PRISONERS


Disclaimer: I don't own them, but I am certainly using them. Man I feel so dirty. (:)

Author's notes: Please read I'm free first. It will make more sense if you do. This is chapter two of our little saga. I decided to add some more characters to this story. Please read and review. I'd like some output on this little story.

Summary: More characters added. Could this spell trouble for our merry mutants. Is the the end of the X-Men?

Ratings: R for the language. No we haven't got to the real good stuff yet. ;)
*******


As the night wore on Gambit became more and more restless. Not only had they spent the night in a dingy cell, but he was also grew very weary. Sleeping with a very heavy inhibitor collar, was not very comfortable to say the least. With this in mind, he became very upset.

When was the last time the X-Men was ever beaten and taken off their guard? How did Magneto get past the gates?A thousand questions played in the back of Gambit's mind, and he had the strangest feelings that one of their own had sold them out. As he pondered over the possibilities of who the culprit might be, Mystique walked in with a plate of food for everyone.

As she walked into the holding cell that held the last four X-Men with extreme caution, because she knew that one should never underestimate the X-Men. She walked up to Gambit and handed him the tray of food.

"I take it your the only one still up."

"It would appear that way chere."

"Did you ever go to sleep?"

"No chere, I didn't go to sleep at all. I don't sleep very well when I'm being held against my will."

"That's quite understandable. Here's your food, wake everyone up and pass around the food. I may have cooked for you, but I'm not your maid."

"What makes you think I'd want to eat any food that you've cooked?"

"You have a choice of eating the food, or you can sit there and starve for another night. The choice is your's Gambit, but in any case it does'nt make a bit of diffrence to me. How is Rouge holding up, is she feeling O.K.?"

"How do you think she feels? Especially after seeing her own mother betray her and her friends."

"You would think that, wouldn't you. That just goes to show, you don't know a damn thing about me. I would really appreciate it if you'd stop trying to judge me and open your eyes."

"Listen chere my eyes are wide open, and what they see is you, in the end, betraying the X-Men. Now whether you want to believe that everythings going to be O.K., then I got some news for you. Magneto has captured every single member of our group. Do you honestly belive he's going to let us walk out of here alive, especially when he's done with his little plan? If that's what you believe, then you're even dumber than I thought."

"Your food is getting cold."

With that she turned around and walked out the door. Once outside she turned the lock, and suddenly walked off. Gambit looked at the food, and sat it off to the side of him. He got up and went over to where Rouge was sleeping. His mind kept telling him, that she was the one who helped Magneto. His heart kept telling him, that he was wrong.

He love the petite with all his heart, and couldn't bear the thought of losing her. However, he kept thinking that if she was the betrayer, then he'd have no problems putting her down.

"Petite, Gambit cooked you a little food."

"Wha.....Gambit what's wrong? Where's Jean?"

"They still have Jean, but if your hungry, there's a plate of food for you over there."

"Where did we get food from sugah?"

"Gambit cooked for you chere."

"No really where did it come from?"

" Mystique."

Rouge got up and walked over to the tray of food, while Gambit woke the others up. She was so hungry that she grabbed a plate, and began eating it before she even sat back down. She hated being locked up like a prisoner, and she was worried about the safety of her best friend.

The team had no hope of survival without Jean and Logan. She would be lying to herself if she admitted that they would do fine without them. She took comfort in the fact that she had something that the remaining X-Men didn't have. Something which in the end that would save her life, and she didn't feel guilty about it.
*******

Jean Gray had never felt so much pain in all her life. Her head felt like it had been split open with an axe, and the headache that she had, made the pain even more worse. She could recall blacking out and entering the astral plane a few times.

During one of her visits to the astral plane, something happened that she could not explain. Yet what had happened scared her in more ways than she cared to think about. Normally only people with telepathic abilities were able to visit the astral plane.


While she was there she spotted Jubilee. She was sitting down as if she was huddled in a corner and waved for Jean to come over. Jean did exactly what she was told, and sat on the left side of Jubilee.

"Do you know why I'm here?"

"Jubilee, this is not possible. You have no telepatic abilities. There's no way I should be able to see you."

"Everything is not what it seems."

"Jubilee...... How is this possible?"

"There's no time. Zachary is coming. Magneto thinks he has the upper hand, but Zachary will prove him wrong. He'll destroy Magneto, and us as well. You must warn the others."

"Is this some kind of joke?" Jean said as she looked around her feeling a dark presence approaching the astral plane.

"Jubi........"

No sooner than she called her name, she had found that Jubilee had vanished. Something was wrong, and Jubilee had warned her somehow. She kept telling herself that the person she talked to wasn't Jubilee. She had felt the dark presence on the astral plane. So she deducted that it wasn't Jubilee, but rather someone who had the ability to change forms in the astral plane. If that was the case, then they were in a world of trouble, with nothing short of an miracle to help them.
********

Wolverine and Victor walked side by side, stopping only when they thought they heard approaching footsteps. When nothing came they advanced further into the cave. Wolverine kept glancing up toward the ceiling, trying to find any hidden cameras that would give away their location. He started to become more and more agitated as the time wore on. He was hot, hungry, and most of all uncomfortable.

For the past twenty minutes something had been sticking the hell out of him, and he was too preoccupied to bother finding out what it was. He kept walking until they came to an small cave cell. Wolverine glanced through the bars, and noticed one small figure huddled in a corner asleep. Logan motioned Victor over with one wave of his hand.

"Anyone we know?"

"How in the hell am I supposed to know who that is."

"I'm just asking."

"So we gon ta stand here all night collecting dust, or we gon ta break the young frail outta there?"

"We have other things to worry about bub."

"Like what?"

"Like stopping Magneto."

"As far as stopping Magneto, we'll need all the help we can get."

"Guess ya got a point."

"Well..................."

"Don't look at me Creed. You wanted her out, then you get her out."

"Stand back and watch a real pro."

Creed let out a feral roar as he slashed the cell bars to pieces. He ripped the door from it's hinges. He approached the young girl, and gently shoved her shoulder.

"Hey frail wake up. Your rescue commitee is here. Hey! What tha........ Logan it's a trap!!"

They watched as the young girl transformed from a girl, to deadly Prime Sentinel. Half mutant, half machine she was indeed a force to be reckoned with.

"Commencing bioscan..... Mutagenic signature verified and locked. Mutant biosignature is now confirmed. Mutant designate Logan codename Wolverine. Mutant designate Victor Creed, codename Sabretooth. This unit has been instructed to protect humanity, by destroying the mutant menance. Prime target locked........Terminate!"

"Remind me to personally thank you later Creed!!"

"Shut your hole runt, and watch your back!"

They watched in horror as the sentinel shot some type of pink energy from her hands. They quickly dodged the oncoming assaults of the prime sentinel. They knew without a shadow that she would put them down, and even if they don't suceede then Magnus surely would.

Logan had been restraining against using his claws. It felt good to have his adamantium back, but he didn't want to use that wildcard yet. He felt that the young girl could be of use to him. He was also surprised to see Creed fighting toe to toe with the young sentinel, and actually keeping up. He knew not to ever underestimate his adversary, but he knew not to completly trust him as well either.

Creed had already betrayed Logan once before, and he was not about to let that happen again. He'd just have to watch them both until everyone was free and safe. He was also surprised to see that with one blow to the head, the sentinel was out for the count.

"This unit memory bank has been damaged. Awaiting further instructions.....Commencing shut down for major repairs."

"Aw cripes! She's leading Magneto right to us! Maybe with a little reprogramming, I can get her ta play with tha good guys."

"Creed we don't have time for that, and what do you know about reprograming a prime sentinel?"

"I''ve been working with Magneto for over a year now, and I managed to pick up a few pointers here and there. Just becuse I'm a blood thirsty lunatic, that doesn't exactly mean that I'm dumb."

"So I see. Well this better be quick. We don't have much time."

While Sabretooth began the reprogramming process, Magneto had reccieved messaged from his little sentintel that Logan and Creed escaped. He had been in the Medi-Center with Jean, Blob and Juggernaunt. Cain was to play an large part in abducting the young boy named Zachary Talor. Cain proved to be one of his strongest henchmen, and he would need him when it was time to abduct the young boy. So when he recieved an urgent message from the sentnel, he ordered The Blob to check out the situation. Times like these were trying, and if Jean didn't recover soon his plan would be shot straight to hell.
*********

Jubilee had heard all the commotion, and immediately began to worry about Logan's safety. She didn't know if it was Creed or Magneto that was causing the distraction. She did not trust Creed, and feared that he might betray Logan again. She couldn't bear the thought of losing the only man that she ever loved, to someone as trecherous as Creed. She couldn't lose him, especially after she had finally admitted her feelings to him.

As she prepared to leave the narrow cave crevice that she was hiding in, she realized that she had lost most of the feeling in her legs. Her arm was also devoid of any feeling as well. At one point she pulled off one of her socks. She had tied her sock around her arm to stop the flow of blood that fell from her open wound. She was even desperate enough to use her own powers on herself to numb the pain.

She used her good arm to pull herself from the cave. She felt a sharp pain that ran from the top of her head to the bottom of her toes. She was dying and she knew it.

* Well if I'm going to die, I might as well go out with an bang.*

She had managed to get out from behind the wall crevice. Forgetting that her legs were still asleep, she tried to walk a little too soon. In an instant she fell smack down on her face, literally. Fortunately she didn't lose any teeth.

*Smart Jubes, real smart.*

She pulled herself up and did a few stretches. She had a rough journey ahead of her, but Wolvie needed her. As a matter of fact all of the X-men needed her, and she was determined not to let them down.
She would not let him down, no matter what the consequences were.