Jenskott: Yeah, well since you can't hear the tone of a person's voice in writing it is hard to tell sometimes so no hard feelings. Don't worry, Selene will get hers in the final battle. I know what you mean about villains I think they might have that or just big egos and want to flaunt it. Well Amara will later get better so don't worry too much.
The Uncanny R-Man: Yeah I know, but she'll get over it and find someone else. There will be more fluff with Hank later on trust me on this. Don't worry he doesn't mind.
Mark C: Everyone liked that fight it seems and that's a good thing. Yeah I like to put a few things in the comics in my Evo fics. It really works well I think and you're right about her playing a role in it. Yeah everyone feels sorry for Amara in this too.
ViciousAssassin: Yeah I think that's how everyone feels about Amara and with Sam/Tabitha. You'll see soon if Sage finds anything.
Aaron: Glad you loved the fight and Amara will get over it in time and I got someone planned for her to fall for later.
Kaliann: You can thank Slickboy for that fight scene, and yeah that's not healthy.
GothikStrawberry: Yeah I looked it up and was surprised Sinister did that too. I know but Amara will get better later of course but at the moment she is hurting.
Doza: Yeah I know but you can't choose who you fall for. Don't worry Selene will get hers in the end and you know that was only round one. You'll see Logan dealing with X23 in this chapter.
Thanks to: X00001, Simba317, Quillian, Wen1, japanesegirl101, Silver Warrior
Hellfire and Brimstone CHATPER 43: A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS?
Xavier Institute – Lower Levels Logan, Ororo, Sage, and Hank
The Xavier Institute was in chaos in wake of the abductions of Scott, Jean, Vince, Emma, Kitty, Piotr, Kurt, Wanda, and Remy. The whole mansion was put on it's highest security alert and all the students were clamoring for details about their missing friends. Some fared worse than others, but everybody was impacted by this stunning development.
It took quite a while, but things finally cooled down a bit throughout the institute after a lot of stressful work on the part of the elders. Nobody would be able to sleep that night knowing that the Hellfire Club was back and their friends were once again trapped in their clutches, but few details as to their current state of being were known. But if tales of their previous imprisonment were any indication, it sure as hell couldn't be very pleasant.
After Logan had surveyed the area where Wanda and Kurt were abducted and Beast, Sage, and Ororo finally managed to calm the students, Professor Xavier called them all down to the lower levels to discuss their next course of action. He had already tried to use Cerebro to find any hint of their missing students, but as he had expected…He didn't find the slightest trace of their presence no matter how hard he looked.
Now they would have to take a different course of action if they were to find their missing students before any harm came to them and they sure as hell weren't willing to see them suffer in the way they had last time.
"Did you find anything Logan?" asked Xavier as his feral friend entered the room with a look of deep distress upon his face.
Logan didn't say a word much to the dismay of his friends, for he was still reeling from what he found. Outside, he had smelled a scent he hadn't smelled in over a year…And it was something he'd never thought he'd smell again. At first he thought it was just his nose playing tricks on him…But he knew it had to be her…It couldn't be anybody else other than her. He knew that smell all too clearly because it was so much like his own.
First came Deathstrike…Now this. His silence was beginning to greatly worry the others as Ororo stepped forth with a concerned look upon her face as she tried to ascertain what had disturbed him so much.
"Logan…" she said with a worried tone, but he didn't wait for her or anybody to finish.
"It was X23…" he said in a grim tone.
A look of shock overtook Beast, Ororo, and Xavier while Sage didn't understand the meaning behind those words.
"X23? Who or what is X23?" she asked.
Logan took a deep breath and explained everything he knew about the young girl that had been created in his image. He spoke with complete and utter distaste of Hydra and the things they did to create a weapon that was every bit as deadly as he was supposed to be. He told her how she had broken into the institute and single handedly neutralized everybody and fought valiantly against him…Only to end up crying in his arms at all the pain she had to endure as a result of her existence. He went on to further explain how he later met up with her once again to fight alongside her to take down Hydra once and for all, going through Omega Red, Gauntlet, and Viper in the process. She had supposedly died in her quest to destroy Hydra…Yet given that she was Logan's blood, she survived and he had smelled it on that day when she finally freed herself from the terror that had tortured her all throughout her brief life.
Only Logan knew she had survived…SHIELD and the rest of the world listed her as dead. At least, that's what he thought. He went on to say how he actually went out looking for her, but she had done a good job about keeping herself hidden. Eventually, he stopped searching when her trail went cold…But now she was back, and once again he would have to go up against a part of himself.
"So let me get this straight…" said Sage as she tried processed this complicated matter with her computerized brain, "X23 is your clone."
"Yeah…And now she's back," said Logan with a grunt, "And those Hellfire assholes have her! And now they're using her against us!"
"How do you know that?" said Sage, "How do you know she's not just working for them like the rest of those mercenaries? You said it yourself, she's a living weapon."
"Because I know her!" shot Logan in response as he grew a bit confrontational to her insinuations, "I know how she thinks and I know how she feels! She's my own flesh and blood! And she'd NEVER do shit like that and work for assholes like the Hellfire Club! She'd never…"
"Calm down Logan!" said Ororo as she held him back and stopped him before he could finish, giving him a moment to catch his breath as he still tried to take in this grave situation with the students and X23, "She didn't mean anything by it."
"She's right Logan, you must calm yourself," said the Professor as he sensed a great deal of inner strife within his feral friend from this startling development, "I know X23 is of great importance to you, but if she's somehow being controlled or used by the Hellfire Club, that still means that she's a grave threat."
"Don't you think I know that Chuck!" said Logan in response, knowing that if this girl was anything like him, she'd never work for a group like the Hellfire Club unless she was being controlled somehow…That much she had shown him when he fought with her to take down Hydra, "Who knows what those pricks did to her!"
"Well if she is in fact being controlled…That would bring up yet another question," pondered Hank, "How would they find her and why would they want to use her in the first place. I thought you said everybody, SHIELD included, believed her to be dead?"
"Well this is the Hellfire Club we're talking about here," said Ororo, "Perhaps they somehow knew about the incident."
"That's possible," Sage said as she recalled all the information SHEILD and the Hellfire Club had on Hydra and of their leader Viper. "The Hellfire Club has dealings with Hydra before, usually weapons trades or even using them as an outside contract to deal with certain problems that couldn't be linked back the Club."
"Then you think they could have learned of X23 from them?" Hank asked her.
"It's possible…A few of the high ranking members have had dealings with Viper herself I believe and anyone in the Inner Circle could have known about that and I'm sure Shaw most of all. He liked to know everything about everything and he would be one of the top members on a short list that would know about her."
Logan didn't make any more comments as he considered that viewpoint. He was still reeling from the knowledge that X23 was back and fighting against them, most likely against her will. Logan knew better than anybody that she had been through a lot already in her brief life and she of all people didn't deserve to be tortured under people like the Hellfire Club who probably just wanted her to do their dirty work. It was frustrating enough having to deal with all the missing students…Now he had to deal with X23, his own flesh and blood.
"So X23 is now in the hands of somebody who already hates us and will do anything they want of have to do," said Logan, not liking the predicament she was in, "And are the rest of the others who are now imprisoned by that same group who are probably just itching for a little revenge…Any ideas on what to do about it?"
A heavy silence fell over the elders of the institute, all of which felt as though they had failed their students once again by letting them fall into the clutches of such a heinous organization. There was no telling what kind of suffering they were enduring now and the only thing any of them could think about was getting them back.
"I think our course of action is obvious my friend…" said Professor Xavier in an affirmative tone, "We find out where they took our students…And we rescue them."
"A plan most certainly easily said than done, Charles," said Hank, knowing just as well as the others what kind off a daunting task that would be, "But…We succeeded once. We can most certainly succeed again."
"And I'll help," said Sage, eager to once again fight against the Hellfire Club and finish what should have been done, "I'll get on the phone with Fury and see what kind of help he can give us since I doubt he'll let their survival stand. And I'll work with Hank and comb through every bit of data on the planet if I have to in order to find them."
"I appreciate that Sage," said Xavier, grateful that one of the students he had first taken in was willing to work so hard for an institute that was still so weary of her, "I'll also keep searching with Cerebro for any signs of activity. And Logan, I'll need you to visit each scene where the abductions took place and find out what you can. In the meantime, Ororo, I want you to help Warren and Betsy keep the students here calm. And also…Begin running a little extra training. I think we'll all be needing it very soon."
"Agreed Charles," said Ororo, sounding confident yet anxious about this whole predicament, "I'll let them both know and we'll all start planning a few sessions. We should all be ready when the time comes…Whenever that may be."
"Right…" grunted Logan, who didn't stick around to make any more comments as he abruptly left the room.
Hank, Xavier, and Sage cast a worried glance in his direction, but before they could say anything, Ororo was already going after him. Upon seeing that, the Professor held his other two associates back, knowing that it would probably be best if Ororo were the one to help him since she could do so in ways nobody else could. For now, they all knew they had work to do as Sage and Hank began working together with the computers in preparations for yet another exhaustive search.
Xavier, on the other hand, would have plenty to keep him busy with Cerebro. Yet even as he watched his fellow teachers go to work in hopes of finding their missing students, he kept the mysterious book at his lap…Never once letting it leave his presence. There was still so much to translate and there were still so many secrets within it's pages left to uncover. Yet they would have to wait for the time being if they were to find their missing students…Although Professor Xavier couldn't help but wonder if perhaps this incident and the secrets of this book were closely intertwined…If not one in the same.
While Logan was already out of sight, ready to head to the upper levels and towards the garage to begin the exhaustive investigation into the abductions, he found himself stopping at the elevator and leaning against the wall for support. The scent of X23 was still hanging strong in his mind and his concern for the students he had vowed to protect was still eating away at his already fragile being. Feeling as though he had failed them again, Logan punched the metal wall with an angry grunt, wishing he could just go out there and rip whoever did this to pieces right then and there…But he would have to find them first and in the process…He may have to go up against X23 once again.
Then, as Logan wallowed in this state of self pity, Ororo approached him from down the hall and saw the look of great turmoil on his face. So much had changed for him already…First there were the abductions, then there were the memories and encounters with Yuriko, then there was the revelation of his real name from Slayer, then there was the rediscovery of X23, and of course…There was them. It seemed as though so much had happened in his life so fast that it was all too much for him to bear. And seeing him like this truly did tare at Ororo because she had come to see and experience so much of what made him the man she was growing so profoundly close to.
"Logan…" she said in a soft tone, causing him to snap out of his state abruptly and turned towards her concerned gaze, "Logan are you okay?"
"Well…I ain't afraid to say that I'm not for once," he told her in a tone wrought with his own self loathing, "The kids are gone…Taken by a bunch of evil fucks who probably want the worse kind of revenge on them for beating them before…And I wasn't there to do anything about it."
"Logan…You couldn't have been there," said Ororo as she moved in closer to him, unafraid of his fragile state, "This was a surprise attack from determined enemies. There's nothing any of us could have done to stop it…And they knew it. All we can do now is shake off the surprise and fight back…"
"I know that…And believe me, Ro…When I get my hands on the assholes who took those kids, no force in Heaven or Hell is gonna measure to what I'm gonna do to them," said Logan, feeling every bit as determined to carry that promise out, "But there's just…"
Logan didn't finish, for he knew he couldn't and Ororo responded by moving in closer and wrapping her arms around his neck in a show of comfort and assurance.
"It's X23…Isn't it?" said Ororo, knowing full well the kind of affect she had on him.
"Yeah…" he said simply.
"You're worried about having to fight against her again…Aren't you?"
"Of course I am…" said Logan, not arguing the point, "She's my own flesh and blood whether I like it or not. I couldn't hit her last time…She was the one enemy on the face of this planet that I couldn't attack no matter how angry I got or how much rage she unleashed on me. I didn't fight her…And she ended up crying right there in my arms…"
The memory of that fateful night where X23 infiltrated the institute and fought so ardently against him still hung strong in his mind, for that one moment where she broke down before him made him feel things that he had never felt before. He remembered it clearly…The feeling that he was holding in his arms a piece of himself…A piece of his flesh and blood. And when she disappeared…All he could think about was that moment…That one feeling she gave him.
"She's the only piece of flesh and blood I have out there…And I'm the only one who understands her pain," he went on to say as his words grew less anxious and more that of self loathing, "I wanted to help her…I wanted to keep her from living the nightmare I had lived after I…"
"Shh…It's okay Logan," said Ororo as she saw in his eyes how hard it was for him to go on, "Listen to me…We will find them…We will help her. I know because you got through to her once…And you can do it again. You just need to be strong…For her…For the students…And for me."
That seemed to help Logan pick himself up out of the rut he had dug himself into from all the uncertainty that seemed to bombard him with every crisis that came. He found himself snaking his arms around Ororo's waist and holding her close to him as her soft, warm scent flooded his mind and eased his tension. Upon feeling this, Ororo gave the burly man a soft kiss on the cheek, offering her support to him when he needed it the most as was so quickly becoming her duty the more and more she fell for this man and the more he seemed to fall for her.
"For you darlin'…For the kids…You know I'll go through Hell itself if I have to," he told her, managing a slight smile as he continued to embrace her, "And who knows…With a crisis like this, we may just have to…"
-Sinister's Main Prison Cell Room-
Everyone had spent the night in that same room since they woke up. There were many beds, but Gambit was the only one that slept alone, which was fine by him. Everyone was a bit on edge after Sinister left, but when morning came the lights turned on and a small door in one wall opened up and trays of food were placed in there so at least they weren't starving. It also seemed like he had done their research on them too. There was a purely vegetarian meal that Kitty took and a couple of larger helpings that Vince and Kurt took since their bodies required more energy. Although the food was kind of bland and Emma recognized it as health food quality since her family used to have that a lot, it was filling at least.
Plus, the small bathroom had a sliding door and everything one needed. Unfortunately, it was also boring just sitting around waiting for whatever it was to happen. Vincent was actually doing Katas at one point just to deal with the stress of it and Emma even joined in.
Scott had done enough push ups in the morning and had showered last and even though his arms felt tired it had been something to kill the time. No one really talked since there wasn't much to say. After a few hours they were in small groups talking quietly and wondering what the others were doing and where they were.
Emma was on the bed lying on her side. She had been trying to hide a certain fear she had since Sinister had told them what they were going to be used as. It wasn't what most would think a person in her position would worry about, but then again she was a bit different then the other women here. Vincent, however, picked up on this and decided to have a talk with her as he gently lay down next to her.
"Emma what's wrong?" he asked her in a concerned tone.
"It's nothing."
"Don't 'it's nothing' me. Please…Talk to me."
She took his arm and wrapped it around her. She needed to feel his arm around her at this moment and he easily complied. "Vince…I'm afraid of what he's going to do to me."
"I won't let anything happen to you. He can't force us to-"
"No it's not that," she told him. Vincent was a bit confused now and felt and heard her sigh. "I went to see to a doctor recently to see if there was a problem with me for why I never got pregnant." She stopped for a moment as that day ran through her mind. She had gone to a place in New York while she said she had business to take care of about setting up something with a bank.
That was partially right, but that had been taken care of easily with her making a new account there for herself and she spent the rest of the day at a doctor's so no one else would know.
"I can't bear children…" she told him in a whisper. Vince stiffened at this, not sure what to think. "You remember what happened to me at the Asylum?"
He nodded his head remember how the guards took advantage of her. He also got angry inside just thinking about that, but she went on, "They said that I was damaged from sexual assaults and that my body can't handle a pregnancy."
He held her tighter, "I'm so sorry Emma."
She leaned back into him, "No…It's not your fault and I'm the one that should say that I'm sorry. I know that you wanted a family of your own and I can never give that to you."
"Emma, I don't love you based on whether or not you can have children and when we get out of here, I know one day we can adopt. I want to be with you and that's all I need," he said as he kissed her shoulder. She closed her eyes not wanted to cry, not in a place like this with others seeing her. It was still new to her to have someone so loving in her life.
The moment was cut short as the door opened and Sinister walked in, "Miss Maximoff and Mister Wagner…Please come with me." There was a moment's hesitation, but he merely let out a sigh and pulled out a remote, "Do I really need to use this?" He said in an annoyed tone. He couldn't understand why they wouldn't just see that what he was doing was for the benefit for the mutant race.
All he was trying to do was make the world into a better place for all. He had made it his life long ambition to ensure that a worthy race inherited this planet. For centuries, all he had seen was mankind and their destruction of this planet of themselves on scales that were mind boggling. He had made projections and knew that if humans stayed in control, they would eventually destroy this planet and all life on it.
He had sacrificed his old life long ago to try and perfect humanity to make them better then they were, but he soon found that humanity was beyond redemption and beyond saving. It was time for a new race to take their place in this world before it was too late. He studied evolution and it was his passion in life.
The two mutants he called up finally got up and walked over to him, "Good, now please come along."
They walked down the metal corridors thinking of where they could be and looking for a window or something to tell them where they might be but there were none and they guessed they had to be underground somewhere.
"So what the hell do you want us for?" Wanda asked him harshly, for she may be walking with him, but that didn't mean she had to be nice to him.
"Going through your files and from seeing you two interact, I noticed that you two must have entered into a recent relationship. I also can tell that the two of you have some issues to work out," he said to them not looking back as they continued walking along the hallways.
"How did you know zat?"
"I'm a telepath my blue boy."
"You went into our heads?" Wanda shouted angrily at him. When Xavier had been giving her therapy when she first joined up, he had never entered her mind and looked through it. He had respected her privacy and it was one of the reasons she now trusted him. This, however, was a violation in a way that was rare, but still one that hurt in some way.
"Only certain parts," he said like it justified his actions, "You see, I need you all physically and mentally well maintained. So I'm going to have you two work things out." They came to a door and he opened it. Inside was a pretty bland room with what looked like some kind of living quarters only about fifteen ft. by fifteen ft.
"You don't mean…" Kurt tried to ask thinking about what he had said to them earlier that day.
"Well you don't have to," he told the two of them, "But it would convince me not to try a more invasive procedure that you two might not like and it would help to convince me that you, Mr. Wagner, are worth keeping around whole." The look that he gave them wasn't one that said he was messing around and that he was deadly serious about all of this.
The two entered the room as he locked the door and left them to work it all out.
The two sat alone on the bed in silence just wondering what they could do. "Kurt…I know that if you don't' do this he'll most likely punish me so don't." His head snapped to her with a shocked expression as she looked at him. "Kurt if I don't, then you'll be punished and I can't watch that again. So please let me take the punishment he has in store for you."
"Vanda you can't mean zat!" he said as he grabbed her arms, "I von't let zat monster touch you or hurt you!"
"But Kurt, last time we got too close you…I don't want to hurt you," she said, her eyes filling up with tears and she shook her head trying to remain tough. She had a reputation as being as tough as Rogue back at the mansion, but truth was underneath it all she wasn't as tough as she made herself out to be.
"Kurt…You've become too import to me…When I first moved in, you went out of your way to make me feel welcome."
Kurt smiled at that memory, "Ja you vere a bit hostile and ignored most of my efforts."
She smiled a little looking down, "Truth is…I may not have shown it, but I did appreciate that. You and the others helped me get a GED, Xavier helped me to deal with my anger and rage, and for the first time I had true friends…People that I could truly trust. And lately, the mansion has felt like a true home to me. But Kurt…When I first developed feelings for you, it was scary because I've never felt such things about a man before…You treated me with respect and kindness that no one has shown me before."
He reached up to her cheek and caressed it. She looked up into his loving yellow eyes and the smile on his face. "You have no idea vhat it means to me to have you. Vhen I lost Amanda, I zought I vould never find love again."
Wanda blinked a few times. "L…love?" They had said they cared, but never had said the L word to each other. Kurt realized what he had just said and tried to back out of it but he placed a hand on his lips. She thought long and hard on her feelings towards him. She had never been in love before and wondered if that's what her feelings were.
She thought back to how much she worried when he wasn't well, how a simple touch felt wonderful from him, and how the few times they had shared a bed how it had felt just so…Right. She looked into his eyes and it all became clear to her. "Kurt…I love you…" she said partially to herself and to actually say the words and the emotions attached to them.
"Vanda…" Kurt trailed off, even given their dark situation, this one moment was a small glimmer of light in this dark time, "I love you too…" he whispered to her and felt his heart soar. They may have been prisoners in body, but at this one moment in their lives both of them felt like they were soaring in the sky free as birds.
They leaned into a kiss. It was gently and yet there was a deep emotional meaning to it. They soon found each other on the bed slowly kissing each other and felt the other's hands on each other. "Kurt…Should we really…I don't want that sickco to win like this," Wanda said at one moment, placing a hand on his chest. "I also don't want to push you into something again."
"I don't zhink ve have much choice liebe," he said with a sorrowful expression. He couldn't bear to see her hurt because of him. He could live if it was himself, but not her. He could never stand to see others suffer especially those he cared for. "But ve can't let him totally vin. If this is our moment, a moment between lovers a moment for just us to express out love…zhen…"
She caressed his furry face, "Then it will be our choice…Not his. If we make this our own moment and not his, then he can't win in this."
He nodded and that was good enough for her. Even though they both had on collars, they chose to push the outside world away as they made the choice to do what they wanted to do. As they continued she lifted off his shirt and saw that the fur had nearly grown over the small scars on his chest and they were barely noticeable. She smiled as her hands worked his chest feeling how well toned he was. They went on, each exploring each other and slowly taking off each other's clothing.
Kurt felt a small amount of apprehension, but he pushed it aside. He didn't want Selene to ruin this moment…He didn't want to be under control of that moment any more in his life. When she was completely topless and he saw her womanhood for the first time, he went to them and eagerly pleasured her. For Wanda, she never felt so good.
She had never made love before and Kurt was so gentle and caring. It was better then she had though and she quickly immersed herself in this moment, pushing it all away. She felt herself heating up inside a sensation that was new to her. Soon they were both naked and she let Kurt be on top since she thought the other way might bring back memories of Selene.
She didn't want him to freak out again and she let him be in control since she knew he needed it more then she did. Soon, the two new lovers were coupled together with Kurt inside of her. Wanda had never known such joy, for those few times in her youth had been so violent and painful, yet this was the complete opposite as she moved with him in a gentle movements. His fur on her body felt so good and very nice against her skin. It felt like she had found a piece of heaven in this hell they were in.
Kurt hadn't felt this good since he had been with Amanda, but soon that memory and the one of Selene faded as he made a new one with Wanda that he would cherish for the rest of his life. He had lost himself in her love and he needed to. He had come to terms with what had happened to him and he knew that he wasn't emotionally ready to do this with anyone, but her. They soon reached a quick pace as both where breathing hard, lost in their passion as she pulled him down to her lips kissing him as she climaxed and screamed out into his mouth he followed suit.
After that they went under the covers of the bed and just held each other. They both had no idea of what horrors they would face, but they both wanted to make this one happy moment last for a long as they could. They would want to burn this memory in their minds to help give them something to give them strength in the times to come.
In his private office, Sinister looked on through a camera. There were hidden many ones all over the base and he saw that the two of them had worked things out. He didn't have the sound up and he barely looked at it, for he only wanted to make sure they worked things out. He didn't get his 'kicks' as other people would watching a couple do that. He only smiled that they both seemed to have worked out their emotional problems. When they started up again, he turned it off.
He would let them have their private time, for he wasn't interested in watching that anyway…Not now that they were enjoying themselves like he hoped. Now he could use that to his advantage, for they were closer now and with the promise of more of these private times alone could be used to motivate them to his cause. He preferred willing subjects since they gave the best results anyway. He went back to his work on the planning phase and of a list of other mutants he would need later on to help grow his collection of specimens.
-Hellfire Mansion-
At the mansion that the Hellfire Club had been staying at since their fall, Shaw had been furious for two reasons. One was the unknown intruder, for he had seen video footage of him and had yet to figure out ANY data or information on him. It was like that man didn't exist at least not in the system. He figured either he worked so deep cover that only a handful knew of him or he somehow lived off the radar.
The second was that his own spies had reported on what had happened in Bayville and he was living. He wanted the X-Men for himself and he knew that Sinister person was the one behind it. He didn't like this man (if he could be called that) running around his territory. So he was here to pick up the pieces by the other houses, but that still didn't give him the right to interfere in his own business. And revenge against the X-Men was HIS business.
He looked down at the damn wheelchair he was still stuck in. He would walk again, but it would take months for his body to heal enough for that to happen. He took the brandy by this desk and took a glass of it feeling the burning sensation of the liquid going down his throat. He also knew that if Sinister decided to move against him, none would stand in his way. Harry was dead, that spy of Magneto's Mastermind had gone into hiding, and not to mention SHIELD still had Pierce. The only member left was Selene and he got the feeling that she would be more than happy then to stab him in the back, even literally, for Sinister.
He knew that Sinister was a threat to his life and position since assassination was the way one moved up in the Inner Circle. He had to take him out, but then he would have an irate Selene on his back not to mention the other houses might not look too kindly on their chosen representative was killed by him.
What he needed was someone else to do it, but those cyborgs that were left weren't up to it. He needed someone else, someone that no one would think would have been sent by him someone like…The X-Men. The idea had a certain charm and appeal to him, to have one of his enemies to take out another. It was too good to pass up, but then there was the problem of how.
It's not like he could just send them a map with a big X on it with a note that said 'this is where your friends are' on it.
He began to think what they would do to find and search them out with their resources. They would be looking, but HOW would they be looking? There were no files and they didn't know anything about the Hellfire Club…Except for one…Tessa.
She knew their workings inside and out and if anyone would be looking for any kind of information and if anyone had even a remote chance of succeeding, it was his former assistant. But then he frowned somewhat at the idea, for he knew that she would look through any data she found with relentless accuracy trying to make sure it was valid. If he was going to leak certain data in the files, he would have to make a very long and complex trail to make sure that she didn't get suspicious and that she didn't find it so easy.
Thankfully, he knew what she had had access to and what she could have gained access to. He would have to work fast, but he had plenty of time to work now. He put the brandy away and rolled himself to a computer he kept in his room. He smiled as he began to make false invoices and delivery documents. It wouldn't be easy, but having Sinister and the X-Men at each other throats would be worth it and maybe they would take each other out in the end…Making things easier on him once he returned to power.
Slayer
In an old, rundown alley in the darkest areas of a New York City slum where few other beings short of rats dared to go, a purple haze fell upon the dreary area and swirled in mysterious haze as the mutant warrior known as Slayer took shape. He had just gone up against the Black Queen herself…And he had come out alive. He was still in agony, falling to the ground and leaning up against the dirty brick wall for support as he took deep breaths to help his body recover.
"Damn…That bitch knows how to leave her mark," he grunted as he clutched his side where one of her many blows inflicted a gashing injury.
His armor was torn, large parts of his flesh were seeping with blood, and he was in a world of pain…Yet despite all this, he had gotten what he had gone there to get…He had gotten one of the most important things needed to fight any darkness…Information. He saw the next challenge that darkness would bring manifest right before his all-seeing eye…And as he had anticipated, the X-men were a big part of it. He was surprised to see that they had survived the first ordeal…But now they had an even greater challenge ahead of them…One they may not be able to overcome without his help.
As of now, he was in no state to do anything, yet that had never stopped him before. Reaching into his bag of supplies, he took out a small flask of strange, glowing liquid and began to drink it. Immediately, he began to feel better and some of his injuries started healing as if by magic…Which was actually not very far from the truth when dealing with someone who was a strong practitioner of the mystic arts. It was just one of his many elixirs and he knew he would be needing every one of them for the fight ahead of him as he rested against the dirty brick wall and let the potion heal his body.
"So now the second challenge begins…" he mused as his wounds quickly began to heal and he looked down at his slightly mangled armor, "Selene may have experience on me…But now I have experience on her as well. Next time…I'll be ready…Next time…I'll stop her before any of this can get any worse. But for now…I've got much more sinister fish to fry."
Next Up Chapter 44: Taking the fight ot Sinister