Author's Notes: Thanks to all who reviewed. Sorry it took so long to upload this chapter. I've been busy.
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The Coven
Andre fell to his knees. It was to hard for him to keep his balance without his cane. He had been receiving his beating for almost an hour. Blood dripped from his mouth, his stomach ached some much from all the blows to it and it was covered with bruises. His whole body was in pain, but he kept his mouth shut, even though he was barely alive.
"Get up," Hennin said as he pulled the boy to his feet.
Andre gave him one good punch in the face. The cloaked man fell back a few feet, but immediately stood back up and punched Andre again.
As the fist made contact something flew out of Andre's mouth. It went flying across the room and hit Kitty right in the face. It fell to the floor as Kitty felt a small drop of blood on her face. She looked to the ground to see what hit her. She let a cry of disgust when she saw one of Andre's teeth near her feet.
Vonce watched the beating. He saw Andre struggling to breathe through his bleeding mouth. He knew that if Andre didn't reveal the secret soon he would die. Vonce could not take that chance.
"That's enough for now," he said in a commanding voice, as Hennin was about to go in for another hit.
Vonce had the other two men pick Andre up. "Take them all back to the cell."
They did as commanded starting with Andre. They would come back for the others after he was secured.
Vonce walked over to Hennin. Logan listened to the conversation as they spoke. "Hennin I want you to collect a few of the women and have them create some truth elixir. It looks like that will be the only way to get any information out of Andre."
"But sir," said Hennin, "you know if we have him drink that serum he might die. It has happened before."
"We have no other choice," said Vonce, "I know the liquid is a dangerous substance, but there is only a fifty percent chance that he will die. Those odds are even less then him dying during our tortures. If we torment him any longer he will be dead before morning. I would rather take a chance that he is less likely to die from. I need the formula."
"I see your point," said Hennin, "I will do as you wish sir."
Five of Vonce's men entered the chamber. "Sir we were sent by the guards to transport the other prisoners to the cell while they take Andre there," one of them said.
"Very well," said Vonce.
The five cloaked men took the chains off the imprisoned X-Men. Logan fought with them the all the way to the cell, but he could not escape. When they were at the cell he was instantly chained to the wall.
Andre was already in the cell. He lied on the ground as he tried to recover from his beating. As the cell door was closed Kitty and Kurt ran to his side.
"Are you alright," Kurt asked as he looked at the boy's bleeding mouth.
"My God it's hard to breathe," was all Andre said.
Jean and Scott walked over to him and propped him up against the back wall of the cell. Scott looked around the room and saw a tray with food and water for all of them near the cell door.
He quickly grabbed the cup of water and gave it to Andre. "Here drink this," he said as he handed it to him.
Andre grabbed the cup and took a sip of water. He spit it right back out to get some of the blood out of his mouth. "I think I lost on of my back teeth," Andre said before taking another sip of water.
"You did," said Kitty, "I saw it fly out of your mouth. It was like, so gross."
Logan stopped fighting with the chains and said, "you took quite a beating back there kid. I never saw anything like that before."
"Well, I had no choice, but to take the punches," Andre said. "I can't reveal the formula to Vonce. I'll do what ever I can to keep the secret safe, if that means dealing with hard hits, then I'll deal with hard hits."
Logan sighed and said, "well, I don't think you'll be able to keep that secret for long." Andre looked at him curiously. "Vonce said he was gonna have some sort of truth potion on you."
Andre looked up at the ceiling of the cell and said, "damn it."
He knew exactly what Logan was talking about.
Logan then said, "I heard Vonce's buddy, what ever his name is, say that he's worried this truth stuff might kill you before you reveal the formula. Why is that?"
Andre shook his head and said, "the truth formula is made of many different herbs and plants. There are two ingredients that really make it affective. Poison hemlock and rattle snakes venom. The reason for those to poisons is to make me somewhat delirious I guess. My brain will be so screwed up that I won't be able to hold back anything. The answer to what ever they ask me will come spilling passed my teeth. They do have an antidote for the whole concoction, but if it's not given to me after a curtain amount of time then I'm dead."
Kitty looked sadly to the ground. Andre was Rogue's brother and now it looked like he was going to die, or tell the formula that he has tried so hard to keep.
"Is there any chance of you not revealing the formula and you will still live."
Andre said, "there is a slight chance. If I can hold back the secret for long enough Vonce might get worried that my death is near and he will give me the antidote. He won't take a big risk of killing me. If I die then the formula dies with me. But the chances of me not telling the ingredients to the formula is very slim."
"But there is still hope that we'll get out of here right," asked Kurt, "Rogue is still out there."
"That's true," said Andre, "but if Vonce learns the formula before Rogue can free us then all is lost. If Vonce knows the formula the Hanzain Cult will march all over the face of the Earth. And they will never die."
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Rogue and the puppets moved slowly and stealthily through the castle. They had already been to the torture chamber and found that the X-Men and Andre were not there.
Rogue found it hard to find her way around the temple. It was like a giant maze. Corridors lead this way and that way.
She stopped to catch her breath as she turned another corner. "Wait didn't we just go down this hall," she asked herself as the puppets looked at the repeating designs on the walls. "How the hell does anyone find their way around here."
As she began to move again she heard a door close ahead of her. She backed away into a corner as she saw a cloaked figure step out of a room a few yards away from where she hid. This one was different from the other Hanzain members she had seen. This one had red trim on the hood and sleeves of his cloak.
As the figure moved through the halls Rogue followed close behind with the puppets at her side. The halls twisted and turned so much that they almost lost who ever they were following.
Rogue stopped at a corner when the figure entered another room. As the door opened she heard a feminine voice say, "come in Elmara."
'Elmara,' Rogue thought.
She left her corner and stood beside the now closed door. She turned to the puppets and said, "Tunneler Ah want you Jester to keep watch. If you see anyone coming let me know."
The two puppets nodded and headed for the opposite sides of the hall.
Rogue opened the door of the room and opened it a crack. She looked in and saw three cloaked figures with red trim.
They all stood around a cauldron as each one put something in it one at a time.
"Elmara," one of them said in a feminine voice, "did you get the hemlock."
"Yes Mirila," said Elmara also in a feminine voice.
Rogue then realized that these were not men. They were female members of the Hanzain Cult. The red trim was to help tell the difference between the two.
Rogue watched and listened as the women spoke. "So who is the poor fool that is receiving this batch of truth elixir," asked the third woman.
"It is for the Puppet Master Ritishne," said Mirila.
Elmara spoke in a voice of shock. "He has finally been captured."
"Yes," said Mirila, "I am very surprised that lord Vonce is willing to risk the boys life to get the formula. Hennin had told me that this was the only choice. They tried beating it out of him. They nearly killed him, and he still managed to keep the secret."
"How did they capture him," asked Ritishne.
Mirila smiled behind the shadows of her hood. "Lord Vonce kidnapped some friends of the young Puppet Master's sister. He brought her along to save them and she accidentally knocked the boy out with her mutant ability."
Rogue's heart sank when she heard the woman say that. She knew that it was not her fault Andre got captured, but she was saddened when she heard he had been beaten.
She tried to shake the feeling off and began listening to the women again. "When Hennin came down to give me the good news he gave me this."
Mirila held out a cane with a silver rattle snakes head on it. "Andre's cane," Rogue said to herself as she saw what was in the woman's hand.
"Did you hear that," Elmara asked as she looked towards the door. Rogue put her hand over her mouth as she slipped out of view.
Elmara shrugged and went back to he business. Ritishne turned to a small table and picked up an empty jar covered with a small thin peace of deerskin. "The elixir is almost complete. Only one ingredient remains."
She reached behind the table. Rogue watched from the door as she heard the sound of rattle.
Ritishne pulled a live rattlesnake out from behind the table. It squirmed around in her hands and rattled its tail.
Ritishne reached out and began slowly stroking the snake's head. The rattle on the slithery reptile stopped and the snake looked humble, like a cat sleeping in a beam of sunlight.
The empty jar was held up to the snake and it willingly began to bit down on the deerskin that was over the opening. The venom dripped from the fangs. The snake kept biting until he was pulled away from the jar.
Ritishne gently stroked the snake and put it back behind the table. She handed it to Mirila who then poured it into the cauldron.
All three of the women stood around the cauldron. Mirila began to wave Andre's cane over the substance boiling above the fire. Then the three women began to chant.
Oh spirits of darkness hear our cries
Show the secrets this boy hides.
Oh spirits of darkness hear our cries
Show the secrets this boy hides.
Oh spirits of darkness hear our cries
Show the secrets this boy hides.
They said these words over and over again until the liquid and Andre's cane began to glow bright green. However the women continued to chant.
The light from the cauldron was so bright it nearly blinded Rogue. She turned away and let the vision in her eyes come back.
The women stopped chanting. "It is ready," said Mirila.
She put Andre's cane down and picked up a small vial. She quickly put a little of the potion in it. "What do we do with the rest of it," asked Elmara.
"We will save it for any other poor sole that won't reveal what we need to know," said Mirila.
All the women headed for the door. Rogue ran to the other side of it and put herself flat against the wall. When the door opened it hid her perfectly. The puppets had already hid before the women opened the door.
The three women headed off to give Vonce the truth serum. Rogue came out from behind the door. She saw Blade and Six-shooter come out from hiding. "Just stay there," she told them, "Ah'll be right back."
She entered the chamber. On every table in there sat many vials and bottles. Rogue picked one up and read it out loud to herself. "The blood of a Hangman's son."
She quickly put the bottle down with a disgusted look on her face. She then quickly looked around the room for Andre's cane.
Sure enough the women left it there. Rogue saw it leaning against the wall on the other side of the room. She quickly went over to it and grabbed it. "Andre will be happy to see this thing again," she said to herself as she headed for the door.
She stopped after she passed a large vial full of a strange red substance. She looked at the vial and noticed three syringes next to it.
There was a large label on the back of the vial. The letters on it form some sort of message from Vonce to the women that were just in here. Rogue tried to read it, but the words we somewhat faded. "Ladies Ah have sent this vial to you hoping that you will guard it well. Ah am off to the town of Bayeville to take care of some business that is of great importance. This mission of mahne will require the capture of a mutant known only as Rogue. Why she is needed is mah business alone. This is the antidote for the powder that renders a mutant's X-genus inactive and Ah'm sure that if she is captured her friends will try to retrieve this substance. Guard it well."
Rogue's eyes turned wide. So this was the antidote for the stuff that deactivated the other X-Men's powers. That powder was not meant for them it was meant for her incase Vonce ran into her. So if she were captured Vonce would tell Andre and he would have to have come here any way.
Rogue reached out for the substance. Her hand stopped as she heard a voice behind her say, "what do we have here?"
The Goth turned around and saw the three women standing behind her. They all held daggers in each hand.
Ritishne looked at the pail girl and said, "well, you must be the Puppet Master's sister."
Rogue held Andre's cane up ready to fight. Elmara laughed and said, "do you really thing that piece of wood will stand a chance against six daggers?"
Rogue just gave them an angry look. She called to the puppets; "guys get in here!"
"They can't help you," said Mirila, "they can't even get in."
Rogue could hear the sound of small fists banging near the bottom of the door.
The door had been locked. All the puppets were banging against it.
Rogue began to back away from the women. The three of them took a step forward with every step she took back.
Mirila crossed her daggers so they formed a scissors shape. She sliced them about an inch away from Rogue's neck.
The Goth hit the blades away from her, but Mirila kept her grip on them. She kept her blades pointing at the young girl's neck.
Rogue kept stepping backwards until she bumped against the cauldron. She looked down at it and then back to the women. A sly smile formed on her face.
She pun around and kicked the cauldron. The boiling liquid flew out and splashed right onto the cloaked women.
They backed away as Rogue ran up and hit Elmara in the face with the cane.
She fell to the floor and Rogue jammed the point of the cane into her gut. A small bit of blood was on the cane as it came out.
Mirila ran at Rogue. She pinned her against the wall and punched her in the face.
Rogue's powers kicked in. She sucked all the energy out of Mirila, and all of her memories. Rogue saw the layout of the temple in the woman's head. She could find her way around the temple now. That is if she can get out of this room.
Mirila fell unconscious to the floor. Rogue put her hand on where the fist mad contact.
She looked across the room and saw Ritishne standing with her daggers in hand. Rogue held up the cane.
Ritishne looked at her daggers. She then dropped them on the floor and looked at Rogue. "No," she said, "I want use these to kill you. I want your death to be long and slow."
She reached behind a table and pulled out a small cage that the rattlesnake was in. She opened it up and grabbed the snake so it was in a striking position, and facing Rogue.
Ritishne took only a few steps over to Rogue. The snake stroke once at the Goth and missed her by inches.
Rogue swung the cane at Ritishne and missed as well. The rattlesnake struck once again.
Rogue and Ritishne circled each other around the room. The snake kept striking at Rogue and barely missing her. She wondered how many more strikes she could avoid before she was pumped with snake venom.
"What's the matter child," asked Ritishne, "are you afraid of a little snake bite?"
The snake struck again. "Why the hell do you want me to suffer when Ah die," Rogue asked trying her best to keep her distance.
The snake struck again. Ritishne said, "suffering is beautiful in our eyes. And watching our enemies suffer is even sweeter."
The snake struck once again. It's mouth grazed Rogue's hair, but it's teeth did not make contact. "You people are twisted," said Rogue, "pain is not something to enjoy."
"Oh but you are wrong," said Ritishne, "pain is sheer pleasure. You must learn how to do so. If you surrender to it, it is the most pleasant thing you will ever feel."
Rogue looked at the door behind Ritishne. The handle began to move slightly.
Outside Pinhead and Six-shooter were on each other's shoulders as they held Blade up. He picked the lock of the door as they swayed back and forth.
With a few more jiggles of the knife the door was unlocked. Tunneler and Jester pushed the door open and saw Ritishne holding the snake near Rogue.
Ritishne looked over to the puppets.
Blade and Six-shooter jumped off of Pinhead. Six-shooter pulled out all six of his guns.
Ritishne looked at the small puppet. "What are those little toys going to do to me," she said confidant that nothing would happen to her.
Six-shooter gave out a menacing cackle and fired all six of his guns at the woman. She fell dead to the floor with her hand clamped around the snake.
Rogue gave a sigh of relief and sarcastically, "perfect timing."
Six-shooter spun his guns around before putting them in their holsters again.
Rogue walked back over to the table that she saw the antidote on before the women attacked her.
She filled the three syringes with the red liquid and slid them into her boots. She then picked up the large vial they were in and said, "Jester take this."
Jester did as he was told. He held the vial in his arms and did not have any difficulty holding it.
Rogue began to walk to the door. As she did something hit her leg and she fell to the floor.
She looked up and saw Mirila standing over her. She had her dagger in her hand her hood was down. She looked almost exactly like the woman that Andre and Rogue saw when they tried to find the Hanzain Temple.
Mirila said, "you killed tow of my sisters. And for that you must die."
She raised the dagger in the air. Just as she was about to slam it down on Rogue she heard a grunt coming form the door.
All the puppets were in the room now. Torched stood in front of them and held out his flame-thrower.
He released a burst of flame right at Mirila. The fire enveloped her.
She thrashed around trying to put the fire out. Soon she fell dead to the floor.
Rogue stood back up and looked at the puppets. Torch put his flame down.
"Alright," said Rogue, "from now on you guys are coming in every room with me."
The puppets all nodded at her.
They all continued their search for young Andre. Sadly they did no know the formula would soon be revealed.