Disclaimer: Marvel owns all X-Men related things, though I own this fic and the general concept for it.
Rating: Rated M for language and mature subject matter.
For ROMY AMV fans: If anyone is interested, go to YouTube and search for Rogue Gambit videos. Anything by "karebare89" was made by myself. I have made 5 videos for ROMY. Three are from Evolution, two are slideshows of images. Hope you guys check 'em out.
An extra comment this week:
Because my fic has pretty much been plateauing in reviews, I'm thinking that I'm going set a goal for 10 reviews per chapter before I put up another one, just so I know that people are actually reading this story and it not all for nothing. I do hope that you guys are enjoying this story, but I do need some positive reinforcement, otherwise, as I'm sure other writers have found, the story just ends up going on hiatus because of lack of interest.
Anyways, on with the story!
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The cold concrete him them hard as they were tossed onto the floor in the central system of the tunnels. Gambit and Colossus didn't try to fight their captor, and instead used it as a diversion to find out where the Marauders were hiding. What did surprise them was that it was in the middle of the sewers, right under the Morlock's noses.
The mutant Gambit had called Scalphunter was no bigger than Colossus and could have easily been taken down if need be. But better to be taken to the head of operations alive than bruised and bloody with no clue.
"T'ought you said you were takin' us to Sinister," Gambit said as he rose to his knees on the concrete, seeing only the empty expanses of the tunnels. The only sound that was made was the rushing water in the man-made river-bend and the only light was from a few flickering fluorescent lights that hung from rusted brittle chains that swung in a hidden breeze. Colossus rose to his knees next to Gambit, in his original form, not risking getting shot before he could raise the organic steel. He was just as confused as Gambit, and with Scalphunter still poised with his bazooka of a gun behind them. "What we doin' here?"
Scalphunter's only response was a simple, "You'll see."
And as if on cue, the entire environment of the tunnel system seemed as if it was just melting away. Cords and cables began to appear before their eyes, leading to tables filled with tubes and syringes and papers. Numerous types of weaponry, from firearms to spears to things you would only find in the medieval era, lined the wall directly beside them, and bloody shackles also appeared attached to the opposite wall across the river of sewer water. It was certainly looking like a madman's headquarters.
A whole control panel of screens, switches, dial, keyboards, speakers appeared, the screens all on various parts of the tunnels, including where the Morlocks mainly lived in the sewers and where their fellow X-Men were stationed.
And before long, the very people who set-up this whole operation soon became visible themselves. Gambit and Colossus could feel the stares boring into them long before the villains even became visible to them. It was sickening.
A very young-looking blonde in a very revealing uniform was the first to approach them; She looked sadistically happy to see them.
She sauntered towards the two and looked almost straight down at Gambit, she mocked, "I knew it wasn't the last we'd see you, Gambit, but as a member of the X-Men… Please, the good guy thing just doesn't suit you."
Gambit could only try to make light of the situation, in hopes that the X-Men were somehow attempting to track them to the location, "And looking like a putain has never suited you better, Regan."
Regan knelt down on one knee to meet Gambit, her face stern in an evil smile, "You talk like that again, and I'll ignore Sinister's orders to keep you and your precious X-Men alive."
Gambit didn't even flinch when he heard Scalphunter load the gun as a warning. But that didn't stop him from giving her a really nasty look in return. Colossus only looked between the two as they stared at each other heatedly, as if speaking, but only they could hear each other. The only thing he was wondering is how Gambit was connected to these people. How did he fit into what the Marauders had planned?
Lady Mastermind, as Colossus had recalled from the briefing at the Institute, stood back and walked away from them, saying, "Take a good look around boys. Not only is this the base of operations for the Marauders," she sat at the metallic throne across from them, soon joined by numerous of the other Marauders, and still smiling eerily, "But it'll soon be your graves as well."
"New orders, Regan," a new voice spoke, coming from one of the tunnels behind Lady Mastermind. Even she seemed to be startled by the voice. It was somewhat sultry, yet firm, one that commanded respect. And yet, Gambit and Colossus had both heard it before.
"Malice," she replied, nearly jumping out of the throne and towards the tunnel, "You really need to stop sneaking up on people. I know it's what you do, but really…"
"I try. But Sinister has a new priority in mind," the shaded figure known as 'Malice' unknowingly grinned eerily, if not more so than Lady Mastermind, and pointed towards Gambit and Colossus, "Lock those two up, and use the collars. Sinister wants all the X-Men in the tunnels and Marvel as well. He has plans for them."
Before either of them could get a decent look at Malice, Gambit and Colossus were knocked unconscious so suddenly from behind and dragged away into more of the hidden Morlock tunnels, once again shielded by Regan's illusions.
xxx
"We can't find anything here, Professor. It's like they just disappeared," Shadowcat replied over the headset as she and Nightcrawler thoroughly inspected the sewers, seeing nothing that remained of their teammates.
The Professor replied almost instantaneously, knowing time was of the essence, "Alright, Wolverine. You will move to Shadowcat and Nightcrawler's position. See if you can track them."
"Already on my way, Charles."
Nightcrawler teleported back to the end of the tunnel after he searched all throughout the area, finding nothing, "I don't understand vhere zey could have gone."
"I know," Shadowcat replied, looking a bit disheartened, "What if what happened to them happens to us while we're down here?"
In hopes of comforting her, Nightcrawler placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "Logan vill be here soon. He vill know vhat happened and ve vill get zem back. Ve alvays do."
Shadowcat met his gaze and soon past him, but rather than looking cheery or somewhat relieved, she looked stunned.
Nightcrawler noticed and turned around only to find a shadowed figure at the end of the tunnel and moving towards them at a hurdling speed, a strong wind sweeping all around him as he approached. Water, dirt, and scraps flew all around them in a whirlwind, some objects, like cans and sticks, hitting them hard and fast. Soon enough, they were both tossed off their feet and swung around as well. Shadowcat hit her head against one of the walls and soon after passed out. Nightcrawler had attempted to teleport to a safer location, but he ended up getting caught in the whirlwind so quickly after that he too was knocked against the wall and fell unconscious.
The figure that caused such a wave of wind stopped his decent, "Ah, this is too easy. Having to fight kids."
He smoothly slipped on a thin metal collar around both of their necks and adjusted them to fit tight enough to sit their throats. He locked the collars in place, then grabbed hold of both the young X-Men and headed back to headquarters.
xxx
Ms. Marvel was getting agitated that some of the X-Men had already started disappearing. She overheard every conversation over the headsets, though she stayed out of their contact until it was verified Mister Sinister and his men were at least in the tunnels. But to lose X-Men this fast… it wasn't right.
Not only were Gambit and Colossus MIA, but Storm disappeared soon after Wolverine left her, and he found that Shadowcat and Nightcrawler too had been captured. He was lucky enough to pick up two unfamiliar scents and began tracking them, both leading the same direction. Gambit and Colossus should have been more than enough to take on whatever had attacked them. What was going on?
She had to take some initiative if she was going to capture Sinister and keep the X-Men alive.
"Xavier, you're people are dropping like flies. My men and I are moving in."
"Ms. Marvel, you must wait until we have verification…"
"Charles, if we wait any longer, you won't have any X-Men after this mission. We're going now. Over and out."
xxx
Shackled to the very walls of a large concrete cell and surrounded by camera and un-manned weaponry, Gambit and Colossus, though still unconscious, were soon joined by their fellow X-Men, almost two-by-two. Storm was brought in soon after they were, being captured by Vertigo and Harpoon. She was disorientated, but conscious enough to realize she was in the presence of X-Men.
"Gambit… where…?" Storm's voice was weak and her head hurt from simply forming the words to speak. What had Vertigo done to her?
Shadowcat and Nightcrawler joined them as Colossus began to regain consciousness, looking around almost franticly. He pulled hard on his shackles, attempting to raise his organic steel skin. He found out rather quickly that his powers were not going to help in getting out this situation. That was when he noticed the collars that were around each of their necks; must be an inhibitor of sorts.
Colossus tried again to pull the shackles, grunting in pain as the cuffs dug into his skin, but it was in vain.
Shadowcat awoke soon after hearing Colossus' attempts, "Pete? What's going on? Where are we?"
Soon giving up his struggle for freedom, Colossus replied, "I am not sure. I think dis is the Marauders' prison for their captured."
"Ugh, I hope the others will be able to find us. We were so worried about you two. It was like you just disappeared. Then we were ambushed in the tunnels," Shadowcat stated, recalling the events before her own capture.
Colossus could only reply in concern for her, "Are you alright? Are you injured?"
"Except for being chained to a cold wall and being hit on the head… Nah, I think I'm okay."
"Da."
She attempted to phase through the chains, but realized, just as Colossus had, that her powers had been negated. It was then that Shadowcat noticed the number of unconscious mutants around her, "So, what happened with you and Gambit? Why didn't you send out an emergency signal?"
"We were ambushed as well. Any move we made would have been noticed. I could not even have my metal skin to protect me in time," he then looked back over at Gambit, giving him an almost questioning look as he began to rouse, "Though I am sure our comrade could answer your questions better, Katya. He seems to be on a friendly basis with our captors."
"Gambit? What's he talking about?" Shadowcat asked, catching Gambit totally off guard as his head was throbbing.
"Ugh… Wh-what's goin' on?" was all he could say.
They were all interrupted, however, when the iron door to the cell slid open and from the darkness came one of the Marauders, Scrambler they seemed to recall. A man of oriental descent approached the door, dragging behind him an unconscious and slowly bleeding Wolverine. His chest, face and arms were swelling over with blood and the slices from his claws in his hands were flowing freely; nothing was being healed.
"Ahhh!" Shadowcat screamed out as she saw the morbid torn mess of her mentor being dragged across the room like a rag doll. Nightcrawler and Storm were immediately startled awake and Gambit became painfully aware of the current situation.
Before any of they had the time to react from their shock, Scrambler had chained Wolverine to the wall, just as the others were, and silently left the cell.
"L-Logan?" Storm asked, hoping she might earn a response from the almost lifeless looking man, "Please… say something."
"Ugh…Storm…" a sigh came with his heavy voice, a slight praise, "Sinister… he has… he has them… trap."
"Who? Who's trapped?" Nightcrawler asked.
Wolverine did not reply because he fell back into unconsciousness. Though still breathing, it definitely made the rest of them wonder what he had meant.
Colossus became so unlike himself in that very instant, "Gambit! What is going on? What have they planned?"
Gambit was stunned, but otherwise, looked like he was raising his poker face again, "I don't know what Sinister planned. I don't know everything."
"Zen vhat do you know?" Nightcrawler questioned, almost passing judgement on him already. If he ever wanted a reason for Gambit to be persecuted, he knew it would lie in his dealing with the Marauders.
Gambit tried to loosen the shackles, but gave up quickly. He hung his head low and spoke. He knew these demons would come back to haunt him. And here he thought, so close to redemption, and it was all going to be laid to waste. They would never forgive him.
"I… used to work for Sinister."
The silence was almost defining had Shadowcat's weeps not kept them all in reality.
"You… what?" Storm replied, in utter shock.
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Muahahaha! Sorry to cut it off there, but it's been almost three months since my last update, and I feel SO bad, and I wanna work on my other fic as well.
Work has been cramping my style.
But yea: Read, review, comment, suggect. Ust don't flame… please?! Lol
Until Next Time…
