Disclaimer: Just thought I'd remind you that none of these characters are mine. Who knew? O.o

--

Maddening Shroud

It was dark; dark and quiet. There was no light and no sound. There was no emotion. No happiness, no sadness, no anger; just emptiness. Truth be told, Lance preferred it that way. After spending the whole night tossing and turning in his sleep with nightmares of his father coming back to haunt him (as he knew they would) the eerie emptiness was strangely welcome. It allowed him to lose himself. He didn't have to deal with the repercussions of his actions. He didn't have to brood over what he should have done, but didn't. He didn't have to remember what he did in this blessed darkness.

But, the darkness was the lesser of two evils; he didn't like the dark either. It gave him the nagging feeling that something was terribly wrong. Something wasn't as it should be, but he could not fix it, try as he may. He was powerless against the darkness and the emotions it enthused—or didn't enthuse.

The serene darkness was shattered by a heavily accented voice. It was deep and masculine, and…panicked? "Non! Non, mon ami! Don' you dare!"

Lance stirred from his sleep, slowly drifting out of his subconscious state, but not opening his eyes. The first coherent thought that ran through his head was, "Why the hell am I dreaming about some French guy?"

He groaned. His body felt as though it had been put through a blender. His legs were completely sore and ached like no other, his stomach was slowly but surely eating itself, and his head! There were not words to describe the blood curling agony he felt at the moment. He couldn't remember why though.

What could he have possibly been doing that had gotten him into this state of exhaustion? What on earth could have these side effects? It's not like Mystique drilled them hard or anything…

Slowly turning over in bed, Lance gradually opened his eyes, only to be startled in to jumping straight out of the bed he was occupying, have his foot get entangled with the sheets, and fall with a thud onto the floor.

"Uhhh," Lance moaned into the rug. Where the hell am I?

The shock of awakening to find himself in a completely unfamiliar bed in a completely unfamiliar room had definitely gotten a rise out of him. While he tried to jog his memory to see if he could remember how he had gotten here, that same voice from his dream started up again.

"Pyro, mon ami, please," the voice pleaded. "Please put the lighter down…C'mon… St. John? John? Non! You better not light dose socks up! I's warnin' you—"

What on earth? He must have been drunk last night, because no one in their right mind would have chosen to willingly come here… Lance looked around the room. He was in a bedroom; he had a roommate from the looks of the other bed. His roommate kept a very plain, neat, and organized room. On his nightstand was a picture of a little girl (seven, maybe eight) with blonde, blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, and what looked suspiciously like a sketch book. Other than that, his roommate seemed to have no personal belongings. How strange.

Ok Lance, you can do this. Just think: what were you doing last night? he coached himself. Dinner... Dinner with Kitty… Then… Oh shit… The mall—oh god… No! I.. I hit her...

((The bitch deserved it!))

NO! No… I ran. Then what? What had happened next? That man…

Magneto! I went with Magneto. Where am I now then?

Before Lance had time to ponder over the missing piece of the puzzle the voices from the next room interrupted him.

"Aww! C'm on mate! You're no fun!" a second voice began. "How 'bout just a little?"

"Non! No—John! You better put dat lighter away! I's serious! I's not takin' chances dis time!"

The second voice giggled insanely.

"NOO!"

Whoosh.

Thud.

"AHHHHHH!" A scream of agony from the first voice.

"Jeez, mate, I was just joking with ya! No need to dive over here like something outta Mission Impossible 'er somethin'! An' now lookit what you've done! I wouldn'a burnt yer socks if you hadn' c'm crashin' inta me like that!"

"Das. De las'. Straw! I's can' take no more o' dis! I's gots no more socks! Dose were de las' ones, an' now dey're GONE! ARGH!"

Grunt.

Thump.

"Ooof!"

"Oi mate! Give 'er back! No don't—"

More insane laughter. "Oh, how de tables have turned, mon ami!"

"No! Not Beth! Don't do it, mate… Just don't! Have a heart!"

The voices trailed off from there, in a verbal stand off.

The door opened. Lance's head turned towards the door immediately. And what he saw made him take a step back. There was a man there, but he was no ordinary man. This man was HUGE. He was built like an ox! He was pale, had jet black hair in a buzz cut, was unbelievably tall, and was incredibly muscular. In short (although there was nothing short or small about this man)—he was really intimidating. Lance gulped.

"Hello comrade," the man spoke softly and uncertainly in short chopped syllables. "I… I am Piotr Rasputin of Russia. You call…American comrades call I…call me Peter," he got out, and gave a short smile which didn't reach his eyes. His face quickly returned to its default look of sadness and emptiness.

Him and me both…

"Oh…uh…hi. I'm Lance," Lance dutifully stuck out his hand, which Peter gladly shook.

"Lance," he repeated, as if confirming that Lance's name was indeed Lance.

"Yeah. Hey …This may sound a little strange, but I have no idea where I am or what I'm doing here…Could you, uh…fill me in?"

A speck of amusement managed to make itself known, shining through his unfathomably blue eyes. "Yes. We are at Mount Ararose Ski Resort, Magneto's base of operations."

Lance's eyebrows rose and his mouth formed a perfect "Oh." A ski resort?

I'm beginning to think this was all a VERY bad idea… I wish none of this had ever happened…

Lance sighed. "Thanks."

"Magneto asked that you be introduced to the rest of the Acolytes," Peter said, his skill with the English language growing as he became more comfortable with Lance.

"Oh. Okay…"

"Please come with me," he said, trying to sound friendly, as he walked out the door. Lance followed feeling ill at ease.

I guess I'm stuck here…There's no point turning back now…

He took a deep breath as Peter opened the door to the neighboring room; the room where the two crazy voices had been coming from. Oh boy…

When Lance stepped into the room, the sight that greeted him was odd to say the least. Lance didn't know whether he should get help, starting laughing hysterically, or call the police. By the way the Russian, Peter, was reacting, it seemed that this was a fairly often occurrence.

Two men, both of whom were still in their late teens (possibly early twenties), were grappling with each other. One had crazy orange-ish-red hair, and was only half dressed, wearing a t-shirt and neon yellow rubber ducky boxers. The crazy one was attempting to keep his roommate in a head lock while groping his fist, which was wrapped tightly around something.

A lighter.

"John-boy! Don' you make me blow dis up!" the victim managed to choke out.

"Give. 'Er. Back!"

"Dat's….it…"

Grunt.

Squeal.

Lance looked on in awe as the lighter was consumed by a glowing pink-fuchsia color.

Thump (The crazy haired one had dived for cover).

BOOM.

"NOOOO! Piotr! Remy killed Beth! 'E murdered 'er! You saw! 'E blew 'er up! 'E—"

"Remy only blew Beth up because you incinerated m' socks!"

Remy? Who's Remy? A very confused Lance thought.

"Quiet. Both of you," Piotr said, not even the slightest hint of a smile playing at his lips. He had merely looked on and let the fight run its usual course—it always ended the same. One would think that Lighter-Boy would learn, after going through nine Zippos in one week, that he shouldn't mess with the dark haired one's socks. Or anything else of his for that matter.

It was amazing how they both shut up as he said this. "Magneto wants you to meet the new recruit: Lance."

The Australian shifted his gaze onto Lance. "St. John Allerdyce at yer service," he said, sounding extraordinarily like one of the dwarves from The Hobbit, all the while grinning like the Devil himself.

Well, that's what you call bi-polar… Maybe that's his power?

"Remy LeBeau," the other stated simply.

So he's Remy…Just great, he talks in and out of third person. I'm beginning to think I'm in a nuthouse.

"Hello," Lance said, rather awkwardly.

A short silence followed, but St. John Allerdyce quickly amended that. "Well," he said, dragging out the word for all it was worth, "as much fun as this is I do believe I'll 'ave to catch you blokes later." He winked an outlandish one-and-a-half-eyed wink and walked out of the room still in his boxers.

"Don' mind John. He be like dat all de time. He's a bit off. You get used to it after a while. For de most part. Have you met the Pussy yet?"

Lance choked on the air he was inhaling. "What?"

This place is strange.

"Now he be a psychopath. Makes Johnny-boy look half-way sane. Or de monkey? Dat's one fucked up homme."

This place was very strange indeed.

--

Mystique was seething. She had received his message an hour prior to the present moment, and had locked herself in her room (God knew, she could only put up with the idiots that lived in her boarding house for so long) where she had been throwing pillows and lamps in a blind rage. Not even the telephone was safe as she short circuited it and smashed it across the wall, screaming in frustration.

"Who the HELL does that bastard think he is, that he can do this to me? Mystique is one not so easily set aside!" she screamed to no one in particular.

It had been three weeks since Lance Alvers had disappeared, and she had searched high and low to find him. She had pulled all her sources, called in all her favors, and even Destiny said she couldn't find him. Or perhaps she could, and was keeping it to herself in a misguided attempt to alter the future; or maybe she just didn't want to be the one to give Mystique the bad news that would set her off. It was probably the latter, seeing as she had just discovered that Lance had been with Magneto the whole time!

The nerve of that man…

She had called him some weeks ago, to inform him that Alvers had disappeared and that she could use some assistance locating him (she would NEVER flat-out ask for help, it wasn't her style, it showed weakness; thank god she hadn't—her pride was already wounded deeply enough as it was) and he had finally contacted her today, only to say, "I no longer require your skills."

I no longer require your skills. I NO LONGER REQUIRE YOUR SKILLS? What the FUCK did that mean? And who the hell did he think he was? Her boss or something? Mystique worked for no man! They had been 'partners in crime.' The deal had been that she would assemble a team of mutants for him, of which she would be the leader: the one with all the power. He was only supposed to be the brains behind the operation. The funding. The information resource. After all, he was only an old man.

That had been her first mistake: underestimating Magneto. That had definitely come back to bite her in the ass. After he told her she had been 'let go' he said that he had Avalanche, and he wouldn't need any of her other recruits. He said they didn't 'meet his standards.' Mystique wanted to kill him…wanted to tear him apart!

His contract with her had been nothing more than a ruse. She had gone to all the trouble of recruiting this hopeless half-assed team, had brought them all to live in this god-awful Boarding House, and had attempted to get them to work as a team! All this, just so that he could pick and choose which ones he wanted to join his ranks, leaving her with the average or below-average leftovers.

Although she did think it strange that he had elected to not recruit his children.

Oh yes, she knew all about that particular situation. She had done a thorough background check on him before entering the contract with him (but apparently it wasn't thorough enough) and had learned that he had two children; they were twins: Wanda and Pietro. What a mess his family was… Practically made hers look like your regular 40's sitcom family unit.

But still, no matter how dysfunctional Magneto's relationships with his offspring were, one had to raise the question: why had he not taken Pietro? Why had he not chosen his own eager-to-please son? Pietro's mutation certainly wasn't shabby, and he had perfect control. It didn't make any sense… Then again, neither did Magneto.

Mystique was, however, positive that he didn't know about Wanda. After all, she had only freed the girl from the asylum (which Magneto had her committed to) very recently, and it seemed highly unlikely that Magneto would learn of Wanda's escape since he obviously didn't keep up with what they did to her in there, what went on behind closed doors. No parent, no matter how cruel or unfeeling, would ever willingly want to put their child through that. He wasn't that much of a monster, was he?

No matter, though. She would get her revenge. After all, what was that old proverb? "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Indeed. Yes, Mystique smiled sadistically, things are definitely starting to look up.

--

"My Acolytes," Magneto imperiously addressed the five men in front of him. "I will now brief you for your first mission as a team. We must—"

"What about de pussy-cat, hahn? Why isn't he here?" Remy interrupted insolently.

Magneto eyed him, his expression unreadable. "He is taking care of other business. Now… The time has come to dispose of a very powerful enemy, and at the same time, gain a potent ally. I will require all of you to play a part in this. If we fail, we will have a very large thorn in our side…"

--

"Rogue, are you sure this is a good idea?" Kitty nervously whispered to her friend for the umpteenth time that afternoon as she clasped and unclasped her hands.

"Of course it is. All we're goin' ta be doin' is talkin'. It's not like we're breakin' any laws… Jesus Kitty, ya take paranoid to a whole new level," Rogue answered.

The two girls were sitting in a coffee shop booth, sipping their drinks, chatting, waiting, waiting…

"Then why isn't she here yet? I don't like this. From what I've heard about Mystique—" Kitty's throat unconsciously tightened as she thought back to how Lance had been so unwilling to disobey her. "—you don't want to get on her bad side."

"Oh please… Mystique? She's a bitch, is all. I lived with the woman. She's all talk. Besides, without Wanda, the two of us could prob'ly kick her team's ass into next Tuesday," Rogue smirked.

"If you say so…" Kitty said, still uneasy. She wrapped her arms around her abdomen and looked around cautiously.

At that moment, the bells above the door jingled, informing them that someone had entered. The two girls' heads instantaneously flew towards the door, and then sighed with relief. Wanda had just entered, and was making her way to their booth.

"Sorry I'm a bit late… Getting out of the Boarding House when Pietro is hopped up on gummy bears is no easy task," Wanda explained, hoping the two X-Men would not be angry. She needed their help, and if they thought she was the slightest bit insincere…

"No problem. And let me offer mah condolences," Rogue returned sympathetically. "Now, as much as I would enjoy talkin' about the fine specimen of life that is your brother—"

Wanda scoffed.

"—we've got more pressin' matters to be discussed."

Kitty nodded. "Right. So what exactly is going on?"

Wanda grimaced. She didn't want to relay the story again, recounting how time after time she had been trapped against her will. She didn't like to. It made her feel weak. Like an insignificant pawn to be thrown away. I'll show Magneto what he threw away…

"Wanda?" Kitty's voice snapped her out of her reverie. She shook her head, as if trying to purge the thoughts of revenge from her mind. Don't get too ahead of yourself…

"It's Mystique," Wanda began in a low voice. "She's blackmailing me into staying at the Boarding House. She broke me out of a… an asylum before I came here. She said she would give me somewhere to stay if I joined her 'team'. She even found Agatha Harkenss to help me with control. I told her I appreciated the offer, but I would rather be out on my own. She told me I either stayed with her or went back to the asylum…" A shiver ran through her body.

Typical… Rogue cocked her head to the side. "Couldn' ya jus' hex the asylum guards off?"

Wanda shook her head violently. "You… you don't understand. They're accustomed to dealing with me… I don't want to risk going back there… That place… It… It was awful," Wanda finished, her voice now a weak whisper.

Kitty and Rogue glanced at each other briefly. To see Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, scared and shaking was definitely a new experience. One that they did not like in the least. "So what do we have to do?" Kitty asked her intently.

"Well, first I'd have to—"

Wanda was interrupted by the jingling of the bells. The three girls paused to give the newcomer a once-over. He was tall, well-built, and attractive, in his late teens… His hair was a fiery orange—or was it red?—but his grin seemed a bit off. It reached his eyes, but seemed to burn in an eerily mad sort of way. Wild and unpredictable… His mannerisms and the way he carried himself seemed to scream You have no idea what I'll do next.

And that's when Wanda noticed it. Hanging out of his pocket was a sleek metal keychain. It was a simple piece, shiny and new, engraved with a strong, solid "M". Her eyes widened, and she stiffened noticeably.

"Wanda? Wanda, what's wrong?" Kitty asked, not noticing anything relevant or threatening about the café's newest customer.

"That guy—he has something to do with Magneto. He's working for him or something. We have to follow him!" she whispered keenly to her companions.

"What? Are ya crazy? Where'd ya come up with that? And why would we want ta follow him?" Rogue asked, baffled by Wanda's sudden personality change.

One second she was petrified at the thought of stepping out of line and being forced to go back to the asylum, and the next she was demanding they follow some stranger they had never seen before because she claimed he had some sort of connection to Magneto, a powerful and dangerous mutant the Professor had told them about.

"That man—that mutant, I'm willing to bet—he's in contact with Magneto somehow. If we follow him he'll lead us right to that bastard… And then…" She smiled maliciously.

"Whoa, whoa! Wanda, slow down! What about Mystique? I thought you said if you left she would—"

The man had finished paying for his coffee, and seemed to be bouncing in anticipation to have a taste of its caffeine goodness. He looked around, but not seeing an empty booth, decided to leave the café.

Wanda stood up abruptly. "Look Kitty, he's leaving and I have no time to explain. Just trust me. I need to follow this guy and I will. Fuck Mystique. I'm going now; you guys are free to come with me."

"Wait, Wanda! Don't ya think you're bein' a bit rash? How the hell do ya know he's even a mutant, let alone that he works for Magneto? Ah'm not normally a doubtin' Thomas, but this is outta no where!" Rogue tried to rationalize.

"God dammit! He's getting away! Here's the deal: I'm following this guy. I know he's in with Magneto. Don't ask me how. I just do. Now you guys can either let me go now or come with me, but make up your minds fast because if I lose him…" She left the threat hanging in the air, unfinished.

It had the desired effect.

"Well, we're not going to let you get beat to a pulp by some evil super-mutant. After all, if we did, what kind of friends would we be?" Kitty grined.

Friends... They're your friends...

"Damn straight," Rogue added her two bits.

"Well then it's settled," Wanda replied. "Now get your asses moving so we can catch up to this guy!"

--

A/N: Well that's chapter 10. I'm not sure if I like it too much. It's not really what I had in mind originally, but as I was writing it, this is just how it decided to come out. Oh well. ) And I realize the last time I updated was almost a year ago and I wanted to say I am so sorry. I hope I haven't lost too many people... Please review and tell me what you think. I'm starved for them and I love hearing from you guys!

Thanks to Risty, Anti-XYo, Ray1, LadyEvils, CrimsonCoyote, Flamekiller, EmeraldKatsEye, Lance Avalanche Alvers, lifeofla-silverwolf, Ridderazzo, Nessie6, Alison, Chaos-Shadow05, DOJ, Not4everfool, Slytherinbabe05, and El Diablo for reviewing. You guys are awesome! Now do it again for me )