Chapter Six: Raging Waters Part 3: Escape
A few feet outside of the palace, Charles, Moira, Jean, and Alex waited patiently in Viking gear as a long line of soldiers marched past them.
"We could be here for hours." Jean groaned.
"I hate the thought of Henry held prisoner by that madman, Nur." Moira sighed.
"Why's Nur mad at Henry, Charles?" Alex asked. As far as he knew, Hank hadn't done anything to Nur.
"Well, he's not that kind of mad, Alex." Charles said calmly.
"What kind of mad is he?" Alex asked.
"Well, he's like that man Jesus met in Garassa." Charles explained.
"Who was he?" Jean asked.
"Well you see," Charles began. "One day, Jesus and his disciples sailed across the Sea of Galilee to a place called Garassa where there lived a wild man. He slept in a cave, and the local villagers were terrified of him. Shortly after Jesus and the disciples arrived, the wild man appeared before him.
"'What do you want with me, Jesus?' The wild man asked. 'Son of the most high god!'
"'Come out of this man, evil spirit!' Jesus called out.
"'For god's sake, don't torment me!' The wild man called out.
"'What is your name?' Jesus asked.
"'I am Legion!' The wild man called out. 'We are as numerous as the Roman Army!'
"Legion begged Jesus not to send him away, asking, 'Send us among the pigs. Let us go into them!'
"As loving to his enemies as his friends, Jesus did as Legion asked and sent him into a group of nearby pigs as they oinked angrily and rushed away. When the villagers came to see what had happened, they came to see for themselves. They were astonished to see the wild man now fully clothed and in his right mind. They became frightened and begged Jesus to leave the area. As Jesus and the others were about to sail away, the man appeared and begged Jesus to let him go with them.
"However, Jesus said, 'Go home to your friends and family. Tell them what God has done for you.'
"Jesus sailed away, and the man did as he was asked.
"I like the Legion Story, Charles." Alex said with a happy smile. He liked how Jesus was even nice to the bad people. "Is that the end?"
"That's the end." Charles said with a smile.
"Yeah?" Jean asked. "Well this legion goes on forever."
"I don't know about that." Charles said with a smile as one of the soldiers tripped and stopped the line, allowing the gang to head off.
"Look, we can cross." Jean said in awe.
"Alright everybody." Charles said as he pushed a cart full of food they'd all made forward.
"We made it!" Alex called out excitedly. "We made it!"
"I think it's a little early for a celebration." Charles said plainly as he put on a Viking's helmet and a fake mustache. "Get your disguises on everybody. The tough part of our mission is just beginning."
Alex, along with everyone else, hoped this plan would work.
()()()()()
At the palace, Nur was sitting there with Mesmero looking over reports from his guards and senators when he heard something.
"Hail En Sabah Nur!" A man with brown hair, a mustache, and an odd Viking outfit said with a thick French accent. He was also joined by a woman and two young children in similar outfits. "I am Pierre, a famous baker from Gall, and this is my family. We have brought pastries for the Planetary Pharaoh."
"Pastries, you say?" Nur asked. He had always had what modern men would call "a sweet tooth."
"Oui." Pierre said. "In honor of… Uh… The anniversary twenty-first birthday of Nur's uncle's third cousin on his mother's side, twice removed. We have prepared a selection of our finest culinary treats."
"Third cousin on my mother's side…?" Nur wondered. He'd lived so long, he lost track of his family line, so some of his family tree was harder to recall.
"Oui." Pierre said. "Now if your majesty pleases, I will describe for him the pastries. These are our fruit filled pastries."
Nur smiled as he held up one and tasted it. The pastry was excellent.
()()()()()
Scott poked his head out of a hollow statue of a woman holding an urn of water. The statue was connected to the sewers.
"Kurt, the Professor's here." Scott said as Kurt poked out his head to see.
"Look at zat outfit!" Kurt laughed, and Scott had to admit Kurt was right in Charles' odd Viking get-up. Just then, the statue began wobbling.
"Hey, this thing's loose!" Scott called out in a whisper. That could be useful for later.
()()()()()
In his cell, Hank drew the sign of the fish on the ground before he heard a door creek open and quickly rubbed it away. The door opened as Remy stood there.
"What do you want?" Hank asked. "I guess you're here to torture me. Well go ahead! I'm not afraid of you!"
Hank noticed a jar in Remy's hand.
"What's that?" Hank asked. "Poison?"
"It's water." Remy said plainly. "If I wanted to kill ya, I wouldn't bother with poison,"
"I see your point." Hank said as he took the water and drank. Something about Remy was beginning to grow on Hank. Maybe because he was nicer than most of Nur's other guards.
()()()()()
"And these are our famous cream filled pastries." Pierre went on as Nur tried one and smiled.
"Mmm…" Nur said. "Delicious."
"And lastly, the crème de la crème." Pierre said as he held up a pastry. "I'd advise against eating this pastry. It is special. It is my world famous Secret Poison Torture Pastry. One bite and…"
Pierre made a slitting motion with his throat.
"How delightful." Nur said as he smirked even wider. "I must have a demonstration."
"It's a pity you don't have any of those loathsome Christians around." Pierre said with a sigh. "They make especially good Torture Pastry victims."
"You don't say?" Nur said as he thought of the Christian they'd just captured. "Guard, fetch me the Christian prisoner at once!"
The men did so.
()()()()()
In Hank's cell, Remy and Hank continued to talk.
"You know, ya don't have to die." Remy said helpfully. "I've seen En Sabah Nur pardon people like you before."
"Sure." Hank said with a scoff. He'd heard about those traitors. "If they deny Jesus."
"Ya don't have to deny a thing." Remy insisted sympathetically. "You just have to accept that En Sabah Nur is also a god."
"Then I guess I have to die." Hank said with conviction. He'd never abandon his believes just to save his own skin.
"Who is this Jesus that inspires such crazy loyalty in his followers?" Remy asked. "I would have liked to have met such a man."
"You still can." Hank encouraged Remy.
"That's impossible." Remy said. "He's dead. How can I-"
"Shh!" Hank said quickly as he heard two approaching soldiers.
"Pharaoh demands to see the prisoner at once." The guard said as he opened the door.
At that, Hank was dragged into the throne room again as Nur stood there.
"Welcome back Christian." Nur said plainly. "I didn't want to send you to the lions on an empty stomach, and my baker friend here has a pastry that's to die for."
Hank quickly observed Nur's smirk and knew something was up. The baker then walked up to Hank, and he quickly recognized him as Charles.
"Charles?" Hank asked in a whisper. "What are you doing here?"
"Don't worry." Charles whispered back. "Everything's under control. Just follow my lead." Charles's voice then shifted into a French accent. "And now Christian Wretch, eat this Poison Torture Pastry, so we can all watch you go into convulsions and collapse dead on the floor!
"No, I won't!" Hank said. The guards then held Hank's arms up as Charles shoved the pastry into his mouth.
"Everything's getting dark…" Hank gasped after swallowing the pastry. "I'm so cold! Good-bye, cruel world!"
Hank then let himself drop to the floor, coughing and sputtering. After his performance, Hank hardly dared to breathe.
"Did you see his tortured expression?!" Nur asked with dark glee. "Did you hear his agonized gasps? It was wonderful. I'll take six dozen of those pastries for the next Governor's ball."
"Of course, Pharaoh." Charles said. "And now for no extra charge, we will remove the body from your imperial sight."
"Thank you." Nur said. "It's quite refreshing for someone to take the rubbish out without being asked."
As Hank felt his body be put onto the wagon, he could smell the pastries, and the smoke tickled his nose, and Kell ended up sneezing.
"Gazuntite." Fred said as if nothing had happened.
"Thank you." Hank said since the guards had already blocked off the exit.
"I suspected a trick." Nur said as his smirk widened. "Arrest them. Poison Torture Pastries indeed? "Did you really think you could fool Pharaoh? Throw them to the lions at once!"
()()()()()
As the guards pursued the gang, who were zigzagging everywhere, Scott and Kurt remained where they were.
"We've gotta help them!" Scott said quickly.
"How?" Kurt asked.
"Help me topple this statue over." Scott said as they both shook around inside the hollow statue.
"Zis is crazy!" Kurt called out.
"Stop complaining and start shaking!" Scott countered.
()()()()()
As the guards cornered the group, Hank and Charles each took a shield and knocked the guards down as they tossed the shields at them, knocking enough guards out to clear a path.
Moira, Jean, and Alex assisted them by tossing the left over pastries at all of them. Unfortunately, they still ended up cornered in the end near a large marble statue of a woman holding a pot of water.
"Bravo." Nur said darkly as he floated through the crowd. "Bravos. Bravisimo. I can only hope you'll perform as well in the lion pits."
Just then, the statue began to tip over.
"Look out!" A soldier called as the statue collapsed onto the ground while everyone else fled the area.
"My statue!" Nur called out in alarm. "My beautiful statue."
"Professor!" Scott whispered from where the statue had fallen, and the gang turned to see Scott and Kurt inside a small square hole. "Over here!"
The smoke provided an excellent cover as the gang went in one person at a time with Hank going last when Remy approached Hank with the scroll. After a moment, Remy handed Hank the scroll.
"Here." Remy said. "Now hurry, before I change my mind."
Remy smiled. Maybe there was some hope for people like Remy after all.
"They're getting away!" Nur called out, obviously noticing their shadowy shapes in the smoke. "AFTER THEM!"
They made it to the river where a barrel waited for them just as several guards followed.
"Charles, catch!" Hank called out as he tossed the scroll to Charles before diving in himself.
"Alright, let's get out of here!" Charles called out.
They rushed down the aqueduct on their barrel as Hank held a chain up to stop one set of guards from following them on a barrel before catching up with the others.
When a second group of soldiers grabbed onto a cape Charles had worn for his disguise, Alex caused him to lose their grip on him by tossing his helmet at them, which also shocked them into smashing into the side of the aqueduct, ruining their chance to pursue.
As the last group of soldiers closed in on the gang, they were saved by pure luck. While they passed by the aqueduct inspector, the inspector's aid put in a new filter, completely missing the gang, and the guards were caught in the filter.
"I do say." The inspector said. "I should have thought you chaps would know better."
()()()()()
In the New York end of an aqueduct, two Christians, Bucky Barnes and his girlfriend Natasha Romanoff, nervously waited by the aqueduct.
"Henry was supposed to be here hours ago." Bucky pointed out with a groan. "We better go tell the others."
"But what are we going to tell them?" Natasha asked. "Those people risked their lives to be here tonight."
"I know that." Bucky said. "But what can we do? We don't have a story."
"I… I guess you're right." Natasha said with a sigh before she stopped. "Wait, look up there."
()()()()()
The gang passed by the rendezvous point.
"There they are!" Hank called out as they stopped the barrel. "Charles, get ready to hand off the scroll."
"No problem, I've got it right here." Charles said when he opened up his cape to find the pocket in it empty. "Uh… Uh-oh."
"Looking for this?" Moira asked with a smirk as she handed the scroll to Charles.
"What would I do without you?" Charles asked with a smile as he kissed Moira's cheek.
"Charles!" Hank groaned impatiently.
"Sorry." Charles said with a smirk as he tossed down the scroll as Bucky caught it.
"Thank you!" Bucky called out. "Thank you all!"
"Don't mention it!" Charles called out as he turned to the children. "Because of your faith and bravery, hundreds of Christians will hear a new story tonight."
"What story will they hear, Professor?" Alex asked.
"Well," Charles said. "It's the story of how Jesus and his disciples got caught in a terrible storm over the Sea of Galilee."
()()()()()
At the New York Story Meeting, the substitute Story-Teller, James Rhodes, unfurled the scroll and began reading.
"That evening, Jesus turned to his disciples and said, 'Come, let's cross over to the other side.'"
Oh, that one took awhile. Sorry guys.