The Prince of Thieves
Chapter XXXI: Enter the Juggernaut
By: Michelle
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DISCLAIMER: I don't own the X-men. I just write fanfics for fun.
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"Eric, get up." Mystique fussed trying to pull him up some. "Pyro, come help me."
Pyro walked over to them. His head was pounding. It was bad enough to get beaten up by Rogue and Nightcrawler the night before, but to be out done by a man who had been in suspended animation for five years was the icing on the cake. "Did anyone catch the number on that mack truck?"
Mystique just rolled her eyes and got back to the task at hand. "Come on Eric."
Magneto came to rather slowly. Everything around him seemed to be a blur. The last thing he remembered was the Juggernaut turning on him. That was not part of the plan. "Where is he?" He questioned is two followers.
"Gone.' Mystique replied. "He stormed through the wall after he turned on us."
"Why didn't you try to stop him?" Magneto fussed as he sat up.
"We tried." Mystique answered truthfully. "But he is a Juggernaut. Nothing can stop him. Besides, you wanted him to take care of Xavier and his X-men. He has a one track mind. Revenge is the only thing he is thinking about."
"True." Magneto agreed as Mystique and Pyro helped him to his feet. "He's Charles' problem now. Not ours."
"My thoughts exactly." Mystique agreed, but she had that feeling all along. "Now we got to get out of here. With the way Juggernaut abruptly left, he sounded off all the alarms. The guards will be here soon."
Magneto formed a large sphere and summoned them out of there just as the guards got through the door.
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"Logan, will you stop pacing." Xavier said looking up from his paperwork.
Logan just snarled at him and continued.
Xavier sighed. He really wanted to laugh at the feral man. Logan always acted big and bad, but when it came to Rogue some sort of fatherly instinct kicked in. Instead of pressing him on the issue, he decided to try a new subject. "Where are most of the children?" He asked although his telepathy clued him in one where they all were in the mansion.
"Most are in the rec room playing games. The others are watching those Harry whats-his-face movies." Logan replied. "Why?"
"Are you trying to hint to me that you want me to watch the kids instead of pacing in front of your desk?" Logan asked and didn't hear Xavier comment. "I get it Chuck. I get it." I'll go watch those kids. He grumbled under his breath as he walked towards the door.
Bbbrriinggg
"Xavier's School." Xavier said as he answered the phone on the first ring. "Are you serious…How did this happen…"
Logan stopped in his tracks and turned around. He didn't need to be a telepath to understand that something was wrong.
"I understand…Yes please…as soon as possible…"
"What's going on Charles?" Logan demanded as Xavier hung up the phone.
"We have a Juggernaut on our hands." Xavier wheeled from behind his desk. "Get suited up and get the kids in the Danger Room. I'm going to get in contact with Kurt and Ororo."
"What's this about Chuck?"
"I'll brief you mentally on the way to the War Room." Xavier replied. "Just hurry."
Logan didn't ask anymore questions. He could sense by the urgentsy in Xavier's voice that it was something gravely important.
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Rogue looked down at her second card. One flip determined whether or not Remy stayed. She placed her hand on the card ready to flip when she felt his on hers.
Remy didn't know what to do. One card determined his fate. Part of him wanted her to lose, but the other part wanted her to win. He wanted her to win. He placed his hand on top of hers stopping her from flipping over the card. He had to know something. What was he feeling? He leaned in to find out.
Rogue looked from their hands to his face. Before she knew it, his lips pressed up against hers.
I must be crazy. Remy thought as he leaned in and kissed an unsuspecting Rogue. He could feel the fear radiating off her as he stared into her widening eyes. He mentally sent waves of comfort to her to get her to relax. Her lips were soft and welcoming, but he wanted to break that barrier.
His touch tingled at first, and then it went away. Rogue didn't know what to think of it and at that moment, she didn't care. His kiss was so full of warmth and love.
Remy pulled back a bit. His heart was pounding. And I want to leave because. He kissed her again, but this time with a little more force.
Rogue wasn't sure what to make of what was happening, but she wasn't going to fight it. Slowly, taking the card in her hand, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
By now he was leaning over her. He could sense her relaxing and made the move to slip his tongue in her mouth. She counter responded by welcoming him and getting a little tongue action herself. Everything was happening so fast.
Remy placed his hand on her waist and began sliding it down, then back up again under her shirt. That's when it happened and he didn't have enough charm power to calm her.
Rogue began to panic. Her realization of truly what was happening set in. In a split second, her mutant powers kicked in and she could slowly feel his power flow into her. She was absorbing him.
Whoa damn. Remy felt her powers kick in. He didn't realize how powerful she actually was. He had only felt a minor dose of her power the other day. That was nothing compared to this.
Rogue's fingers burned through her gloves and into the card. She pushed him away out of shame. "I'm sorry." She apologized and turned from him. She looked at her hands seeing the singed cared and holes burned in her gloves.
Remy breathed deeply. She literally took his breath away. "You ok Chere." He asked breathing in deep. That was one hell of a kiss.
"Yeah." Rogue hung her head. "I'm sorry. She said shaking. "I didn't…I couldn't…"
"It's alright." Remy said placing a hand on her shoulder. She pulled away and he looked into her now ruby eyes. "It wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have…"
I'm glad you did. "I didn't mean to hurt you." Rogue said softly.
"I'm fine." Remy replied and grabbed her hand. It was worth it. "I'm fine." He repeated and squeezed her hand.
Rogue nodded and looked into his eyes. It was the truth. He was fine like he said. She absorbed him good, but not enough to put him in a coma. She didn't know how she was able to kiss him for so long, but she was glad she did. She learned that he truly wanted to stay and that she was one of the reasons why.
She thought about the card again. Well, what was left of it? She was about to take a peek at it when Logan abruptly interrupted them.
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Where are the Oh Shit handles? "Kurt could you not drive so fast?" Ororo asked him as they sped down the highway.
"Sorry Liebling." Kurt apologized as he slowed down. "But American interstates have such low speed limits. It's hard to go 60 miles per hour. In Germany, there is not speed limit on the Autobahn. I vonce vant 150mph with my trailer."
"That's too fast."
"Not really." Kurt replied. "Actually if you compare that to the speeds ve go in the Blackbird, it's really not that fast at all."
"I'll take your word for it." Ororo replied. "And it's not just the speed you are driving that is bothering me, Kurt. It's the fact that you shift gears with your tail."
Kurt couldn't help but chuckle at that comment. "I'll try to be a better driver for you Mein Liebe."
Ororo smiled.
Brriiinggg
Ororo dug frantically in her purse until she found her cell phone. "Hello. Ororo speaking." She answered, and then was in shock when Xavier began talking on the other end. "What? But that's impossible. We took care of him five years ago. Plus, we separated him from the ruby. There is no way…" She was speechless as she thought about the words that just came out of her mouth.
"…Got a big offer ta steal a big jewel. I'm a t'ief when all else fails…an' all else failed."
"Oh Goddess, he stole the Juggernaut's jewel." Ororo said more to herself that Xavier. Oh Goddess. "Professor, we are almost to the mansion." She hung up the phone and turned to Kurt. "Floor it."
"Vat?" Kurt didn't believe what she just said. "Did you just say floor it?" He asked knowing full well that she just fussed at him for driving too fast.
"Yes, floor it."
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"Drake, Jubilee, Colossus, Rogue." Wolverine hollered as he rushed out into the rec room in his X-suit. "Get everyone to the Danger Room NOW."
Rogue quickly folded the card and slipped it in her pocket. "What's going on?" She asked as she and Remy got up.
"I ain't got no time to explain." Wolverine replied. "I need everyone in the Danger Room NOW."
No one bothered to ask anything more about Wolverine's orders, but it was obvious something was seriously wrong.
"Is that everyone?" Colossus asked as the ushered the last student in the Danger Room.
"Yeah." Jubilee answered. "That's everyone."
"Dey be something be about ta go down." Remy said leaving the older students in the Danger Room with all the kids.
"Oh please." Bobby rolled his eyes. "Wolverine is just trying to scare us. Ever since the school was attacked in May, the X-men have been paranoid. It's just one of their drills to keep us on our toes."
"Nah." Remy shook his head and listened. "Something's wrong." Really wrong.
"He's right." Rogue agreed. "Logan wouldn't have been in his X-suit if it wasn't something serious. He's looks ready to fight."
"But this is Logan we're talking about." Bobby argued back. "He's always in the mood to fight."
"That's not the point."
"Look yawl can argue about dis all yawl want, but it ain't gonna solve anything." Remy argued. "I'm going up dere ta see what's going on." He said and headed back to the elevator. "Yawl can either stay and baby-sit dem kids or yawl can grow a set of balls and show everybody Whatcha made of."
Rogue looked at her friends, and then rushed to Remy. She grabbed him by the arm causing him to turn around.
"Ya can't stop me Chere."
"I wasn't going to." Rogue replied. "But this isn't a game. This is for real."
"I know dat."
"Then come on." Rogue dragged him and her friends to the War Room. "I got an idea."
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Ororo looked around as Kurt pulled the car in front of the school. Judging form the destroyed defense blasters, Juggernaut was already on the property. Where is he?
"How are ve suppose to find this Juggernaut you vere talking about?" Kurt asked. He didn't know what the hell they were going up against, but according to Ororo it wasn't going to be a walk in the park.
"He's not that hard to miss."
Crunch
"Vat the?" Kurt turned around to see exactly what they were looking for. "Holy shit."
Juggernaut had a good grip on the back of the car and began lifting it in the air. "Welcome home." He said. "Let me get the door for you." He threw the car into the front door of the mansion. Luckily, Nightcrawler bamfed Storm and himself to safety before impact.
"There he is."
'No kidding." Nightcrawler couldn't believe it. One minute they were trying to find the Juggernaut, the next minute he was throwing their car into the mansion. Ah, the life of an X-man.
"You two alright." Wolverine appeared from one of the doorways with his uniform on and claws extended.
"Ve're fine." Nightcrawler replied. "But apparently ve have an uninvited guest."
"No shit." Wolverine replied and looked at Ororo. "You can't fight in that Darlin'"
"What? Logan!" Storm fussed as he sliced off the bottom half of her dress.
"You'll thank me later." He replied. "Besides, it's looks better shorter anyway."
"I'm not complaining." Kurt added checking out the view.
Storm just rolled her eyes. "Now is NOT the time to flirt."
"Agreed."
All three turned to see Xavier roll into the room. He looked over the rubbage and the car. He knew Cain was going to be a lot for them to handle.
"Knock Knock." Juggernaut said smashing through a wall. "Anybody home. Charles. Your big brother has come to visit you."
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Remy was in aw. Rogue had showed him the room, but he didn't realize what it was capable of.
"Here's everyone's training uniforms." Jubilee said tossing each of them their suits.
"What's going on upstairs Kitty?" Piotr asked as he came over to the table in the center of the room.
"Like this guy is totally huge." Kitty said as she pulled up the computer screens.
"What's he doing?" Iceman asked. "What are his powers?"
"Like I have know idea." Kitty replied. "The scanners are pulling up that this guy is not a mutant, but he like totally just threw a car into the side of the mansion."
"Well that's impossible if he's human." Jubilee reminded her. "But Professor X had to have know something about him to send us to the Danger Room for protection."
"She's right." Bobby added. "Do another scan with Xavier's past encounters list. Maybe, he'll pull up."
Remy just listened away as they chatted about their strategy. They were Junior X-men, but were not considered as part of the real team. It didn't make sense to him at all. They seemed to know what they were doing.
"Alright, I got something." Kitty said and everyone gathered around in full uniform. "His body scan came up. He's identified as Cain Marko."
"That's Professor Xavier's brother." Rogue added recalling a conversation she had with Professor in detention the other day. "He's a…"
"A Juggernaut." Remy jumped into the conversation.
"A Jugger who?"
"A Juggernaut." Remy repeated. "Infused with the power of the Ruby Gem of Cyttorak that gives him immeasurable strength and endurance, a massive indestructible body reinforced by an inertia-canceling force field, and an enchantment that renders him virtually unstoppable once in motion. He becomes a human Juggernaut."
"How do you know so much about him?"
"Cuz I dun stole his ruby for Magneto." Remy said guiltily. "And Magneto must have given dat ruby ta Cain." This is all my fault. "I'm going up there."
"Wait." Rogue eyed up one of the suits in the War Room. She, Iceman, Jubilee, and Colossus were in their training uniforms, but Gambit had lost his body armor in the fight with Magneto. He needed something to protect him.
"Whatcha staring like dat for?" Gambit asked as he shuffled his cards ready for a fight. "We gots ta get movin Chere."
"You're about Cyclops' height." She said turning to him.
"Yeah so."
"So suit up." Rogue pulled out Cyclops' X-suit and tossed it to him.
Gambit looked at the suit in his hand, then back up at her. "Whatever ya say Chere."
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"Cain." Xavier backed up slightly and let his X-men come forward in defense. "Let's act like adults here."
"Adults." Juggernaut laughed. "But I missed out on my childhood and want to reclaim it." He said sarcastically. "Come on Charles. It will be fun…for me."
"Cain, calm down and relax." Xavier tried to reason with him. "Let's talk about this."
"Talk is cheap and you are a rich man." Juggernaut replied. "Besides, you just want to get in my head again and mess me up. Not this time. This time, I'm in control."
"Cain, why do you insist on always trying to hurt me?" Xavier asked. Ever since they were young, Cain had always been a bully to him. Alls he ever wanted was to be his friend and brother. Cain didn't see it that way and after all these years, things never changed."
"Cuz I can." Juggernaut scanned the X-men before him. The last time he fought them, there was more. Six to be exact: Cyclops, Marvel Girl (Jean), Storm, Beast, Archangel, and Psylocke. Storm was the only one he recognized. Beside her, there were two new ones. That made three X-men against him. He wanted to laugh. "So who are these guys?"
"You already know Storm. This is Wolverine and Nightcrawler." Xavier answered. "They are my new X-men." He said proudly. "Don't make us have to fight you Cain."
"Fight." Juggernaut laughed. "Them." Ha Ha." That's funny Charles. Since when did you become a comedian?"
Xavier sat with a placid look on his face. "I'm serious Cain. It doesn't have to come down to this." He tried to reason. "We are brothers. We should not be enemies."
"Yeah well brothers don't try to mess with their brother's heads and lock them away in glass tanks." Juggernaut reminded him. "And for that you are going to have to pay." He charged forward.
You have to remove his helmet in order for me to stop him. Xavier mentally said signaling his team to attack.
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'Are you finished?" Rogue said blushing. She had told him to change, but she wasn't expecting him to strip right in the middle of the War Room. Get your head out of the gutter Rogue. We have a mission to accomplish.
"How'd I look?" Gambit asked as he stood before them as a member of the team.
"Like Cyclops."
"Like an X-man." Rogue said gazing at him. She could feel the card in her pocket.
Remy couldn't deny it. It was true. There he was standing before them as one of the X-men. It felt good.
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"Damn." Wolverine said as he sliced into Juggernaut quickly learning that he wasn't making a dent.
Juggernaut laughed at him and grabbed him by the wrist. Meanwhile, Nightcrawler bamfed on his back unlatching one of the latches to the helmet. "What the?" He reached back with one hand while he kept a pissed Wolverine with the other. He grabbed Nightcrawler and smacked him into Wolverine. Then, he tossed them aside and relatched his helmet.
"Damn Elf, you got a hard head." Wolverine said to his friend as he actually felt his head pound.
"You're one to talk." Nightcrawler replied. With a head made of steel.
Storm held out her hand surging a stream of lightening into Juggernaut to slow him down. Unfortunately, it was having the opposite effect. Juggernaut just marched forward feeling nothing from the surge. Any human or mutant withstanding such a surge would have been dead already, but not him.
"Come on Damnit." Ororo said under her breath.
"Is that suppose to hurt me?" Juggernaut laughed.
Storm cut off the lightening and smacked him with a strong gust of wind. Juggernaut fell on his back and she quickly made the move to unlatch one of the latches of the helmet.
This is getting old. He swing at her and she quickly flew above him.
This is going to be harder than I thought. Ororo sighed as she looked down.
Juggernaut relatched his helmet and flipped back up on his feet. He glared hard at her.
Bamf
Nightcrawler and Wolverine clung to his back.
"Back again."
Click
Click
"Not wise moves." He said spinning around trying to grab them. "What the?"
Wolverine and Nightcrawler held on for dear life as Ororo picked up the winds.
"I can't reach the front ones without him grabbing me, Elf." Wolverine yelled to Nightcrawler.
"I got it."
Bamf
Click
Bamf
"One more." Nightcrawler yelled. Damn Ororo is picking up speed. He thought as he heard the winds begin to howl.
Juggernaut spun around. He could feel the two X-men on his back, but he couldn't reach them. His helmet was loose and he knew just one more latch stood between him and his brother. He couldn't let that happen again. Not this time. He planted his feet as firmly on the ground as he could fighting the winds.
Bamf
Just as Nightcrawler was about to unlatch the final latch, Juggernaut grabbed him by the collarbone and flung him across the room.
Storm saw the way her boyfriend hit the grown and knew something was terribly wrong. She wanted so badly to run and comfort him, but that put Xavier's life in danger. If something were to happen to Xavier, they all would be doomed.
Doing the best he could, Wolverine tried to remove Juggernaut's helmet even with the one latch still latched. "Come on Damnit." He hollered seeing he could only lift it an inch.
"I'm tired of this game." Juggernaut fussed as he constantly reached for Wolverine. After several failed attempts, he finally got a hold of him.
"Hey bub." Wolverine said with extended claws. "This ain't over." Seeing a vulnerable spot Juggernaut had in his armor, he stabbed him in the arm.
Pissed, juggernaut hollered and flung him into the entertainment center. Wolverine smashed into the TV and fell to the ground with the entertainment center falling on top of him.
"You're making me dizzy." Juggernaut hollered at Storm as she picked up the pace of her winds in the mini cyclone she created around him. "Stop it." He fussed and grabbed a piece of rubble flying around the cyclone. With all his strength, he hummed it at her.
POW
Storm fell to the ground. The piece of rubble hit her right in the chest knocking the wind out of her. She gasped for air and tried to regain her breath as the cyclone disappeared. She knew it was too late as she looked up to see Juggernaut already at Xavier.
Xavier rolled his wheelchair back. His X-men were defeated.
"Where do think you're going brother?" Juggernaut asked as she grabbed each of the armrest of the wheelchair. "I'd thought you'd be more welcoming to my visit."
"Cain, I didn't mean to hurt you before." Xavier apologized. "But you left me no choice. I don't know why you have such a hatred for me. I have only wanted to be your family."
"Family." Juggernaut grabbed Xavier by the collar. "My father loved you more than me."
"I'm sorry you feel that way."
"Your sorry has no meaning for me." Juggernaut said and lifted him higher. "Only my revenge."
"Let him go."
Juggernaut looked around. "Says who."
"We do."
Juggernaut looked around to see five more X-men surrounding him. He smiled. Ooo, more fun.
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Sorry for the late update guys. It was Mardi Gras season and I had some parades to go to.
I'll try to get the chapters out faster.
Sweet Little Lies will be updates soon too. I just haven't had much time to type everything from my notebook lately.
Thanks for all the reviews. See you next Chapter…
Michelle
