magnus caught the look that his old friend tried to hide.
"What?" He asked.
"You never fail," Xavier said in a disgusted tone.
"Those things were positively disgusting," Magnus said defensively.
His feelings were a little hurt. After all the years spent in a concentration camp, he just couldn't stand the sight of something dirty at the dinner table.
"I am sorry IF my eating off a clean dish bothers you so much," Magnus said with dripping sarcasm.
"They were silly water spots, Magnus. Yet you made it sound like it was that poor person's fault. It's not that you sent them back that I object to... it's your tone," Charles told him.
"Hi! my name is Kimberly, and tonight's..." She never got a chance to finish her sentence, because the white-haired man turned to frown at her.
"Do you mind?" Magnus snarled.
"Uh... sure. I'll just give you guys a few minutes..." She hurried off.
"See, that is exactly what I am talking about," Charles slammed his fist on the table. "You treated that poor woman like she was beneath you!" Charles was angry now.
"She WAS beneath me," Magnus snapped back. "She and all her kind are."
Charles couldn't tell who threw the first blow, but what started out as a pleasant evening ended up with him swimming in the bay.
Lady_Yann
Cara ran out into the dead of night. She had to find out where Rogue was going.
/Anon...if she has Sammi.../ Cara shuddered at the thought, and ran faster.
After some time, she stopped by a streetlight and tried to catch her breath.
"There's no way I'm going to be able to find her on foot. Man, I wish I could fly." She said to herself.
She was startled by a voice overhead, saying, "Your wish is my command."
Cara looked up and was surprised to see Warren fly down to her. He scooped her up, and flew into the air.
"EEP!" Cara said, as she looked wide-eyed down at the street far below them.
Warren smiled, then his face dropped into a more serious look. "What direction did Rogue fly off to?" he asked.
Cara pointed the way, then closed her eyes. She was desperately afraid of heights. Warren flew off in the direction Cara pointed, and Cara hung on for dear life.
/Jamar, luv, I hope you can hear me...Sammi and Jonas are in trouble and need help. Rogue, Wings and I are on our way. Whatever you're doing, wrap it up quick and find us... we're gonna need all the help we can get. And, Hon, It'll be okay if you teleport...just get to us./ she sent a message to Jamar as she and Wings flew off into the night.
Rainfall
"Mmmmm…" Ryan moaned in her sleep. Eric eyed her carefully and then darted over to the new girl.
"Mmmmm…" The new girl moaned as well. Eric wondered what the two of them were dreaming about. Must be good, he thought.
"VICTOR NO!!!" Ryan screamed and awoke in tears. "No…. no… no.. why?" She sobbed as Eric came over and put his arm around her. "Where is he?" Ryan asked Eric.
"He is in the other room with Amanda and Jamar. They are trying to bring him back."
Ryan looked at the new girl sleeping in the bed. Her eyes narrowed, and her expression grew hard. She wanted to kill that woman right now but held herself back. Reason had taken hold of Ryan. She really couldn't blame this girl. She didn't know anything about Victor and Ryan. She had no idea how much they once loved each other. Ryan began to feel tears well up in her eyes again. She thought of the look on Victor's face when she had caught him. He hadn't recognized her, and he was so consumed with this other woman that he didn't even care. Ryan didn't know if he would ever care for her again.
"I know what you're feeling. Don't worry… I felt the love that you two had… that's real. You two will be together again, I just know you will," Eric said as Ryan cried on his shoulder.
"I need to get out," Ryan said, standing up. "I can't be around her right now."
"You can't go in the room with Amanda and Jamar. They need to handle this with no distractions," Eric said.
Logan had woken up, and heard the last part of the conversation. "It's ok kid. You keep an eye on this one. I'll go for a walk with Ryan. I wanted to talk to her about something anyway."
Eric reluctantly agreed, and Ryan and Logan walked outside to talk.
The two walked in silence for some time until the got down to the pier.
"Look, I know what you're going through, ok? You just need to give it some time," Logan told the girl.
It was true that he didn't like Creed much, but Creed had been a better man with Ryan. Logan didn't want to see her give up on him. If the love they had was strong enough to make Victor Creed a better person, then it would survive. That's if Ryan didn't give up on him.
"It just hurts so much, Logan. I mean, if he had gotten a new girlfriend when we were apart, I would have been hurt... but I would have understood. It's just right now when I get him back, some…… girl moves in on him."
"Don't give up on him. I saw the look in his eyes when he was with her. Its just lust."
"Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better, Logan. He used to look at me the same way," Ryan said giving Logan a sour look.
"That's what you think, darlin'. I saw him give you some looks that you never saw. The kind of 'I'm so in love' looks that he tried to hide because he had to be the tough guy. I was almost jealous of it. I don't know what Creed ever did in his life to deserve you, but he is lucky. I know that deep inside somewhere, he knows that."
Ryan smiled at Logan and took his hand. "We better get back. Thank you... I feel better now."
Le Fae
Amanda was running out of patience. She was so knee deep in trouble, how could she have any possibility of escape? She had to help Victor, save Sammi and Jonas (She had sensed what was happening but had been trapped by Anon's distraction), deal with the X-men being trapped in their world and being stalked by a madman, and had to deal with two grown men acting like children.
Amanda had left Victor's mind for a second to regroup her powers. Jamar was still trying to reverse the brain washing. Amanda had gone out a different door because she was not looking forward to telling Logan that Anon had his daughter. Overall she was having a bad week.
/It's going to get worse real soon./ an ominous voice echoed in her mind.
With a start, Amanda turned around to come face to face with the very monster she had created. He was shielded in armor that was similar to Magneto's, but his was combination black and blood red. He stood about a good two feet taller then Sabretooth, and was twice as big. Amanda could not pick up any thoughts from him and knew that he was blocking her.
"You're here to keep me from saving Sammi and Jonas, right? They're valuable to Anon, aren't they? Well, mister, I don't care how powerful you are; you are not keep them or destroying the X-men." stated Amanda as she pulled her psychic sword forward.
The being laughed and replied, /Anon has ordered me to kill you. You interfered for the last time. Once you are dead, the X-men and Vision-X will fall. Anon has the ones she wants./
As he said this in her mind, he sent a magnetic pulse towards Amanda, throwing her several feet back. As she tried to get up, she was hit with another blast that tore through her body, reopening her injuries. Amanda knew she was in trouble. This guy was out for blood, and no one could save her.
AC
Ryan and Logan walked back into the hotel room. By the time they got there everyone had woken up. Eric and Maggie had the policewoman gagged, and were sitting down at the table playing cards. Maggie and Ryan shot each other harsh glares, each trying to intimidate the other with their stare.
"Knock it off girls. The last thing we want is another fight. I'm still more then a little miffed about the mud," Logan said, and then guided Ryan across the room away from Maggie.
"Mph… grmph… Smph", the policewoman grumbled from behind her gag. Logan walked over to the lady and squatted down until he was eye level with her eyes.
"If I take this off of you… you're not going to yell or anything like that?" Logan asked the woman, looking in her eyes as she nodded.
Logan removed the gag and Tina stayed quiet for a moment. "You guys are all under arrest!" Tina then shouted at the top of her lungs. She freed her legs from the chair she was tied to in a split second, and before Logan knew it he was being kicked in the face.
Everyone jumped into action and headed over to subdue the screaming woman. The scene was complete chaos with legs and arms flying everywhere. No one wanted to use their powers because they didn't want to hurt anyone else. Well, except for Ryan and Maggie... but they weren't even thinking of each other at the moment. Finally Ryan got fed up and decided to take matters into her own hands. She focused her powers on the cop and concentrated.
As soon as everyone noticed the girl had stopped kicking, they all got up and looked at the floor. Tina's policewoman hat was moving. Logan moved over to pick it up, and underneath the hat was a little turtle. He smiled at Ryan.
"Thanks…. You know, she's pretty cute like this…" Logan picked up the turtle. "YOUCH!" Logan yelled and dropped the turtle on the bed. "She bit me!"
Le Fae
Everyone looked at the little turtle on the bed as Logan looked at his finger... it was a rather deep cut, but healed up quick. The turtle looked back at everyone... it looked mad; well, as mad as a turtle could look anyway. To everyone's surprise, the turtle sprinted over the edge of the bed, down on the floor and under the bed.
"Aren't turtles supposed to be slow?" Ryan asked as Logan bent down and reached under the bed.
"Come here you biting monstrosity," Logan said.
Maggie looked over at Ryan, suddenly fascinated... had this blonde bimbo done that to the cop?
"Got you... AHHHHH." Logan yelled as he pulled himself out from under the bed, bleeding from his hand.
"Damn girl, what kind of killer turtle did you turn her in to?" Logan said as his hand healed up.
"Oh, I guess they are called snapping turtles," she smiled.
Everyone in the room looked at Ryan and sighed.
/Next person to come down here with a hand I'll bite it off./ Tina thought, more angry than scared.
Admiral
Ymela watches in horror as she sees Amanda in her dire circumstances; she racks her brain wondering what to do. Her "nephew" must not kill Amanda.
~Hope!! Amanda is in trouble. Get ahold of Magneto, Charles, and anyone else who is not involved in the search for Sammi and Jonas. Do it quick!!~ She telepathically calls to her daughter.
~Yes Mother.~ Hope answers.
Hope glances over at Hank, who seems to be brooding a little bit.
"I'll be right back... I need to step outside for just a moment."
Hank nods, and Hope leaves the room. She startles Remy and Leilee who are on the couch.
"Sorry to have disturbed you, but there is a problem. Amanda is in trouble," she tells them.
Leilee sits up very concerned, as well as Remy. "Guess our cuddle time is over, Chere'," His eyes flashing a bit. Leilee nods, a look of worry on her face.
Hope leaves the two of them alone and goes to find the others. She explains the situation to them. Xavier calls Storm, and Bobby. He is unable to get through to those who are at the motel as his communication is being blocked. Hope then steps outside and forms a small glowing blue ball to see where the others are at. She sees that Teb and Ange are nearing the area where Amanda is.
An image forms on the dashboard of Teb's car.
"What the??" Says Teb as she brings the car to a screeching halt. Luckily there wasn't anyone else on the road at the moment.
"Teb, Ange, you are needed. Amanda is being attacked by a new player in the game this is where she is right now. Hurry, she's in trouble!!"
Teb is a little startled to see the image on her dashboard, and looks over at Ange.
Ange looks back at her and then says, "Well Chica, guess someone realized we left."
Teb nods. Ange leans over and gives her a kiss, she returns it wholeheartedly.
"Time for us to get back to work" he says after the kiss. Teb nods and heads in the direction that Hope told her to go.
Hope walks back inside where the rest of the people are at and opens up a portal; Remy, Leilee, Xavier, Magneto, Cyclops, Jubilee, Maria and Storm wait to step through.
Bobby groans as he hears Professor X's summons. He gives Athena a kiss, "Sorry love, guess our little corner of paradise is being invaded. Amanda is in trouble and we are being summoned to the living room."
"Amanda's in trouble, and we are all being called to help out? This isn't good at all. I'm coming with you, I don't want anything to happen to her," Solitaire says as she gives Bobby a big hug. "And we need to be careful as well. We must make certain that we get the kids off to Mishka."
She and Bobby step out to where the others are waiting to step through the portal Hope created. Charles tells Hank to stay with Hope and the kids so that they will be protected. Hank agrees to do so.
Everyone who was summoned to go help Amanda step through the portal, arriving just a little ways away from the combatants.
Amanda's eyes go wide as she sees her creation move towards her. readying another blast to finish her off, he smiles as he aims his hands at her. Amanda moves towards him. Her injuries are too much, she winces as she moves, and can feel the blackness loom towards her. /Mustn't black out not now,/ she tells herself.
Teb and Ange are the first to arrive. Teb's skin morphs to where there are blades sticking out in various places, not looking very cuddly at the moment. Ange changes as well, and two twin ginsu's rush towards the unsuspecting foe of Amanda's who at the moment seems to be gloating over his victim.
Amanda lashes out at him at the same time Teb and Ange hit him from behind. He is surprised at the attack from behind, and is bowled over by their attack. He quickly regains his feet in a quick acrobatic movement. He aims a blast at Teb and Ange, blowing them off of their feet. His attention is taken off of Amanda as he moves to attack the new targets. Teb and Ange get up from off the ground a little shaken, somewhat hurt but ready to give him some hurt as well. Just as he gets ready to blast them again, the others arrive.
The first wave comes through the portal, Maria and ... Banshee! Banshee is surprised to find himself there alongside Maria, but assesses the situation very quickly and both of them scream at the foe. Storm flies through next, calling on her powers to hit him with a bolt of lightning. Magneto attacks him alongside Charles, a common foe to keep their bickering at bay. After them comes Leilee and Remy from another direction, attacking the one who dared to attack Amanda.
Jubilee and Cyclops attack as well, Jubilee sending her fireworks to blind him. Cyclops blasts him as well, knocking him to one side. Once all of the attacks have gone off, there is a silence as the dust settles down to reveal...him, standing there laughing. He looks over at Amanda, and then the others.
"I'll be back Amanda, you can count on that." He disappears, laughing.
The others look at each other in disbelief.../He is a living nightmare.../
Magneto moves over and picks up Amanda, stepping through the portal provided. Amanda groans, full of pain as she is taken back to Sammi's place.
Amanda hears in her mind Anon laughing.
/Score one for me.. you had to be bailed out. Next time you won't be so lucky.../
Teb and Ange go back to her car to continue the journey back to Sammi's. They are hurting from Bozo's attack. He could have hurt them worse, but he seemed to want to play with them.
Amanda was hovering between consciousness and unconsciousness when she heard Anon's taunt. At that moment she knew that this was getting personal. She was going to nail that witch if it was the last thing she did, and she didn't care who she had to go through to do it.
Both Charles and Amanda's dragon protectors knew that Amanda was furious, and that was not good. They also realized that the fight was getting too personal and too dangerous between the two.
As Magneto carried Amanda towards Hank, Xavier noticed that Amanda was leaning a little to close to Magneto. This was the second time Magneto had helped her, and Xavier was concerned that she was starting to get attached to him. He also noticed how careful and concerned Magneto was around Amanda. Charles was definitely going to have to have a talk with his friend as soon as he was sure Amanda was alright.
"Where are Logan, Jamar, Sammi and the others.?" Asked Xavier.
"Sammi and Jonas were taken by Anon. Logan, Jamar, Eric and Ryan are helping Victor back at the hotel. If you make one comment about me working with Sabretooth, Charles, I'll wipe your mind so clean that you could eat off it." warned Amanda as Magneto set her on the bed.
Magneto laughed, "Must be quite an experience for you, Charles, to know there is a telepath that can do to you what you do to others. You have my respect, Amanda. You do not let him get on his superior pedestal."
"Now is not the time to share your views on what you think I do wrong, Eric," hissed Xavier.
"Oh, really. What are you going to do about it, Charles?" challenged Magneto.
Amanda turned towards Beast and Hope and whispered, "Help me. I already dealt with a twisted version of Onslaught. I don't want to watch how it all came about."
She closed her eyes at that and prayed that the pain would go away. Before she lost consciousness, she sent out a message to Jonas. /Don't worry. I'll find you. I won't let you down./
To Anon, she sent, /You may have won round one, but by the time I'm finish with you, witch, you'll wish that Sinister never created you./
~Really,~ hissed Anon from somewhere on the plane.
/Just bring it on!/ replied Amanda.
AC
Everyone was heading back to the loft, but Sean noticed that Jubilee was lagging behind looking around. He walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"What's wrong, lass?" He asked as she turned to him.
"I haven't seen Sammi in a while, or Jonas for that matter; and I didn't get the chance to talk to her. I'm getting worried. You know Sammi; where there's trouble, she's there," Jubilee said, still looking around.
"I know, lass. I'm sure wherever Sammi is, she is alright. Why don't you go and talk to Logan?" Sean said, trying to cheer her up.
"Alright." Jubilee said as she headed for the motel room. She turned to Sean and said, "By the way, Thanks." She smiled and continued to the room.
She didn't knock when she got there because the door was open a little. So she pushed it open more and walked inside. She looked around and saw Ryan and Wolvie talking. On the other side of the room was a boy and a girl she didn't reconize. She walked in more and caught Logan wiping the blood off his finger. She went over to him and asked, "What happened?"
"A turtle bit me, darlin'. What are you doing here?" He asked, looking at her. She should be at the loft, especially with Creed in the next room.
"Looking for you. Has anyone seen Sammi or Jonas?" She asked, looking around the room.
"Who? That girl with the 'tude and that dragon thing?" Maggie asked nastily.
Jubilee glared at her; whoever she was, she just made a big mistake.
"Excuse me? You do not talk about My sister and her husband that way, bub," Jubilee said, getting angry.
Eric knew that Jubilee was getting angry; and since there was no telling what she or Maggie would do to each other, he decided to step in.
"Why don't we just worry about the turtle for now? Sammi and Jonas can take care of themselves. We'll ask the others when we get to the loft. OK?" he said.
Jubilee looked at the boy and then at Maggie, and with a cold glare said,"Fine." Then she turned to Ryan and Logan and asked, "What turtle?"
jubilee_79
"Let me try," Ryan said, motioning for Logan to get out of the way.
She morphed into a diamond hard image of herself and crawled under the bed after the turtle. Ryan reemerged from under the bed with the turtle in her hand.
"Do we have something to put her in," Ryan asked the room of people, "Or should I just morph hot pants over there into a cardboard box?"
"Wow, with a comment like that, I take it back; you're not Barbie... you're Skipper! Just try it, peroxide-for-brains, and they will be putting YOU in a cardboard box!" Maggie responded to Ryan's less than witty remark.
"Hey, let me hold it!" Jubilee whined to Ryan and took the turtle from her.
Maggie and Ryan glared at each other, and everyone thought another fight might break out. At least until Logan began to do handstands in the room.
"Logan, what are you doing? This is no time to be doing Yoga," Ryan said, looking disbelievingly at Logan.
"I ain't doing this, darlin'." Logan said as his feet returned to the floor.
Suddenly Logan began to hit himself with his own hands. Just as suddenly, Ryan flew into the air and slammed against the ceiling. Eric tried to protect Maggie from the unseen attacker, but he and she both got shoved into the bathroom, the door promptly slamming behind them. The only person left standing in the room is Jubilee who is holding the turtle.
"Wow! What the heck is going on?" Jubilee said, and began laughing as Logan grabbed himself by the scruff of his neck and pulled himself to the floor.
He was now pounding his head into the floor of the hotel room."This ain't funny, Jubes!" Logan yelled at Jubilee. "Ryan, I got a feeling our turtle is behind this! Morph her back!"
Ryan did as she was told, and the cop was now standing in front of Jubilee.
She looked more then just a little mad. "Like I was saying. You are all under arrest!"
Le Fae