Gambit groaned and slumped down against the wheel as he stared out across
the seemingly-endless traffic sprawled out across the freeway. They had
been misfortunate and had wound up stuck in rush hour on the way to the
airport, and Gambit was beginning to worry. Mindbender had impressed upon
him the need for this mission to go perfectly, and one hitch in their
plans, no matter how trivial, could have profound consequences. It had been
nearly an hour since the abduction, which Gambit knew was plenty of time
for something to go wrong.
In the back of the van, Sabertooth's legs were beginning to cramp up. He sneered down at his unconscious captive and then called up to Gambit, "Hey, why don't you do one of your card tricks and clear us a lane, huh?"
"Believe me, I'd love to," Gambit grumbled. "Except that would get us caught in two seconds, and then we'd be facing battery and kidnapping charges to go along with what Magneto would do to us,"
Finally after fifteen minutes, traffic began to move again. Gambit spotted his exit and quickly cut across the freeway and drove the van down the ramp. He drove into the airport's parking garage and took the ramp all the way down to the basement. The floor was empty except for one vehicle.
Gambit parked the van and got out. Sabertooth exited from the rear, carrying Electra's prone form in his arms. "Next time, why don't we walk?" he muttered.
The rear door of the second car opened, and Mindbender stepped out. He took a look at the girl in Sabertooth's arms and grinned. "Well done," he said. "Now, you'd best get out of sight for a minute so she doesn't see you,"
Sabertooth placed Electra in the back seat of the car, and he and Gambit ducked behind the van. Mindbender reached into Electra's purse and pulled out her wallet. He opened it and switched her driver's license and student card with altered duplicates, and then replaced the wallet in her purse. Next, he took a small vial out of his pocket, opened it, and waved it beneath Electra's nose. Electra gave a soft moan and slowly began to wake up.
As she was waking up, Mindbender flexed his hand and used his mutant powers to imprint false memories in her brain. When she regained consciousness, the look on her face as she gazed at him was one of recognition.
"Mmm, I'm sorry, grandpa, I must have dozed off. Are we at the airport yet?"
Mindbender assumed a friendly, paternalistic air. "Yes, Electra dear. We just arrived," He reached in his pocket and pulled out a passport. "Now, here's your passport. You'll need this when we go through customs."
She took the passport and slid it into her purse, and stepped out of the car. She began to follow Mindbender as he started to walk towards the elevator that would take them up to the international terminal, then paused.
"Grandpa, where are our bags?" she asked.
Mindbender hesitated in mid-stride. Hmm, so she wasn't a complete dolt. "I've already checked them in with the skycap, dear," he said quickly.
"Oh. Ok," said Electra, and resumed walking, not giving the matter any more thought.
Gambit watched the two enter the elevator and gave a sigh of relief as the doors closed. Mindbender's quick thinking had averted a potential disaster, and their role in this mission was now complete.
"So now what happens?" asked Sabertooth.
"Magneto will contact us again if he needs us. In the meantime, we're free to pursue whatever business we see fit," Gambit replied.
Sabertooh sneered. He knew exactly what sort of business he would be taking care of.
"I'll see you later, then," he said, and walked off, leaving Gambit alone with the two vehicles.
"Hmm," he thought. "Maybe I should check in on the recruits, just to make sure they haven't managed to starve to death with Pietro running things," He climbed into the car and drove off, leaving the empty van by itself.
X
In an office building in New York, a woman poured over the contents of a file. She was an FBI agent assigned to the Bureau of Missing Persons, and she had been examining this particular file for the last 2 hours. She gave a sigh and leaned back in her chair, her mind taxed. The file was very minimal in its details, saying only that a female college student in California had been abducted by unknown captors. She knew that without some kind of solid evidence, the search would probably be very long and very unproductive.
She looked up as there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," she called. The door opened, and a young man in a dress shirt and khaki pants walked in, holding a videotape.
"Jan, this just came in about your kidnap victim. You should take a look at it,"
"Ok, Tim," she said, and took the tape from him and loaded it into a VCR. In a moment, the TV screen lit up with a camera image of a sidewalk focused on a city street.
"This is security footage from a store near where the victim was last seen. Look at this," he pointed out.
Jan watched as a young woman who looked very much like the picture in the file she had been studying walked past the camera and out of sight. A few moments later, two men walked past the camera's field of vision. A few seconds later, they reappeared in the camera, dragging the woman into an alley.
"Rewind that," she said. Tim adjusted the controls and the tape began to move backwards.
"There, stop it," she said. The image froze on the two men as they first entered the camera.
Jan looked closely at the picture. The smaller of the two was fairly ordinary, albeit a bit scruffy. The other man, however, looked like a giant in comparison. He was huge, and wore a tattered trench coat. She zoomed the image in on his hands and saw the claws that formed at the end of his fingers. She refocused on his face and saw his mouth frozen in a half- snarl, fangs clearly visible. She stared at the picture in silence for a moment and then realized what she was looking at.
"Tim, call Mr. Simons in here immediately," she said. "I think our captors are mutants,"
X
In the back of the van, Sabertooth's legs were beginning to cramp up. He sneered down at his unconscious captive and then called up to Gambit, "Hey, why don't you do one of your card tricks and clear us a lane, huh?"
"Believe me, I'd love to," Gambit grumbled. "Except that would get us caught in two seconds, and then we'd be facing battery and kidnapping charges to go along with what Magneto would do to us,"
Finally after fifteen minutes, traffic began to move again. Gambit spotted his exit and quickly cut across the freeway and drove the van down the ramp. He drove into the airport's parking garage and took the ramp all the way down to the basement. The floor was empty except for one vehicle.
Gambit parked the van and got out. Sabertooth exited from the rear, carrying Electra's prone form in his arms. "Next time, why don't we walk?" he muttered.
The rear door of the second car opened, and Mindbender stepped out. He took a look at the girl in Sabertooth's arms and grinned. "Well done," he said. "Now, you'd best get out of sight for a minute so she doesn't see you,"
Sabertooth placed Electra in the back seat of the car, and he and Gambit ducked behind the van. Mindbender reached into Electra's purse and pulled out her wallet. He opened it and switched her driver's license and student card with altered duplicates, and then replaced the wallet in her purse. Next, he took a small vial out of his pocket, opened it, and waved it beneath Electra's nose. Electra gave a soft moan and slowly began to wake up.
As she was waking up, Mindbender flexed his hand and used his mutant powers to imprint false memories in her brain. When she regained consciousness, the look on her face as she gazed at him was one of recognition.
"Mmm, I'm sorry, grandpa, I must have dozed off. Are we at the airport yet?"
Mindbender assumed a friendly, paternalistic air. "Yes, Electra dear. We just arrived," He reached in his pocket and pulled out a passport. "Now, here's your passport. You'll need this when we go through customs."
She took the passport and slid it into her purse, and stepped out of the car. She began to follow Mindbender as he started to walk towards the elevator that would take them up to the international terminal, then paused.
"Grandpa, where are our bags?" she asked.
Mindbender hesitated in mid-stride. Hmm, so she wasn't a complete dolt. "I've already checked them in with the skycap, dear," he said quickly.
"Oh. Ok," said Electra, and resumed walking, not giving the matter any more thought.
Gambit watched the two enter the elevator and gave a sigh of relief as the doors closed. Mindbender's quick thinking had averted a potential disaster, and their role in this mission was now complete.
"So now what happens?" asked Sabertooth.
"Magneto will contact us again if he needs us. In the meantime, we're free to pursue whatever business we see fit," Gambit replied.
Sabertooh sneered. He knew exactly what sort of business he would be taking care of.
"I'll see you later, then," he said, and walked off, leaving Gambit alone with the two vehicles.
"Hmm," he thought. "Maybe I should check in on the recruits, just to make sure they haven't managed to starve to death with Pietro running things," He climbed into the car and drove off, leaving the empty van by itself.
X
In an office building in New York, a woman poured over the contents of a file. She was an FBI agent assigned to the Bureau of Missing Persons, and she had been examining this particular file for the last 2 hours. She gave a sigh and leaned back in her chair, her mind taxed. The file was very minimal in its details, saying only that a female college student in California had been abducted by unknown captors. She knew that without some kind of solid evidence, the search would probably be very long and very unproductive.
She looked up as there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," she called. The door opened, and a young man in a dress shirt and khaki pants walked in, holding a videotape.
"Jan, this just came in about your kidnap victim. You should take a look at it,"
"Ok, Tim," she said, and took the tape from him and loaded it into a VCR. In a moment, the TV screen lit up with a camera image of a sidewalk focused on a city street.
"This is security footage from a store near where the victim was last seen. Look at this," he pointed out.
Jan watched as a young woman who looked very much like the picture in the file she had been studying walked past the camera and out of sight. A few moments later, two men walked past the camera's field of vision. A few seconds later, they reappeared in the camera, dragging the woman into an alley.
"Rewind that," she said. Tim adjusted the controls and the tape began to move backwards.
"There, stop it," she said. The image froze on the two men as they first entered the camera.
Jan looked closely at the picture. The smaller of the two was fairly ordinary, albeit a bit scruffy. The other man, however, looked like a giant in comparison. He was huge, and wore a tattered trench coat. She zoomed the image in on his hands and saw the claws that formed at the end of his fingers. She refocused on his face and saw his mouth frozen in a half- snarl, fangs clearly visible. She stared at the picture in silence for a moment and then realized what she was looking at.
"Tim, call Mr. Simons in here immediately," she said. "I think our captors are mutants,"
X