Chapter eleven.
Bobby Drake grinned as he walked down the corridor. His best friend was recovering speedily and seemed to be a lot happier than Bobby could ever remember him being. He kicked the door open and resisted the urge to laugh. Hank, still hooked up to the drip, was sprawled over a enlarged hospital bed - something that could take his weight - Isabelle was right next to him, on the bed, curled up in the crook of his arm, face pressed into the fur on his side and obviously fast asleep. Hank looked up from the comic that was spread out over his knees as Bobby walked in, smiling warmly and putting a finger to his lips. Bobby nodded and walked over,
"How are you doing, blue?" He asked with a smile,
"Marvellous, simply marvellous, Bobby, but the Doctor won't believe me" Hank whispered in reply, pointing to the sleeping figure at his side. She sighed and shuffled closer in her sleep, frowning a little,
"That's not a Twinkie that's a cat Hank put it down" She murmured softly. Bobby snorted, clapping a hand over his mouth to stop from laughing as the Doctor blushed,
"She's been doing that for about an hour or so" He said. Bobby grinned down at him, "she hasn't had much sleep...Robert Drake will you stop grinning at me like that!"
"Sorry Hankster" He shrugged, definitely not stopping, "it's just nice to see you happy"
"The way everyone talks, it sounds like I was a manic depressive before Isabelle bounced into my life" He scowled half heartedly, not really finding the heart to be even a little bit irritated,
"Oh because you call spending days on end on your own in the lab or burying yourself up to the neck in paperwork at the office normal?" Bobby dodged out of the way of a playful swipe,
"Incorrigible brat" Hank murmured, trying to hide a smile, hearing the affectionate tone in his own voice,
"Old man"
"Rapscallion"
"Cantankerous git" Hank paused opening his mouth to respond,
"Cantankerous...that's four syllables Bobby, I'm very impressed" He smirked, the Iceman grinned at him,
"You should be, I taught it him" A sleepy voice interupted. Hank looked down,
"I'm sorry, did we wake you?" He asked. Isabelle rested her chin on his chest lightly, eyes still shut,
"No" She looked over to where Bobby was standing, cracking one eye open, "hey"
"Hi, how are you?" He asked. She sat up and yawned, sliding off the bed to the soft patter of candy wrappers hitting the floor,
"Not bad. Yourself?" She asked, straightening herself out. Bobby looked away as Hank helped her re-adjust her top,
"I'm fine and I've just remembered why I came down here-"
"Not just for my glorious company then?" Hank interupted with a smile,
"Sorry, blue, love ya but I've got bigger fish to fry. Come on, Isabelle, I think you should be there for this" Bobby said, tugging her arm. Isabelle frowned a little, looking over at Hank. He smiled amidst the Twinkie wrappers and comics, idly flipping channels on the screen and writing notes on a pad balanced over his knees,
"Go on, he's probably got some major prank that he wants you to see pulled off" He ignored Bobby sticking his tongue out at him, resisting the urge to do it back, "I'll be quite alright" He promised. She ran to the edge of the bed, leaning over the mess to kiss him before stroking a hand through his hair,
"Sure?"
"Absolutely, positively and one hundred percent sure" He smiled back, "now go, or you'll miss it" She nodded jerkily, watching Hank smile - it made him look as young as he really was - before running back to Bobby. He lead her to the elevator at the end of the corridor,
"You know now would be a good time to tell you the whole 'if-you-hurt-him-I'll-hurt-you-more' routine but I don't really think you need to hear it, do you?" Bobby asked, punching in the floor number. Isabelle smiled a little,
"No, not really" She replied, "I get the point thought" Bobby grinned back before it fell away,
"I will though, if you do hurt him. I let that bitch Trish Trilby nearly destroy him, I won't do the same again" He said – the fierceness in his voice was both frightening and touching,
"If I hurt him, Bobby, I'll hand you the baseball bat and red hot pokers, ok?" She said quite seriously, he nodded back before the smile blossomed,
"Creative imagination there" They laughed before her face clouded over a little, "what?"
"When this is over, can we have a long chat about this Trish Trilby character?" Bobby shrugged,
"Sure thing. Here we are" The door opened with a soft 'ting' and they walked out into the rounded room. Others were there, other X-men she guessed, Ororo, Logan, Bobby, Rogue and Kurt she recognised. She was led over to a chair between Rogue and Kurt before Bobby took his opposite,
"Alright everyone, we've received a DVD from someone calling herself 'The Sphinx'" Ororo said, a worried little frown marring her face, "the content has all the drama of a psychopath-"
"Nothin we ain't used too" Logan murmured, a little laughter broke out,
"-but I think we need to take it seriously" She said sternly. Wolverine rolled his eyes, flinging his feet up onto the table as Ororo turned the DVD onto the large screen. A hooded figure appeared, wreathed in shadows, the only things clearly visible were two slitted red eyes and the outline of a hood,
"To those pitiful few who call themselves the X-men…greetings" A rich voice purred at them, "I hope this recording finds you in good health. Or at least most of you in good health though I trust Doctor McCoys healing factor has contributed to his continuing survival" The smug satisfaction in the voice made everyone's teeth grit, "I apologise for any inconvenience that my attack may have caused, it was merely a warning-"
"Some warning"
"Logan, hush" Rogue frowned,
"-you see. I am a believer in Erik Lensherrs theory, that the world is on the brink of War, that mutants are the dominant life form…the same routine psychopathic beliefs" The voice sounded amused,
"At least she has a sense of humour about herself"
"Don't start Bobby" The recording continued,
"But you see, I've always been good at riddles and this, you have to admit, is one hell of a thing to solve-"
"Typical bad guy, loves to hear the sound of her own voice"
"Wolverine, please, we're trying to listen"
"-mutants as the dominant life form and wipe out the entire human race? The simple answer would be, destroy humans and establish a new order but then there are so many problems. Obviously, with the right cohorts, human weaponry is nothing to worry about but then…what about you? What about the X-men?" The figure shifted a little,
"What about us?"
"Bobby hush"
"You're a highly organised, efficient work force who get the job done. You're excellent mutants, you train regularly – not only physically but mentally. You have your leaders, a regimented scheme in fact"
"She's good at flattering, think she needs a date?"
"Bobby, last warning"
"-another riddle appears, how do I pick the X-men apart? How do I break them down?"
"Offer them areal beer?"
"Logan!"
"Your leader died, Charles Xavier, your founding Father. The Father of the X-men in deed and not only him but also the fabled Scott Summers and his wife, Jean Grey, the telepath and telekinetic of such exceptional power she had to be destroyed" The woman with red eyes hissed, "that must have hurt"
"I don't like her" Logan murmured softly, no one told him to shut up,
"So…your emotionally wounded but limping on, healing yourselves and each other in turn I expect. Like one big multi talented family. So I thought, who would be their next choice of leader? Ororo Monroe, Storm, Mr Summers second in command - of course. She would be the one who ran the school, intelligent and bitter as she is. An easy target, a school is merely a building and even humans have ways of destroying them so there's little left but dust and mortar. Who would be in the field? Who would be out there leading the missions to stop me? Why, the Wolverine. The strongest one of you, he who heals himself" Another pause, "it was easy, with a little help from my friends, to get inside his mind, wend our proverbial fingers into his brain and pull all the right levers and push the right buttons to get him to do exactly what we wanted" Logan growled,
"Why Hank though?" Isabelle asked, only catching half of what this creature was saying,
"Why Henry P. McCoy PhD?" The DVD echoed, "isn't it obvious? If I get rid of your leader – or attempt too – you will be in panic, no matter how good your second in command may be and then you are free for me to toy with as I see fit but then, what's the point of injuring anyone when you've got such an excellent doctor?" The figure shifted again, the red glow of the eyes becoming more prominent, "If I removed your saviour and your leader, what would be left to stop me?"
"The plan didn't work very well though did it?"
"Quiet Bobby or I'll throw you out"
"This was a warning, X-men, I didn't implement my plan to the fullest because you are still my brothers and sisters, despite your mis-education on Xaviers part, but if you get in my way I will not hesitate in ripping you apart piece by piece" The dark figure inclined it's head, "I am the Sphinx, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the new order" The screen went blank,
"O-kay" Logan murmured, "so it's our everyday psyco I-wanna-take-over-the-world trip?"
"She didn't say that" Ororo murmured in reply, taking a seat, "I think we should investigate this"
"And start vhere?" Kurt asked, "do ve haf any idea vhere zis came from?" He waved at the screen, meaning the DVD,
"I'll get Cyber to take a look into it, he can scan fingerprints" Bobby offered,
"Good idea. I'll take it down to the lab after and get Hank to-" Ororo bit her lip, glancing at Isabelle,
"He isn't well enough yet" She replied softly,
"I don't suppose you know anything about Science and…er…stuff, do you?" Rogue asked, smiling a little. Isabelle shook her head,
"Sorry"
"There's gotta be someone who can tell us where it came from" Logan snapped, lighting a cigar,
"Where did you find it?"
"One of the students handed it in, he said someone had left it on one of the benches outside"
"Vell zhen, zere is a good place to start"
