Disclaimer: All I want for Christmas is the rights to the X-Men. Ain't gonna happen though.
Wow! I didn't think this chapter would come out so quickly, but here it is! And this story has reached 50 reviews! You guys are the greatest. As promised, special guest star in this chapter!
Morlin: Very astute! And I share your feelings on Sentinel's.
Caliente: Badness, yes. But hey, that's what the Marauders do, I'm afraid.
Architeuthis: Per your request (and the request of several others) the chapter after next will focus entirely on the Marauders, and how Sinister recruited them all. Stay tuned!
DoWriter12: It's good that you're excited. Means I'm doing my job.
Roguechere: I always aim to please. And though the guest star isn't either of those fellas, I'd like to think you'll like him anyway.
Well, enough ramblings form me! Enjoy the show!
"Bayville!"
Peter Parker blinked as he considered the word that came out of his boss' mouth. "Uh…bless you?"
J. Jonah Jameson glared up at him with a steely gaze that said he didn't find that remotely funny. But then, Jameson never found anything funny.
"Very amusing Parker." He growled as he chomped on the end of his cheep cigar. "I said 'Bayville.' It's a city. Not far from here."
"Oh…OK." Peter said with a shrug. "What about it?"
Jameson flung a folded newspaper at him. Peter deftly caught it and opened it up. It was a copy of the Bayville Courier. The front page was plastered with large color photos of men and women bright costumes fighting either each other, or a giant robot.
Something I'm all too familiar with. Peter thought wryly. Out loud, he said, "Why show me this?"
Jameson gave him a look that stated 'isn't it obvious, numbskull?'
"Because I want you to go to Bayville and get pictures of these so-called mutants. Pictures Parker, that's your job, remember?! That wall-crawling bozo doesn't sell like he used to. We need new material, got it?"
Peter nodded. "Sure Jonah, I got it."
"Well? What are you still standing here for? Get going!" Jameson bellowed. Peter was out the door in a second.
Kitty looked up at Kurt as he paced the kitchen. He hadn't taken more than one bite of his food, and for Kurt that was highly unusual. Kurt always had an appetite.
"Like, what's wrong with you Kurt? You're always hungry."
"It's Amanda." He said without looking up. "I haven't heard from her in a few days, and I'm really starting to worry."
"She probably just has to lay low. You know how her father is." Kitty frowned as she said that. How such a sweet girl like Amanda could have come from someone like her father was beyond her.
Kurt shook his head. "Even so, she always finds a way to contact me at least once a day. I gave her the benefit of the doubt for a little while, but it's been too long."
Kitty could see his point. She'd be worried if she hadn't heard from Lance for that long. "But, like, what can you do about it? It's not like you can just waltz up to the house and ask where she is."
"No…no I can't." After a few moments Kurt's yellow eyes lit up. "But I've got other options. See you later Kitty!" He waved, and with a bamf he was gone.
Kurt was perched in a tree that sat on the border between the Sefton's lawn and their neighbor's. Immediately, Kurt could tell something was terribly wrong. There were several white vans with the letters F.O.H. stamped on the sides parked in the driveway and on the sidewalk. Men armed with assault rifles stood guard at the front door and patrolled the yard.
Kurt shifted on his perch. He eyed a tree near the back yard of the house, from where he would be able to see Amanda's room. He had been watching the movements of the guards for the past half-hour, and was reasonably sure he had their timing down. He'd just have to wait for the right moment…
Bamf. With a puff of brimstone, Kurt instantaneously crossed a distance of several yards. He had timed it just so that the guards would be turned away at the exact moment he arrived in the tree.
The view he saw was not heartening. The windows of Amanda's room had been outfitted with iron bars. Whatever was going on in there, it was clear Amanda was a prisoner in her own home.
Watching the guards again for another few moments, Kurt focused on Amanda's room and bamfed.
Kurt's arrival in the middle of her room surprised Amanda so, that she jumped nearly to the ceiling. She barely managed to hold in a shriek of surprise, not wanting to alert her father or his 'houseguests.' Kurt started to raise a hand in greeting, but by that time Amanda had already tackled him to the floor, hugging him tightly.
"A…Amanda." He wheezed. "I'm happy to see you too and all, but could you please maybe let me breathe?"
"Sorry." Amanda giggled and stood, helping Kurt to his feet. She then proceeded to greet him properly with a kiss.
"What's going on here?" Kurt asked when they separated. "I haven't heard from you in so long, I was really getting worried."
"It's my father." Amanda said as she sat on her bed with a sigh. I'm convinced he's gone off the deep end. He's made friends with this pack of anti-mutant bigots, and when I refused to help them, he barricaded me in my room. He's taken my phone and everything, so I couldn't contact you."
"What's happened to your mother?" Kurt asked as he sat on the bed beside her, putting one arm around her shoulders. He knew that Amanda's mother was far more tolerant than her father.
Amanda leaned her head against his shoulder. "She's powerless to do anything. She tried to talk my father out of this nonsense but he wouldn't listen. I wouldn't be surprised if a divorce was forthcoming." Amanda sniffed as tears threatened to spill out of her eyes.
Kurt gave her a squeeze, and then stood up. "Pack you bags Amanda. I'm getting you out of here.
Amanda looked up, puzzled. "Where?"
"The Institute, of course. I'm sure the Professor will have no objections to you staying there."
Amanda's eyes brightened a bit. "Really?" Kurt nodded.
"Okay!" She said, and began to gather some things around the room and toss them into a duffle bag.
Kurt strained his pointed ears, hearing something outside her door. "Amanda, someone's coming, I think."
"I'm all done." She said, slinging the bag over her shoulder. Kurt put his hand on her shoulder and teleported, just as the door to Amanda's room swung open. Her father stepped in, along with her mother and two armed F.O.H. members.
"Amanda? Where are you?" Her father demanded. Looking around, he could see nothing, except for a slight haze of smoke and a faint smell of brimstone.
Behind him, his wife gave a self-satisfied smile. "Our daughter has outsmarted you, husband. As I knew she would." She smirked and turned away, heading downstairs. As she neared the front door, she stopped and called over her shoulder. "If by chance you care, I'll be at my parents." With that, she opened the door and marched right passed the guards and into a waiting taxi.
Mr. Sefton snarled in defeat and slammed the door shut behind her.
In a small room on the bottom floor of the stolen mansion they had acquired, sat five people. Elizabeth Braddock, Lorna Dane, Sean Cassidy, Bishop, and Sarah. Five members of the Marauders. Their conversation was hushed, and they were constantly throwing looks at the closed door, as if they were afraid of being found out, which is exactly what they were.
"This is madness." Sean was saying. "He actually wants us to murder a whole community of people in cold blood. Simply because he does nae approve o' them."
"Agreed." Betsy said. "I never imagined working for him would include anything like this."
"I really don't think we should be surprised." Lorna put in. "He does call himself Sinister, after all."
"What do we do about it?" Sarah asked, absently playing with one of her bone spurs.
"Try leavin'." A new voice suggested.
The five turned to see Gambit standing in the door way. His arrival was so masterfully silent, none of them had heard him.
"It's not that simple." Bishop said. "We all owe Sinister a lot. Most of us would either be homeless or dead if it weren't for him."
Gambit shook his head as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. "Be that as it may, it ain't worth it. Listen to Gambit, 'cause he know what he talkin' about. Once you commit murder, you cross a line you can't never go back over. Killin' in self defense is one t'ing, killin' for the sake of killin', dat tarnish your soul fer good."
"How're we supposed ta leave, laddie?" Sean asked.
"Easy. Ya just get up an' walk out da door."
"And where would we go? Sinister would hunt us down and exterminate us for leaving him." Betsy said.
"Gambit t'ink he know a place where you be safe." Gambit said with a small smile.
"What, Xavier's place?" Sarah scoffed. "You think he'd let us stay there, the enemy?"
"You be surprised. De Professor, his doors open ta any mutants seeking sanctuary. Even his enemies.
The five mutants looked at each other. "Maybe…" Sean said.
"What about de other three?" Gambit asked.
Betsy shook her head. "No need to worry there. Rictor is completely loyal to Sinister, through and through. Mimic isn't quite as loyal, but he'll continue to serve Sinister for as long as he thinks it'll benefit him. And Sauron…" Betsy shuttered. "Well, wholesale slaughter is right up his alley."
"Well, you all t'ink about it. Remy be around when you come to a decision." Gambit gave them all a small wink, then turned and departed the room.
Pietro stood quietly by as his father paced around like a caged animal. To say the Master of Magnetism was in a foul mood would be an understatement.
"Defied me. I cannot fathom it." He said for what seemed to Pietro to be the millionth time.
"Well, what are we going to do about it, Dad?" Pietro asked, not wanting to listen to his father ranting anymore.
Magneto whirled on him and stared at him for a few moments. He calmed down eventually, and began to think more rationally.
"I have been obsessing over this far too much. I do, after all, have other assets I can call on."
At that moment, the door banged open and Sabertooth strolled in. He took one look at Magneto and Quicksilver staring at him, and raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Magneto just shook his head. "Never mind, I'll bring you up to speed later. It is good that you are back, Victor."
Sabertooth just shrugged. "Okay."
After a good fifteen minutes of trying, St. John finally managed to locate the kitchen. Getting around the mansion was hard enough, but when it was nighttime, and most of the building was shrouded in darkness, it became that much more of a chore.
As he entered, St. John was slightly surprised to notice he wasn't alone. Wanda was sitting at the small kitchen table, idly snacking on a container of ice cream and staring into space. She blinked and looked up as St. John walked in. He gave her a smile and jaunty wave, and proceeded to raid the fridge.
After a few minutes, he emerged with a ham and cheese sammich (love that word) and sat down in the seat opposite Wanda.
"Evenin' there darling." He said cheerfully. "Couldn't sleep either, eh?"
Wanda acknowledged him with a shrug and went back to contemplating her ice cream.
St. John just nodded and took a bite of his sammich. After swallowing, he looked at Wanda again. "I know, feels weird, don' it?"
Wanda looked up at him, eyebrow raised. "What does?"
"This." St. John gestured around to indicate the mansion. "Livin' in their house, eating their food. We're supposed to be enemies, but they treat us like friends when we have nowhere else to go."
Wanda shrugged again. "I guess so."
St. John grinned and attacked his sammich again. After a few moments of silence, Wanda spoke up.
"How are you so cheerful all the time?"
St. John shrugged. "Don' really know, Sheila. Maybe it has something ta do with why people call me crazy."
Wanda looked down. "I know what it's like to be called crazy."
St. John grinned widely once more. "Two peas in a pod we are, eh?"
Despite herself, Wanda gave a quiet chuckle. "I suppose so."
Rictor burst into Sinister's room, panting. When he finally had enough breath to formulate words, he began talking hurriedly.
"Bishop, Polaris, Marrow, Psylocke, and Banshee are gone. So is Gambit, and they took the captives with them!"
Sinister did not see all that perturbed by this. "I see. Would you kindly fetch Mimic and Sauron, that I might address this?"
Rictor blinked, surprised his boss was taking the news so well, but hurried to carry out his command. When he returned a few moments later, Sinister stood to address the three.
"My loyal Marauders, I am sure you are aware of the situation."
"Yeah, we are. You want us to hunt the traitors down boss?" Mimic asked.
"No, Calvin. Let them go. They are not a concern."
"But they know our plans. What if they spill to Xavier?" Rictor asked.
Sinister laughed. "I am almost positive they will, but that doesn't concern me. We will continue as planned."
"And what about the prisoners?"
"I have all I need to be going on from them. I was about to dispose of them anyway."
Rictor could not understand why Sinister was so calm about the situation. "But we're down five members! We barely have a team now."
Sinister laughed again. "My dear Rictor, you fret too much. Did you not think I hadn't planned ahead for just such an occurrence? I have replacements for you all."
He nodded to the door, through which five figures stepped though. One was a woman dressed in a garishly bright green and pink costume. The next was a Japanese man in an equally bright red, white, and yellow costume. The third man had blond hair, and skin as white as Sinister's. He wore a red armored costume, and his pale gray eyes shone menacingly. The fourth man wore a mostly black costume trimmed in red. He had black hair and a goatee, and carried a gnarled, wooden walking stick. The fifth man was so large, he actually smashed through the doorframe, his head brushing the ceiling. He was instantly recognizable in his red armor and domed helmet.
"My friends, I'd like you to meet your new teammates." Sinister said with a wicked smile. "Vertigo, Sunfire, Omega Red, Black Tom Cassidy, and the unstoppable Juggernaut.
"Now, I believe we have a massacre to be getting on with."
Whoa! More twists and turns! Some roster changes too. Can the mansion really handle that many mutants? And if you thought the Marauders were bad before, how about the new team? Yikes! And Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is coming to town as well! And yes, the next chapter will feature the dreaded Morlock Massacre. Put the kids to bed for that one. It won't be pretty. Until next time, Cobra awayyyyy!
