Author's notes: Thanks to those who reviewed.
Lance and Kitty walked side by side through the night. The breeze that blew along the grass around them was soothing to their ears. It had been quite some time since the two had been alone.
Lance slowly put his arm around the young prep and pulled her closer to him. Kitty rested her head on his shoulder.
"It's such a beautiful night isn't it," she asked Lance
The boy did not answer her. He simple smiled as they continued away from the Brother Hood house.
Kitty looked at her watch and frowned. It was getting late and she would have to be heading home soon. She certainly would have a lot of explaining to do that night. Sadly she did not want this moment to end.
Her sorrow was soon interrupted by a familiar face standing at the end of the road.
She rose her head from Lance's shoulder.
"Rogue, like, what are you doing here?"
The Goth said nothing. She just stood with a blank stare upon her pale skinned face.
Lance took his arm off of Kitty and looked at Rogue curiously.
"Are you alright," Kitty asked before walking over to her Gothic friend.
She stood in front of the girl and waited for an answer, but got none.
Rogue raised her arm and pointed a finger at Kitty.
Kitty stood in total bewilderment.
Lance stood back and wondering what was with his old team member. This behavior was not common for Rogue at all.
His state of quandary kept him distracted from the figure that snuck up behind him.
He did not know of its presence until it spoke in his ear.
"Turn and bow down to your death child."
Lance whipped around only to see the mutant called Reptilian standing behind him.
With one swing of the lizard's arm Lance was knocked five yards away from him. He hit the ground hard and slid a few feet before stopping.
Kitty looked at her boy friend in horror and turned back to Rogue. She was about to speak until she saw the figure of Rhombie come behind the Goth.
An evil smile formed upon the strange mutant's face. In no time Slime-eel made his appearance next to the four-armed creature.
Kitty turned to run away, but when she did she saw Reptilian standing in her path. The lizard grabbed hold of her and held her tightly so she could not escape.
The prep tried to use her powers to fade through the powerful grip, but nothing happened. She couldn't phase through the creature's body.
She focused all her energy on her ability only to learn that her powers did not work on the creature.
Kitty screamed out in terror hoping anyone would hear her cries for help.
Lance heard his girlfriend screaming. He stood from where he fell and faced the thing that held Kitty.
"Looks like it's time for me to rock and roll," he said as he raised his hand forward. The ground around them instantly began to shake.
The three strange mutants did not show any alarm in this. The attack was cut short by a blood-curdling scream of pain.
Kitty looked at Lance and saw the creature known as Flamiod standing behind him.
The mutant that was covered in the red suit had his hand on Lance's shoulder, however he was not wearing his black glove. His hand was seen perfectly. It was in a state of flame, meaning the hand was nothing but fire much like Amara in her fire state.
Lance screamed as the fire burned his flesh.
Flamiod then threw the boy into the wall of a nearby building. The wall cracked a little and Lance fell unconscious to the ground.
Flamiod calmly slipped his glove back on his hand cutting off the fiery glow.
He said in an amused voice to the unconscious Lance, "when you want to attack, then attack, don't talk."
Kitty stared at what had happened in disbelief and despair.
"Lance," she called to her boyfriend. "Lance wake up!"
Reptilian shook her slightly and said, "stop your sniveling little girl, or I'll devour your skin."
Kitty's mouth snapped shut when she heard that. She did not wish to anger these things, what ever they were.
Rhombie smiled with delight. The girl was captured, now they no longer needed the Gothic woman any more. Their lord Tiro would deal with her in time.
Rhombie looked at the pale girl and raised his hand to her head.
"When I tap your forehead your mind will be your own."
And with one simple tap on Rogue's forehead the blank stare on her face had vanished. She stumbled a little as if she had been weakened.
"What happened," she asked following a groan.
It did not take her long to remember what she was dealing with. She saw the evil faces standing around her.
Rogue looked and saw Kitty in the grasp of the mutant called Reptilian. And not to far away from them Lance lied on the ground with blood dripping from his head as he breathed very shakily.
Reptilian smiled at her and tossed Kitty over to his brother Slime-eel. Kitty screamed as the second mutant wrapped the tentacles from his mouth around her body. Once again her powers could not free her.
Rogue tried to run to Kitty's aid, but Reptilian stood in her way. His evil gaze made her frozen with fear. Her powers were of no use to her against this thing. And after seeing how fast it moved when fighting Gambit, she wasn't sure if she would survive a fight with him.
Reptilian gave his evil grin, once again revealing his razor sharp teeth and said, "thank you Rogue, you have been very helpful."
With those words Kitty's eyes became wide with shock and disbelief.
"Oh my god," she said. "Rogue? You helped them find me?"
Rogue looked very confused.
"No No Ah swear Kitty, Ah didn't."
"How could you do that," Kitty asked not listening to her first statement.
"Kitty, Ah didn't," Rogue insisted.
It was unaware to both of them that Rogue had been hypnotized.
Before either of them could speak again Reptilian turned to Slime-eel.
"Brother take her back to camp. Make sure she won't be able to run away. If she gives you any trouble then break her legs."
Slime-eel smiled with delight before running into the darkness.
But before they vanished into the night Rogue could hear Kitty scream, "YOU TRAITOR!"
Those words cut Rogue deep, but she could not show any weakness in front of these things, even though she could not help, but be afraid.
Reptilian looked back at her with a satisfied look.
"If you ever want to see that sweet little girl again, you will bring your friends to the forest near Raven's Ridge. If you are not there by midnight, I will tare out her throat."
"Ah don't think you'll live long enough to do that," Rogue said.
It did not take long for Rogue to feel the crushing force on her head. Reptilian clamped both his hands on her cranium and began to squeeze.
Rogue screamed in agony from the crushing pain.
Reptilian lifted her off the ground and said, "do not threaten me. You should not even exist, your bloodline should have been wiped out during the Great War."
Rogue looked at him as if she did not know what he was talking about.
Reptilian smiled at this and said, "don't worry lark, you'll find out soon enough."
"Well whoopdy fucking do," came a voice from behind.
Reptilian's eyes turned wide. He knew that voice.
Suddenly two caped figures came rushing out of the shadows. Both grabbed hold of Rhombie and rammed him into Flamiod.
Both of the evil mutants fell to the ground.
The second of the two figures reached to his hidden side and pulled out a long whip. It slashed forward and hit Reptilian right above the eye, making a painful gash.
Reptilian grunted and dropped Rogue to the ground.
The caped figure slashed forward again, but this time Reptilian was ready for it.
He held up his forearm causing the whip to wrap around it and with one powerful tug the figure was pulled over to the lizard like mutant.
His scaly hands clamped around the figure's neck and held him in place.
Rogue tried to crawl away, but was stopped by Reptilian's foot pressed down against her back.
Reptilian looked to the first figure. He had Rhombie pinned to the ground and seemed to be clawing at his face.
Flamiod stood up and grabbed hold of the stranger and pulled him off of his comrade.
The figure made a quick defense, elbowing Flamiod in the gut and punching him in the face all in the same movement.
Flamiod retaliated with a double spinning kick and an additional quick jab.
The figured managed to block the kicks, but the jab made smooth contact with his face. He fell backwards, but kept his balance.
Rhombie stood up from the ground and grabbed the figure by the arm. He swung the caped figure around and slammed him against a nearby tree.
The figure turned to his two advisories and prepared to retaliate with a barrage of different hand to hand attacks meant to kill instantly, but was stopped by the sound of Reptilian's voice.
"One more move and I will snap your friend's neck."
The figure froze in place. Flamiod and Rhombie grabbed hold of their enemy and held him in place.
Rogue looked up at the first caped figure. She knew who it was instantly, but kept her mouth shut.
Reptilian looked to the figure in his hand.
"Foolish," he said. "How senseless do you think it is to come into a battle when you are clearly outnumbered. I thought you two were smarter then that. Am I right Dromined?"
Dromined tried to make a swing at Reptilian's face only to get punched himself.
Pincher, who was still held by the other two creatures said angrily, "leave him alone you son of a bitch."
Reptilian smiled and said, "Flamiod, on the count of three, burn him to a fine crisp."
"I don't think that's gonna happen," came a Cajon voice from the darkness.
All that were present looked at Gambit as he came out of the shadows, weakly, but still in a way that was ready to fight.
He had his cards in his hand, with one all charged up and ready to blow.
"You," said Reptilian. "I should have figured these two would assist a mortal, such as yourself."
He then looked to Pincher and said, "your kindness has not yet ceased to amaze me. But it's still as pathetic as ever."
Gambit charged the card even more. It began to glow a bright orange, so bright that it would have blinded any normal mutant.
Reptilian was still not alarmed.
"Poor, weak man," he said. "Surly you do not think you can defeat us."
"Not before," said Gambit. "But now I'm not alone."
"But you are," Reptilian said in retaliation. "Your rescuers are now in my grasp."
It was now Pincher's turn to speak, "but we've got friends, have you forgotten them?"
Reptilian turned to Pincher. The alarm that was not there before, was now.
"You're lying," he said.
"Oh am I," Pincher said in a defiant voice.
Reptilian tightened his grip on Dromined's neck.
"If your brother's are here," he said, "then why don't they make themselves known."
As soon as he said those words, a loud BANG was heard throughout the night.
A bullet came out of nowhere and went clean through Reptilian's arm, the one that held Dromined.
He released his grip and let the figure fall to the ground.
Dromined grabbed onto the foot that pushed Rogue to the ground and gave it a quick yank.
Reptilian fell back, but did not fall to the ground.
Dromined dragged the Goth away from the creature, and over to Gambit.
Reptilian looked about, trying to find the source of the bullet. But there was no way of knowing. This was obviously an attack by the great sniper.
"Guillotine," he said angrily.
Another familiar voice came from the shadows. The reptile like voice Rogue heard only a few nights ago.
"Guillotine can shoot the flea of a dog from over a mile away Reptilian. And he's aiming strait at your head!"
It was then that the other three members of the small group of mutants came into view.
Guillotine remained hidden with his sniper rifle aiming right at reptilian's left eye.
Flamiod and Rhombie still stood with their hands clamped onto Pincher.
His three brothers surrounded them ready to fight.
The two strange mutants released Pincher, and he joined the side of his brothers.
Dromined stood with Rogue and Gambit, ready to protect them both.
Reptilian remained still. His team was now outnumbered.
But despite this bad predicament he laughed.
He gave his usual calm and evil laugh.
"Bravo, Pincher," he said, "your brothers have managed to turn the tables. You have gained this small victory, but you will not win the ordeal. It is far from over."
"Is that so," said Pincher.
"Yes," said Reptilian, "we know our great leader's prison is in this town. And we will find it. As soon as we have enough of what we need."
Even though Pincher's face was hidden, it was easy to see that he was looking a little fearful.
"You were wise to hide him here," Reptilian continued. "No one would have ever thought to look here, with all this mutant activity. But he is no longer hidden from us. He will be released."
He then turned to Rogue.
"And as for you Rogue, we will deal with you later. And if you want to see your friend alive and well again, you will have your team of mutants come to Raven's Ridge."
With that he leapt into the darkness.
Another shot was fired from the night, but missed it's target.
Rhombie and Flamiod followed their leader quickly and left the six mutant worriers with the two Cajuns.
As soon as they were gone Pincher went over to the Gothic girl.
The other three went over to Lance to see if he was alright.
Guillotine came out of the darkness and joined Pincher and Dromined.
"Are you alright," Pincher asked the young Goth. He looked into her eyes and saw they were red. He knew that would go away in a few days.
"Ah'm fine," Rogue said a little uncomfortable around these mutants. She could not tell if they were good or evil.
Pincher then turned to his other three comrades.
"How's the boy? Is he still alive?"
"Yeah," one of his brothers answered. "he might have a slight concussion, but he's alive."
Pincher wasted no time. The three mutants were all right, now he had to worry about the one called Kitty.
"You're friend," he asked Rogue, "what conditions did he request when he took her? What rules did he give you for getting her back?"
Rogue paused before answering.
"They said for me to just get mah team to be at Raven's Ridge by midnight."
"Sounds like a set up to me," said Dromined.
Pincher ignored his friend.
"Alright," he said. "Get your two friends back to your institute and get them checked out. We'll have your friend back by midnight at the earliest."
They all began to leave, but Rogue stopped them.
"Wait, hold it," she said, "mah friends and Ah are not gonna just wait around while Kitty's in the clutches of those maniacs. And how do Ah know we can trust you?"
"You'll just have to," Pincher said, "and don't try rescuing her yourselves. If you do, you'll die."
After those words he left with his comrades.
Rogue just stood for a few seconds, completely bewildered.
She quickly snapped herself out of it and began looking for a payphone to call the other X-Men.
The remaining Brother Hood members sat in the living room. It was getting late now and Lance should have been back by now. They figured he probably got into a make out session with Kitty.
Wanda was pacing back and forth in front of the statue they dug up the day before. To her the thing was becoming very unnerving.
She had the strangest feeling that the stone figure was watching her. Its eyes seemed to follow her every where she went.
Even in separate rooms of the house she could feel the eyes piercing through the walls and looking at her.
The men of the household didn't admit it, but they could feel it to. She could tell.
After a while of pacing Pietro finally spoke up.
"Wanda will you cut that out, you're driving me nuts."
Wanda normally would retaliate at such a remark. But she was too nervous about the statue to be her normal self.
She stopped in front of it and stared into its unblinking eyes.
"I can't stand that thing looking at me," she said.
"What," Fred asked, confused by her statement, even though he felt the same way.
"This thing," Wanda stated pointing at the statue. "I keep feeling like its looking at me. Like its alive or something. I hate it."
"Wanda just calm down," Pietro said. "It's just a big hunk of stone."
"Well it's a really aggravating hunk of stone," the Scarlet Witch said as she walked over to the couch and grabbed the blanket off of it.
She brought the blanket over to the statue and threw it over the head.
She walked away from it with a look as if saying "that's more like it."
She sat down on the couch and sighed in relief.
As soon as she sat down the blanket fell off of the statue.
Wanda looked over to it curiously and irritated.
She walked back over to the statue and put the blanket back on, but it fell back off instantly.
Wanda gave an aggravated groan and picked the blanket up again.
However as she began to put it over the statue her hand brushed against the cold surface. A sharp stabbing pain went through her hand.
She dropped the blanket and yelped as she looked at her hand. A long and deep cut was formed on the back of it.
"How the hell did that happen," she asked herself quietly.
She began to walk towards the kitchen to get herself a bandage, but stopped when she felt a strange tingling feeling coming from her cut.
The Brother Hood boys stood up in shock at what they were seeing.
Wanda looked at her hand and her eyes turned wide.
The blood was leaving the cut in her hand. Not only that, but it was floating in mid air over to the statue.
The red liquid splashed onto the face of the figure on the statue and was slowly absorbed into it.
"Ooookay," Todd said, "this is a little weird."
Wanda covered the cut on her hand and the blood stopped being drained from it.
Pietro walked over to the blanket and picked it up.
"Maybe we should cover this thing," he said as he began to put it back over the statue.
As soon as the blanket was in front of the statue's face, it burst into flames.
Pietro dropped the cloth and began stepping on it, trying to put out the flames.
Fred ran to his side and began stepping on it as well, causing the house to shake.
During this commotion a voice was then heard in the room.
It was not any of theirs, nor had it come from someone who had just entered the house It came from the statue.
It started out soft and then grew into a roar.
"I LIVE AGAIN!"
All the Brother Hood members looked to the statue.
It was now glowing a bright blinding light.
It was so bright that they could barely see the figure arise from the cold rock.
When the light faded away they could see it perfectly.
The snake figure on the statue had come to life. It stood before them in full figure, however it was not solid. It was more of a mist at this period of time, as a result of not getting its entire needed amount of blood.
But the snake figure did not seem to notice.
"I am free," the snake figure said.
The Brother Hood noticed that the mouth on its skull face did not move. The skull was a mere mask.
The snake spoke again.
"Free to strike vengeance on he who has imprisoned me."
Still unaware of his condition, the snake figure began to quickly slither to the door.
He was instantly pulled back to the statue from whence he came.
His long body slammed against the cold garnet. But he still tried to pull himself away from it, growling in anger as he was still pulled back.
"DAMN," he said infuriated.
The Brother Hood members stood dumbfounded. They had no idea what to make of what they were seeing.
The cobra looked at the statue.
"It's the effects of the spell that was cast upon me two decades ago."
His voice filled with rage.
"All my power a fraction of the way from being fully restored, AND I AM STILL BOUND TO THIS INFURNAL STONE!"
He looked away from the stone, still ignoring the Brother Hood.
"Which means I can not kill that cursed Pincher. I am still forced to wait for Ethenarol."
Wanda watched this thing as it spoke. She did not plan on waiting to see if it was friend or foe. She began to rev up her hex, ready to attack.
The snake looked at her as if it had known she was there the whole time.
Before Wanda could react she was thrown across the room.
Todd angered at what this thing did to Wanda jumped at the snake.
The snake looked at him and he froze in mid air.
The thing's eyes then lit up, bright red and released a strange red electricity from his eyes.
Pain began to swarm through Todd's body for a few moments before he was dropped to the floor.
Wanda stood from where she fell and walked to the side of Pietro and Fred. Todd stood next to them as they all prepared to go in for an attack on this thing.
The snake did not seem alarmed.
His eye began to glow red again as he said, "bow before me."
"Fuck you," Pietro said as he ran at the thing with his lightning speed.
The snake was much quicker in his defense. The red electricity came out of his eyes and wrapped around Pietro's body.
The mutant fell to his knees in pain.
The red electricity then went from Pietro to the rest of the Brother Hood. They groaned in agony as the pain flowed through them all.
The snake said, "bow before me and you will feel no more."
They all did as he ordered. They kneeled down in front of the snake, wanting the pain to stop.
The red electricity left from their bodies, but they remained kneeled, afraid to stand up.
The snake stood, pleased with their choice.
He then spoke to them.
"I am Tiro, the terror of the known world, the blood king of Castle Balko (B-Al-co), high on the mountain of Eshnu (Ishnoo) on the dark Island of Anonera (On-oh-n-ra)."
The Brother Hood looked up at him very confused and afraid.
"I reigned for many centuries," Tiro said. "I was the leader of a grand army of mutants, very different from you. Much more powerful; not as wretched as the likes of you."
Fred stood to his feet.
"I wouldn't insult us if I were you. I could squash you with no problem."
Tiro was very amused by his statement. He looked over to Wanda who was still kneeled on the floor.
With one twitch of his eye the poor girl was lifted into the air. Her arms were pulled into full length and she could not move on her own free will.
Tiro looked back at Fred and said, "unless you want to see your pretty friend rip her own face off, I'd suggest you not speak again unless I allow it."
With those words Wanda's right hand moved forcefully to her face. She was not doing this on her own free will. Tiro was making her do it.
Her sharp fingernails dug into the side of her head and curved up. A trickle of blood dripped from her wound, but Tiro stopped it there.
Tiro then said with amusement, "shall we watch her do so."
Pietro stood to his feet and said, "just leave her alone. Why the hell are you doing this to us?"
"Because," Tiro said, "you were the ones that found me. And I am in need of your assistance."
They all paused. Wanda remained floating in the air trying to ignore how much her head hurt.
Todd remained kneeling, to afraid to move.
Fred just stood not knowing what to do.
Pietro finally spoke.
"Fine. We'll help you if you put Wanda down."
Another pause came. Wanda was beginning to feel somewhat hopeful.
Tiro took a long irritated breath before saying, "no."
And then he made Wanda pull at her wound.
The Scarlet Witch screamed in agony as the blood began to spill even more. Tiro was not kidding about having her rip off her own face.
Pietro said frantically, "alright, alright we'll help! Just put her down! We'll do what ever you want!"
Then Wanda fell back to the floor and gained full control of her body.
"Wise choice," Tiro said.
Pietro then asked angrily, "what do you want us to do?"
"The Blood," Tiro said, "it has brought me this far. And I need more. My followers have what I need, you must find them and bring them here."
"How do we find them," asked Fred.
"I know where they are," Tiro assured. "We are connected They are at Raven's Ridge awaiting the vessels with more blood. Get them and bring them here. You will know who they are when you see them."
"Wait," Todd said as he finally stood up. "If we do this for you, then what's in it for us? What do we get out of this?"
"The chance to keep your lives," Tiro said angrily, causing Todd to shut his mouth.
"And trust me," Tiro warned, "if you cheat me, every remaining moment of your lives with be nothing, but an endless tide of misery."