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Disciple- Here we are again. Things are going to be getting interesting and now the only way to go is up. Will there be twists and turns? Maybe... Cliffhangers? Well, Son of the Mourning is one of the authors so... More than likely. Be grateful we're now getting to the good stuff.
SOTM- cliffhanger is my middle name. I lied. It's plot twists. "But SOTM, you said this wasn't a sequel!" It's not. "What do you mean?" Well, let me break it down for you in Morse Code.
.-.. . .- ...- . .- .-. . ...- .. . .—
We are aware some of the clubs mentioned do not exist in Las Vegas. They are made up for legal purposes. *SOTM yells from somewhere in the back in her best Ice Cube impression* FUCK THE POLICE!
***EVERYONE LOOK AT THE NEW AESTHETIC COVER PHOTO***
Cable found himself wandering the strip and then felt compelled to go a club he saw called FlashTeca's. Upon entering he was taken aback to see the male members of the X-Men, including Nightcrawler and Colossus sitting in the VIP section. What furthered his surprise was that they were joined not only by Mystique and Victor Creed but also who appeared to be his old nemesis. He couldn't see their faces but recognized some of their features. A long blond ponytail, a mechanical arm and short black hair. They were all sitting around and enjoying themselves with conversations and drinks.
There was some type of techno music playing in the background. The D.J. had blue hair and a dark beard and was wearing sunglasses inside. Nightcrawler waved Cable over when he saw him. Cable took a couple of steps towards them but stopped when he saw Mina. She was sitting in the lap of the man with the mechanical arm and Domino was cuddled up to the guy with the ponytail. Despite being waved over, he couldn't shake the feeling that the best thing for him to do was not to join them but instead leave and not come back.
As he turned to leave the club, the D.J. began his introductions on the P.A. System. "Alright folks, time for our next dancers to come to the stage. They'll be giving the most erotic of lap dances to the gentlemen they're currently sitting on. Give it up for the mother, daughter pair. Mina Kila Mamittuk and Neena 'Don't Call Me Uma,' Thurman!"
Cable turned to walk away when they D.J. addressed him by name. "Hey, Cable! Over here."
Cable turned around and saw the man without his headphones, sunglasses and his beard were gone. It was the same blue-haired man from his dream days ago.
"You got the right idea, Nathan. Leaving is the best thing you can do for her. Follow what instincts you still have. Use what little sense you still got."
Cable woke up and hit his head on top of the van after he sat up. He grunted in frustration over it. "Get out of my head you son of a bitch!"
Colossus walked into Professor Xavier's office and closed the door behind himself after, once again, hitting his head on the top of the door frame. He remained standing until the professor motioned for him to sit.
"Piotr, how are you feeling today?" Charles asked.
Colossus sighed. "Still not understand why she break up with me. Wish could talk to her."
"I can tell by the way in which you're speaking that you are still distraught. Lucky for you, you might get that chance. If you accept this mission," Charles replied.
Colossus perked up. "What do you mean?"
"We figured out where they are going. This footage was captured by a security camera," Charles answered and pushed a button that lowered a white screen and dimmed the lights.
He pushed another button on his computer that turned on a projector. On the screen, the footage began to play. It was footage from the dashcam that Mina warned them about. They watched the officer pull them over and walk up to the window. They could hear the chatter on the radio and the questions that he was asking Domino. Next, Deadpool could be seen sneaking out of the other side of the van and crawling around behind the cop, quickly jumping up and knocking him out while screaming about not going back to jail. Not before they heard Domino tell the officer that they were headed to Las Vegas. The footage cut out as soon as Deadpool ripped it out of the police car dashboard.
Colossus waited for the video to end before speaking, looking at him with concern and confusion, "But Mina's birthday is in February."
Ignoring his comment, "That video footage was recorded in Jean, Nevada. A mere one to two hours outside of Las Vegas. So, we'll be sending you there to find Mina and bring her home. I don't care about Domino, Cable or Wade Wilson. Bring Mina back."
"Bring Mina back?" Colossus he repeated with concern.
"Bring her home Piotr, isn't that what you want?" Charles asked, leaning his elbow on the desk and putting his fingers to his temple.
"Well… yes, of course. But- but what if she doesn't want to come back home? What if she still-"
Charles cut him off, "She isn't safe, Piotr. Not with the X-Force. You know what they get into and you see that Cable is trying to corrupt her. Make her see the truth, the reality of things; that she's safer back home. Back home with you."
Colossus began nodding slowly, letting everything sink in, "I understand but the letter she left me-"
"Mina has always been afraid of commitment. That goes for her studies as well as her work. Her relationship with you is no different, and I'm afraid that it stems from insecurity." Charles sighed heavily, looking at a framed picture of a younger Mina standing next to him at the front of the mansion. "Perhaps it was me pushing her too hard to exceed."
"Every parent wants their child to be the best they can be, Professor."
"And Mina was at her best with you." Charles gave him a small smile.
Colossus rubbed the back of his neck and pulled the letter out, "I don't know about that. She said- wrote all these things that I did wrong. But I didn't know… if I did… then maybe I could have made her happy."
Charles scowled, "It's typical Mina, finding little things that make her the slightest bit uncomfortable and she blows them out of proportion. I'll admit that I may have hinted towards your proposal, but I couldn't help but be excited."
"Really?" Colossus perked up.
"What father wouldn't want to walk his daughter down the aisle to an upstanding man such as yourself?" Charles smiled.
"So… you are saying that Mina got ice feet?"
"The term is cold feet, but yes. Precisely. If you had the chance to talk to her, like you said, perhaps you two can come to a mutual and mature understanding of each other." Charles smiled with his chin in the palm of his hand again.
"You're right. I shall leave immediately. You have my word, Professor. I will bring Mina home."
Once Colossus left his office, Charles moved his chair around the desk and went to the panel on the wall. After scanning his retinal image and his handprint, the bookcase and wall slid aside, allowing him to pass. Hank was standing at the console in the center of the room. He was in the process of checking for any transmissions on the Universal C.B. Frequencies. Hoping they might pick up something from the recent target that had gotten away with the supply cargo or better yet, Mina. Suddenly an encrypted transmission came through that Hank deciphered as quickly as he could. They caught the end of it.
"We have located the targets. They are in Las Vegas, Nevada. One target has a mechanical left arm that has the capabilities to cause fatal injury. The other is a well-known mutant. Proceed with caution. Monitor only, do not attempt to engage. We have sent The Asset to detain and bring them in. Hail Hydra!"
He looked everywhere for her, crossing the street and looking at the hotel he knew they were staying at. They had parked at the edge of the strip and he figured she stayed on the same side of the road. He was about to cross the street again, hoping that she went back to the van or something. When he looked before crossing, he saw a limousine coming towards him, so he waited.
On top the of Limo was a woman in a wedding dress. A very ugly woman. It was Deadpool.
Lifting the front of his dress, he showed everyone on the street his downstairs mix up. "I'M OLD WADE! I GOT A MAN-GINA!"
After watching a bald guy wearing a shirt with a picture of Stan Lee on it throw up in the curb from the site, Cable was also about to be sick, but he needed to find Mina. "WADE! WHERE'S SAVIOR?!"
He bent over, looking at him through his legs, "Hey Cable, check out my Moon's over my Hammy!"
"DAMN IT, WADE! WHERE'S MINA?!" he yelled back as they passed by. Traffic on the strip was always bumper to bumper and slow. Cable thought about jumping in the limo to see if Mina was in there.
"She's living like a princess!" He laughed.
"YOU MEAN EXCA-"
"CHECK THE PALACE!"
Cable didn't have much else to go on, so he stayed on his side of the strip and quickly started walking towards the casino Deadpool told him. He was waiting for the cross walk to turn colors when he saw her in the crowd. His mechanical eye spotting her the second it made facial recognition.
"SAVIOR!" he called out to her.
"YES, INDEED SIR, JESUS SAVES!" a fanatic preacher shouted at him as he walked by.
Cable sneered at him, "God damn it."
"YOU HEAR THAT MY CHILDREN?! THIS MAN HAS SEEN THE LIGHT! HE KNOWS THE PATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS!"
"Get the fuck out of here with that shit." He shoved him hard in the shoulder and started jogging to catch up with Mina.
He saw her walk past the valet and into the main entrance of the casino. When he finally entered it was a lot louder than expected, so he called out for her, "Mina!"
"NINA!"
"PINTA!"
"THE SANTA MARIA!"
A bunch of drunk men started shouting with him, laughing at their poor joke and making Cable even angrier. He was walking down the steps when he saw her in the distance, looking at the artwork on the ceilings and the statues placed around the main casino floor.
Unfortunately for Cable, someone else saw Mina as well.
Ulysses Klaue was standing at the craps table with a crowd of people watching him roll the dice. Dressed sharply in his expensive, custom-tailored suit. His slacks were black with the faintest hint of pinstripe, the white sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows, his left arm obviously prosthetic. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone, and his pale blue tie was loosened around his neck, yet still tucked under his darker blue vest. There were three busty women standing off to the side that were trying to get his attention. His bodyguard, Frank was standing behind him with his eyes on alert for any threats.
Ulysses had a large stack of chips in front of him that just doubled in size. He looked up to the dealer and was going to say something smart ass but something over his shoulder caught his eye. A woman who wasn't interested in anything gambling wise, she was walking around and looking at the art of the casino. He didn't peg her as the typical tourist, she didn't have her cell out or a camera taking photos. She was wearing a simple black fitted t-shirt and a white skirt, she also put the grey beanie on that she had leant to Frank in their escape.
"Sir," the dealer called to him again, "Your bet, sir?"
He snapped out of it, "What?"
He took his eyes off her for a second and lost her, not hearing if he would like to bet all in. "Yeah, whatever." He answered nonchalantly and tried to look over the crowd for her.
The people around his table clapped and cheered, causing more people to come over and crowd him. He was getting frustrated and started to walk away.
"SIR!" the dealer called out angrily, "Your roll, please."
He pushed the dice towards him, and the women started cheering, one tried to press herself against him. He shrugged her off and grabbed the dice. He finally spotted Mina wandering towards the high-stake poker rooms, face lighting up in awe at the lights and slots she was passing.
Without looking, he threw the dice and walked away. The crowd around his table went insane. He had doubled his money, yet he wasn't focused on that. He was more interested in the woman with the beanie.
Ulysses started to walk away, leaving his $100k in chips at the table. Frank did a double-take over his shoulder, seeing his boss walk away from that much money. A few patrons tried to slide in towards his large chip stack.
Frank pushed them out of the way and pointed to the dealer, "Cash him out. Be quick about it."
Ulysses didn't make a straight beeline for her, like a predator stalking its prey, he watched from a distance and blended in. He stopped at random slot machines, pulling out a wad of cash from his pocket, slipping a $100 bill out of his money clip and putting it into a machine. He hit the max bet button and started walking away, following Mina as she walked.
Once again, he won it big. Hitting the slots progressive bonus and setting the machine off with lights and music. Frank had walked up to the machine right as Ulysses walked away, wanting to know what the hell his problem was for leaving him. Frank was left once again to deal with the crowd and cashing out the winnings.
Ulysses kept following Mina, getting closer and closer, winning at each slot machine he touched in the process and pissing off Frank even more.
"Get back here, damn it. I ain't your fucking purse!" Frank called out to him as he waited for the next ticket to be printed before pocketing it.
He ignored his bodyguard, eyes wandering from her head to her toes, wanting to introduce himself to the woman in the beanie with a great ass. Ulysses stopped in his tracks when she turned around suddenly to a man yelling.
"Savior!"
Mina spun around, looking for the source of the voice. Seeing Cable flag her down as he called out to her. She stopped walking and adjusted her purse as she waited for him to catch up. "Hey, how are you feeling-"
"How am I feeling?!" he said angrily, "How the fuck do you think I feel? I got my ass handed to me by the biggest fucking woman I've ever seen in my life, then I wake up in a hot ass van with no idea where the fuck you went!"
Mina put her hands up, taking a cautious step back, "Hey man, you need to calm the fuck down."
Cable took two steps forward, closing in on her, "Don't fuckin' tell me to calm down."
"Oh boo-fucking-hoo, you're not the only one who got ditched, Cable. Look around! Does it look like I have any fucking company? Dom and Wade bounced as soon as we checked into the hotel." She argued, matching his intensity.
"You can't just wander off like that-" he started to scold her.
Mina shoved her finger in his chest, "Don't tell me what the fuck I can and can't do!"
Cable swatted her finger away, "Stop playing these petty games, Savior. I'm not Colossus. You know what I want."
"No, I don't actually." She shot back, "Other than like every other man in my life, you want to put me under your thumb."
He shook his head, getting angrier by the second, "You don't know shit about me!"
Mina poke him hard in the chest again, "I know you're a fucking asshole-"
Cable grabbed her wrist and pulled her into him, with his metal hand, he roughly shoved it to the back of her head. He bent his head down and kissed her forcefully, breathing hard against each other's lips.
Mina didn't like it. Not like this. She didn't lean into the kiss, she was pissed. Her muffled screams could be heard as she struggled to pull away from him.
Ulysses watched everything unfold, unable to hear anything either of them were saying. At first, he was disheartened to see the woman he had been interested in involved with another man. That quickly changed to anger when he saw them argue and the way the other man treated her.
Frank finally caught up to him when "What the fuck is your problem?"
Looking up to see what he was staring at; he didn't realize that it was Mina because she was blocked by Cable's massive frame. "The fuck you lookin' at?" he asked Ulysses.
Before he could answer, Mina had finally managed to pull away from Cable. Quickly bringing her fist up, keeping it straight like Frank taught her, and decking Cable in the jaw. His head went up and to the right, surprised that she hit him, let alone that solid.
"DON'T YOU EVER PUT YOUR FUCKING HANDS ON ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!" she screamed at him.
Ulysses didn't wait to react, he already started charging forward to save the damsel in distress. Until Frank put a hand on his chest and blocked him, "Nuh-uh. Nope. Not our monkey, not our circus. You don't even know her."
"But I want to know her!" was the only rebuttal that Ulysses had.
Mina started storming off, Cable chasing after her again and calling for her, "Mina, wait! Just wait a fucking second and let's talk about this shit!"
Hearing Mina's name being called out caught Frank's attention. He hadn't been paying attention or caring who the dysfunctional couple fighting in the casino was. It happened all the time, they were in Vegas.
"Fuck off, Cable!" she yelled over her shoulder. "You didn't want to fucking talk a few minutes ago! Just leave me alone!"
That name caught Frank's attention even more. He remembered that the kid told him she was a mutant, but he didn't know there were more of them here, and he certainly didn't know that she was involved with the one who just tried to rob his boss.
Frank pointed at Ulysses without looking, "Stay here."
Cable stopped in his tracks, no longer following or looking at Mina. He saw that man again. The one from the back of the truck and across the street from the Mansion that night they left. He was at the Blackjack table wearing a black blazer over a red shirt with white lettering that said 'MARVEL'.
The man looked up from dealing cards to the people at his table, lowering his black aviator glasses to look at Cable and give him a wink.
Twisting his neck and tensing his shoulders, Frank popped his neck loudly and moved in on their position. "Hey kid, this jackass bothering you too?"
Mina stopped walking, turning at the sound of Frank's voice. She smiled cheerfully, brightening up upon seeing him, "Frank!"
Cable spun around, not realizing that Frank was coming up from behind, "Who the fuck-"
Frank already had a pistol out and pointed at Cable's face, "Well, well, well. Didn't learn your lesson the first time?"
"This doesn't concern you, Castle. Back off, she's mine." Cable growled through grit teeth. His hand slowly reaching for his own weapon.
"Nah, kids with me. She said she wanted to be left alone, and that's what you're gonna do." Frank threatened.
Cable looked over his shoulder at Mina, cautious of the pistol nearly pressed to his forehead, "Tell him you're with me, Savior. Remember where you come from."
Mina gave Cable a smirk, speaking to Frank, "I've never seen this man before in my life."
"HE'S GOT A GUN!" a woman screamed as she walked out of the bathrooms that they were standing next to.
Everyone in the casino panicked and started running. Security came out and started surrounding them. Mina took the opportunity and ducked into a crowd of people, ripping off the beaning as she fled.
"The fuck you doing here, Cable?" Frank demanded.
Cable glared at him, still very aware of the gun in his face, "None of your fucking business."
Frank pressed the barrel flush against his forehead, pushing forward to make his point, "Gotta disagree with you there. See, you just tried to rob us. Key word on "tried", and a few days later your ugly mug shows up again."
Breathing hard and anticipating his next move cautiously, Cable's hand slowly reached for his knife that was strapped to his thigh as he spoke, "Brought my lady to a nice romantic getaway. Mercs gotta take a vacation too. Ain't that right, Castle? Little family outing."
Frank clicked his tongue, ignoring the jab at his deceased family, "Yeah, I'd believe that if the kid didn't just throw you under the bus. What do you want with her?"
He didn't want to show Frank his cards. He needed to get Mina as far away from Frank as he could, because if he was here, that meant his boss wasn't far away. "Like I said, we're on vacation," he said through grit teeth.
Ulysses tried to go after Mina but lost her in the crowd of tourists. He picked up her beanie off the floor that she had tossed, the only thing he could find of the woman who caught his attention. Frank saw Ulysses wander off again and made the quick decision to hit Cable with the pistol. It was too populated of an area to take a shot at him, point blank or not. Cable saw it coming, his psychic powers anticipating the blow. What he didn't see coming was the KA-BAR knife from the left and stabbing him in the outer thigh, right above where the knee bent.
Frank quickly twisted the knife before pulling it out. Making sure to leave a messy wound that would be nearly impossible to stop the bleeding and stitch easily. Before following his boss, Frank gave Cable a warning, "The kid falls under my protection. Mine. You already learned the hard way of what happens when you fuck with shit that falls under my protection, even though you pulled a titanium wall in front of you."