Sinister Pasts

A few hours later the X-Men and Misfits were assessing the damage. "Well we needed a new roof anyway," Hank sighed. "But other than that the damage was surprisingly minimal." The X-Men were cleaning up the mess while the Misfits were returning from searching.

"If you don't count the entire first floor being totally trashed," Kitty grumbled. She saw Roadblock and the Misfits enter in the front door. "Let me guess, you didn't find him?"

"We went to his lab on campus but it was too late," Roadblock told them. "It was cleaned out. Like he was in a hurry to vacate."

"His home address is literally an empty lot," Althea told them. "The dean of the University has no clue where he is either."

"You went to the head of the University?" Jean asked.

"We had to," Cover Girl told her. "We had to call in the FBI to serve a warrant. We've got techs checking everything but he's covered up his tracks pretty well."

"He wasn't too happy the head of his science department was under investigation," Roadblock sighed.

"What exactly did you say?" Jean was very concerned.

"Told him the guy was running illegal genetic experiments and was involved in an attack on the Institute," Roadblock shrugged. "Which is the truth. We just forgot to mention that the guy was also a mutant."

"Great," Jean groaned. "My afternoon classes there are going to be fun! Scott, what's wrong?" She looked at her boyfriend. "You seem worried."

"I dunno, I just had this weird feeling I met Sinister before…" Scott said. "It's probably just my imagination."

"Or it could have been him in another borrowed shape," Xavier frowned. "He's been known to do that."

"You said you heard of him before," Kurt looked at Xavier. "What did you mean by that?"

"Yeah what's the story, Charles?" Logan grunted. "Is this another thing you forgot to tell us about?"

"Not exactly," Xavier said. "More like a family myth than an actual enemy, or so I believed."

"Start from the beginning," Low Light remarked. "Gather round kids, it's story time!"

"The story begins long ago back in Victorian England," Xavier told them. "In London there was a brilliant doctor named Nathaniel Essex. He was impressed and fascinated with Darwin's theory of evolution as was my great, great grandfather. They were colleagues and well-respected as well as good friends. But then Essex grew more and more obsessed with the possibility of human evolution. His experimentation with his own patients soon led to his ejection from the Royal Society and ultimately cost him his license. But he refused to discontinue his experiments, even using himself as a subject."

"So what happened?" Rogue asked.

"He became a monster…" Xavier frowned. "Using any means necessary to experiment on innocent people. He took the name Mr. Sinister in response to his colleagues' accusations. My ancestor felt responsible for not stopping him sooner and swore to bring him to justice. He tracked him to the ends of the earth, but with no success. In time Sinister seemed to disappear and as generations passed, he became something of a family legend. But I never really believed it, until now."

"You think he's a mutant?" Bobby asked.

"If he wasn't before he certainly is now," Xavier said. "And a very dangerous one."

"But how do you know him?" Rogue asked Remy. "And how come you never mentioned him before?"

"Don't wanna talk about it," Remy turned and started to leave. "Let's just say he and Gambit have crossed paths before."

"Wait a minute," Scott grabbed his arm. "You knew about this maniac and you never thought about telling us about him?"

"Leggo my arm Cyclops if you want to keep it," Remy growled.

"Not until you tell us everything you know about Sinister!" Scott snapped.

"There ain't nothin' to tell so back off!" Remy threw Scott's arm off of his. "It's none of your business!"

"It became my business the second that maniac tried to hurt the team!" Scott got in his face. "Now tell us what you know or else!"

"Or else what?" Remy growled back. "You gonna try and beat it out of me?"

"Oh I'll do more than try, Mister!" Scott reached for his glasses.

"Scott! No!" Jean shouted.

"Bring it on!" Remy charged up a card. "Gambit ain't scared of the Boy Scout!"

"Remy knock it off!" Rogue shouted.

"Stop this right now!" Xavier ordered with as much authority as possible in his voice. "Fighting like this won't solve anything!"

"It'll solve the problem of some people butting in when they ain't wanted," Remy grumbled as he left the room.

"Call me crazy but if there are people out there who want to experiment on us and use us as part of some kind of sick science project, I'd like to know who they are," Scott called after him.

"As much as it goes against my nature to agree with Summers on anything, he's right," Lance admitted. "People like Sinister are dangerous. And if he was close enough to take the X-Men down, we can't afford not to take him seriously."

"True," Jean looked at Scott. "But that wasn't exactly the way to go about it."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked. "You can't be defending him!"

"Let's just say you seriously need to work on your tact," Betsy told him. "I could sense his fear a mile away."

"So could I," Logan nodded. "Sinister's got him spooked. And the Cajun don't spook easily. Whatever went down between 'em, must have been real bad."

"All the more reason to know what went on," Scott moved to follow Remy.

"I'll talk to him," Rogue stopped him. "You cool down!" She went after Remy.

"But…" Scott began.

Logan put his hand on his shoulder. "Stripes is right. If anyone can get anything out of Gambit, it's her."

"Scott I know you're concerned with the welfare of the team," Xavier said calmly.

"Concerned?" Scott whirled on him. "We were nearly beaten and captured! That maniac escaped with some of our DNA!"

"I know," Xavier said. "But the important thing to remember is that no one was seriously injured or captured. We did beat Sinister and he won't try to trick us the same way again. The damage to the Institute can be easily repaired and we will take new security precautions. We have survived much worse than this."

"Yeah, and these attacks on the Institute are happening far too frequently for comfort!" Scott snapped. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Professor, it's just that I can't stand it. The Institute is supposed to be a safe place for us but it isn't! I feel like the place has become a huge target."

"To be fair, it's not exactly safe out there," Roadblock pointed out.

"Yeah I can't count all the times the Pit's been trashed by Cobra," Low Light added. "But that don't mean we give up. Every time they show up, we beat 'em back!"

"Well almost every time, but you see our point," Althea said. "There's safety in numbers. We gotta band together cause no matter which way you slice it, someone's gonna go gunning for us no matter what we do. At least when we're together we have a much higher chance of survival."

"So you got caught with your pants down?" Shipwreck grunted. "It happens to the best of us."

"We'll see how casual you are about it the next time your caught with your pants down and the Misfits are attacked," Scott told him as he stormed off in the other direction.

"With our luck that'll probably happen in a day or so," Lance grumbled.

"Looks like Gambit ain't the only one spooked by Sinister," Roadblock thought aloud.

"Yeah well, you can count me in that group too," Jesse shuddered. "Seeing that guy again really freaked me out."

"Not as much as the guy with ape body and the human head," Tim told him.

"You gotta admit this is starting to become some kind of running joke," Kitty sighed. "Every time we have a break, somebody decides to attack the Institute."

"Maybe we should stay the night?" Roadblock asked. "Just in case to make sure things are all right."

"Actually…" Ororo sighed. "I would feel better if you Misfits stayed the night."

"You would?" Cover Girl asked.

"The place is already wrecked," Ororo shrugged. "Even you couldn't do much worse."

"Is that a challenge?" Pietro's ears perked up.

"Oh shut up Quicksilver," Kurt groaned.

"Perhaps it would be a good idea for our two groups to stay together tonight?" Xavier thought.

"Okay who's up for pizza?" Tim asked.

"Pizza? How can you think of pizza at a time like this?" Everett asked.

"We just beat up a bunch of bad guys," Tim looked at him. "How could we not think of pizza at a time like this?"

"He's got a point," Roberto said.

"Yeah I'm in," Fred nodded.

"Really Blob?" Pietro looked at him. "That's so unlike you to be hungry late at night."

"I'm not the one who takes off at 3 am to the Starbucks two towns over hunting down those rice krispie squares," Fred gave him a look.

"No, but you are the one who keeps calling Dominos to see if they deliver," Arcade said.

"I get cravings for pepperoni, sue me!" Fred told him.

"The last delivery guy almost did," Angelica reminded him.

"Is it so wrong to express my thanks for a job well done?" Fred threw up his hands. "I was just showing him my appreciation!"

"I think he would have appreciated it more if you didn't break three of his ribs," Lance remarked.

"Did you really just say it was a good idea for the Misfits to stay over?" Hank looked at Xavier.

"SHIPWRECK I DO NOT NEED A HUG!" Ororo could be heard screaming.

"I know," Xavier winced. "I can't believe I said it either."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"All right Remy," Rogue said as she confronted him on the roof. "We gotta talk."

"How'd you find me?" Remy asked.

"Simple, this is where you always go to sulk," Rogue scoffed. "Now both you and I know that I'm gonna get the information about Sinister outta you one way or another."

"You think Remy just gonna tell you?" Remy raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Rogue told him. "And if you don't I'll kick your butt, after I drain it out of you," She pointed to her gloved hand. "You really want me to do it the hard way?"

Remy sighed. "Fine. You know how I had to leave New Orleans? Because of well…What happened at my wedding?"

"Yeah you killed Belladonna's brother in self defense," Rogue said.

"Problem is, it wasn't all self defense…" Remy frowned. "Back then, my powers… Remy had trouble controlling them. When we were fighting, they just…Happened. I couldn't stop myself. And when I was forced to leave town…They got worse. A lot worse. Then I met this Sinister. He say he was gonna help Remy. But there was a price…" He winced. "Don't like to talk about it much. Let's just say it was a bad situation and it was gonna get worse until Magneto stepped in. At the time, Magneto seemed like the lesser of two evils. So…"

"He got you away from Sinister and into the Acolytes," Rogue put it together. "So that's how you ended with Magneto."

"Yeah," Remy sighed. "That's about it."

"Guess I can understand why you didn't tell us then," Rogue sighed. "But you should talk to the Professor, if only to let him know what's going on."

"I can't," Remy shuddered.

"You have to," Rogue said. "It's not just what Scott said. It's for your own good. Sinister obviously hurt you so bad those wounds are still fresh. I can tell."

"Rogue you don't understand…" Remy started to explain.

"No, you don't understand!" Rogue grabbed his arm. "You think you're the only one who's been hurt in the past? I know more than anyone how it feels after people use you. You don't want to be weak or burden anyone with your problems. But hiding your pain from the team…it don't work like that. Remember what happened to me a few months ago?"

"Yeah," Remy nodded. "I could kill Lucas for what he did to you."

"If I'd told someone else and trusted 'em Lucas would never have succeeded," Rogue folded her arms. "Don't make the same mistake I did Remy."

Remy let a frustrated breath out. "Deep down I know you're right," He grumbled. "But still when I think of him…Just gives me the chills."

"We'll get through it," Rogue put her head on his shoulder. "I promise." They sat there on the roof in silence for a long time.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I can't believe I got my butt kicked by a kid," Blockbuster moaned. The Marauders were recovering in one of Sinister's other labs.

"I can't believe we had to leave the campus," Riptide groaned as he put an icepack on his head. "And some of those girls were really good looking too."

"It doesn't matter," Sinister looked at the vials he had procured. "I accomplished my goal of getting samples of the X-Men's DNA more or less. A lot less than I would have liked but it's better than nothing at all. Besides I was getting tired of playing teacher at the University. Between the Hellfire Club and Project Neverland my plate was rather full anyway. And you Marauders lasted much longer against the X-Men than I anticipated. And now we know how their powers work so next time we will be prepared for them. I'd say it was a rather successful test run."

"Wait, you knew we were gonna get our butts kicked?" Riptide shouted.

"Well, yes," Sinister told him. "But I had no idea that I would be on the receiving end of a …To put it quite bluntly, 'butt kicking' from Mr. Summers. I've underestimated him. He's not the failure I thought he was. I won't make that mistake again!"

Sinister thought. "And Ms. Grey is equally impressive. I wonder…" He shook his head. "That can wait for now. What's important is our next move."

"So what is our next move?" Hairbag asked.

"We need to find the Leech boy," Sinister said. "Fortunately I can get the GRSO to hunt him down."

"No need to waste us on that task huh?" Riptide snorted. "You got something more important in mind?"

"Yes, I need you to step up your training," Sinister told him. "Failure is tolerated this time because I expected it. It was to see how you would do in a real attack. Next time when we attack them for real I expect you to win. Understand?"

"Don't worry Sinister," Arclight said. "Next time we'll get them."

"The only reason we failed this time is cause you said not to kill 'em," Tar grumbled. "And we didn't have Harpoon and the others with us."

"Because I wanted them alive, for now anyway," Sinister said. "Go!" The Marauders left. Sinister thought for a moment and smiled. He picked up his cell phone and made a call.

"Shaw, its Sinister. I've found the perfect mutant for Project Phoenix. You'll never believe it…"