Disclaimer: How I wish I owned these characters. But alas, it is not to be.
A/N: Hi there! Welcome back to the ongoing saga of Mutant Dawn! There's a little Brotherhood action in this chapter. Not a whole lot, mind you, but it leads up to plenty in later chapters!
To the person who submitted a review with no name: Well, the X-Men, Brotherhood, and Acolytes were supposed to lose. If they kicked the Marauders' butts right away, it wouldn't make for an interesting story, now would it?
Morlin: Well, he does call himself Sinister for a reason. I'm glad you liked Xavier's and Magnus' conversation, dialogue between those two is always fun to write. Background on the Marauders, hmm? You're in luck. Bishop's past (or is that future) will be catching up with him very soon. The history of the others will begin to trickle down soon after.
Original: Doesn't everyone like Romyness? More of that soon.
Princess-Pixie-Sugar-Stix: You like Pyro too, huh? We'll have to see what we can do, then.
Kasey: I thought the New Mutants could use a workout. They'll play bigger rolls in the chapters to come.
The X-Men stood frozen in shock for a good ten seconds. The battle had been going so well, and now they find out someone who was supposed to be their ally suddenly turn up working for the enemy without the slightest warning.
Magneto was the first to recover. "Gambit, what is the meaning of this?" He asked, sounding irate.
"Like Gambit tell you, he don' have a choice. Somethin' bad happen ta someone if Remy don' cooperate."
"What kind of an excuse is that?"
"You one ta talk!" Gambit spat, rounding angrily on the Master of Magnetism. "How you gonna say somethin' like dat, when yer doin' almost teh exact same t'ing ta Piotr!"
Silence reigned. Though it was impossible to tell for sure with his helmet on, Magneto adopted the air of someone slapped across the face. Colossus, whose metallic face was normally inscrutable, now looked decidedly uneasy. The X-Men stared back and forth between Magneto and his former Acolyte. Even the Marauders seemed caught out for the moment.
Then, Magneto's hand balled into a fist, and roughly fifty metal pipes lying in a pile nearby rose into the air, all pointed straight at Gambit.
"How dare you!" Magneto hissed. With a wave of his hand, the deadly missiles shot through the air towards Remy. Remy dove off of the crate he was standing on, letting the pipes sail by overhead.
Rictor, having finally managed to extricate himself from the mountain of Jamie's, made a beeline for Mimic's fallen form. Bending down, he tossed the unconscious mutant over his shoulders.
"Marauders! I think we made our point. Banshee, cover out retreat!"
Taking a deep breath, Banshee let loose with one of his loudest sonic screams yet. The X-Men clamped their hands over their ears, all the while Hank thinking he absolutely must find a way to counteract the attack.
With their enemies incapacitated, the Marauders plus Gambit made their hasty retreat. That is, after Bishop dug the unconscious form of Karl Lykos out from under the crates he had fallen into as Sauron earlier.
When Banshee's wailing faded into the distance, Magneto whirled on his two remaining Acolytes. "Piotr, St. John, we return to base immediately!"
Piotr nodded obligingly. St. John, however, cleared his voice, before speaking slightly nervously.
"A…actually, if'n it's all the same ta you, mate, I'd…I'd rather like ta be stayin' at the Institute…"
Magneto's eyes flashed dangerously, and his hand twitched once. Pyro's fuel tank collapsed in on itself, leaking kerosene onto the docks. "You'd like to what, St. John?"
St. John swallowed. "N…nothin'."
Nodding, Magneto turned towards Storm. "Please thank Charles for his hospitality on my behalf." Waving his hand, he extended his sphere of Magnetic influence to include Colossus and Pyro, and towed them along with him as he made his exit.
None of the X-Men knew what to do or say, so they stood around in silence for the next few minutes. The funk was broken when they heard a splash from behind them, and someone swearing under their breath.
They turned to see Wolverine pulling himself out of the water, dripping wet and looking irate. He glanced around at his teammates and let out a snort.
"Don't tell me we lost again?"
Everyone grumbled something or another. Then, Kitty's head shot up. "Oh my god…Lance!" Finally noticing that her boyfriend wasn't among the group, she looked around wildly for him. Finally spotting him under the wreckage of the crane, she scrambled over, kneeling next to him.
"Lance…Lance! You better wake up you big, dumb jerk, you hear me?!" She was sounding a bit hysterical, but she needn't have worried. Lance was already coming to.
Logan heaved a long-suffering sigh. "I'll got get the Velocity." He growled half-heartedly.
An attic! Ah can't believe they stuck me in a stinkin' attic! This thought crossed Rogue's mind at least three times a day. For that, she had finally deduced, is exactly where the Marauders had locked her up. In a dusty, moldy attic.
The only person she ever saw was Mimic. The Marauders couldn't afford to send anyone else up to bring her meals, or escort her to the bathroom, because none of them could negate her powers like Mimic could. Rogue had quickly come to hate him. Not simply by virtue of him being the enemy. No, even if Mimic was an X-Man, she was quite sure she'd still hate him.
Mimic went out of his way to be a pain in the ass. Making snide comments, or lewd remarks. So when the trapdoor to the attic opened, she took a breath to begin an angry tirade. But the breath died in her throat when a wholly different figure emerged into the semi-darkness. Rogue had never actually seen the man before, but she had heard Mimic talk about him enough. This could only be one person.
Sinister stared at her for a few minutes, red eyes glowing eerily in the low light.
"Well, ya got somethin' ta say? Maybe tell me why ya've gone ta the trouble of keepin' me locked up here fer who knows how long, an' not done a single thing with?"
Sinister smiled, inclining his head slightly at Rogue. "My apologies for having kept you waiting for so long. I have had several other pressing issues to attend to and just couldn't make time for you. Now, though, it is time to rectify that."
"How very honored Ah am." Rogue snapped, one hand reaching towards the other to remove the glove that covered it.
Sinister saw this, and his smile widened. "I would strongly advise against that course of action. Were you to succeed in absorbing me, I daresay you would find my memories far too much for your fragile little mind to handle."
Rogue scowled and moved her hand away. "Well? What part am Ah ta play in yer 'grand scheme'?"
"You surprise me, Rogue. I was under the impression you were rather intelligent. I should think it would be quite obvious. Your particular mutation is of great interest to me."
Rogue's scowl deepened. "Why would that be?"
"I think I could make use of a power like yours. To absorb other mutants powers at a touch. That holds great prospects to me."
"So why don't ya experiment on Mimic? He can copy powers."
Sinister shook his head. "Ah but, you see my dear, Mimic is not a mutant. His powers are the result of a laboratory accident in his youth, one nobody has been able to duplicate. I need mutant genes, like yours."
"For what reason?"
"Now, I can't give away all my secrets. Where would the fun be? I will say though, I do relish the challenge in finding a way to get past that whole 'can't-be-touched' hurtle, as that poses a problem to my experimentation."
Rogue stared at Sinister for a few moments, speechless. What did he mean 'get past that hurtle'? Could it be possible that she could…?
"It can't be done." She finally said.
"You will find, my dear, that when it comes to genetics there is very little I cannot do." Sinister winked at her, then turned and headed for the door. "I will send Mimic to fetch you in due time." He called back to her, before disappearing downstairs.
Professor Xavier sat behind his desk in his study, listening to Logan and Ororo's report. His old friend the headache felt like it was going to be paying him another visit tonight. He hoped he had enough aspirin.
"So, not only were we easily manipulated into a trap, but we are no closer to locating Scott, Alex, and Rogue, and we now know that Gambit is working for the Marauders."
"That about sums it up." Logan nodded. "Though I wouldn' hold anythin' against the Cajun. I think he's bein' blackmailed."
"Yes, and I have a good idea what it is the Marauders are holding over his head." Xavier turned to Ororo. "How is Lance?"
"Awake. Hank says he's going to be fine." She smiled fondly for a moment. "Kitty is pleased."
Xavier smiled, some of the tension leaking away. "Well, that's some bit of good news. If there's nothing else you're both free to go."
Logan watched the Professor for a long time before speaking. "You feelin' alright, Charles? You don't look like you've slept much."
Xavier smiled ruefully. "No, I haven't. And I very much doubt I will while my students remain in the hands of the enemy. Now, goodnight to the both of you."
Logan and Ororo heard the command behind the polite statement and left the study. Once outside, Logan stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets with a grunt.
"You are troubled, my friend." Ororo said as they walked along the deserted hallways.
"'Course I am." Logan grunted. "We shoulda found those kids by now. It's been way too long."
"We are doing the best we can Logan." Ororo responded, laying one hand gently on his arm. She could feel how tense his muscles were under his shirt. Was he always this wound up?
"Yeah, well, it don't look like out best is good enough."
"We will find them, Logan. Our enemies are clever, but they cannot elude us forever."
Logan sighed. "I suppose yer right, 'Roro. Still don't mean I'm gonna be sleepin' any easier."
Ororo laughed softly. "That, my friend, is something we agree on."
The first thing that caught Amanda's attention as she walked through the front door was voices. One of them belonged to her father, meaning he was back from whatever business it was he had left on several days ago. Whether that was a good or bad thing, Amanda wasn't quite sure yet.
She didn't recognize the second voice, but she could tell it belonged to a man, and he had a slight, nasal, New England accent, like he was from the Boston or Maine area.
She walked into the living room. Her father and his guest were sitting on chairs opposite each other. The stranger looked to be about thirty-five and had close cropped, reddish-brown hair. He wore an expensive, black three-piece suit. A white armband round his right bicep displayed the letters F.O.H in bold black. He had a hawkish, angular face with a hooked nose and a smile that didn't quite reach his cool, granite gray eyes. Amanda took an immediate dislike to him.
When she stepped into the room, her father and the man stopped talking and looked at her. Her father smiled and stood to greet her, while the man fixed her with an unreadable look, and watched on in silence.
"Amanda, I'm so glad your home." Her father said, giving her a hug. "I'd like you to meet a friend of mine."
Turning, he gestured to the man, who stood up and approached Amanda, holding out his hand to shake. Amanda hitched a polite smile on her face and shook his hand obligingly.
"This is Graydon Creed." Her father said. "Mr. Creed is the head of an organization called the Friends of Humanity."
"Friends of Humanity?" The name had a very ominous ring to it. Amanda began to like the man even less.
"That's right dear. Mr. Creed just wants to ask you a few questions concerning your friends."
"What friends?" Amanda asked, immediately going on the defensive. She began to back towards the door, but her father's hand on her shoulder prevented her from going farther.
"I think you know what friends we're talking about." Creed said, his false smile widening more. "You're…special friends."
Everything fell together. Amanda felt her insides grow cold. "You…you're the head of an anti-mutant group…aren't you?"
"Oh, come now. That's rather harsh, isn't it? I prefer to think of us as pro-human."
"No! I won't help you!" Wrenching her arm away from her father's grip, she made a dash for the door. Two men stepped seemingly out of nowhere and barred her path. Both wore dark sunglasses and green berets. They were dressed in jeans, white T-shirts, and green vests, with the letters F.O.H emblazoned above the left breast. They were also carrying assault rifles.
"Please Amanda, don't make things difficult." Mr. Sefton said casually, as if totally unaware of the fact two heavily armed men were in his living room.
"That's right dear." Graydon Creed said silkily. "All we need is your total cooperation, and everything can proceed very smoothly."
For quite possibly the first time in her life, Amanda was truly afraid.
Alex leaned against the cold concrete of his basement prison, bored out of his mind. When he had woken up from his Sauron-induced nap, Scott was nowhere to be seen. In the two days since, Alex had spent the time alone here with no one to talk to. The Marauders that brought his food weren't much on conversation.
Alex brushed some of his blond hair away from his eyes, letting out a long sigh. If something didn't happen soon, he just might very well go nuts.
The door to the basement opened, sending a small shaft of light down. Alex squinted, trying to make out the figure coming down. His face lit up considerably when he recognized the head of green hair descending the stairs. Polaris was out of uniform, wearing jeans and a red shirt, a leather jacket over it.
"Hey!" Alex said, sitting up a little straighter, and trying in vain to make his hair look semi-presentable.
Polaris didn't look very much impressed. She walked regally over and set the tray of food she was carrying down in front of him.
"Here." She said curtly. Before turning on her heal and stalking back towards the stairs.
Alex watched her go, biting his lip. Was he going to lose this opportunity, like he had all the others?
"Hey…wait!" He called when she reached the bottom of the stairs. She turned slowly to look at him, eyebrow raised. Yes?
"I…uh…that is to say…" He swallowed. Now that he had her attention, his throat seemed to swell up too much for him to talk. "I was just wondering if maybe you could…err…tell me you're, you know, name?"
She blinked at him for a few times, the other eyebrow raising. "Polaris. You know that."
"Uh, well yeah. But I meant, you know…you're real name."
Polaris looked at him for a long time, debating whether or not to tell him. Why did he have to give her that damn cute smile? Finally she sighed and shook her head, starting to climb the stairs.
"Lorna." She called over her shoulder, before snapping the door shut and locking it.
"Lorna." Alex repeated to himself with a smile, before pulling the tray towards him and starting to eat.
"Man, we're lucky Mystique don't come around here much anymore, yo. Or we'd all be in for having our ears chewed off." Todd Tolanskey, the Toad, as he was better known, hopped over a particularly large pile of garbage on his way to the living room. He didn't really mind it all that much, it did after all provide him with plenty of flies to snack on. But he knew that if Mystique ever walked through the door, they'd all likely end up buried under it.
"Eh, we'll get around to cleaning it sooner or later." Fred said noncommittally as he sat on the couch, mindlessly flipping through channels on the TV.
"How you brain dead slobs can stand living in a place like this is far beyond my ability to figure out." Wanda snapped from the corner, where she was immersed in one of her books.
Toad hopped over to her, grinning like an idiot. "Maybe you an' me can do some spring cleaning together baby cakes."
Wanda sneered and hexed him into the pile of garbage.
A sudden
breeze kicked up, and
Pietro slid into the room.
"Hey, any of you hear something?" He asked.
They were all silent for a few moments. Then they heard a sound much like a car pulling up in front of the house.
"Is it Lance?" Fred asked.
"Man, why would he wanna come back here. He's got all he wants hangin' out with his Pretty Kitty and the X-Geeks." Toad said, pulling himself out of the trash pile.
"Besides, there's more than one." Wanda said, suddenly losing interest in her book.
Then a voice came from outside, clearly being enhanced by a megaphone.
"Mutants! This is the Friends of Humanity! If you know what's good for you, you'll surrender to us peacefully!"
The four exchanged looks.
"What the hell?" Pietro muttered, speeding out of the room to the front door. The others followed him outside, and found three cars-worth of men leveling assault rifles at them. There were roughly twelve in all, each dressed identically.
"What is this?" Pietro asked. "Some bad joke?"
"We're taking you into custody, mutants." The apparent leader of the group said. "Put your hands above your head now!"
"Right…sure. Wanda?"
Wanda indeed raised her hands, but only to fire a hex at about half the men, causing their weapons to misfire and blow up in their hands. Pietro became a blur of movement, snatching the remaining firearms from the hands of their wielders and dismantling them in mere seconds, leaving a pile of useless parts at his feet.
The F.O.H. members seemed momentarily put out at the sudden change in events. But then their leader recovered and pulled out a baton, very much like a policeman's nightstick.
"We have our orders men! Subdue the mutie freaks!"
Inspired by their leaders' speech, the remaining men drew their own batons and rushed the four mutants.
"You can't be serious." Pietro said. With just a small burst of his mutant speed, he had disarmed and knocked out the three men attacking him.
Toad spat slime into the eyes of one man, before leaping at the other two and slamming them both in the chest with his powerful legs.
Wanda fired a hex bolt at her attackers, sending them hurtling into one of the cars.
Fred laid out the last remaining F.O.H. members with powerful swipes from his meaty fist.
"Heh, did these wimps actually think they stood a chance, yo?" Todd asked as he bounded back to join his comrades.
"I don't know, but it's time we found out what this was about." Wanda said, stalking over to the man who appeared to lead the group, who was currently trying to clean Toad's slime out of his eyes. She grabbed him by his vest and hauled him to his feet, shaking him.
"Alright, what's this all about creep?!"
The man laughed bitterly. "You want answers freak? Look behind you."
The Brotherhood all looked at each other in confusion for a moment, then looked around, seeing nothing.
After a few moments, they could hear what sounded like enormous jet engines, coming their way. Looking up, a large form was visible in the sky, though it was difficult to tell what exactly they were looking at.
They got there answer a few moments later, and wished they had never asked.
For rapidly descending upon them was the large and imposing form of one of the most feared creations of all time.
A Sentinel.
Gasp, shock, horror! Oh no! As if Sinister running around wasn't bad enough, we now have to deal with the Friends of Humanity and Sentinels too?! How evil the author is! Oh, wait…that's me. Heh. Anyway, good news for you Brotherhood fans, plenty of action from them next chapter as they fight for survival against the Sentinel. Lot's of other spooky keen stuff will happen too, so stay tuned! Cobra awayyyyy!!!
