*** Disclaimer in Part One***
Previous parts can be found at: www.autumnpenguins.com
A/N: Sorry for the delay in this piece. RL got annoyingly in the way or more important things.
I now have an update list for my multi-fandom fanfic:
autumnfic@yahoogroups.com
And I feel like I'm being eaten
By a thousand million shivering furry holes
And I know that in the morning I will wake up
In the shivering cold
And the spiderman is always hungry...
"Raymond?" Marie repeated disbelievingly.
"Clever girl." the creature hissed.
"What the hell happened to you, ya weren't that ugly when I saw you last." Logan stated coolly.
He was rewarded with a dose of venom that shot forth from the Spider man's large fangs. A sizzling noise brought Marie's head around and she watched in horror as a patch of Logan's cheek began to burn away as if it had been touched with acid.
Logan groaned in pain as his flesh disappeared. Finally the stinging subsided and the familiar feel of his mutation at work took its place. His grimace of pain was replaced by a shit-eating grin as he watched the look of delight drop from Raymond's face as he witnessed Logan's once again flawless cheek.
"If I can't cause you damage, at least I can cause pain" the angry partial arachnid hissed. With a demonic glint in his eyes he leaned forward and unleashed a larger dose of venom that splashed across Logan's entire face.
******
Elsewhere…
The scream ripped from Logan's throat was loud enough to be heard by the threesome at the head on the cave.
"Looks like we found the right place." Scott said quietly, concern etched on his face.
The three team members quickly secured a rope at the mouth of the cave. If something happened to any of them at least they would have a way out. Jean descended first closely followed by Jean and Storm. The scream they'd hurried had all of them worried. Logan wasn't one to express that he was in pain unless it was pretty acute.
The silence that followed had the trio even more worried. Wasn't it better to be screaming than silent after all? Then again, it was Logan. He couldn't be killed easily under ordinary circumstances. They hadn't seen or heard a trace from Rogue though either, and she herself was a tough opponent. Her physical strength alone generally ensured her protection. Determined to reach them, the pace quickened. When they came to a fork in the tunnel Ororo paused thoughtfully. "It appears that a rather heavy object was dragged from here." She said pointing to imprinted lines on the cavern floor.
Jean and Scott followed the weather witch and soon found themselves in a long winding tunnel. Scott realized with concern that a quick escape would be relatively impossible should they need an immediate out. He kept his thoughts to himself when a maniacal laugh cut through the air.
"At least we know we're getting close." Jean said bemusedly.
*******
"Raymond stop it already!" She shouted.
She watched in disgust as her ex continued to douse Logan with venom, wait for him to heal and start the process all over. A sickening sensation was in the pit of her stomach from Logan's suffering and her blood was boiling at Raymond's perverse behavior.
"What exactly is the point of that? You know Logan can heal."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean he doesn't feel pain" Raymond cackled madly.
Marie struggled to free herself again, but there was virtually no difference. The bonds held her tight. She thought desperately of another way to get them out of here. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for anything that might aid in her cause. There was a pile of what appeared to be a torn up mattress in the farthest corner of the cave. Candles were strewn about all over the place as well as pieces of paper. Glass beakers littered the floor, some with a little liquid inside them but most were empty. She wondered how long he'd lived down here before refocusing her mind on the task.
The wall she and Logan were pinned too was smooth and cold. After careful exploration she was disappointed to find that there weren't any jagged edges to attempt to break the bonds on. Rogue realized that the screaming had finally stopped and snapped her read around to look at Logan to see if he was all right. The ugly mug of Raymond met her instead. He stood less than a foot away, his eyes devouring her.
"I've missed you." He said softly.
Logan growled. "Once you're gone, she'll be with me again. Your body can't hold out against my venom forever." The Spiderman rasped not taking his eyes off of Rogue.
"We'll be happy down here. I'll make you like me, and you'll never want to leave me again Rogue."
"It's over Raymond, it has been for a long time. Let it go." Marie said carefully.
"It is for him." Raymond grinned maliciously with his contorted face.
He scuttled off towards in the direction of the darkest corner of the cave and appeared to be searching for something.
Marie turned towards Logan, panic in her voice. "Logan, can you hear me?"
He did indeed appear to be dead. Ugly red welts had swollen nearly all of his face, and blood trickled slowly to the ground from some unseen wound. She could see he was breathing, but it was shallow judging by the rapid rise and fall of his chest. Clicking noises drew her attention from Logan and she saw the Spiderman advancing once again from the darkness, a flask gripped in his hands. He stopped again in front of Marie.
"We'll be together again. You and me, and this cave. Nobody will interfere again," with this he shot an ugly look at Logan's prone form. "It'll be like old times. When you're like me, you won't want to leave." His eyes glowed with excitement.
He studied her carefully. "I think he should watch this. It's his fault you know, if it weren't for him I wouldn't be like this. So he can watch your transformation."
He advanced on her with the flask. Marie abandoned all logical sense and fought again at bonds she knew she couldn't escape. From the corner of her eye she could see Logan regain a sense of what was happening and he too feebly tried to escape the white strands. It was good for nothing. She was trapped, she was going to become disfigured and Raymond was right. When she looked like that, she would never again want to see the light of day.
Grinning widely Raymond was at her side. He raised the flask and was about to unscrew the cap when it suddenly flew out of his hands and smashed harmlessly against the opposite wall.
"NO!" He screeched.
Turning towards the source of this interruption, the Spiderman charged at the red haired woman. She easily stopped froze him in midair. Scott stepped from behind her. "Close your eyes Rogue." He said before focusing his visor.
A flash of red later and she was free. Marie jumped from the wall and moved towards Logan. His wounds had finally healed, but the welts were still there. Scott quickly freed Logan too, as Raymond cursed, spit and screamed at them all.
"Careful Jean, he's poisonous." Logan warned.
Logan unsheathed his claws and walked determinedly toward his target. "You loose." He grinned at the Spiderman before plunging both sets of claws into the torso. When Storm saw the condition of Logan she threw in a few complimentary lightning bolts to finish off the job.
Jean released her hold and the ugly creature fell to the floor writhing in pain. The five X-Men turned towards the cave, relieved to be going home.
**********
"That's the real deal. Not that candyass in red and blue tights." Logan finished to his rapt audience.
"Alright, well now that Logan's had his fun. It's time to hop into bed." Marie said, stroking Logan's arm lovingly.
None of the kids moved. "Oh, and I forgot to mention that he also comes after kids who don't listen." Logan said casually.
The words had barely left his mouth when there was a scramble towards the little cluster of tents.
"Logan, that was mean!" Marie admonished, laughing in spite of herself.
"I know. But we had to get them to bed, before we could get to bed." He said, saying the last part suggestively.
A laughing, Marie pulled Logan off in the direction of their tent. It was set a little ways away from the kid's tents, and with good reason. Settled comfortably in their two person sleeping bag, Logan pulled a small scrap of fabric from where he'd concealed it in the tent pocket earlier and began placing soft kisses on the back of Marie's neck. He crept around to the front, and was rewarded when she turned around and arranged the fabric to fit between their lips.
A few long kisses later, the pair found themselves settling in for a night of intimacy when a small scratching sound at the door interrupted them. "Miss Marie," the scared voice of Jeff came through the tent slightly muffled "can I come in there?"
Marie shot an exasperated look at Logan. "I knew that would happen," she mouthed.
To her chagrin behind Jeff was a line of all of the rest of the kids. All looking equally scared that the Spiderman would pop out of the nearby thicket of trees at any moment. Logan and Marie got out of the tent while all of the kids piled into their own. They hauled three of the pup tents over near their own and divided the kids up into new sleeping arrangements.
Five kids piled into the adult tent with Marie while the other five piled pack into the pup tents with their heads facing the openings so they could clearly see Logan who had arranged the other two tents to face his. He grumbled about having to sleep in a Little Mermaid sleeping bag, but there were no others available. Genevieve had jumped at the chance to donate her sleeping bag and hopped into the adult bag with Marie.
Eventually everyone calmed down enough to go to sleep and though there were many nightmares, no evil forces disturbed the little camp. Unbeknownst to them however were four glittering eyes focused on the camp 200 yards away. The figure rubbed two sets of scars protectively before hissing in the direction of the tents. He gave a final malevolent look before creeping off into the forest.
****** End
