Bwahahahahaha! I haven't updated in a while. I must say sorry to the three reviewers.
Sorry.
Any who, here is the third chapter!
IN WHICH THEY FIND THE PANHANDLER!
NOTE: Danny and Doggy are not in this story. It is pre-Danny/Doggy. But No Worries! I intend to have them both in a near-future story.
Asylin: Thank you so much! I love compliments!
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After the fruitless searching the X-men reassembled near the jet, sans Bobby and with Logan apologizing to Hank.
"I'm sorry, but you KNOW I don't like people following me."
"I'll try to keep that in mind."
"Ummm….." Scott looked around. "Where's Bobby?"
Amara grinned. "Knowing him, he's probably in jail."
"Err…actually…." Jean looked around sheepishly.
Logan growled. "You're kidding?!"
"I'm afraid not. I've located him in the city jail."
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Bobby's bail was, to say the least, expensive. To say the most, posting it had to have been the most embarrassing moment of Scott's life.
"This better not come up in dinner conversation. Or any conversation. Do you got that, Bobby?"
"Yes, Scott." Bobby had that all too innocent look on his face.
They swiftly rejoined the rest of the X-men. Logan nodded to them.
"So what do you got, Bobby?"
"Jack and Spit, sir."
"What?"
"Jack and spit. But Jack left town."
"Cut the crap, Popsicle."
"Okay."
Logan was about to take a round out of Iceman when Jean conveniently broke in.
"I have something."
Silence reigned as they all stared at her. Bobby finally said, "Well?"
"There is a mind with a blurry spot in it, as if he can't remember something, but it only pertains to a person."
Again they stared at her.
"Wow." Amara whistled. "Your powers are so strong! Can you pinpoint him from here?"
"Yes. Absolutely."
She began to tap her foot impatiently. "Well? Where is he?!"
"On that street corner." She pointed to a guy in dirty clothes sitting not thirty feet away on a street corner.
Amara studied him. "So THAT'S a hobo…."
"Told ya." Bobby grinned.
"All of that searching," Hank shook his head mournfully.
"What are we waiting for, X-men? Let's go!" Scott immediately ran up to the panhandler. The others walked up. They didn't want it to look like he was in their group.
The panhandler looked up at them. "Yeah? Waddaya want?"
Jean took the lead. "We've come to talk about the man you saw, the man who killed the guy in the alleyway.
"I don't remember nothin'."
"Anything." Beast was a stickler for proper grammar.
Jean shot him a warning look. "We know you don't remember anything. But I can help."
She placed her hands on the man's head. Scott winced when she touched his dirty head.
After a minute, she took her hands away.
"The power is very strong. Whoever did this has great control."
"Did you manage to get anything?" Logan was slightly hopeful.
"Yes. A man in a black trench coat and hat. And a gun. A special type."
Logan's hope fell. "Anything we can use Red?"
"Nothing….except that the man who died had several business associates."
"How did he know?" Hank asked quizzically.
"It was in the papers. We should probably talk to them."
"Lead on."
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Arcane flipped lazily through the papers. He had only glanced at the front page. The panhandler didn't even get his fifteen minutes of fame. It was really too bad. His roving eyes stopped a bit to read the comics before he put the paper down.
Today was another day. Today, they all had a choice. Let him hunt them down or stay and face him with dignity. It made no difference.
Arcane checked around the room one last time before he left. He didn't want anyone to see any piece of him left. Even the pictures were gone. The desk was empty. The chair didn't look as if it had been moved for months.
Satisfied, he left for the hunt.
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"What do you mean, dead?"
"You were too late. They killed her."
"Why? She was just a girl! Why was she a threat? She didn't even know anything!"
"She shoulda thought about that before she joined them."
Wham! He punched the stool pigeon* across the face. The man lay there, nursing his broken nose.
"Don't dishonor the dead. You'll need a good record. Now why was she killed?"
"She knew too much. And now she's dead. You can't do nothing now."
"But you're wrong. I can do plenty…"
BLAMMM!!!!!!!!!
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"Yes." The elderly man turned to them. "It was unfortunate. And I fear I may know who did it."
Jean nodded helpfully**. "We would be happy to help you track down this person. How do you know who it is?"
"A man wearing a long black trench coat came here several weeks ago. He and my associate," he caught his breath a little upon mentioning his deceased friend, " had a discussion that left them both very upset."
"Did he, your associate, say what it was about?"
"No." He sat down heavily in a chair behind a desk that bore the nameplate 'Mr. Jackson, CEO'.
He looked up at her. "You and your friends appear to be quite, ahh…."
"Muscular?"
"Yes. Are you a security firm?"
"Actually sir, we're mutants."
He sat back on his chair, chewing this bit of information.
"I don't suppose you can be hired to be bodyguards."
"Has this man in the trench coat threatened you?"
"Not directly. But I fear that he may come after myself and some of the others, and it would please them to know that I have bodyguards posted, not to mention it would set some of them at ease.
"I'll talk to the others." Jean left the room without waiting for his response.
The other X-men stood outside in the hall. Logan saw her first.
"So what's going on, Red?"
"The CEO thinks the man may come back and wants to hire us as bodyguards for some of the other staff."
"Sounds great!" Bobby piped up.
Logan shook his head. "I don't know…"
" We just can't leave them unprotected." Scott pointed out.
Logan nodded (albeit a little grudgingly).
Jean turned and led them back into Jackson's office. She stood in front of his desk.
"We accept your proposal."
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Alliances forged!
Stay tuned for:
Arcane's hunt: The swift death of Mr. Carnel.
It's a meeting between Arcane and the X-men! Don't miss it!
* A stool pigeon is a sort of snitch.
** How do people nod helpfully?!
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