A/N - Hello. I'm back with a new chapter. This one really went off in a direction I didn't expect and I don't know if it works although I hope it does. The title of the chapter, "Where Walks the Juggernaut," is actually the title of X-Men #13. I thought I would keep it for this chapter which covers that issue.
Disclaimer: The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and belong to Marvel Comics. Harry Potter was created by and belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this and the only thing that's mine are the original parts of the story.
Quotes taken from X-Men #13
30) WHERE WALKS THE JUGGERNAUT
First a recap from Smilin' Stan Lee himself (he wrote the first 19 X-Men issues):
Last [time] we saw how Cain Marko, the sinister step brother of Professor X, stumbled onto the long-lost Temple of Cyttorak during the [Vietnam] war...Daring to touch the forbidden ruby, thereby transforming himself into a human juggernaut.
And now, obsessed with a burning desire to destroy his step brother, he has found Professor X at last...!
Now, on with the story:
Although they had all been dazed by their encounter with Juggernaut none of the X-Men had been knocked out although more than one of them thought it might have been better if they had. Lightning felt like there was a drum line marching through his head but he sat up and made himself look at the situation they were all now in. The others were doing the same.
"Whew!" said Iceman from where he was lying on the wreckage of the steel wall, "was he for real?"
"No mere hallucination could have hit us like that, my frigid friend" said Beast from nearby where he was sitting on the floor leaning against a wall. Lightning had to agree. Juggernaut packed a real wallop. Now he was stalking toward the professor who ordered everyone on the team not to interfere as he would face Juggernaut himself. Juggernaut declared that would be the last order he would give anyone.
"It took me all of these years" Juggernaut said, "to free myself of the tons of stone I had been buried under in [Vietnam] but the wait was worth it. Because I planned this triumphant moment all that time."
"Can we say obsessed?" Mage snarked from his place as he was getting to his feet.
"Don't rile him up further" Cyclops reprimanded him as they were standing up again. Now they all noticed something very odd. Energy seemed to be crackling around Juggernaut as if he was giving it off himself. Their foe confirmed this seconds later when he bragged that even when he was standing still the energy that surrounded him could push things away from him. This was demonstrated when the professor's chair rolled back from Juggernaut without him even touching it before it tipped over and spilled the professor onto the floor.
Juggernaut now seemed anxious to end things as he began approaching the professor who warned him that he still had a weapon to stop him. And what was that? His brain. The professor lashed out at Juggernaut with all of his power and at first it seemed to work as Juggernaut staggered back briefly. But then he recovered.
"The crimson bands of Cyttorak" Juggernaut explained, "which gave me my power also gave me my psionic helmet, capable of protecting me from any mental attack."
"That does it" yelled Cyclops from behind Juggernaut, "he's gone too far. X-Men...attack!"
"Petrificus Totalus!" yelled Mage casting the full body bind on Juggernaut. It only held for a second or two but that was all that was needed. Lightning and Marvel Girl combined their telekinesis and lifted Juggernaut up to the ceiling and held him there as best they could.
"This won't help you" said Juggernaut fighting back against the power of the two mutants, "I cannot be stopped."
"No kidding" said Lightning, "he's breaking our power already and it's both of us together."
While Lightning and Marvel Girl struggled to contain Juggernaut for just a little longer Cyclops turned his optic blasts on the floor, firing them straight down and carving out a pit that went down a long ways. On his signal the telekinetic teammates dropped Juggernaut into the pit.
"Excellent my X-Men" said Xavier, "that will give you a few minutes respite."
"I made the hole as deep as I could" said Cyclops, "it should hold him."
"You're whistlin' in the dark, Cyke" said Iceman, "you know he can force his way out of anything."
Cyclops conceded that Iceman was right but pointed out that for the moment they had gained some time and a second chance. Iceman shrugged, made some ice boulders, and dropped them in the pit after Juggernaut.
Angel got the professor back into his chair and the professor took charge. He told Marvel Girl to follow him to his lab as he activated the magic on his chair and began floating up the stairs to the second floor. He also told Beast and Iceman to fetch him the parts of something he called his new Mento-Helmet. Lightning and Mage tagged along as well.
"Professor" said Mage walking next to Xavier, "I could apparate you out of here or make a portkey to get us all to safety."
"That wouldn't solve anything" said Xavier, "he would still come after me no matter where I went. We have to stop him here and now."
"Yeah" said Lightning from behind them, "after what we've seen I'd bet that the combined teaching staffs of Ilvermorny and Hogwarts probably wouldn't be able to stop him."
"That's a terrifying thought" said Mage.
By now they were all in the professor's lab except for Cyclops and Angel who had stayed behind to keep watch over Juggernaut and try to stop him from going further. Iceman and Beast came up to the professor carrying pieces of a machine that the professor quickly assembled into a helmet of sorts, put on his head, and connected it to another machine on a table in front of him.
"There we go. That should do it" he said before going on explain to the others that the purpose of the machine was to intensify his power and make him stronger than usual although he conceded that it was still possible that it wouldn't be enough to stop Juggernaut.
The building suddenly shook for a few seconds before going still.
"What was that?" asked Iceman.
"If I had to hazard an educated guess?" said Beast, "I would theorize that our distinguished visitor has broken out of his confinement. I'm going to inspect the situation." With that he bounded out of the lab before returning a moment later.
"The Juggernaut is free again" said Beast looking into the lab, "Cyclops and the Angel can't impede his advance."
"We shouldn't have left them" said Lightning.
"Go back and help them" said Xavier, "you and Mage go. I'll send Beast and Iceman after you in a minute. Marvel Girl, I need you here. Be careful. You already know what Juggernaut is capable of."
Lightning and Mage left the lab together and headed back to the entrance hall. They arrived at the top of the stairs in time to see Cyclops blasting Juggernaut from the bottom of the stairs while Angel was trying to physically hold him back from behind. Suddenly Juggernaut, moving much faster than any of them expected, grabbed Angel and shoved him directly into the path of Cyclops' optic blasts where they hit him on his back right at shoulder level.
"There" said Juggernaut sounding very satisfied as he tossed Angel to the floor where he lay without moving, "this will rid me of one petty annoyance. And now I'll let the rest of you costumed weaklings keep him company."
Cyclops gave Juggernaut a defiant look.
"We've been threatened before, mister" said Cyclops, "and we're still here...while our threateners aren't! There's got to be some way to beat you, and we'll find it or die trying."
"You tell him Cyke!" said Mage from up at the top of the stairs.
"Is this really the time for that?" asked Lightning.
"You take your opportunities wherever you can get them pup" was the reply. Neither Cyclops or Juggernaut paid any attention to him though.
"That's very obliging of you Cyclops" Juggernaut was now saying, "that's exactly the fate I had in mind for you. Just stand where you are a minute longer."
CRACK
"You will not harm Master One-Eye!" yelled an angry house elf wielding a large frying pan.
BAM! Dobby swung his frying pan and bashed Juggernaut's right knee with it.
"What the?" Juggernaut said taking a step back in surprise. Seizing his opportunity Dobby followed up with another blow. It didn't seem to hurt Juggernaut but he was still surprised enough that he retreated a few steps under Dobby's onslaught.
"Dobby..." Lightning began to call before falling silent. He watched in amazement as his friend succeeded in forcing Juggernaut to retreat a ways up the hall.
"He's a scrapper" said Iceman who had just arrived next to Lightning and Mage along with Beast.
"I just hope it doesn't get him killed" said Lightning wondering how he could best help Dobby. The house elf had managed to drive Juggernaut about halfway way up the hall but his foe had managed to recover his balance and had stopped retreating.
"What in the name of creation are you?" asked Juggernaut as he stared at Dobby in amazement.
"Dobby be a house elf you bad magical" was the reply as Dobby brandished his frying pan.
"Oh really?" said Juggernaut, "you have spirit, I'll give you that. Now stand aside if you don't want to get hurt."
"Never!" declared Dobby, "Dobby is a good house elf. Dobby protects his masters."
"Then Dobby will die!" said Juggernaut as he stepped forward and attempted to grab Dobby who vanished with a loud CRACK only to reappear behind Juggernaut and whack him on his butt.
"Oh wow" said Iceman trying not to laugh, "why didn't we think of that?"
"You'll pay for that!" roared Juggernaut turning to try and catch Dobby but the house elf snapped his fingers and suddenly what seemed like every frying pan and cooking pot from the kitchen appeared in the hall and all of them began to batter Juggernaut from all directions. Juggernaut swung out and knocked a lot of them away. Dobby snapped his fingers a second time and this time a whole bunch of kitchen knives and forks also appeared around their enemy and began attacking him alongside the pots and pans.
"Remind me never to get Dobby mad at me" said Iceman with feeling as he stared at this unlikely sight. He knew he would normally have been laughing at what he was seeing if the situation hadn't been so serious.
"I had no idea he could fight like that" said Cyclops.
"House elves will do anything to protect their masters" said Mage.
"Let's help him" said Iceman, "are we X-Men or not?" He began creating ice spears and hurling them at Juggernaut while Cyclops began blasting him and Lightning threw lightning bolts. Mage raised his wand and cast a Reducto at Juggernaut. All of the attacks riled up Juggernaut even more as he swung his arms and kicked out at all of the various things that were attacking him.
Through sheer bad luck when Juggernaut kicked behind him at one of the implements that was attacking him he happened to catch Dobby right in the stomach. The force of the kick sent Dobby into the nearest wall which he impacted against heavily before sliding down to the floor where he lay without moving. All of the pots, pans, forks, and knives fell to the ground.
"DOBBY!" yelled all of the watchers on the stairs as their own attacks all stopped too. Before they could do anything else a white blur flashed past them.
"Hedwig! No!" called Lightning but the owl ignored him. She flew up to Juggernaut and began trying to peck at his eyes through his helmet.
"Get away from me you blasted bird!" said Juggernaut who reached up to grab Hedwig but before he could catch her Cyclops shot him in the chest with his optic blasts. Although they had been ineffective against Juggernaut earlier this time they worked. Professor X would theorize later, that Hedwig's attack, since it went directly for the eyes, distracted Juggernaut from the others in a way that forced him to take his attention away from them as Dobby's hadn't. When Cyclops blasted him he was off his guard and therefore vulnerable. Maybe that was true, maybe it wasn't. Whatever the case Juggernaut was blasted back up the hall and landed hard.
"He'll be up again in a moment" said Cyclops, "Lightning, Mage, get Dobby and Angel to safety. The rest of us will face Juggernaut."
"Right" said Mage. Hedwig flew over to Lightning and landed on his shoulder.
"Well done girl" said Lightning to Hedwig who looked pleased with herself, "get to safety now. You've done your part. I'd be devastated if anything happened to you." Hedwig gave Lightning a quick bark and flew back upstairs.
Cyclops, Beast, and Iceman strode up the hall to where Juggernaut was getting to his feet. Lightning followed them to where Dobby lay. He bent down, picked up the house elf, and headed back to the stairs. Mage was already levitating the unconscious Angel up the stairs.
"How is he?" Mage asked.
"He's alive" said Lightning as he climbed the stairs behind Mage.
"Let's get them to the infirmary" said Mage. The two of them brought Dobby and Angel to the infirmary and laid them on beds. Mage raised his wand and did a scan of both of them.
"They're both hurt but neither of them is in danger of dying" he said to Lightning.
"I didn't know you knew healing spells" said Lightning sounding relieved.
"All aurors learn basic healing during training" said Mage as he lowered his wand, "that's all we can do right now. Let's get back to the others."
"I'll be down in a minute" said Lightning as they left the infirmary, "I'm going to get my invisibility cloak."
"Good idea" said Mage, "see you in a minute – or maybe I won't. That's up to you." Lightning gave him a wan smile and they parted company. Mage headed back to the fight while Lightning went to his room where he grabbed his invisibility cloak and wrapped it around himself.
"Let's see how Juggernaut likes this" he said in a grim tone as he headed out of his room and back to the fight. He soon reached the top of the stairs and came upon a scene of frozen destruction below. The hall was littered with huge chunks of ice all over the place. Both Iceman and Cyclops were down, each partially covered with ice. Beast and Juggernaut were not present. Mage was levitating the ice off of the two downed X-Men.
"What happened?" asked Lightning pulling his cloak off of his head causing it look like it was floating in the air without a body. Mage, having seen both Harry do this before, and James do it before him, didn't react at all to what his Godson was doing.
"Iceman tried to hinder Juggernaut by encasing him in very thick ice" said Mage, "Juggernaut's power violently shattered the ice and it knocked out both Iceman and Cyclops."
"Will they be okay?"
"If nothing else happens to them, yes."
"Where's Beast?" asked Lightning.
"Last I saw, Beast was leading Juggernaut down the hall that leads to the Danger Room" said Mage.
"I'd better go after him" said Lightning, "what about them?" he indicated Cyclops and Iceman.
"I'll get them upstairs" said Mage, "and see if I can do anything to start healing them. And pup, be careful. I've already lost your parents. I don't want to lose you too." Lightning nodded before pulling his cloak back up over his head and vanishing completely. He picked his way down the stairs and past all of the ice. When he reached the front door he turned to the right down the hall that led to the Danger Room. The door was open and he could hear loud noises coming from inside it. He soon reached the door and stepped inside the room.
The place looked like an active war zone. Beast was at one of the control panels and it looked like he'd activated every obstacle and trap that he could including flame jets, missiles, spinning blades coming up from the floor, and so on, and so on. All of it aimed at Juggernaut and yet none of it was stopping him. What worried Lightning the most was the way Beast was sitting on the floor, as if he'd hurt his leg.
"I've got to help him somehow" said Lightning to himself, "maybe if I can hold Juggernaut still long enough for something to hurt him."
Lightning telekinetically grabbed Juggernaut and tried his hardest to keep the man in one place.
"Who's doing that?" roared Juggernaut.
"Lightning, where are you?" called Beast who had deduced what was happening.
"I'm around here somewhere" called Lightning, "I can't hold him Beast. Do something!"
Beast hit another control and a panel opened up in the wall unleashing an enormous barrel of steel that must have weighed tons. It rolled swiftly across the room straight at Juggernaut.
"If I can hold him just a few more seconds – " muttered Lightning. The steel barrel rolled up to Juggernaut but before it could hit him the energy from Juggernaut's body slowed it down and then sent it back right towards Beast. At the same time Juggernaut broke Lightning's hold.
"I don't know where you are" said Juggernaut to his unseen foe, "but hiding won't save you. I'll find you."
Lightning saw Beast get on his hands and position his feet against the wall for a desperate leap over the steel barrel. He timed it right but it seemed that he really had hurt his foot because he wasn't able to leap high enough. He hit the barrel hard and lapsed into unconsciousness.
In that moment Lightning realized that he now stood alone against Juggernaut. All of his teammates had been taken out of the fight except for Marvel Girl who was still with the professor, and Mage who was up in the infirmary. Neither of them could help him right now and Lightning knew that he was screwed. There was no way he could beat Juggernaut, not even with his mutant and magical powers combined. Somehow though he had to delay Juggernaut from reaching the professor before Xavier was ready to face him.
The words "Oh Crap!" ran through his head.
Lightning was distracted from his gloomy thoughts when he saw Juggernaut approaching the unconscious Beast.
"Here's another pest who won't bother me anymore" muttered Juggernaut.
"No!" yelled Lightning and pulled off his cloak revealing himself, "you won't kill Beast!" He lashed out with his telekinesis, lifted Juggernaut up into the air and slammed him back into the ground as hard as he could. Then he did it again.
"Even this won't stop me" called Juggernaut as he was slammed again and Lightning realized with a start that Juggernaut was nearer to him. It looked like Juggernaut was physically pulling himself along Lightning's power as if it was a solid thing to get to him. Lightning dropped Juggernaut and retreated back into the hall. Juggernaut got up and followed him.
'At least Beast is safe for now' thought Lightning, 'but what do I do next?' As Juggernaut followed Lightning up the hall the young mutant / wizard threw attack after attack at him. He hit Juggernaut with electricity, telekinesis, and even a few spells. None of it could stop the guy and before long Lightning was back in the entrance hall and backed up to in front of the stairs where he stopped. He couldn't go upstairs without leading Juggernaut much closer to the professor and he couldn't lead Juggernaut anywhere else on this floor without sooner or later ending up in a dead end in one of the rooms. If by chance he did make it to a back door leading outside than he wouldn't be able to stop Juggernaut from turning around and going back into the building and heading toward the professor. He would then be stuck running behind Juggernaut and he had no illusions that he could stop him from the rear. Here, then, was as good a place as any to make a stand. He quickly wrapped his invisibility cloak around himself again just as Juggernaut rounded the corner and came into the front hall himself.
"I know you're here" said Juggernaut, "even if you stay invisible I'll still find you. The energy that surrounds me can sense you."
"Great, just great" Lightning said hopelessly to himself when he heard that, "I guess today's as good a day on which to die as any other. Hopefully it won't be for nothing. If I survive this then dealing with Voldemort will be easy!"
He pulled off his cloak and stood at bay facing his foe.
"Nice try" said Juggernaut who looked and sounded quite smug, "too bad it was all for nothing. All of that effort and you still can't stop me from dealing with you, your friends, and my hated brother."
Lightning stood stock still as his mind went into overdrive. The situation he was in was all too familiar, if much more extreme than normal. He was flashing back to when Dudley and his friends used him for "Harry Hunting." Facing Juggernaut now was like facing a hundred Dudleys all at once. In all of the adventures he'd had both with the X-Men and at Hogwarts, except for the time when he'd been bitten by the basilisk, he'd never come so close to being killed as he was now.
Something in Lightning snapped and he saw red. He didn't physically attack his foe, however. Instead he opened his mouth and spewed out all of the anger that he'd bottled up over the bullies of his life, like his aunt and uncle, Dudley, Piers Polkiss and the other boys in that gang, Malfoy, Snape, even Voldemort – all of that anger came pouring out at Juggernaut who actually took a step back in surprise at the unexpected verbal onslaught. Whatever he'd been expecting Lightning to do, it wasn't this.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Lightning began yelling.
"You come here" yelled Lightning, "and you attack us out of the blue. None of us have ever done anything to you but you're dead set on killing us, and for what? Because we're the professor's students? What have you got against him anyway? No, don't answer that."
Lightning held up a hand as if to stop Juggernaut from saying anything. He was really building up steam and the words were pouring out of him in a torrent that he just couldn't stop. He was about to die so who cared if he ranted a bit first? Everyone was entitled to some last words, right?
"The professor told us all about how the two of you grew up together and how you were always bullying him. How you were jealous of his achievements and tried to cut him down all the time until now when you're actually trying to kill him!
"You're just a big bully, and I HATE bullies. I've spent my whole life having to deal with bullies and they're all JUST LIKE YOU!"
Lightning was in full flight now. It was like he had been wanting to say stuff like this for years whether to the Dursleys, Dudley's friends, Snape, Malfoy, Voldemort, it was coming out. A small part of him was surprised that Juggernaut wasn't attacking him. What he didn't realize was that as his anger grew he unconsciously tapped into his magic which began swirling around him more and more as a visible aura.
"I bet" Lightning kept going, "that you think you had a bad upbringing. Bullies always do, never mind the fact that you grew up a in wealthy house and had plenty of chances and advantages. Well boo effing hoo! My parents were killed by a terrorist when I was 15 months old. My mum was killed right in front of me and I even remember it. Because of that I grew up with my aunt, uncle, and cousin and they abused the crap out of me! I had to suffer physical, mental, and verbal abuse for almost ten years. They hated my guts and made sure that I knew it, but do you see me trying to hunt them down and kill them? No! They're not worth it. I'd rather forget about them and do something worthwhile with my life."
By now a bright aura was surrounding Lightning and his magic was lashing out, causing the furniture in the hall to break (if it wasn't already broken) and even causing cracks in the walls. Juggernaut never moved. He just stood where he was with his mouth hanging open in shock at the display he was seeing. He'd never seen anything like this and the surprise and fascination of it all held him in place.
"You know why I had to suffer abuse?" continued Lightning, "that's a stupid question. Of course you don't. Well I'll tell you. My aunt was jealous of my mum. They were sisters. Mum was younger than her and she was prettier, smarter, and more talented than my aunt. My aunt isn't stupid. She could have made something of herself if she'd really tried but she never did. She was just envious and jealous of my mum and it made her bitter and when I came into her care after my mum's death she took it all out on me. Doesn't that sound like you? I think it does. I mean, what have you done with your life except let yourself be driven by jealousy and hate. Get over it man, GET OVER IT!"
Lightning's magic lashed out and struck Juggernaut and actually threw him back several yards and he landed on his rear in a sitting position right next to the front door. This, more than anything else, shocked the man into immobility. How much power did this kid have to be able to do that to him? It shouldn't have been possible, but it happened.
Lightning marched up the hall toward Juggernaut, his magic still swirling around him.
"Suppose you do kill your brother?" asked Lightning, "what then? Have you even thought that far ahead? You've spent years planning for that and then suddenly it's over. What will you do after that? You can't go around bragging to people that you killed your brother. No one will understand. You'll just make things worse for yourself than they already are! Where will that lead you?
"Is it worth it to you? You could do so much. You're strong and powerful. Professor Xavier isn't better than you and he never was. I'm not putting him down either. He'd say the same thing. You're just different from each other. You're two individuals who want different things out of life. But do you even know what you want out of life anymore besides killing your brother?
"You could do so many things that are good and worthwhile. Why can't you do that? Why? Why?! WHY?!"
Lightning grabbed Juggernaut by the shoulders and tried to shake him as if he could force some sense into the man while screaming "WHY?!" into his face. If the situation hadn't been so serious it would have been a comedic sight considering how much bigger and heavier Juggernaut was than Lightning. After a few seconds of this Lightning let go, straightened up and grabbed his head with both hands and gave off a scream of frustration.
"AUGH!" he yelled and all of the front windows on the first floor of the central section of the school shattered from his magic.
Lightning finally fell silent from exhaustion. His magic died down and the aura around him faded away. He bent over with his hands on his knees and then dropped to the floor in a sitting position with his head bowed. He was emotionally spent and he was breathing hard. He felt almost completely out of it. If Juggernaut chose that moment to attack him he wouldn't be able to do anything to stop him.
But Juggernaut didn't attack him. Juggernaut was frozen with shock by Lightning's tirade and display. The force of it and the emotions behind it had hit him like, well, like a juggernaut. His whole life flashed past him and he was appalled to discover that the kid was right. From the very beginning he and Charles had been enemies and it was his own fault. The very first time they'd met Cain started picking on Charles and had never stopped. It only got worse over the years. His jealousy grew and grew as Charles began to achieve more and more while Cain simply didn't. He never really tried. He just internalized that Charles was better than him at everything and let his hatred of his stepbrother fester and get worse.
But now, looking back on it from his frozen state, he knew that it hadn't necessarily been fated to be that way. It could have been different. He'd always been big and strong even before he became Juggernaut. If he'd wanted to he could have become a skilled athlete at least. Instead he'd become a bully. Looking back on his life he realized that in every confrontation he'd had with his stepbrother – every single one – Charles was never the aggressor.
So what would he do now, Juggernaut wondered. Own his mistakes and try to change? Or ignore everything and continue trying to kill his brother? He needed to think more clearly. He reached up, pulled off his helmet, and took some deep breaths as he tried to arrange his thoughts.
Lightning's breathing was getting more steady as he calmed down. He had done nothing but yell and rant but he felt so tired. He wanted to collapse where he was and sleep for the next three days.
"Excuse me" he heard Juggernaut say in a softer voice than he had yet heard him use.
"Huh?" Lightning said and looked up in surprise. His foe had taken off his helmet and for the first time Lightning saw Cain Marko's full face. It wasn't a bad face. It was younger looking than Lightning would have expected considering Cain was older than Professor Xavier. Lightning wondered if the spells that turned him into Juggernaut helped to keep him more youthful or slowed down his aging. Whatever the case it wasn't a face that was made ugly by hatred, at least not right now.
"Was all of that true?" Cain asked him, "everything you told me about yourself?"
"Oh yeah" said Lightning, "it was true. Every bit of it."
"And despite how you were treated by your relatives you don't hate them?"
"Hate them?" said Lightning, "yeah, I do, I guess, but I don't want them dead. You know what they say about revenge: 'The best revenge is living well.' They're never going to love me no matter what I do but I don't want to be defined by my relationship with them. Why should they have that kind of power over me? I'd rather do my own thing and forget about them."
"So you became a hero?"
"I suppose" said Lightning in a wry manner, "although that would have likely happened anyway. A friend of mine at school says I have a 'saving people thing.' I guess I kind of do, but what's wrong with that?"
There was a silence as the two of them stared at each other.
"What's your name?" asked Cain finally.
"You can call me Lightning" was the reply, "sorry for not telling you my real name but I have to keep it secret you know."
"I understand" said Cain, "I'm Cain. Thank you Lightning. See you around." He got up and, carrying his helmet under his arm, began walking out the door,
"Wait" called Lightning, " where are you going?"
"To try to do something worthwhile" called back Cain who turned away, strode out of the mansion and walked off into the distance. Lightning watched him until he was gone.
"Oh boy" the youngest X-Man said to himself, "what on Earth was that?"
"Well done Lightning" said a voice behind him. Lightning turned around to see Professor Xavier, Marvel Girl, and Mage at the top of the stairs.
"How long have you three been there?" he asked.
"Just now" said Xavier, "but we could hear you around the bend in the hall and I was with you the whole time as well."
"You didn't come out until now?"
"No" said the professor, "it seems you managed to reach Cain in a way no one else ever has before. You shocked him out of his mind set but he's fragile at the moment. Seeing me again right now probably wouldn't be good for him. Someday when, hopefully, he's found a good place for himself in the world we might be able to meet again and finally have a good relationship. For now it's better for him to leave and try to find his own way."
"Was it okay that I let him go?" asked Lightning.
"You couldn't have stopped him even if you'd wanted to" said Xavier, "but yes, it was the right thing to do."
Lightning stood up. He was feeling very shaky but he dragged himself towards the stairs and began climbing them.
"Thank you professor" he said as he reached Xavier, Marvel Girl, and Mage "I think I'm going to go to sleep now unless you mind?"
"Go" said Xavier, "you've earned it."
"Your parents would be proud of you pup" said Mage placing a hand on his shoulder for a few seconds and giving it an affectionate squeeze.
Lightning nodded and walked heavily towards his room. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open and as soon as he was in his room he fell down on his bed and was asleep at once.
Harry slept until the next morning. When he finally woke up the first thing he noticed was that he was in his pajamas rather than his X-Man uniform. Obviously someone, most likely Sirius, had gotten him changed while he was out. Harry thought that Sirius probably used a switching spell as that would have been the simplest thing to do. Whatever the case he got out of bed and saw that his uniform had been neatly folded and put on top of his dresser.
His long sleep had fully refreshed him. He dressed in his gym clothes and went to do his usual morning workout. As he went down the front stairs he expected to still see a lot of damage from the fight the previous day but everything had been repaired. There was no evidence of any damage to the front hall at all. He pondered this while he worked out but didn't give it that much thought. He guessed that after he fell asleep Sirius must have gone around the house and repaired everything.
He finished his workout, went back to his room to shower, got dressed again and went back downstairs to have breakfast. He hadn't seen anyone else yet and he wondered about that. He got his answer when he entered the kitchen and got a surprise. Everyone was there, even Dobby and Hedwig, and they all looked fine. When they saw him they all began to clap.
"All hail the conquering hero!" said Hank.
"What are you going on about?" asked Harry blushing a little.
"The professor told us about what happened between you and Juggernaut" said Warren, "who knew that the one thing that could stop him would be words?"
"I didn't" said Harry, "the whole situation flashed me back to when Dudley and his gang used me for "Harry Hunting" and it all just came out in a rush. I thought I was about to die anyway so what did it matter what I said?"
"Apparently it mattered a lot pup" said Sirius, "I wonder what he'll be like now. Will he change for the better? Or will he fall back to being like he was before?"
"That remains to be seen" said Professor Xavier, "we can always hope for the best."
"It's too bad I can't use the same approach on Aunt Petunia" said Harry.
"You don't know that" said Scott.
"Actually, yeah I kind of do" said Harry, "after all of these years nothing I might say will change her mind."
"You're probably right" said Xavier, "I think a big reason why you got through to Cain is because he didn't know you. Sometimes strangers can get points across more easily than people you know. If I had trying saying to Cain what you did I doubt that he would have listened at all."
"Well" said Harry, "I'm glad everyone's all right. Sirius did you heal everyone's injuries?"
"Yes" said Sirius, "no one was hurt too badly. Mostly people were just knocked out. Hank sprained his foot but he got better on his own very quickly."
"It would seem that Hank has accelerated healing as part of his mutation" said Xavier.
"Lucky him" said Harry.
"It was indeed a fortunate circumstance" said Hank, "that my lower extremity was able to return to a fully normal state in such a speedy manner."
"What about the mansion?" asked Harry now, "It looks like everything was fixed overnight. Did you do that Sirius?"
"Me and Dobby together" said Sirius nodding at the house elf who gave a self-conscious grin, "between the two of us we were able to repair everything. There isn't a sign anywhere in the house that there was a battle here yesterday. We did the same outside too. The trench Scott dug was filled in again and I removed the spell trap we created."
"I'm glad" said Harry, "we don't want anyone falling victim to that."
There was a silence around the room for a moment before Harry spoke again.
"Professor" he said, "what were you planning to do before I confronted Juggernaut?"
"I was building up my power" said Xavier, "to get it to its maximum level. I had to release some of it out over the city while I was doing it. I actually made contact with the Human Torch when I did. If you hadn't been able to stop Juggernaut I would have asked Torch to come here to help us.
"The key would have been to remove Juggernaut's helmet. Beast managed to loosen his helmet before leading him into the Danger Room."
"He grabbed my foot in the process" said Hank, "and sprained it. Thank goodness my hands work just as well as my feet or it would have been good-bye to one cuddly Beast."
"With Torch here" continued Xavier, "he could have blinded Juggernaut which would have given Angel or you a chance to grab his helmet from him. Barring that, Mage could have summoned it. Once his helmet was off Cain would have been vulnerable to my power and I would have knocked him out. Because of your actions it didn't come to that. I think the outcome that we did have is better for all of us."
"You make it sound like I planned the whole thing" said Harry, "I didn't. It just happened."
"Sometimes the best plans are like that pup" said Sirius.
Harry shrugged and began eating his breakfast while thinking over everything that had happened on the previous day. He knew he'd remember it for a long time. Having to face not one, but two nasty foes on the same day was not something he wanted to experience again any time soon.
"You know" he said after a little while, "after facing Juggernaut Voldemort seems a lot less scary now."
"I know what you mean" said Sirius, "too bad we can't have Juggernaut face Voldemort. Can you imagine the look on Voldemort's face when none of his spells work? Even the Killing Curse probably wouldn't affect Juggernaut and that's Voldemort's favorite curse."
"Don't get overconfident" said Xavier, "Voldemort is still a powerful enemy."
"I know" said Harry, "but if I learned anything yesterday it's that no matter how bad one enemy might be there's always someone worse out there."
(To Be Continued)
AFTER WORD: - Okay, I admit it. A big reason I sent Dobby to work at the X-Mansion was because I had the idea of him bashing Juggernaut with a frying pan during the fight. We all know how fierce house elves can be when they want to be.
Beast was shown to have accelerated healing in X-Men #17 when he healed from a broken foot in under a day.
This chapter went wildly out of control. I know that the resolution of this fight is completely implausible and ridiculously unlikely to happen yet this is the way it wanted to be written so that's how it was written. When a story wants to go a certain way you'd best let it do so whether you like it or not!
My original plan for this was for Lightning and Mage to summon Juggernaut's helmet together and the professor would take him down after that. However the sentence "Lightning now stood alone against Juggernaut" popped into my head and things just went from there.
There is no way Lightning would have been able to beat Juggernaut in a physical fight. When he went into his rant he thought he was about to die and was unloading a whole bunch of stuff that had built up in his psyche over the years. After a tirade like that there were only two things that could have happened: 1) Juggernaut could be affected by it (as happened here) and maybe start to change, or 2) he could have just killed Lightning anyway before going on to kill everyone else. Of course going with option #2 would mean that the story would suddenly be (tragically) over so by default option #1 was the go to option.
This isn't the last time we'll see Juggernaut in this story. I have him slated to come back in Part 3.
So what did you all think of it? Do you agree with Harry's statement that after facing Juggernaut Voldemort seems a lot less scary?
If anyone seemed out of character here I'll close with a quote from playwright Edward Albee who used to say that "in real life people act out of character all the time. In plays they never do" after that he would conclude with some variation of the statement that this was why so many plays (and by extension fiction and movies) were dull and predictable.
As usual please take a moment to leave me some feedback. I really want to know what people thought of this chapter. Constructive comments are always welcome but no flames or trolls please. As always stay safe and well everyone