Chapter 9

6:51 P. M.

Hank's Lab

"ALL RIGHT!" Marty did a little dance around the lab. "Hank'll be thrilled, and you won't die, and--"

Marty's excitement faded as he realized. "And as soon as I unfreeze time, Shaw's got a chance of getting his paws on it. Shit."

Doc grumbled to himself. "Why now, why now. . . . I don't dare delete the formula, but if Shaw gets his hands on the back-up CDs. . . ."

Suddenly, he had a thought. Hmm. Yes, it could work. It will work! He put his hands firmly on the sides of the computer and concentrated hard. Electricity flashed, moving up his arms and deep into his brain. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes, grabbed a fresh CD, and backed up the formula.

Marty gave him a confused look. "What was that all about? What did you do to the computer?"

"I'll tell you later." Doc yanked the CD free and directed a spark of electricity at the hard drive. The formula vanished from the screen, replaced by the words "Missing File." "There, that's settled. Now let's find Shaw."

7:00 P. M.

Back in the Hall O'X-Men

Shaw burst into the hallway, intensely annoyed at these constant lapses in security. It was looking like Selene was right -- you couldn't trust anything to these dunderheads. How much do you have to pay for decent workers these days?!

Clara spotted him first. "You bastard!" she snarled, kicking him as hard as she could in the shin.

Shaw shoved her to the ground. "Get out of my way, woman! I have business to take care of!"

A bunch of Hellfire members came flying toward him. Shaw let a few hit him before ducking to absorb their kinetic energy. He could just see through the melee that they had been telekinetically thrown by Phoenix -- Jean. Her eyes glowed with a fiery light, and she seemed to soar at her enemies with invisible wings. Nightcrawler wrapped his tail around another member and knocked his head into the wall. Storm forced a few of her enemies back with great gusts of wind, then swirled them into a mini-tornado before dropping them on the floor. Iceman quickly froze them there before they could recover. Cyclops and Wolverine were -- shockingly -- working together, Cyclops blasting members into Wolverine, where he knocked them out with a single punch.

Suddenly, Shaw felt like something had grabbed his arm and was sucking the life right out of him. His veins distended, then relaxed as whatever that was went away. Minutes later Rogue smacked him with a gloved hand. "Thanks for the boost," she taunted, revealing her unclothed right.

"You'll pay for that," Shaw said, recovering quickly. "Selene!"

Selene didn't come. The other X-Men were wrapped up in their own battles, but spared a few moments each to try and get Shaw. Jennifer grabbed the heaviest thing she could throw and chucked it at Shaw's head. "You're a monster!"

Shaw grabbed her roughly. "Want me to prove it?"

"Hey! Shaw!"

There was a pause in the action as everyone turned to see Doc and Marty standing in the doorway. Marty glared furiously at Shaw. "Put her down, or I'll--"

Shaw grinned and dropped Jennifer. "Yes?"

"Calm down. We want to negociate." Doc idly twirled the back-up CD in his left hand. "Call off your henchmen, and we'll talk."

"You're Dr. Emmett Brown. And you're that singer, Marty McFly. What are you doing here?"

"We're helping Hank McCoy. I just found your Legacy Virus cure."

Everyone froze. Shaw regarded the pair coolly, hiding the jolt of excitement that had just gone through him. "Really?"

"Really. It's all on this CD." Doc held it up. "And only on this CD. I erased the master file from the computer. The cure to the Legacy Virus is here, and here alone."

Shaw hesitated a moment, then waved. The Hellfire Club members obediently fell back, a few sighing in relief. Some of the wounded suppressed moans. "Is that the truth?"

"See for yourself. Send somebody to the lab."

Shaw did so. "And you want to negociate for the disk?" Doc nodded, his face deadly serious. "Well, I'm afraid it's not going to work that way. Give up the disk or I start with the children."

Doc's eyes grew dark. "Lay one hand on any of those kids, especially my own," he growled, "and I will erase this CD faster than you can blink." He brought up his right hand, sparks flicking through the fingers. "One spark is all it would take."

Shaw went stiff, glaring at them impressively. "You wouldn't dare. You'd be signing your own death warrant."

"It would be worth it to keep your filthy paws off this formula."

"It's our way or the highway," Marty added. "Not even your wife can help you now."

Shaw had been on the verge of calling for Selene. "What did you do to her?" he growled, face going red.

"She did it to herself. She tried to tap into my mind while I was using my power. She'll be all right, but she won't be waking up anytime soon. Like Marty said, our way or the highway."

There was a tense silence. Then Shaw said, "Fine. Let's hear your terms."

"First off, free the X-Men and our families, unharmed. Next, you let the X-Men keep a copy of the formula. We can't leave you as the only supplier."

"Why not?"

"Hank told me about you, Shaw. You'd exploit that opportunity mercilessly."

"A man has to make a profit."

"At the expense of millions of lives?"

"Look at yourself. You're prepared to erase that formula, all for the sake of a few principles."

Doc nodded slightly, giving Shaw the point. "But I also bet a good number of mutants would die before owing their lives to you."

Before Shaw could retort, the henchman he had sent to the lab returned, looking nervous. "He's telling the truth," one reported. "The file's been wiped. There's no trace of it in the hard drive."

Shaw grumbled to himself -- then suddenly, smirked. "I just had a thought, Dr. Brown. How do you intend to make me keep my end of the bargain? My group vastly outnumbers yours. I'm sure that, with a little persuasion, you would give up the disk." He leered at Clara, who snarled right back.

Doc brought his electric hand close to the disk. "If you're willing to give up the cure, just lay one hand on my wife," he said, voice cold.

"I don't think you'll need to go that far, Doc."

Heads turned toward the doorway. "J. C.!" Marty said, grinning. "You're okay!"

J . C. smiled weakly at her friends. "Yeah, the dickwads knocked me out. But they paid big time for it." She gave Shaw her iciest stare. "You'd better do as he says. Otherwise some very nasty things could happen."

"Really? Who are you to threaten me?"

"The mutant daughter of a Purifier, that's who. You make me sick, Shaw, absolutely sick. And I bet my father would be sick too, once he found out that his hero -- and said hero's wife -- were mutants."

Shaw's smirk transformed into a megawatt glare. "You wouldn't dare, you little brat. How could you contact him?"

"She has her ways," Professor X said calmly, rolling in. He was followed by Hank, in his werewolf form. "Excuse us for our tardiness. We knew something was wrong when we couldn't contact the mansion. Unfortunately the Blackbird still hasn't quite recovered from the damage it took during our campaign with Magneto."

"I don't think the steering will ever be the same," Hank elaborated.

Shaw couldn't believe this. Everything that could have gone wrong, had. In extreme frustration, he kicked the wall a few times. "If Selene was here--"

"You have to run to your wife to fix every problem?" Marty taunted. Jennifer and Clara sighed a little, shaking their heads.

That does it! There's no loss in trying physical combat now. These freaks shall see that Sebastian Shaw can not, will not be cowed! With a yell, he aimed a punch at the mocking teen's face.

Incredibly, the punch hooked around and smacked him in the jaw. Shaw tried again. Same result. The punch never even came near Marty. Marty gave him an insolent grin. "Give up?"

Shaw looked around. Surrounded by X-Men. Professor X back. Missing and injured Hellfire Club Members. Selene out of commission. And the Legacy cure right in front of him. Closing his eyes and hanging his head, Shaw nodded. Yes. He gave up.

Logan snorted. "Why don't I just pop my claws through him and we forget this whole mess," he suggested roughly.

"I'd love to take you up on that offer, but the last thing the X-Men needs is negative publicity," Doc reminded him. "I just want him off our backs."

"Fine, let's lay all our cards on the table," Shaw said, trying to regain his charm. "I don't want to be here any more than you want me to be here. I'll gladly vacate the premises once you agree to my conditions. First of which is the safe return of my wife."

"She's down this hall, then turn left and go down another three hallways. Just don't try any funny business."

Shaw sent the group of Hellfire members to retrieve her. "Second, I've sunk quite a bit of money into this venture, Dr. Brown. Millions and millions of dollars. Plus all sort of scientific manpower."

"I don't doubt it, seeing as how a couple of world-class geneticists have gone missing," Hank snapped heatedly.

"I did what I needed to in order to develop a cure. I'm not insensitive to the needs of the mutant population, despite my public persona."

"No, you're just insensitive to the needs of the human population."

"Now now, Dr. McCoy. Now that there's a cure on hand, I have no qualms about releasing them."

"Good, you anticipated our next term," Doc said. "All of them, though, Shaw."

"Just a moment. Dr. Stoker has taken a personal interest in the project. I doubt he wants to leave right away."

Doc frowned. "As long as he stays out of his own free will, I suppose that's all right."

"Good. Now, besides your copy of the formula, will you want a sample of the stuff?"

"Just to make sure you don't monkey around with it. Let's get back to your money comment for a moment, however. I know that was for a reason. I can't stop you from selling the darn thing, but I'm looking for a reasonable price."

"That's all I ask."

"Very reasonable, Shaw. All kinds of mutants have this disease."

Shaw frowned. "I'll do my best to keep it as cheap as possible. These demands are quite ridiculous, you know."

"Not from our point of view."

"What next, then?" Shaw demanded. "X-Men in my factory?"

"One to supervise and collect the sample you promised us. I don't trust you to mail it."

"Can it at least be one of my choosing?"

"Hank doesn't--"

Hank interrupted, surprising them all. "Actually, I think I will now. After all, I'm the best suited for the job -- brains and brawn."

Doc grinned a little at him. Shaw smiled as well. "Do we have a deal? Or are there any more silly terms I have to worry about?"

Doc hesitated a moment. Then he nodded. "We have a deal." He shook hands with Shaw very reluctantly, then passed over the disk. As it changed hands, a tiny spark of electricity jumped over the surface, unnoticed.

Selene was brought in, conscious now and moaning. Shaw ran to her side. "Selene, darling. . . . What did they do to you?"

"I'm -- not really sure," Selene confessed, shaking her head to clear it. Her eyes fell upon Doc, and she turned dead white. "Don't let him near me!" she yelled, cowering back.

A current of murmuring went through the Hellfire Club members. Selene had always been their greatest fear, the thing that kept them in line. But if this rather unimposing man could scare her. . . . Well, suffice to say, a few members were starting to question their loyalties.

Shaw went stiff, and fixed them all with another megawatt glare. "You'll excuse me, I hope, if I don't make proper goodbyes."

"Not at all. Go."

Jean's eyes flared red, and quite a few Hellfire members were automatically shoved out the door. Shaw yanked Frieda to her feet and carried her out, supporting Selene with his shoulder.

"He's a gentlemanly jerk, at least," Scott commented, earning him a light telekinetic shove.

Doc pulled Clara off the floor and into his arms. "Clara, Clarabelle. . .did he hurt you? Oh, Clara, I'm so sorry I didn't come earlier." He kissed her as hard as he dared. "Please tell me you're all right."

"I'm fine, he just gave me a shove at the end." She squeezed him tight. "Is it true? Do you really have the cure?"

"Yes, it's true. Hank, you won't believe this, it was all a matter of a missing subscript."

"Does that mean you're gonna live, Papa?" Jules asked, eyes bright. Doc nodded. The boys cheered and ran into his arms.

Jennifer gave Marty a once-over, feeling him for broken bones. "Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah. Everything's great, Jennifer." He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Man, I love her so much. I wish this moment could last forever.

Abruptly, everything went silent. The teens pulled apart to find the world frozen solid. Jennifer looked around nervously. "What -- what just happened?"

"Sorry, my fault," Marty blushed. Jennifer frowned at him. "I'm a mutant, Jennifer. I just found out. I can stop time." He looked around. "Guess I accidentally used my power."

Jennifer suddenly laughed. "Is that how Shaw kept hitting himself?"

"Guilty as charged." Marty quickly turned off his power. A few of the other kids gave the pair puzzled looks, wondering how they had changed position so fast.

J. C. went up to Doc, looking shy. "I'm glad you guys pulled through."

Doc smiled at her. "You were very brave. Thank you."

"Thank you. For being there."

Doc became very serious. "J. C., I can't love you like I think you love me."

"Yeah, I know. But I really want to be part of your life. Please."

The smile returned. "I think we can work something out." He gave her a hug.

Hank patted Doc's shoulder, grinning toothily. "Great work, Emmett, absolutely great. Our desperate search is finally over." The grin vanished as he sighed deeply. "I just wish it wasn't in Shaw's hands."

"It isn't."

All eyes turned to Doc. The scientist smiled almost evilly. "When I passed over the disk, I erased a bit of information from it. Just enough to keep Shaw busy for a few days."

Hank was horrified. "But -- but -- you said yourself that was the only copy of the formula! Please, please tell me you were lying and made another backup."

"In a manner of speaking, Hank. Once I discovered the correct formula, I conceived of an idea that would get Shaw out of our hair while allowing us to retain possession of the formula."

Marty remembered Doc pressing his hands against the computer. He raised an eyebrow. "Doc -- did you--"

Doc's smile widened as he tapped his temple. "Downloaded it directly into my brain. I can simply relay the information back to Hank. I may even be able to transfer it back into the computer."

Hank laughed. "Yes! Defeated at his own game!"

Marty grinned at his friends. "Yeah. Good job, 'Crawler. You too, Lightning."

Doc chuckled. " You didn't do too bad either, Clockstopper," he returned. "And neither did you, Dream." J. C. just smiled and squeezed him. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get crackin'!"