hnh: Don't beat up the voice of reason! Who else can you beat up for saying 'I told you so?' Hunn…that's a little redundant, neh? Oh well. Would you like to borrow my Internet based ginger snaps? I mean, if you turn em the right way, they turn into mini-discus.
Disclaimer: Molly Hatchet owns 'Flirting With Disaster', Marvel owns the X-men, and I own Arcane.
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Bobby pitched forward suddenly into Amara.
"Wha- BOBBY!"
Her eyes suddenly widened when she saw the figure behind him. The man swept his arm pushing both of them back. He shut the door fast, locking it behind him. She opened her mouth to scream.
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"AIIEEE-!"
The scream cut off quickly. Jean sent out her thoughts.
"He's here!"
"What about the icicle and princess?" Logan shot out his claws and pushed the maid aside.
"I don't think they've been hurt bad. They've been put out of action though."
"Let's get him!" Logan charged the door, trailing Scott and Hank. Jean brought up the rear.
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Arcane watched the man. Jackson was sneering at him.
"You don't think you can get away, do you?"
"Yes, in fact, I do."
"Who are you? Who sent you?"
"Indiana Jones."
"What?"
"They always ask things like that on Indiana Jones."
"Who do you think you are? Harrison Ford?"
"Harrison Ford doesn't have the credentials I do."
"Who sent you, damnit!?"
"The parents of a person who is dead."
Behind him the door shattered from a barrage that only comes from people that use
claws. The Canadian came in with the Beast and Cyclops.
"You'd better back off, bub."
Arcane didn't move. He kept his gaze on Jackson. Jackson was enraged.
"Kill him! He's threatening me! He killed all of my associates!"
"No he didn't."
All eyes turned to the red headed bombshell that just came in.
"You killed the ones at the airport. And don't try to lie to me Mr. Jackson, because I can read your mind."
Mr. Jackson gaped like a fish. Obviously he didn't expect this. Arcane began to reach inside his coat. Then there were claws in his back.
"Better not do that, bub."
"Would you kill me Wolverine?" Arcane smirked again. "Knowing that I have been doing right?"
"It is not right to kill people." Jean Gray glared at him.
"Isn't it?"
"Of course not. For any reason."
"I hope you hold to that idealism. As for myself, I have found that it doesn't do much good."
Jackson choose this time to bolt. He ran out onto the patio from a sliding glass door. A sort of scenic office, one would guess.
"He's getting away," Arcane allowed himself a slight smile as he pointed out the bloody obvious.
"Go after him," Wolverine growled at the two other men. Jean went down to check on Magma and Iceman, whom he, Arcane, had knocked out so graciously earlier.
He did not have the time nor the patience to deal with this.
"You realize he has a lot of people on his payroll."
The Wolverine growled. "Not everybody."
"Everybody that counts."
"I doubt that."
"And I doubt that you'll forgive me. But we can't be sure of these things."
"Wolverine!" Damn his stray thoughts! But it was too late anyway. He shifted his weight and let the gun that had been trapped in his sleeve drop down. He shot Wolverine in the leg.
The Canadian swore and dropped his claws. Arcane brought the gun into an arc, and let a round go right next to the psychic's ear. It was the same tactic he used when they first met. The shockwave knocked her out. Arcane leaped for the sliding door, with the Canadian a few inches behind.
But he was with two good legs. Wolverine only had one. He spread the gap easily and set off after Mr. Jackson, leaving Wolverine far behind.
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Hank and Scott had almost caught him when the gunfire had started. Apparently Mr. Jackson had some other hired muscle.
A helicopter shot across the expansive lawn of the Jackson residence. It had a spotlight on, which settled on Mr. Jackson. It set down momentarily to collect him.
"Something tells me we've been duped." Scott had to yell over the helicopter and gunfire.
"Indeed, it appears that way." Beast ducked down as low as he could.
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The air was perfect, the light. It could do with a deal less sound, but Arcane could not wish for everything. Or rather, he could, but it didn't mean it would happen.
He raised the muzzle of his gun several inches. His eyes, far better than any humans, saw what no human could. Mr. Jackson sat in the plane, mentally congratulating himself on his escape. Never realizing that the infamous Arcane had him in his sights.
He squeezed the trigger.
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Wolverine ran out to see the helicopter that would most certainly hold Mr. Jackson begin to sway like a drunken duck, then crash. The iron twisted and hissed in death throes. No one could have survived. It was a long shot, and only one person could have made it.
There, standing not a hundred feet away, stood Arcane.
Wolverine snarled with anger. Not at the anger of Jackson being dead. He had seen Red's face when she read his mind. He probably wouldn't have been punished at all for any of it.
But that fedora wearing creep shot him. And nobody sucker punches the Wolverine and gets away with it.
Arcane heard him and swung around. As a result, he only got a side hit with those claws. But it was enough to knock him off his feet. His hat fell off. He shot his hand inside his coat and met Logan's eyes.
It was as if some secret became very clear to him. He now knew what Arcane looked like. He had copperish brown hair. He had pale green eyes. He was young, in his twenties. And he wasn't afraid.
Logan felt his anger dissipate. This kid did what he had to do. Even if he did it in a fashion that caused distaste.
"Get out. Don't come back."
Arcane got up slowly. The claw marks in his side were deep. He put his hat back on, and looked around. Then he locked eyes with Wolverine once again.
"See you around." He nodded to him. Then he turned his heel and disappeared into the smoke.
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"And when the girl didn't come back, they called Arcane to look for her." Jean was reciting off all he had learned from the look into Arcane's and Jackson's mind. "And when he found out that she was dead, he told her family, and they wanted him to be put to justice."
"But that wasn't possible." Scott mused.
"Right. Anyone who could have prosecuted him was already in his pocket. And she was killed for just knowing about the scam. So they asked Arcane to exercise justice for them."
"Why did he take out the other guys?" Bobby was sitting upright. He had given the controls to Hank since he still had a raging headache. They were headed home.
"He had to take them all out, because they were all in on it. They were all guilty."
"And Jackson helped him out with the thing at the airport." Logan checked the altitude.
"Yes." Jean finished.
"Then one could say that he was not truly a bad person. His sense of duty was great. He carried out justice with an…extreme brand of vigilanteism. " Hank pondered over the controls. "I wonder if we will meet again?"
"Don't know. Maybe." Logan said as he put the plane on auto pilot. It had been a hard week.
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"Thank-you."
"You're welcome."
"Where will you go now?"
"Old West."
"What?"
"Old West movies always have that line."
"I suppose that means you'll go where the wind takes you." The man had a glimmer of a smile beginning.
"I suppose it does."
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The weather was hot and dusty. The sun shone brightly upon the road, of which there was only one inhabitant. An old sierra with a mysterious occupant.
I'm travelin' down the road,
I'm flirtin' with disaster.
I've got the pedal to the floor,
My life is running faster.
I'm out of money, I'm out of hope,
Looks like self-destruction.
Well, how much more can we take,
With all of this corruption.
Been flirtin' with disaster,
Y'all know what I mean.
And the way we run our lives,
It makes no sense to me.
I don't know about yourself or
What you want to be, yeah,
When we gamble with our time,
We choose our destiny.
I'm travelin' down that lonesome road,
Feels like I'm draggin' a heavy load.
Yeah, I've tried to turn my head away,
Feel about the same most every day.
Speeding down the fast lane,
Playin' from town to town.
They boys and I been burnin' it up,
Can't seem to slow it down.
I've got the pedal to the floor,
Our lives are runnin' faster.
Got our sight set straight ahead,
But ain't sure what we're after.
Been flirtin' with disaster,
Y'all damn sure know what I mean.
You know the way we run our lives,
It makes no sense to me.
I don't know about yourself or
What you want to be, yeah,
When we gamble with our time,
We choose our destiny.
Yeah, we're travelin' down that lonesome road,
Feels like I'm draggin' a heavy load.
Don't try to turn my head away,
I'm flirtin' with disaster every day.
Flirtin' with disaster, baby,
Y'all know what I mean.
You know the way we run our lives,
It makes no sense to me.
I don't know about yourself or
What you want to be, yeah,
When we gamble with our time,
We choose our destiny.
Yeah, we're travelin' down that lonesome road,
Feels like I'm draggin' a heavy load.
Don't try to turn my head away,
I'm flirtin' with disaster every day.
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Yes. Arcane is over. And I just realized that my origin stories are both nine chapters long. Odd. OH WELL!
But never fear! Arcane shall now appear in Twisted Alliances. In several chapters. Not just yet.
Because this is the last chapter of his origin, err….starting story? It just occurred to me that the only thing that has really happened is that I introduced him. Not a lot about his past. Oh well again. Any way, Arcane himself will take the reviews!
Arcane: You'll have to pry my cold dead fingers off my sierra first.
Or I could just have you meet an awful incident and be turned into a easily swattable insect.
Arcane:…..Damn…..
I thought you'd see it my way.
Arcane: Let the record show I tried to resist.
Dexroth: You are an inspiration to us all.
Arcane: Are you laughing at me, muse boy?
AHEM! As I was saying, Arcy will take the reviews.
Arcane:….Arcy?…….