The being known as Candra was disenchanted with her life. The Thieves and Assassins had forsaken her. She lay on her couch, pouting. Her life had no meaning. And she was lonely.
It was all that Gambit's fault. He was the one who had stolen the Elixir of Life from her. He and that stupid wife of his. That whore had used her super strength and taken Candra by surprise.
Candra decided she wanted revenge. Sure, it had been years, but she was still bitter. Why should she be forced to live in exile? Because some weakling had told her she was a relic, no longer needed.
She'd show him how much of a relic she was. She was Candra—an External! She was better than all the Thieves and Assassins combined. Especially Gambit…
Candra sat up, the wheels turning in her twisted little mind. She'd get her revenge…
*** *** ***
"Boy, I told you not to mess wit' de Assassins."
Emil Lapin, Jr. sighed. He wasn't in the mood to mess with his father. He knew he shouldn't have come home. He could be in his plush New Orleans apartment right now, but nooo… He had to go spend "quality time" with his father. "Papa, I tol' you I'm sorry."
"Sorry? You sorry? Dat ain't enough! Belladonna, she pissed beyond all reason. Said she gonna get her revenge for what you did to her boy. Jean-Luc, he talkin' about removin' you from de Guild!"
"Jean-Luc isn't in charge anymore. Remy is."
"Dat ain't de point! Jus' him sayin' it is embarassin'!"
Emil clutched his head, the sound of his father mixed with the constant noise from his twelve brothers and sisters making it pound.
"Emil, you leave T'Mil, alone now," Emil's mother said, coming into the room, shaking a wooden spoon. "He jus' a boy. He don' know no better."
"When's de boy gonna learn, Lucinda? We sent 'im all de way to LSU. Gave him some real tex' book learnin'. We paid for him to have a brain, so he should have one!"
"He's got a brain, Emil. It jus' migrated sout' like all de man-brains do."
Emil groaned. He was in Hell. Swamp Hell. "Look, I promise y'all I'll never touch Claire 'gain."
"You better not! Besides, dat don' even seem safe, boy," Emil Sr. said. "Lord only knows where dat woman has been."
Lucinda Lapin turned pale. "She didn't make my baby sick, did she?"
Emil covered his face with his hands. "No, Mama."
"You need yourself a good woman, T'Mil. A good Cat'olic would set you straight."
"I know, Mama."
"Den why ain't you married yet? De Savoy girl ain't spoken for yet. She's real pretty, too. And she cooks."
"I'll t'ink about it, Mama." Emil decided he'd rather be dealing with the X-Men than this.
There was a high pitched squeal from the back of the house. "Which of de Jeans was dat?" Lucinda asked.
"I t'ink it was Jean-Jean," Emil said.
"Damn dat J.J.," Emil Sr. said. "Dat boy's gonna end up in de penitentiary. I know it."
"Don't you be sayin' dat!" Lucinda yelled. "All my children know Jesus!"
Emil decided to take the opportunity to slip away. When his mother began her rants about religion, she usually zoned out enough for him to make an exit.
He walked outside to his porch, overlooking the swamp. He leaned over the balcony and sighed.
"Rough day, Lapin?"
Emil spun around. "Marius! What are you doin' here?" He frowned. "And how'd you get in here?"
"You T'ieves aren't de only ones who know how to be sneaky."
"You one creepy bastard."
"We got trouble, Emil."
"What? You about to break my face?"
"Non. I mean de Guilds. I hear Candra's up to no good."
"Candra? I t'ought de ol' bitch done kicked de bucket."
"She still around. Hear she's after Remy LeBeau."
"Why she be after him?"
"Don' know. Mebbe it has something to do wit' how he ruined her life 'bout twenty years ago."
"Mebbe. How you know about it anyway?"
"De Assassins found out. Dey say not to tell de T'ieves, but I felt like bein' nice. Dis is jus' a warnin'."
"Is it one of dose warnin's dat I have to pay for wit' my soul?"
"You too weasely for a soul, Lapin."
"I resent dat. So what am I supposed to do 'bout Candra?"
"Do I gotta do everyt'ing 'round here? Might be a good idea if you warned Remy. Jus' a t'ought."
"You have betrayed me, Assassin."
"Encule-moi," Marius muttered as Candra appeared before them, seemingly floating above the swamp.
"Whoa," Emil said. "Dat's jus' freaky."
"Emil Lapin, I have come for you."
"Um, could you mebbe not do dat?"
Candra swooped, grabbing Emil and carrying him off. Marius stared in shock for a moment before running into Emil's house. "Lapin, you in here!"
Emil, Sr. came into the room. "Marius Boudreaux! What are you doin' in my house? Lucinda, get my shotgun!"
Marius held up his hands. "Wait! I ain't here to hurt ya! It's Emil—he was jus' kidnapped!"
"By one of your people!"
"No! By Candra!"
Emil, Sr. stumbled backwards. "Candra! What does dat witch want wit' my boy?"
"I don' know! I came here to warn him, and she just flew in over de swamp and took him off! Never in all my days did I see such a t'ing!"
"Dis ain't no good. Gotta call de Guild."
"Um, can I help at all?"
Emil, Sr. cocked his head. "Why you askin' that? You got some evil plan?" He pointed. "You in league wit' Candra!"
"Non! I jus'…well, Emil's almost a friend."
"I ain't askin' no questions, boy. You wanna help, you sit around here for a bit. I ask de Guild want to do."
Marius looked around the house and decided that it could be worse…
*** *** ***
Marie and Vicky reached the address that was written on the back of the invitation. "It's an old abandoned warehouse, Creed. Those aren't good."
Vicky sighed. "If there's a problem, you blow something up, okay?"
"Great plan."
"Beats Kacie's."
"Yeah, so do Dr. Doom's."
"Okay, let's enter the old abandoned warehouse of eeevil," Vicky said.
"It's dark in here," Marie said. "You got a light, Vic?"
"Don't I always?" Vicky took out her Zippo and flipped it open. She looked around in the dim light. "Don't see a damn thing. Don't smell anything either." She paused. "Wait, I heard something."
Suddenly, bright lights came on, making Marie and Vicky both cover their eyes. "Guten Tag, Frauleins."
"Um, hey there big German guy," Vicky said to the man that stepped out of the shadows.
"I am Klaus, and I have come to give you your instructions—if you have agreed to pledge your loyalty to Mr. Sinister that is."
"Yeah, we've done that," Vicky replied. "What next?"
Klaus pulled two pieces of paper out of his briefcase. "You sign here."
"In blood?" Vicky asked.
"That will not be necessary."
"Good, cause I'm anemic." Vicky grinned.
"Just sign the papers."
Marie leaned over and whispered in Vicky's ear. "Should we be doing this?"
"We've come this far, Cajun." Vicky signed the paper.
"I got a bad feeling about this," Marie muttered as she signed, too.
*** *** ***
"These are the crappiest directions ever," Vicky said, pulled over at the side of the road trying to find where they were on a map. "They want us to find the base without telling us where it is."
"Well, we could've just flown, but someone wouldn't leave her car," Marie snapped.
"Jeez, Marie, bitchy much?"
"I've been in a car with you for almost two days. What do you think, Creed?"
"Oh yeah, and it's been sooo much fun for me. You're such a bundle of sunshine, LeBeau."
Marie crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. Klaus had offered to fly them to Sinister's base, but Vicky just couldn't leave it behind. She wouldn't even call Ric to have him come get it and take it back to the mansion. Apparently, only Vicky could touch the precious Camaro.
"Where the fuck are we anyway?" Vicky said, her tone exasperated. "These back roads are confusing as hell."
"We're in Louisiana."
"How do you know? Did you see a sign?"
Marie gave Vicky the "you're an idiot" look. "Vicky, I know Louisiana. Trust me, it's where we are."
"All right, swamp girl, I'll take your word on it."
Marie pulled her sunglasses back over her eyes and leaned back in the seat. "I can't handle this anymore. Just tell me when we get there."
"What! Hey, this is your territory, kid. You gotta help me navigate it."
"I didn't say I had a magic swamp map in my head, Creed. I just said I knew it was Louisiana."
"Last time I take you on a road trip," Vicky muttered as she started the car up and attempted to find her way to Sinister's latest secret base.
*** *** ***
Marius Boudreaux sat on the Lapin's couch, more creeped out than he'd ever been in his entire life. As if seeing Candra swoop off with Emil like a psychotic bird of prey hadn't been enough, now he had to sit here with three of those creepy Lapin brats staring at him.
"You an assassin?"
Marius raised an eyebrow "Oui."
"You gonna eat my head?"
"Non. What's your name anyway, kid?"
"I'm Jean-Pierre. And dis is Jean-Marc. And dis is our litt'lest brot'er, Jean-Jean."
Jean-Jean screamed at the top of his lungs.
"He don' like your freaky purple eyes, Monsieur Assassin."
"Dat's great."
Lucinda ran into the room, wooden spoon waving wildly in the air. "What you doin' to my boy, Assassin?"
Marius groaned inwardly. Was that his name to these people? "Not'in'. He jus' started screamin'."
"De assassin looked at J.J. funny, Mama."
Lucinda ran to her son, grabbing him and pressing him to her as if to shield him from evil. "You stop lookin' at my boy!"
"I promise I will never look in the vicinity of any of your children ever again."
"You better not! Emil, you come hold a shotgun at de assassin. He's gettin' feisty."
Marius slumped. Some days, he really hated his life…
*** *** ***
"This place smells like your cousin, Marie," Vicky said as they walked up to Sinister's lair.
"Very funny, Creed."
"So what do we do, knock on the massive metal door?"
Marie shrugged. "I guess."
Vicky started to knock, but before she did, the door slid open, revealing a tall, blonde woman. Vicky sniffed the air. "Klaus?"
The woman blinked. "Right," she said with a German accent. "Sensitive smelling. My name is really Rhiannon Wagner. Come, I will show you to your rooms."
Vicky and Marie followed Rhiannon through long, creepy-looking hallways. "So, uh, Rhiannon, why were you dressed up like a dude?" Vicky asked.
"None of your business." Rhiannon opened a door. "You will be staying here. Dinner will be served in three hours. If you don't eat it then, you eat nothing." Rhiannon walked away.
"Wow. What a bitch," Vicky said. She walked into her room, slinging her bag on the top bunk. "This is crappier than my bunk at boarding school. It smells like something died in here."
"Probably did. And how come you get the top bunk?"
"Because I'm older."
An
angel's smile is what you sell
You promise me heaven, then put me through hell
Chains of love got a hold on me
When passion's a prison, you can't break free
Vicky stopped. "Is that Bon Jovi?"
You're
a loaded gun
There's nowhere to run
No one can save me
The damage is done
Shot through the heart
And you're to blame
You give love a bad name
I play my part and you play your game
You give love a bad name
Marie cocked an eyebrow. "What, is Sinister from Jersey?"
"Let's go investigate."
Vicky and Marie walked out into the hall and towards the sound of Eighties Hair Greatness. They found a skinny, pink-haired girl bouncing around a room. "Uh, hi," Vicky said.
"Hi!" the girl said in a squeal. "I'm Arclight!"
"I'm Slayer, and this is Charger."
"Slayer and Charger weren't original Marauders!"
"Um, no. We weren't alive then."
"Mister Sinister says we all have to have our parents' names. So, like, who are you guys?"
"We told you, Charger and Slayer," Marie said, stepping a little behind Vicky.
"Aw, come on, Marie, play along. I'm Sabretooth, and this is Gambit." Vicky grinned psychotically and wrapped her arm around Marie.
"Ohmigod, you guys are like the bad ones!" She raised her hands up, and flash of light hit Vicky in the eyes.
Vicky blinked, stumbling back. "Dammit, what are you, the human flashbulb?"
"I make bright lights." Arclight frowned. "But they like, aren't very strong."
"When I can see again, you and Bon Jovi are both dead."
"You stay away from my music! Bon Jovi is a god!" She slammed the door in their faces.
"Lamest powers ever," Marie muttered.
"Yeah, try them with heightened senses," Vicky said. She shook her head, eyesight returning. "Come on, Gambit, let's go back to our room for a bit. This place is giving off that creepy vibe."
"All right, Sabretooth. Let's go."
*** *** ***
"Gone to spy on Sinister. Be back sometime in the near future."
Kacie put the note on the kitchen table. "Well, guess they're gone for a bit," she said with a shrug. "Pity, too. Vicky and I were supposed to go shoe shopping tomorrow."
Logan growled. "Dammit, what do they think they're trying to pull? They're X-Men, they're supposed to be more responsible than this."
"They are trying to be responsible, Adanya," Ric said. "They got invitations to join the new Marauders, and they went to see what Sinister was up to. They're trying to help the X-Men out."
Logan cut Ric a look. "Did you know anything about this beforehand?"
Ric shrugged. "Vicky brought it up. I figure she'd do whatever she wanted to."
"And you didn't tell me about it?"
"Why should I have?"
"Because I'm the leader!" Logan snapped. "I'm supposed to be kept informed about any sort of 'secret missions' the members of my team may be embarking on."
Kacie rolled her eyes. "All right, Scott. Take a bit of a chill pill, there."
"Can it, Drake."
Illyana leaned against the doorframe, her arms crossed over her chest. "Well, I'm glad they're gone. Vicky at least. I am so sick of having to deal with that raging whore."
Kacie mumbled something that may have been "takes one to know one."
Kris narrowed his eyes. "Marie had no right to leave without telling me. She could get hurt, and I cannot protect her."
Ric turned to Kris. "My sister can handle herself without you, Rasputin. And she doesn't have to answer to you or anyone else."
"Whatever, LeBeau."
"Look, let's all just relax about this," Billy said from beside Kacie. "Vicky and Marie may have acted a little rashly, but they were doing what they felt was best for the team. Besides, they might even be right."
Logan threw her hands up. "I can't deal with this right now." She stomped out of the kitchen.
The room was silent. Kacie held up a cereal box.
"Sugar Bombs, anyone?"
*** *** ***