Author's Note: Obake is a type of Japanese ghost that likes to terrorize people. It tends to hide in dark places.
Author's Note 2: I corrected the mistakes RandiRogue pointed out in her review. Personally, I wish she would have been a little more discreet about pointing them out, but a great editor is a great editor ;)
Chapter 2: Fatal Whispers
The male locker room was a pandemonium. Everybody tried to get to their lockers, put on their uniforms and get into the briefing room. Logan tried his best to prepare us for this sort of thing, but when Jamie couldn't keep himself together and Scott and Lance shouted atop of their lungs trying to keep some kind of order, things were bound to get messy.
Carefully shoving Roberto out of the way, I slipped into the Middleverse.
I walked through the locker door and grabbed the sports bag inside. Then, I quickly opened it and pulled out my costume.
A little over a year ago, Rogue's mommy dearest convinced everyone she was Professor Xavier and blew up the mansion. I still can't believe I once trusted that… witch. Anyway, when the dust settled, the mutants were on every TV channel and I was stuck on the other side of the Atlantic. Somehow, I would up leading a band of mutants while trying dodge homicidal accountants, power-mad mutants, bloodthirsty reporters and other assorted pleasantries. By the time this was over, I saved one of my comrades (she originally introduced herself as Liz) from certain death. Turned out that "Liz" was actually Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock, heir to a fortune large enough to put Tony Stark to shame. Before I went back to the good old US of A, she made a costume for me. I am not sure if she did to thank me or because she thought the original costume looked lame. Either way, I liked the design. Later, Forge tinkered with it, giving it all kinds of cool features and gadgets. The result served me faithfully ever since.
Ignoring all the people that carelessly phased through me, I quickly put on the costume. I paused for a moment as I took off my watch. No matter how many times I do it, it always comes back. A merciless, cold fear that I'll be stuck in Middleverse forever. I told it to find someone else to annoy. It slithered away without a word. It was almost too easy. Then again, I had a lot of practice.
I put on the bracelets and the mask. I quickly checked the equipment. The cartages were full and all the throwing discs were accounted for. The lenses worked perfectly.
I shoved my street clothes in the bag and threw it back into my locker.
When it landed, I realized that my aim was a little off. Part of the bag wound up in Evan's locker.
I peaked inside. His uniform was still there, exactly the way he left it. I sighed. Once upon a time, I inspired him to give school another chance. I helped him with his history homework. He tried to teach me how to skate. I was a glorious failure, but it was the thought that counted.
Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't trade anyone in the Institute for the world. But Evan was a friend. A kind of friend who always believes in you, even when you stop believing in yourself. A kind of friend who isn't afraid to stop you from doing something completely idiotic. A kind a friend you are supposed to treasure for as long as you live.
I couldn't help him. One time he needed me, I was powerless to do anything.
Now, Evan spends his days in the sewers while I am living comfortably in the Mansion. Most of the citizens of Bayville have no idea I am a mutant.
What does this say about me?
I shook my head, moved the bag out of Evan's locker and went to the briefing room.
I thought that after all that brooding, I would be the last one to arrive. Boy was I off.
Avalanche was hanging by the entrance, waiting for Shadowcat. Like me, he had a new costume. Well, actually, it was a less bulky, lighter version of his original uniform with a circular "X" logo for a belt buckle. And he got rid of those ridiculous shoulder pads. I had to make fun of him for seventy-two hours straight, but hey, sometimes, the ends justify the means.
Jubilee was talking with Cannonball. She wore a heavy yellow raincoat over her uniform. It was a birthday gift from Sam. Ever since she got it, she took every opportunity to put it on. She even wore it in battle. Thankfully, Professor convinced her to let him line it with Kevlar-crystal armor mash, or it would have been incinerated in the matter of days.
Sometimes, I wonder if Jubilee loves her raincoat more then she loves my roommate.
As I came closer, I realized that she and Cannonball were arguing.
"How many times do I have to tell you," wailed Jubilee, throwing her arms in exasperation, "there is nothing between us!"
"Is that why do you always talk about him!" Cannonball retaliated, "Every day, it's Tim that, Tim this!"
"I am not!"
Cannonball sighed loudly:
"Sometimes, I wonder why I even bother"
I was very tempted to use my powers to calm them down. But ever since I was freed from the Middleverse, I tried my best to avoid doing that to my teammates. It just didn't seem right. Besides, I was the genius who once tried to hook up Bobby and Jubilee.
Gambit was here, too, decked in his uniform. He was desperately trying to get pieces of Tabby's in-your-face breakfast special off his duster. Once every few seconds, he cast an evil glare in Boom-Boom's direction. Boom-Boom pretended to be fascinated with the blinking lights on the opposite wall.
Meanwhile, Rogue stood in the right corner, untouched by all the tension in the room. As I came closer, she turned her head and waved in my direction.
During my time with X-Men, I managed to hitch a ride on Magneto's orb, infiltrate Apocalypse's base, steal top-secret data from Zone 51 and walk around S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier and no one was the wiser. But it has been a while since I was able to sneak up on Rogue.
I grinned and hit a button on my left bracelet.
"You know, some of us have rep to maintain," I chided her as I appeared out of nowhere.
Rogue shook her head:
"How much do you want to bet no one will notice you're even here until you speak up?"
"You know I won't take your money."
"Unless you have to pay for movie tickets," Rogue smiled evilly
"You are not going to let me live that one down, are you?"
"Yep."
I spread my hands out dramatically:
"Fine, fine, be that way. I am still not going to take your money."
"Hey, as long as you pay up, I can live with that."
She can look really evil sometimes.
"I am not paying you anything."
"Now that's not fair. If you won't take my money, the least you can do is pay me."
"No. I mean, I won't bet. Not with money."
"Why not?"
"Because it's stupid and pointless."
"You're no fun…"
"No, I just don't want to bet for money."
"Then why didn't you say so in the first place?"
A pause
"Because I'm wyrd," I finally decided. "What were we talking about, anyway?"
"I have no idea."
….
"Great," I exclaimed. "Now we'll have to start all over again."
Rogue just chuckled.
We are an odd couple. I know that. People never seem to get tired of pointing it out. Seriously, though, when it comes to things like fashion, foods, music and hobbies, there isn't a whole lot we can safely agree on. But at least when we were in battle, we had something in common. That's right, I am talking about uniforms.
Now when we first started wearing them, a certain moron *cough*Bobby*cough* used to say: 'look at them! They wear simular uniforms! Awww...what a cute couple'. Naturally, we had to hit the poor fool over the head with a mallet and explain that he made a grave error: he assumed that Rogue and I were 'cute'. Besides…well, I guess he was kind of, sort of right about the "couple" part.
A while back, Rogue dumped me. The reasons are long, complicated and too painful to revisit at the moment. Suffice to say, we got back together. In a touching, yet somewhat weird gesture, Rogue asked Betsy to make her a new uniform. The quirky fashion designer was more then happy to oblige.
Both of us had dark-green uniforms with lighter green patterns. Both of us had utility belts with a set of throwing disks attached on its side. Both of us wore boots that ended two inches below our ankles. But the similarities ended there. The patterns were different shades. Mine were emerald-green, similar to the color of my forcefield. Rogue's were more forest-green, similar to the color in her original uniform. Mine covered my upper body and was shaped like a wide letter "v" with a dark-green vertical slash running through the middle. Rogue's looked like a sleeveless top. Our boots matched the colors of the patterns. My gloves covered my hands while Rogue's gloves covered her arms all the way up to her elbows. I wore a mask that covered most of my face, letting the hair stick out. Thanks to Forge's tech, the hair turned green when I put the mask on. Rogue didn't' wear any disguise. She had nothing to hide.
The most distinguishing feature of my costume was a set of bracelets. They look like a bunch of interconnected cylinders with a more oval-shaped section connecting the two sides together. The bracelet on the left hand acted as my watch. The bracelet on the right hand housed a launcher for the cartridges concealed in both bracelets.
"Shion," whispered Rogue
"What?" I replied quietly
"Professor is here."
She was right. Without making a sound, our enigmatic headmaster approached the main view screen. He looked at us and nodded.
Maybe I should take Rogue up on that bet after all.
I didn't get a chance to do that. The last students arrived, allowing Professor Xavier to finally begin his speech.
"Good morning, students. I called you here today because of two alarming developments."
The audience exchanged looks.
"It appears that after two months of virtual dormancy, Apocalypse has resurfaced in the vicinity of the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi, the first Emperor of China. He was last seen entering the tomb. We have no idea what he is going to do next or how soon he is going to do it."
I gulped. All of us knew this would happen sooner or later. We just chose to pretend otherwise.
"To make matters worse, I was informed that Warren Worthington vanished from his apartment without a trace."
Now that piece of information was shocking enough to elicit a gasp. The older residents of the Institute admired him. The younger residents of the mansion worshipped the ground he walked on. Even Rogue and I weren't impartial. Warren was one of the very few people who ever came even close to breaking through Rogue's shell. Me, I just thought the whole angelic wings thing was kind of cool.
We had a few mission together. No matter what happened, Warren remained an honorable man who was willing to risk anything and everything to protect the innocents. During the height of anti-mutant hysteria, he used his fortune to establish a safehouse for innocent victims of angry mobs. I will never forget it. Now, he was missing.
I wasn't able to help one friend once.
I would sooner die then repeat that mistake again.
"…Cerebro could not find any trace of him," continued Professor Xavier, "To be frank with you, I am baffled."
Where have I heard that one before?
"How about we scan for his runoffs?" I suggested
A shocked murmur swept through the room. I wondered it was because they didn't realize I was there until now or because I came up with a very good idea.
Either way, my money was safe.
If Professor was caught off-guard he didn't show it
"That's an excellent suggestion, Shion," he replied.
A few keystrokes later, a map of New York City came up on the main screen. In a blink of an eye, a decent portion of it was covered with green lines.
"I think I can narrow it down chronologically," offered Beast. Professor gave him room.
Another minute passed and most of the green lines vanished:
"Here are the runoffs from the last few hours before Mr. Worthington's disappearance."
It was very simple to follow. Warren stopped at the airport, waited for at least an hour, left the airport, traveled all over town, stopping in museums, shops and other places I didn't recognize for extended periods of time. He went back to his apartment for the rest of the day.
Deduction: Warren picked someone up from the airport and took that someone all over town. Since, as far as I could tell, he didn't stop by any hotel, I assumed that someone wound up spending the night at Warren's apartment.
Rogue snickered.
"Can you magnify it?" I asked, trying my hardest to keep the disturbingly girlish giggles at bay.
"Sure," Beast shrugged innocently
Soon, the apartment's layout filled the screen. My suspicions were quickly confirmed.
"Way to go Angel!" yelled Iceman
"Oh, shut up!" snorted Jubilee
"Yeah, I bet he does it all the time," nodded Multiple.
Suddenly, all eyes in the room focused on one 13-year-old.
"I mean… I wanted to say… Never mind"
"Anyway," Cyclops said in a tone that made it obvious that he was rolling his eyes beneath the visor, "this still doesn't explain anything. How could a person just vanish in thin air?"
"Especially in the middle of something this exciting," joked Boom-Boom
"SHUT UP, TABITHA!"
Everybody scanned the room trying to locate the source of this outburst. I shook my head. From where I stood, the source was all too clear.
"Warren is gone!" Rogue continued, her fists clenched in helpless fury, "We have idea where he is or what's happening to him. And as if that wasn't bad enough, we got an insane Hitler wannabe with a skirt fetish planning something. So can you please just cut the crap and try to do something productive!"
"Psycho…" mumbled Boom-Boom as she looked away. Thankfully, Rogue didn't hear it.
"We have way too many unknowns," Beast spoke up calmly, "we should try to assess the gravity of the situation before we do anything."
"We need to divide our forces into two teams," proposed Wolverine, "We have no idea what's gonna happen once we find Apocalypse, but it won't be pretty, so we'll need all the forces we can get. As for the Wing-boy… Don't get me wrong, Rogue, but he ain't a priority right now."
"Well, if it's the power we need," wondered Cyclopes, "why won't we just send Rogue and Ecto to see what's up with Angel while the rest of us handle Apocalypse."
I could have pointed out that how many times our powers turned defeat into a victory (or, at least, a draw). I could of commented on what happened last time I went up against Apocalypse. Heck, I could have reminded him of that time I saved him from getting creamed by one of the Danger Room's "Magnebots". But I didn't. I knew Rogue was going to go no matter what and I wasn't about to let her do it alone.
"Now wait just a minute," exclaimed Gambit, "whoever got Angel must be pretty strong, oui. Sendin' dem out alone would be suicide."
"Yeah," Boom-Boom echoed his protests, "for all we know, this could be some kind of trap! On the other hand, if a mutant with an active combat power would go with them…"
She stopped in the mid-sentence as she realized that she and Remy agreed on something. For a moment, a look of pure terror blew across her face. With a *humf*, she crossed her arms and turned away.
I could understand why Remi protested – he wanted to protect Rogue. But Tabitha… Normally, she was the one who encouraged X-Men to go out and take stupid chances (consequences be damned). Why was she suddenly so cautious?
"You bring up valid points," acknowledged Professor Xavier, "but I am confident that Rogue and Ecto are capable of accomplishing this mission. They certainly have a track record to prove it"
"Yeah, like that time Gambit and Shion were trapped in…" A sharp glare from Wolverine stopped Multiple in mid-sentence.
"It's settled then," my sensei said curtly. "Rogue and Ecto are going to find Angel. Everybody else, get you rears on the X-Jet. We wasted enough time already."
"I trust you'll be able to pay for the bus," said Beast.
"Well, I tried," Boom-Boom smiled as she wrapped me in a bone-crushing hug, "Take care. And if you run into one of Apocalypse's flunkies, please kick his ass for me."
Now that was more like it
"Sure, just as long as you don't do anything stupid."
"I'll keep it in mind," she laughed as she released me, "Bye, Shion."
"Bye, Tabby."
Gambit approached me, his eyes trailing the shiny parts of the floor:
"Shion?"
"Yeah."
"Y' take care of Rogue, oui?"
"I will."
"Thank you."
He cast one last, longing look at Rogue, turned around and left without saying a word
"Good luck, Shion," said Cannonball, "You too, Rogue"
"Right back at ya, Sammy-boy," I smiled
The other students left, waving and offering their goodbyes as they got out the door. Avalanche asked me to look up some restaurants when I get there. Nightcrawler joked about eventful dates, earning a playful whack from his sister. Magma laughed and pulled him away. Wolverine shook my hand and told me not to get too distracted.
As the crowd waned, I noticed that Jubilee was chatting with Shadowcat. Cannonball was nowhere in sight.
Next thing I knew, we were standing in an empty room.
"Well…" Rogue sighed, "let's do it."
I nodded, hit the button on my left bracelet and headed back to the locker room.
-------
A short figure clad in dark, torn jeans, long, spiked gloves, a leather cape and a black shirt inscribed with rows of Japanese kanji ran though the forest. His skin was chalk-white and his face was painted with intricate emerald patterns. His darkened lips were twisted into an equally dark smile. Everything was going according to plan.
He came up to a bright clearing with a lively waterfall. He supposed that some might find it pretty. But he learned long ago that pretty things are nothing but glitter fools use to hide their emptiness.
"Shinkirou", he whispered
Suddenly, a cool breeze began to tickle his skin. He has returned to the world of the living.
"Welcome, Obake."
The voice belonged to a tall man with thin glasses and wild black hair. His fingers were covered with rows of thin rings. He was clad in blue pants, white dress shirt and blue duster.
Obake didn't bother to ask where that man was hiding. The Other had his ways.
"I hope you had a pleasant journey," lied Obake. The Other smiled:
"That is of no importance. I am far more interested in your progress."
"Oh, I sewed some discord, planted some doubt, made people go against the nature. You know, the fun stuff. I even made that witless hillbilly wonder about how his precious girlfriend spends his free time."
"Ah... What about our target?"
"What do you expect? She has issues. She always has issues. Considering how much she cares about my misguided alternate, I can't exactly control her. But I did put some stumbling blocks in her path. "
"Speaking of your alternates – how is Ecto doing?"
"As well as he could be, I suppose. Sometimes, I swear I want to hit him on the head with something hard. He had so much to learn. So much to achieve. But he still keeps on fooling himself."
"Has he sensed you?"
"No. He doesn't suspect a thing."
"Brilliant. Congratulations, Obake. You made my day."
"Are you sure you want to jinx it?"
The Other glared.
"I mean, Thank you, Boss, for all your ever so limitless kindness and caring." Obake amended
The Other knew that Obake would never call him "master". He had too much pride. Fortunately, the Other learned to tolerate the quirks of his agents. After all, unlike some world conquerors, he didn't want to waste his days surrounded by suicidal zombies.
Sensing the echoes of his thoughts, Obake smiled.
It was going to be a great day indeed.
Disclaimer: Obake was based on Post's original concept and used by me with permission. The Other is the property of DC comics, Vertigo division.