Chapter VIII

Pietro was speechless. Erik was obviously insane; firing thirty nuclear missiles at different continents was pure madness, any sane person would see that. But Pietro didn't doubt his father's words for a second; he fully intended to so exactly what he had outlined to his son.
"Well, Pietro?" Pietro looked up at his father who was looking at him expectantly. "Do you want to be a part of a world without drugs, my world? Or do you want to die with the rest of those who are part of the problem?"
"That's a hard one, dad," Pietro sneered. "I think I'd have to go with fuck you."
Erik's face slipped for a second, but instantly resumed his pleasant face. "Very well. I will give you until tonight to change your mind. If not…" Erik left his threat unfinished. He moved over to his desk and pressed a hidden switch on the top of the desk. "Piotr, come and take Pietro to his room." A few seconds later the Russian re-entered the room and stood to attention. "Take Pietro to room 24601."
"Yes, sir." Piotr got Pietro to his feet and was leading him out of the room when Erik spoke again.
"Think about it Pietro. A new world begins tonight."
Pietro didn't answer and Piotr roughly shoved him out of the door. As the Russian marched him down multitudinous winding corridors, Pietro's mind was turning. The loss of crime lords didn't concern him in the slightest, but he had to stop Erik launching the missiles. And he might have found a way. "Piotr?"
The Russian was surprised when Pietro uttered his name. He covered his surprise by grunting in reply, fleetingly wondering if Pietro was going to beg for his life.
"Do you agree with him?"
Piotr was surprised again. "What?"
"With what he's planning to do. Kill all those people."
Piotr's face hardened and Pietro felt the hand on his shoulder tighten. "Drugs killed my family," he spat, each word dripping with mingled fury and sadness. "I was away from home when they came. Illyana apparently had got involved with the dealers back in Russia, and she didn't have the money to pay them. When she couldn't pay them, they murdered my family, one by one before her very eyes. They did it slowly, making it as painful as possible for them. Then they raped Illyana and murdered her. Left her spread-eagled in the ruins of the farm, her organs lying at her feet." As he spoke Piotr's hand had increased its pressure so that now it was incredibly painful. But Pietro said nothing, enthralled in the Russian's story.
"I came home and found her and I promised to avenge her. I killed the dealers who had murdered my family and ever since then I have meted out justice to those beyond the law. Yes," the Russian nodded his head, his fury abating. "I do agree with Erik."
Pietro was silenced by Piotr's words. He hadn't expected Piotr's response, and it would make his job harder. Harder, but not impossible. They walked in silence for a few more minutes until they reached a set of steel double-doors. Piotr entered a code on a lock panel that Pietro couldn't see and the doors slid open. Piotr shoved Pietro inside and Pietro glanced around.
He was in a long, metallic corridor with several doors on either side of the corridor. Each door had a number on it, and Piotr glanced at each as he marched Pietro down the corridor. Eventually he stopped at a door numbered 24601 and punched in another access code. The door slid open and Piotr shoved Pietro inside, the door sliding shut behind him. Inside, the room was small and dimly lit. There were two small bunks in the corner covered with old mattresses and in one corner there was a tray with two empty bowls on it.
Pietro went over to one of the bunks and flopped down on it, wincing as his sore back hit the thin mattress. Things hadn't quite gone as planned. Still he had a long time to devise a strategy to stop his father.

Erik Lensherr stared down at the helicopter that had just landed on the heli-pad of his chateaux. A squat, fat man in a black suit had just stepped out, accompanied by two tall bald men. Erik had sent Raven to greet the crime bosses while he made sure everything was ready. But right now he had other things on his mind. He had waited for twenty-one years to see his son, and now he would have to kill him. Erik had no qualms about killing, he had done it dozens of times before, but for the first time in his life he felt a twinge of regret. He didn't want to kill his son, but it was necessary, for the good of humankind. A voice from behind him interrupted his thoughts. "Sir, it is finished."
Erik turned to face Piotr. He had found the Russian four years ago in New York, after he had murdered a senator that had been heavily involved in drug dealing. Erik had helped Piotr evade capture by the law and ever since then the Russian had served him. He had been the perfect person to aid him in his campaign against drugs and he knew he commanded perfect loyalty from the huge Russian.
"Thank you, Piotr." Erik left the window and followed the Russian out of the room. They walked for several minutes until they came to a pair of double doors. They appeared to the eye to be made of expensive wood, but they were actually made of steel and were four inches thick. Erik entered a swept his gaze around, making sure everything was ready. He had installed a long table with rounded corners and a looping perimeter intended to dismiss any subtle hierarchy in seating order. He wanted the crime lords to think he was sincere after all.

Pietro was almost asleep when the door to his cell slid open. The bright light that flooded in blinded him momentarily and he heard, rather than saw, someone get shoved roughly inside. Then the door slid shut and Pietro's eyes quickly readjusted to the dim light. Pietro studied the new person in his cell and saw that it was Remy. Pietro was momentarily surprised to see that Remy was missing his shirt. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Remy's voice was pain-filled and his face was haggard. Pietro helped him to lie on his stomach on one of the bunks, blanching when he saw Remy's back - it was covered in welts and bruises.
"What happened?"
"Raven," he sucked a breath in through his teeth. "I think she broke a couple of ribs."
"Have you seen Kitty or Rogue?"
Remy shook his head. "Got a plan to get us out of here?"
"Yeah. It's a long shot, but I think it'll work."

Erik sat back in a chair at the table, and collected his thoughts for the coming meeting. It was going to take a lot of willpower to be in the same room as these crime lords, even though they would all be dead within the hour.
Raven stood to one side of the door as an honour guard. Each crime lord had brought at least two bodyguards, but Erik had ordered them to be left in a waiting room. He wanted to avoid any shootouts between rival crime lords, and it would make it easier to kill them all. The first man to enter was named Japheth, enormously fat and sweaty-faced. He looked suspicious until his beady eyes slid over Raven when they filled with lust. Erik grinned slightly as the man took the nearest chair to the door to maximise the distance he had to walk.
After him came a small man with a hideously scarred face, Nathaniel Essex. After him Sean Cassidy, a tall man with blonde hair and shock-white eyebrows that stood out like electrical discharges from his forehead; he had a square chin bisected by a deep cleft. Following him came the seven other crime lords, each one very pompous and self-important, each one about to die.
Erik stood up, silencing the murmurings of the crime lords. "Welcome to my chateaux gentlemen. If you do not know already, my name is Erik Lensherr and I have a proposition for you." Erik went on to describe his plan.

Remy had been asleep for about an hour and a half when the door slid open again. Pietro shielded his eyes with his hands as Piotr stepped through the door. "Get up." The Russian sounded tense and on edge. Pietro got to his feet, as did Remy who had just woken.
"Where are we going?" Pietro asked. Piotr didn't answer, but merely led them out.

"And that, gentlemen, is my proposal." Erik sat down amidst a stunned silence. That silence faded soon as the crime lords began to talk excitedly, many shouting out ludicrously high bids in an attempt to out do the others. Erik allowed this to go on for five minutes until he stood up again. "Gentlemen, there is one other thing. He reached into the hip pocket of his suit and pulled out a translucent breathmask, one of Lensherr Industries newer inventions, and placed it over his mouth and nose. He activated the mask with a fingertip, and it sealed itself to her face, grafting its edges to her skin cells. At the door, Raven copied her, putting on her own mask. Erik reached under the table and pressed a button, triggering the nerve-gas systems he had had installed. The air vents made hissing sounds, like serpents expelling venomous breath into the room.
The crime lords looked around wildly at the treachery. Japheth attempted to haul his bloated form to his feet. Erik presumed he would die of a heart attack if the nerve gas didn't get him first.
Nathaniel and four others didn't waste time trying to vent their rage but rushed to the door, trying to open it. But Erik knew that it was stupid to try that, only he could open it and the nerve gas required only seconds to complete its fatal action.
Sean rose from his seat with murder in his eyes. He lurched to his feet and on his long, bony legs he staggered towards him. His face grew splotchy with rose-coloured eruptions of tiny blood vessels in his cheeks and eyes. He gasped.
The crime lords were falling left and right now, slumping atop one another. Some choked, clutching their throats; others vomited. Two sprawled across the table. Most had managed to make it to the floor.
Sean kept coming, one plodding step at a time, as if his limbs were sheathed in rapidly hardening concrete. His eyes were a deep red, filled with blood from the inside as he moved forwards, and toppled at Erik's feet.
Raven watched the carnage in the room with undisguised glee. Fat Japheth continued to wheeze and cough. Erik was surprised to see that the obese crime lord was the last to die.
A few moments later Erik and Raven stood like statues, the only two survivors, surveying the massacre of the crime lords. Raven grinned at Erik. "It's done," she whispered.
Erik nodded, a smile on his face too. "Now, it is time for phase two."

Upwards of twenty bodyguards sat in the waiting room, relaxing while their employers did business with Erik Lensherr. They were woefully unprepared for when two doors were kicked open and Piotr led a dozen men into the room, each one armed with a sub-machine gun. Piotr and his men opened fire and the room turned into a bloodbath. After two minutes Piotr held his hand up and the men stopped firing. Men walked forward to check for survivors and remove bodies, whilst Piotr escorted Remy and Pietro up to the observation deck. The room was filled with computer screens and it was here that Erik intended to hack into the NSA's system.
When they arrived Erik and Raven were waiting for them. Erik smiled at them as they entered. "Have a seat won't you." He gestured at two seats by the opposite wall, which they sat in. Piotr took up his position to the right of Pietro, his hand on his weapon. "Now, watch as a new age begins," Erik said, turning and nodding at Raven, who began to type furiously on a computer.

Ishandahalf, Storm-Pietro I'm glad you enjoyed chapter 7 and I hope you've enjoyed this one just as much^^.