Inferno

Chapter 13: Rise of the Juggernaut- Part 1

By

The Uncanny R-Man

Disclaimer- All familiar characters belong to Marvel.

The Vault, Colorado-

The Vault was one of the most infamous metahuman containment facilities in the United States. It contained many metahuman criminals that had been captured either by the forces of SHIELD, or one of the many superhero teams that hung around New York.

One such metahuman criminal was Cain Marko, otherwise known as the Unstoppable Juggernaut!

Cain was slumbering peacefully in his stasis tube. That was until a man dressed immaculately all in green with a neatly-trimmed black beard walked into the cell without the guards batting as much as a single eyelid. As a matter of fact, the guards weren't even moving at all. It was almost as if time had stopped around them. Cain and the mysterious well-dressed man were the only ones that had not been affected.

The well-dressed man waved his hand and Cain began to stir as the liquid that kept him placid began to drain away.

'Huh... Whuzzuh...?' Cain mumbled blearily.

'Welcome to the realm of the living, Cain Marko.' The well-dressed man commented. 'You were a very difficult man to track down. I trust that my efforts will not be in vain...'

The well-dressed man shielded himself as Cain smashed his way out of the stasis tube.

'Okay, just who the hell are ya, bub? And why did'ja just release me? You got a death wish or somethin'?'

The well-dressed man just looked back at Cain calmly. He wasn't afraid of Cain's posturing in the least.

'I have a proposition for you, Mr Marko...' The well-dressed man explained. 'My employer has need of your services...'

'You got a name?' Cain grunted. 'Cuz I like ta know the names of whoever I do jobs fer.'

'You may call me Baron Mordo.' The man answered. 'Now, down to business...'

Cain wasn't paying attention. He was poking one of the frozen guards.

'Hey, how'd you freeze the rent-a-cops?' Cain enquired. 'You got those freaky mind powers or somethin'?'

'Oh, my powers go far beyond paltry telepathy, Mr Marko.' Baron Mordo chuckled. 'But that is not my point. My employer has become aware of a great threat to this dimension, amongst others. This threat is known as the Darkchylde. You must destroy the Darkchylde before she can destroy this very realm!' Cain looked at Mordo as if he had just grown an extra head.

'Right...' Cain looked down at Mordo with a sceptical frown. 'Do I look like some kinda fruity magic guy to you? Go ask Doc Strange to do yer dirty work, bub. Cain Marko ain't no Ghostbuster.'

Baron Mordo hadn't finished yet. There was one little perk of the job that Cain Marko could not resist...

'Will it help if you will also come up against the X-Men?' Mordo added with a smirk. 'The Darkchylde has taken refuge with them.' Cain couldn't help but grin. The X-Men? Now them he could understand taking out.

'You got yerself a deal, buddy.' Cain shook Mordo's hand. 'Now, how you gonna get us outta here?'

Mordo didn't reply, he simply waved his hands. Then they both disappeared in a burst of fire and brimstone.

Xavier's, meanwhile-

Meanwhile, over at the X-Mansion, Illyana Rasputin sat upright with a yell.

'Ahhh!'

Illyana put her hand to her chest and tried to steady her heartbeat. Thank God, it was only a dream.

'Illyana, are you okay?' X-23 asked concernedly. 'When you woke up with a shout... You were having a bad dream, weren't you?'

Illyana rubbed her eyes with a graon.

'I don't know, X... For some reason I've got the feeling that something bad is about to happen.'

'You don't think that it's another one of those N'Garai things that attacked us the other day, do you?' X-23 scratched her head.

'I... don't really remember...' Illyana shook her head. 'All that I can remember is some guy whose head was completely covered with fire.'

'Logan told me about somebody like that...' X-23 remembered. 'The Ghost Rider... I think. Did this guy have a flaming skull for a head and ride a fiery motorbike?'

'No...' Illyana shook her head. 'I don't think this guy looked like Ghost Rider...'

'Then who was it?' X-23 wondered. 'Do you think this nightmare of yours was predicting something from the future? Or was it just a bad dream?'

'I hope it was just a bad dream, X...' Illyana sighed.

'Do you think it would help if you talked to the Professor?' X-23 suggested. 'He might be able to help.'

'Nah...' Illyana shook her head. 'It was just a bad dream. Nothing really. Everything'll turn out all right in the morning.'

'That's goof to hear.' X-23 smiled slightly. 'Good night, Illyana.'

'G'night, X...' Illyana replied as she tried to settle back down into bed.

Unfortunately, Illyana wouldn't get much of a chance to rest as Professor Xavier gave everybody a telepathic shout.

'X-Men, report to the X-Jet Hangar immediately. The Juggernaut has just escaped from the Vault. This is not a test. I repeat, this is not a test...'

'So much for a good night's sleep...' Illyana muttered as she got herself up out of bed.

The skies above Bayville Mall, later-

Illyana and X-23 were now gathered with the rest of the X-Men onboard the X-Jet as it sped towards Bayville Mall. Xavier had been reluctant to let Illyana and X-23 join the main team, seeing that they were so young. But Juggernaut's attack matched with something in Illyana's dream. As well as the mysterious fiery-headed figure, Illyana head dreamt of a huge muscular slab of a man wearing a helmet. It could only be the Juggernaut!

Rachel gazed out the window at the carnage below them.

'Oh God, look at that mess down there...'

'Nothing at all like the time to went on a naked rampage downtown, huh?' (1) Bobby smirked.

'Now isn't the time to make jokes, Iceman.' Scott reminded him. 'There could be people down there that are seriously hurt.'

'Gallows humour, boss.' Bobby replied. 'Just trying to lighten the mood.'

'Well, save it.' Scott shot back. 'We have to stay focused. Juggernaut is very dangerous. You do remember the plan, don't you?'

Kurt was the first to reply.

'Try and take off Juggernaut's helmet so Jean or Rachel can zap his brain. Ja, I zhink ve've got it.'

'Right.' Scott nodded. 'Let's be careful out there. We don't want anymore people getting hurt.'

And with that, everybody disembarked from the X-Jet. Jean and Rachel levitated Scott and Rogue down to the ground with their telekinesis, Ororo carried Logan down herself, Bobby slid down on an ice slide with X-23 close behind, while Kurt and Illyana teleported Kitty, Piotr and Remy down to the ground.

'Not that I wanna tell you how to do your job, Scott...' Rachel piped up. 'But... just how are we going to find the Juggernaut?'

'Follow the carnage?' Logan suggested.

'Good plan.' Rachel nodded.

However, before the X-Men could even move one step forward, the ground began to shake. Several stone figures then burst forth from the ground and advanced upon the X-Men.

'What the heck...?' Rogue yelped as she began to stumble. Fortunately, Remy was there to catch her.

'Don' worry, cherie. Remy's here to save ya.'

Rogue pulled her arm away with a scowl.

'Ah can handle mahself just fahne, thankyah.'

'Jus' tryin' to help, is all.' Remy shrugged.

'Where did all these things come from?' Kitty yelped as she phased her way through them. 'Is this like, Selene up to her old tricks?'

'I don't think this is Selene's work, Kitty.' Illyana responded as she hacked at the stone creatures with her Soul Sword. 'Look!'

Kitty looked up to the roof of a nearby building to see a shadowed figure standing above their heads directing the battle.

'Who is that man?' Ororo asked nobody in particular as she blasted more of the stone creatures with a lightning bolt. 'And why has he not made a move to attack?'

'That's cuz Baron Mordo don't like to get his hands dirty, X-Chippy!' Juggernaut answered as he smashed his way through a load of parked cars.

'Get away from her, Juggernaut...' Logan growled. 'Or so help me...'

'Aww, shut yer yap, runt...' Juggernaut rolled his eyes and swatted Logan away with one giant hand. 'I'm here fer the Rasputin kid.'

'What do you want with Illyana?' Piotr yelled. 'Tell me, or I will crush you!'

'Aww, ain't that sweet?' Juggernaut snorted. 'The big dumb Russian's all protective of his sister. It's a pity that I gotta kill her, really. But y'know how it is. Business is business. Now quit yer bitchin' an' I'll make it quick an' painless...'

TBC...

Next: Rise of the Juggernaut- Part 2

The X-Men Vs the Juggernaut and the Mindless Ones. 'Nuff said.

Author's Notes-

(1)- Rachel went on a naked rampage in downtown Bayville in Chapter 1.