AN: Yay! Chapter Fourteen. The plot both thickens and quickens! And the X-Men and TB finally met one another. Are you ready? I am!
To Caltimere: ***giggle*** I love funny quotes! I found that on Google! Thank you beloved Google! ***kiss Google screen then freaks out because it tastes like a computer***
To A Watcher: ***eyes narrow*** grrrr. Okay that's IT! I am so watching YOU! Reading my script… wait a minute. How did you get my script? Didn't I send that to For Knox fort safe keeping?
To Mika: Yes, Scott does have some problems. But him we love him and his I'm-the-leader-so-get-out-of-my-way attitude, don't we?
To Unicorn: ***sigh*** Yes, we all treat Xander badly don't we? But hey, he's am easy target. But he my favourite character because he's so easy to make fun of. That makes him COOL!
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Chapter Fourteen- Identities"See," Scott said as he watched Lance walk out of the apartment he currently lived in, "I told you if we followed him home we'd find out where Kitty is. He's probably going to her right now."
"Or he could be going out for something to eat." Jean pointed out and yawned, "I'm tired." She glanced behind her and saw the Kurt was snoring away. They had been in this car for two hours, ever since Scott had the notion in his head to watch Lance's new residence. Jean was very envious of Kurt, who was smart enough to have picked the back seat to set in.
"Look at him. The careless idiot. He doesn't even notice my-" Scott stopped abruptly and then shouted in a shocked voice, "MISS SUMMERS!?"
That caught Jean's attention and jarred Kurt from sleep. Their faces, excluding Scott because he was on the opposite side, were pressed against the cool glass of the car in astonishment as they watched Buffy Summers, Bayville High Counselor, walk out of the apartment building to catch up with Lance and walk at his side. Following her was a girl they did not recognize and a man they knew to be one of Magneto's men.
"What do you think zhe is doing?" Kurt asked, "You don't think zhe is working with the Brotherhood, do you?"
"Certainly looks like it." Jean said, stricken. She had liked Miss Summers and now it seemed that she was working for their enemy all along.
Scott's hands clenched into fists, "The whole time." he hissed, "The whole time she was being nice and pretending to care she was just trying to get one up on us for her team!? She'll pay. Oh, she'll pay."
"Scott?" Jean said in concern, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. Scott shrugged it off and she held her hand against her chest, hurt.
Scott chose to ignore the look on Jean's face and turned on the engine of his car, "We're following them. And when they stop, we attack. You ready, X-Men?"
Kurt nodded, "I am ready to get Kitty back."
Jean nodded silently and looked away. For a moment Scott felt guilty, but then he shook his head, put his car into fourth gear, and followed Miss Summers and the Brotherhood to wherever it was they were going.
"Zey seem like they are heading for the graveyard." Kurt pointed out, "Do you think zey are keeping Kitty zere?"
"I hope not." Scott said, grinding his teeth. He hated the through of innocent Kitty Pryde locked in a tomb with dead bodies. Kitty was like a younger sister and he felt reasonability to take care of her. And the same went for every member on the X-Men team. 'Father' as Kurt would've called him.
So what if I act like a father? Scott thought, they certainly need the discipline.
As Scott pulled into Bayville's Darker Skies Graveyard, he shuddered, thinking about Kitty being locked up in some dark tomb. Lost, confused, sobbing was what he imagined her. She'd be so relieved to be rescued.
"Let's go corner them." Scott said, stepping out of the car. As he did so he caught sight of Buffy, Lance, the other girl and Colossus opening the gates to the graveyard and stepping in, "They've already gone in."
Jean looked up at the sky and frowned. Didn't it just seem to suddenly get a lot darker then it had been minutes ago? She opened her mouth to tell Scott so, but he and Kurt were already walking away. Jean glowered, her red-hair swaying just slightly in a non-existent wind.
"Arrogant men." She murmured heatedly and moved to catch up with the men she decided wasn't worth her time.
Kitty was bouncing. Well, her head was anyway. Everything else was just in a lot of pain. Her abdomen was being poked with something sharp and strong, and her legs were asleep. Not to mention she had a terrible headache.
Groaning, Kitty opened her eyes and instantly regretted it. She was upside down and the blood was rushing to her head. Trying to not concentrate on the fact that she could've sworn she could feel her brain press against her skull, she tried to find out where she was.
All she saw was the ground, a black cape swishing against her limp arms and stone walls off to the side. The object poking her abdomen must have been a shoulder.
Some feeling of dread twisted her gut. She had a very bad feeling about what was to come. Kitty closed her eyes and tried to phase through whatever held her captive. All that happened was for her capture to stop walking.
I've like lost my powers? Kitty thought in horror moments before a hand grabbed her ponytail and yanked. Kitty howled out in pain and clawed her capture like her namesake. Next thing she knew, she was laying on the floor on her back.
"Now, now." Drawled a Southern-lit voice that reminded Kitty of Rogue, "There'll be none o' that, sugah."
Kitty found herself looking into the jade eyes of a handsome young man. Her first thought was that he had been taken prisoner as well, but then she saw the evil light in his eyes and knew it wasn't true. He was the reason she was here.
"Who… who are you?" Kitty asked as she sat up, her voice cracking from the dryness in her throat.
The young man smiled and pushed a glass of water into her hand, "Drink up, darlin', wouldn't want ya getting sick." he said as Kitty took a sip of water.
Kitty wouldn't take being prisoner lightly. To prove she meant business she yanked her wrist back and chucked her glass at the Southern man. The man in turn smiled and moved his head slightly to the left, making the glass shatter on the wall instead of his face as Kitty planned.
"Ya're quite a pretty kitty. A hellfire, too" The man practically purred, "Ah like 'em like that." He laughed when Kitty stared at him in shock.
He leaned down, grabbed Kitty by the face and, as she screamed, pressed his mouth against hers. Kitty's nails ran down his face, drawing blood. The man smirked against her lips and pulled away. He whipped away the blood on his cheek with hand and then licked it. Kitty recoiled and backed away from him.
"Sorry, couldn't resist." The man said without a trace of sincerity in his voice, "Now, Ah'm gonna leave ya for a moment or two, gots a Slayer to take of. Now don't ya go tryin to escape or ya'll wind up like ya friends over thar."
Kitty jerked her head to t he left and gasped. She saw the limp, motionless bodies of Pietro and Freddy of the Brotherhood. What had happened to them?
"Are they like… dead?" Kitty asked in a whisper. They may have been her enemies but they hadn't deserved to die. They had been young, different, frightened.
"Na." Answered the Southern man, "Just unconscious. My partner, a demon, got annoyed with ya friends annoying chatter and put them in a deep, and Ah mean deep, sleep."
"You're horrible." Kitty said in a shocked voice.
"A little, yes." The man answered, "But then working with one of the most dangerous villains ever can have that effect. And ya know what? Ah don't care. I'm a very power boy, pretty kitty, thanks to Lord Deltoramina. It was worth all the blood 'n carnage. Basides, after a while ya start to like the blood. Go ask Furia."
"Get away from me!" Kitty shouted, "I'm part of a very powerful team! They'll make you pay!"
"The X-Men right?" When Kitty looked at him in horror, the man laughed, "Sugah, Ah'm Jake, the right hand man of Lord Deltoramina. Ah know everything thing about ya and your friends. Ah'm kinda hopin to meet them."
"Wha… what!?"
Jake reached behind him and drew a knife that had Kitty's back stiffening, "See this knife, sugah? It has the power to take away the power of anyone with supernatural abilities. This is where yar friends and the Slayers come in. Ah plan on cutting up yar friends and Slayers inta little pieces and then feed their power to Lord Deltoramina"
"MONSTER!"
"Ya bet ya." Jake agreed, "It'll be fun to make the Slayers bleed. They're the cause of all ma problems. Stoppin the First that Summers did. We'll make her pay by makin her watch her friend die one by one."
"Summers… Buffy Summers?" Kitty repeated in disbelief.
"The broad didn't tell ya, did she? Not surprised, not something ya wanna talk about. Yar Buffy Summers is a Slayer. A very powerful Slayer. She destroyed the First, Glory the helldog, the Mayor, the soulless vampire Angelus, and the Master. She's got quite a rep down under. Thought Ah'd show her what power really is."
Kitty shook her head in shock. Miss Summers, the petite Bayville High consoler was this man's enemy? She couldn't imagine the small Miss Summers fighting someone like Jake. It was impossible.
"You're… you're lying!" Kitty rasped her voice hoarse.
"Why would Ah lie?" Jake asked her and to that she had no answer. Jake closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and said, "Yar friends are here and the Slayer. Ah'd love to stay and chat but it's rude ta leave guest hangin. Till later, sugah."
In once blinding motion, Jake reached out and locked Kitty's wrists and ankles together with a metal chain. Kitty struggled but she couldn't get free.
"Now, darlin', Ah wouldn't try to get free if Ah was ya. Don't want ta end up like yar friends, do ya?" Jake questioned, motioning to Fred and Pietro.
"You won't like get away with this!" Kitty proclaimed, rattling her chains.
"But Ah think Ah will." Jake smiled one last time and said, "Must be going."
Buffy knew someone was behind her, could feel it. Problem was whoever was following them wasn't vampires. They didn't move like vampires did. They were slow, a little clumsy, and heavier.
Human.
She normally would've turned her head and looked for the source of the noise, but the sun had set over an hour ago and Buffy didn't want to risk being ambushed. So she kept her back rigid and made sure she knew exactly where the noise was coming from.
She looked over at Colossus, Lance and Ori. Ori and Lance were both looking ahead, waiting for the battle to begin. But Colossus seemed to be listening to something. Probably hearing whatever Buffy was hearing.
Now there's a man. Buffy thought and blushed at her own thoughts. She had to keep her head on the mission. The muscular man crouched next to her. She cocked her head to one side so she could get a better look at his rough, yet handsome, features.
"Are you hearing what I'm hearing?" Buffy asked very quietly, making sure the creatures behind them did not hear them.
Colossus looked surprised Buffy had heard as well but he nodded after a moment's pause, "I was not sure if anyone else had heard."
"Heard what?" Ori asked, blinking her golden cat eyes.
"They should be about three feet behind us." Buffy said, ignoring Ori's comment, "Do you think you can reach them and bring them down without looking?"
"If you can then I can." Colossus answered.
Buffy nodded and then without warning, wheeled around and reached into the darkness behind her. Her hands wrapped around a slender shoulder and as a female scream ripped through the night, Buffy jerked the body forward. The first thing she saw was flaming red hair and then a uniform of black and green with x's on the sides of the shoulders. Besides her, Colossus dragged out a young man with brown/red hair and a uniform of yellow and black with a large 'x' across the chest and on the sides of the shoulders. Ori screamed and wheeled around just as something puffed next to her. Instinctively, she wrapped her gold fire around it and was staring at a man with blue skin, a dark red and navy blue uniform and blue hair.
Buffy released Jean Gray in shock, "Jean? What the name of the nine holy hells are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing, Miss Summers!" Jean snarled angrily.
"Summers."
Lance growled and grabbed Scott by the collar of his shirt and jerked the X-Men
leader out of Colossus's iron grip, "What are you doing?"
"I can't believe you betrayed
us, Miss Summers." Scott shouted, ignoring Lance, "I trusted you and you go and
work for the Brotherhood!?"
"Could you please let me down?" Kurt begged Ori.
"Let them go." Buffy said with a sigh and rubbed her temples, "Listen, I'm not working with the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood isn't working at all, anymore. I'm a Slayer. I fight all the evil things you see in the horror movies. I came here on a hunch and now I have to stop this psycho from taking over the world and at the same time save Kitty."
"I think you better tell us your whole story." Jean Gray said, sitting up. Her eyes were clear, maybe a little suspicious, but overall trusting. Scott's were unreadable under his crimson shades and Kurt looked willing to trust as well.
Sighing once more Buffy said, "Okay. Once upon a time there were these old guys who decided that one woman should fight the supernatural evils of the world. They would fight until they were killed and then another girl would be called to take off where the other girl left off. That went on for years and years and years until one day a LA valley girl was chosen. She had no previous training, knew nothing of her destiny, and hated it for a long time. She defeated her vampire foes, but after a school incident had to move Sunnydale, California aka the Hellmouth. There she met Willow, who would later become a witch, and Xander, who became her best friend and anchor to the real world. She also met a man named Angel and she fell in love with him, though she doesn't anymore. For eight years she fought many, many evils, the strongest being the Master (the father of all vampires), the soulless Angelus, the man the Slayer once loved, Glory the Helldog, who forced the Slayer to throw herself into Hell, and the First. The First was the prime evil, the darkest of dark. In order defeat the First, the Slayer had to make changes to the world. She and her witch, Willow, made it so every girl on the face of the Earth who had Potential to be a Slayer was a Slayer and the LA Slayer was no longer alone. The Slayer defeated the First and she thought everything would be peaceful from then on, but she was wrong. Her former Watcher named Giles found out about dark powers rising here and it was necessary for the Slayer to check it out with another Slayer and her friends. She found out that there was a lot more then vampires going on in the town of Bayville. She found out the world may be in danger once more because all the Slayers are being attacked all over the world. And a young girl the Slayer liked was kidnapped and held for ransom."
Buffy paused and drew in a deep breath as the other stared at her. Then she smiled weakly and said, "So here I am."
"That's all true?" Jean asked in a shocked whisper.
Buffy nodded, "Yeah. I wouldn't lie to you. The Brotherhood's on the good side. Well, must of them anyway."
"How do we know you're telling the truth? You could be lying for all we know." Scott pointed out, ever suspicious.
"You live at the Xavier Institute?" Buffy questioned and they nodded she said, "Giles, my former Watcher, knows your professor. He'll vouch for me once we're done here. Once the fight's over I'll be happy to answer any of the questions you have. But first we find Kitty."
"I know who all you are." Kurt said suddenly, looking at Colossus and Lance, "But you are you?" Ori smiled.
"I'm Oriana McNeil. Aurora-beam user. I joined Buffy's team on the way down to Bayville. Also helped the Brotherhood see the light." She winked at Lance and Colossus and allowed her hands to light up with their gold fire, "See it guys?"
Buffy rolled her eyes, "She has a personality to much like Xander for anyone's sanity, though Pyro doesn't seem to mind. But then, I don't think he's quite right in the head either."
"I take offense to that!" Ori said.
"Fine with me." Buffy said and then her ears perked. She heard movement and this time it was graceful, unreal, demon, "They're here. You ready?"
Lance scowled, "Yeah I'm ready."
"Keep your cool, rock-head." Buffy said, "Don't use your powers until we have Kitty out of the underground. Don't want to crush her."
"Don't worry, I won't." Lance and Slayer and mutants stood. Ready to face whatever came towards them.
From across the way Furia the demon and Jake the right-hand man smirked.
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Cliff-hanger! Don't you hate those? I know I do and yet… I wrote one. Now, I'm confusing myself. Anyway, how'd you guys like this chapter? We've finally got the teams together! Pazza! Now all they have to do is rescue Kitty. But WILL they? Find out in chapter fifteen Darkness Everlasting where our heroes not only fight for Kitty's life but we also find out more of the evil plan to resurrect Lord Deltoramina. Until then, you know what to do. REVIEW!
"God grant me patience. And I want it NOW!"
-Lizzy Rebel