To my Fans: yea...its kinda easy to pick up on the fact that im not a big Scott fan. you might also note that Emma Frost doesnt exist in this world of mine. Hate.Her.
Quote: I do desire we may be better strangers. --Shakespeare
Chapter 5: Won't That Be Nice?
"Holy water. It burns them like acid," Shadow explained as she handed out bottles to the team across the Blackbird. "Crosses, as some of you've seen, burns their skin. If you're in contact with the cross at the time, it'll burn you to, so be careful," crosses were passed back. "Anything silver burns them too. Remember to use your stakes if you're in too close, but make dxxn sure you hit the heart. And never look into their eyes," she reminded them for the fifth time.
The jet landed on top of a building a block away from the lair. It was as near as Shadow would allow.
"O.K. people," Scott stood next to the opened hatch, "lets get Jean back." Shadow was the last to file out and he put a firm hand on her shoulder, "I want you to know that when it comes to my team, I call the shots."
She stared hard at his hand and answered, "Then you should know that when it comes to vampires, I call the shots."
He moved infront of her when she shrugged off his hand, "I don't trust you," he stated plainly.
"Well, I don't like you, so we're even." They glared at eachother for a moment before she shoved past him and adressed the X-Men, "Don't look into their eyes, or they've trapped your mind. Follow what I say and we might all come out of here alive." Unable to stop herself, she tossed over her shoulder to Cyclops, "Then maybe I'll teach you some manners."
Both Shadow and Wolverine scanned the building for traps and came up clean, adding to everyone's paranoia. The team entered the building with caution and came upon exactly what they should have, an abandoned grocery store. They proceeded down the stairs and through the hidden passage with out incident, following the dark downsloping tunnel.
"Look alive people," Cyclops ordered quietly.
"No pun intended, I'm sure," Bri muttered under her breath.
The tunnel ended in a thick wooden door that looked like it had been there before the grocery store that led to it. Cyclops motioned people into positions.
"Don't bother, they know we're here." Shadow growled with evident disgust at the fact of her being discovered. She put her shoulder to the door and shoved. It opened quite easily, and she let it bang on the wall.
The X-Men entered a large round chamber. On one side of the room was plush, elegant looking sofas, throw pillows, persian rungs and a fireplace that served as decoration along with several very old portraits. The opposite side was painted a plain white. Shackled chains dangled from the high ceiling and the wall was lined with numerous torture devices. What looked like sun-deprived people lounged on the first side while others leaned against the side filled with horrors, some stroking certain objects lovingly and eyeing the new arrivals.
"Well, what do we have here? It looks like Shadow has finally decided to join us," a cultured voice came from an Arabian man. Shadow's jaw visibly clenched as he took a few steps forward. He noticed, his lips curling into a malevolent smile, and continued, "Shall I have some coffee put on? That's what you Americans drink now, correct?"
"Give us the telepath, Sahar," Shadow said evenly.
His smile dropped to a frown of mock disapproval, "You seem to have become more impatiend than when we last met, dear. Your manners certainly haven't improved. You come barging into my humble lair and demand something of me that I have no knowledge of." A small smile came back, "And you didn't even say please."
"Jean's here. I can smell her." Wolverine growled, "And blood."
Sahar threw his head back and laughed, quite amused. It stopped abruptly and he stared at the short man, "I'm sure Shadow mentioned we ARE vampires."
Never being one to back down, Wolverine met the vampirer's gaze defiently. His world was suddenly reduced to only the black eyes of Sahar. He couldn't move or even think. Then, something in him snapped and the familiar rage exploded into a red haze. His claws shot out and he released a menacing growl. The world snapped back and he was standing with his teammates again, glaring at the vampire with surpressed fury. Bri's hand rested on his arm, surprisingly firm. He had taken a step forward.
"Don't look into their eyes," she said calmly. The man's claws slowly disappeared.
Sahar's face was emotionless, "You brought one of Them here?" He turned to the woman accusingly.
"News to me," she shrugged. The X-Men shifted uneasily behind her. "Give us the telepath," she repeated.
He waved her off indifferently, "Perhaps in a moment, dear." His eyes reviewed the team while he asked coldly, "Is this your new little pack? Are you still afraid to-- "
"I'm not afraid of you or anything else," Shadows features went blank except her eyes, which were as hard as steel.
The vampire sneered, "Such bravado," he went still as if a thought just hit him, and adressed the room, "We could correct that, couldn't we?"
It seemed a wind blew over the vampires, who had until now been as still as death. A murmur rose and a black haired man tittered with insane laughter, moved slowly on all fours toward the group of mutants, who immediately shyed away. Bri looked at him with disgust. Sahar raised his voice again in one word, "Enough," and all life ceased, except the intruding one who scuttled back to his chains. His voice was filled with arrogance as he addressed the woman again, "Your new people have no experience with vampires, do they?"
"And your new people seem to be well trained. Where did you get them. This isn't your territory."
"It is now. You know how much power I have. Besides, they are not all new. Surely you remember Zachary." At this a blonde vampire stood up from a sofa and, with a fang bearing smile, bowed formerly to Bri, whose face had gone blank of any emotion. Sahar continued, "And Antonio." the insane vampire literally crawled to the leader and crouched at his legs like a beaten dog, muttering to himself.
The familiar smirk crossed Shadow's features, "Of course I couldn't forget Antonio." She leaned forward and said, as if to a small child, "Antonio, did your balls ever grow back, or did my castration stick?"
The wild eyes of Antonio turned angry as he let out an evil his, moving toward her.
"No," Sahar said the one word which sent the other vampire scurrying once again back to the torture wall where he stroked a wicked looking device and stared darkly at the woman.
"Enough of these games," Sahar announced sharply. "Why did youcome here?"
"You know why."
"I know what you WANT. But why did you think you would get it?"
Bri answered cheerily, "Actually, I came her to kill you. I'm just helping them at the moment. So give her up."
"Don't be absurd. I won't hand her over and you know it. In fact, I was just going to administer her final bite before you so rudely dropped in without an invitation."
"You can't have her and you know it. She's too powerful," she countered, sensing Cyclops tense at the words.
The vampire laughed, this time as if she had just said something really stupid. "I plan on turning her. then I'll break her will. My experience with you taught me that. It's harder to break them first, though more amusing, I must admit. I never did get you...perhaps another time," he saind nonchallanly. "You know the way out," he turned from them and started to walk towards the back.
Cyclops patience broke and his beam shot towards the vampire, knocking him to the ground, "You don't know the X-Men, do you!"
"Stand DOWN!" Shadow snarled immediatley. It was too late though, the vampires surrounded the X-Men in a wave.
Sahar lifted himself off the ground and turned slowly, eyes sparkiling with anger. "That was VERY stupid, Mr. Summers." he dusted himself off and stated, as if it were a large inconvienience to him, "now we'll have to kill your entire team infront of you." His voice then changed to pleasant, "Won't that be nice?"
Antonio clawed at Jubilee, who instinctively paffed him. The shock sent him screaming in pain and rage and he rolled around in circles, clawing at his eyes. Wolverine's claws unsheathed and he stepped foreward, only to be met with the fist of a blond vampiress, which sent him flying five feet backwards. Fighting broke out along with screams, crosses and the stench of burning flesh. Bri was drawing stakes and stabbing various vampires who had mutants pinned under them. Rogue was throwing them across the room as fast as she could. Two vampires grabed Storm as a third bit down on her neck. Wolverine decapitated him in a swift stroke. Beast barreled through a pair of the creatures in time to rip another off of Gambit. All the while Zachary was holding Cyclops immobile and unable to activate either of the switches to his visor.
Shadow herself was thrown savagely into a stone wall and, struggling through the stars, took in the whole scene. The X-Men were holding their own, but not for long. Nightcrawler was thrown toward her and she braced herself for the impact, instead being hit by the foul smell of sulfur as he teleported back to the fray. "Sahar!. A Trade!" she yelled over the struggle.
"Fall back." He commanded, being obeyed immediately.
The X-Men picked eachother up. Only Storm and Gambit were bleeding from the neck and none were dead, yet.
"Yes, do go on," Sahar prompted.
"The X-Men, including Jean Grey, for me."
"Now why would I make a deal such as that? I already have my telepath, and food for my people," he gestured toward the mutants,"What are you to me if you'll just escape again?"
"You can't kill Wolverine, not with his healing power. And if you kill the others, we'll just avenge their deaths and leave you a pile of dust. And we both know how much I love to avenge people," her face was carefully neutral.
"Interesting point, really, but, once again, what will keep you from escaping and leaving me with nothing?"
"I give my word, if you let all the X-Men go, and leave them be, I won't escape." She said these words very carefully.
Sahar thought this over, carefully studying her. She stared back evenly, the only alive one in the room, besides Woverine, apparently, that coud meet his gaze. "Agreed," he decided. "Bring out the telepath and deliver her to her people," he ordered.
Two vampires left and brought back a very angry, sturggling Jean. They dropped her infront of a glowering Cyclops who dropped to her side and released her hands and feet from their bindings.
Bri stepped forward but was halted by Sahar, "Leave any weapons with your friends, dear."
She turned back to the X-Men and placed in a pile three more stakes, two guns with bullets filled with silver nitrate, four silver knives and two extra crosses. She went up to Wolverine and, taking off her cross necklace, handed it to him, holding out her right hand. "It kind of sucked working with you. I liked it better when we just killed people," she shrugged and continued, "If we cross again and I try to drink your blood?...Kill me." She broke off the handshake, leaving a small slip of paper in Logan's hand. He droped his hand and discreetly hid it while she addressed Beast. "Clean their bites with holy water. It'll burn them but its the best way to do it." Turning back to the vampires, she moved forward.
"You don't have to do this," Cyclops quickly said.
She frowned back, "Of course I do. You're welcome." Turning her back on them once again, she ordered, "Get out now."
"We're not leaving you," his hand reached for his visor.
"Show them out nicely," Sahar smiled.
The X-Men woke in their jet. Wolverine, badly bruised, would later explain that they had each been mind controlled by a vampire and ordered out. They just slammed him around until Shadow made him leave.
Sahar motioned Zachary foreward, "Show Shadow her new room," he paused and said smugly, "Have fun doing it."
She glared at the vampire who caught hold of her arm. "Try to have too much fun and I'll castrate you like I did Antonio."
"You killed five vampires tonight. One was my servant. I can do whatever I wish to be...reimbursed." The blond vampire said with a smile. "Besides, don't you remember all the fun we used to have?"
"Fun? like when you raped me or when you trotured me?" her voice was cold as he lead her down a dimly lit hall.
"Oh, both were great fun to me," he replied cheerfully.