I'd like to thank Jolly B for reviewing. I really appreciate it. With that said, where are the rest of you? There's got to be someone out there who thinks this story is interesting, right? C'mon folks, give me some kind of feedback here!
And now on to my personal favorite chapter yet.
---------------------------------------------------------
The men all turned to look at the stranger who had just entered into their midst. He certainly didn't look like he belonged here. This was a secret bar, designed to cater to the wealthy and elite businessmen of Chicago who were too good to be seen in a bar on the street level. This bar was far removed from those common places. It was located on the 82nd story of the Sears Tower and very few knew it existed. There were certain rules about this bar that the stranger was clearly breaking. First of all, he wasn't wearing a pinstripe suit and second, he didn't seem to have the typical "holier than thou" attitude that so clearly marks the rich.
No, this man was wearing a brown trench coat that hung nearly to the floor and under it he had on some sort of metal armor covering his arms and legs. His chest was covered by a dark pink, almost purple, breastplate that showed his muscles, but the men could tell that this was not a guy to make fun of because he wore pink. His face was outlined by black spandex that extended from under the armor and wrapped around his neck and most of his head leaving only his face and the top of his head free. His brown hair hung out the top of the strange headgear. His hands were wrapped in a similar fashion. The same bodysuit came from under the trench coat and covered his hands. Only his thumb, index, and pinkie fingers emerged from the strange gloves. On top of all this, he wore sunglasses over his eyes despite being inside on a cloudy day. This guy definitely did not fit in with this crowd. He must be here by mistake.
He walked towards the bar, and sat down on a stool. "Bourbon," he said to the bartender.
The bartender looked the man over. "You sure yer in the right place?"
The man looked up at the bartender for the first time. "Yeh, I am. Are you?"
The bartender was surprised by the sudden snap from the man. "I don't think yer supposed to be in here," said the bartender, now annoyed.
"An' I don't think you're s'posed t'think. You're s'posed t'give me a drink when I order one. So, I'll have a bourbon."
The bartender grunted. "You need to leave, son."
"No, ya need t'give me mah drink!" said the man, now standing up to his full height.
The bartender looked him over and decided he didn't want to fight. "Fine, but I'll need ID."
The man reached into his pocket and threw his wallet on the bar. "It's in dere."
The bartender picked up the wallet and looked at the driver's license. He chuckled under his breath as he read the small card. "Sorry kid, you're only 20 years old. No bourbon for you. I got some milk for you if you want it though."
The bartender chuckled out loud as the rest of the room spilled into laughter. The man looked around slowly as the room laughed at him. He walked over to the window and looked down on the city while he waited for them to stop. Once the laughter died down, he walked back to the bar.
"You boys like jokes, neh?" he said. "Well I'm not so good with jokes, but I got a riddle for ya." He walked over and leaned over a table of middle aged men wearing suits. "If somethin' falls out of de sky, but never hits de groun', den what happened ta it?"
The men all looked around at each other, then back at the strange man. They had no idea what he was talking about.
"Hmm? Anybody know?" asked the man as he walked around the room with his hands in the air questioningly. He smiled, took off his sunglasses, and walked over to the bartender. "Why don't ya come out here, mon frere?"
The bartender looked at the man. He stepped back at first when he saw the man's eyes. They were black with red pupils! "It must just be some sort of weird contacts," thought the bartender as he stepped around the bar.
The man put his arm around the bartender's shoulder and led him over to the window that he had been looking out earlier.
"Do ya know de answer, mon frere? If somethin' falls out of de sky, but never hits de groun', den what happened ta it?"
They were now standing next to the window.
"I don't know," confessed the bartender. "What?"
The bartender's shirt began to glow.
"It blew up," said the man coolly.
He gave the bartender a push and sent him flying through the window. The men in the bar all stood up with a gasp. They could hear the bartender's scream as he fell, then heard a deafening boom. They all looked silently back to the man in the brown trench coat. He was facing back towards the room again and smiling.
"Now den, about dat bourbon."
*****
Gambit walked out of the Sears Tower and began walking down the street. He looked over his shoulder and watched as the police arrived on the scene. He admitted to himself that that hadn't been smart. The government was already hunting down mutants and now he'd just alerted them that there was a dangerous one in Chicago. It was still fun though. And besides, he was leaving Chicago that afternoon. His mission was over and now it was time to report back to Magneto. He hailed a cab and rode to the airport.
*****
"Now is not the time to be playing games, Gambit!" yelled Magneto. "Do you understand the situation?! The government is officially hunting us down now, or didn't you understand why you went to Chicago in the first place? I don't mind you killing humans, but you will not compromise your mission like that again! Do you understand me?!"
Gambit tried to look back into Magneto's furious eyes, but looked away quickly. "I gotcha."
"No, I don't think you do! Thanks to your stunt, the Mutant Control Commission is going to be keeping a close eye on Chicago for at least a month!" yelled Magneto again.
Gambit's chair began to constrict on him. The metal arms began pushing against his ribs until he couldn't breathe.
"Ugh, I promise…it won' happen, argh, ag'in!"
"It had better not." Magneto released Gambit from the chair. "Now, tell me what you learned in Chicago."
Gambit rubbed his sides, then looked up at Magneto. "What's de Mutant Control Commission?"
Magneto sighed as he looked back at his youngest disciple. "The Anti-Mutant Act set up a new government group called the Mutant Control Commission. They are in charge of capturing mutants around the country and inspecting possible mutant threats," said Magneto through clenched teeth. "Now tell me what you learned in Chicago!"
Gambit shrugged his shoulders. "Shouldn' be hard," he said casually. "O' course, everythin' there's made o' metal so ya should like it. An' if it ain't metal, den it's concrete an' should fall apart nicely. Besides, everythin's old. Anyone could take it down. Ripping that city ta shreds'll be easy."
"This is not just about destruction, Gambit. It is about dominance. We must prove to those puny people that we are the future and they cannot stop us."
Gambit smirked. He could think of a million things wrong with this plan. For one, attacking Chicago made no sense. It's a big city, but it's not important politically or economically. But then, Magneto had never told them his full plan before. Why would he start now? He always told them only what they needed to know and nothing more.
"We strike in ten days, whether the MCC is watching or not. Tomorrow I'll need you to fetch the Brotherhood. I want them to help with this."
"Sure thing, mon frere. I'll leave in de…"
An explosion outside the base stopped him. Magneto turned around to face the direction the explosion came from.
"What was that?"
"I dunno. It sounded like…" Another explosion. "like dat."
Magneto ran to the wall and punched the code for the intercom system installed throughout the base.
"Acolytes! We are under attack! Get outside and destroy them!"
He turned back to Gambit and sneered.
"They must have followed you home. I hope you're proud. You gave us away!"
With that, Magneto turned and ran out the door, simultaneously pulling his helmet to him from across the room. Gambit stood up slowly and stretched his bruised sides before running after Magneto.
Once outside, he found a huge army attacking the steel base. Tanks had been rolled up through the snow and they were being used to chip away at the metal walls. Despite Magneto's best attempts at keeping it together, the base was beginning to fall apart from the constant bombardment.
The Acolytes were fighting the army. Pyro was heating one of the tanks, cooking the men inside it. Colossus was rampaging through the soldiers. Bullets ricocheted off his metal body as he stormed through the mass of men, throwing them across the field. Magneto was busy trying to hold his base together. Gambit pulled 3 cards from his pocket and ran into the battle.
He tossed the cards at once. One of them flew into the barrel of a tank and blew the tank apart from the inside. Another landed between two soldiers who were thrown in opposite directions by the resulting blast. The final card hit a man in the chest and flames suddenly surrounded his body. Gambit pulled his metal staff from his back and used it as a pole vault into the thick of the action. He landed smoothly and whipped the pole around him in a wide arc, knocking about ten soldiers to the ground and cracking one man's skull. The men around him charged, but Gambit showed his expertise with the staff as he defeated them easily. He pulled out another card and threw it into the ground in front of three soldiers who were running straight at him.
Suddenly, a burning pain shot up his leg from his shin. He looked down and saw blood staining the snow he stood in. He swung his head around to find a soldier about twenty yards behind him with a gun aimed right at him. He tossed a card at the soldier, then bent down to nurse his wound. The bullet had found its way through an opening between two plates of armor. Gambit threw another card at an oncoming soldier, then picked up a handful of snow and pressed it against the bullet hole. He inhaled with a hiss as the pain ripped through his whole body.
An explosion from above turned Gambit's attention towards Magneto. One of the tanks had fired a direct hit at the master of magnetism, causing him to fall from the air a few feet before catching himself. However, this momentary break in his concentration was enough to allow the base to collapse on itself. Magneto turned to face the battle for the first time and growled. He stretched forth his right hand and slowly clenched his fist. The tank that had shot him instantly compacted in on itself, crushing the men inside of it. It then rose into the air and flew into a large group of soldiers.
"There's no point in fighting this fight anymore!" shouted Magneto. "Let's leave this place!"
Magneto began flying into the air. He used his powers to pull Colossus and Pyro with him, but left Gambit kneeling in the bloodstained snow. Gambit watched his friends fly away without him. The soldiers crowded around him with raised guns. He kept his gaze on the men flying away as he raised his hands into the air.
"Ya got me, boys. Ya got me."
