A/N: okay, so it's been think, remember, explain, this whole time. Now, let's have a bit of action. Oh, and its longer than all the other chapters. Thank-you "me" and "Blue's Baby" for reviewing.
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Chapter 11: Taken
There was a burst of air, causing the flaps to the small tent to fly open. As light poured into the temporary office, a rather angered being stood in the door way. Her landing was hard enough to cause the gust of wind. A man sitting at the desk quickly tucked away what he was working on and caught several papers that had begun to fly away. Jack did not have enough time to stand though, as an enraged Robin stormed over to him.
Pointing an accusing finger, "You told me he vas dead!" her voice was loud enough that it startled the elephants still being held in their carriers. "You lied to me! To everyone! Vhy?!" The girl was beginning to get more and more upset. Her voice ever growing in volume as she kept pointing towards the guilty. "Vhy," she finally demanded, Jack now standing up in front of her.
Placing his disturbingly large hand over her slender one, Jack brought it down. He noticed that it was shaking. Keeping his face and voice calm, the man simply said, "Because, I zought he vas dead as vell. Vhen he vas taken by zose men… zere vas nozing I could do for him." Robin pulled her hand from Jack's, her face still hard, but a bit of understanding had seeped into it. "I sent you to zat institute to see if he vas still alive, or if vhat I heard vas just rumors." Jack's empty eyes stared into the blonde's sapphire orbs. Making the teen uncomfortable.
"He is alive, he lives zere…" Jack nodded his head, seemingly concerned for Kurt's well being, when his thoughts said something entirely different. There was silence for a moment, before the girl asked, "Do ze ozers knov?" Jack turned from the girl, placing the few papers in his down on the desk. All his life he had been taught to lie and to lie right. Now he would use it again. He did not want Robin catching on to what he was planning, her being the only performer who really cared for Kurt. "Do ze ozers knov?" she asked again.
Looking back at Robin, "Nein. Ze knov nozing of Kurt's vhere abouts. Zey still zink he is dead." Robin's face when from angry to pitiful. She wanted to tell them, she wanted them to know. But Jack couldn't allow that. Everything would be ruined. Putting a hand on Robin's shoulder, he grabbed the girl's attention. But when she wouldn't look up at him, he slid his fingers under chin and brought her face up. "Let us keep zis our secret, mein vogel. Ve do not vant to get zeir hopes up. So, allov me to confirm it tonight." Jack said, tilting his head to one side.
Robin gave a quiet nod, still a bit shocked over the whole ordeal. "Gut, zen you vill have to run ze shov vhile I am gone." Nodding again, Robin showed that she understood. She always became the new ringleader when Jack wasn't there. Dressing up as him and having Catrina do her make up, she would stand in the middle of the tent and lip-sync to voice recordings. No one could tell the difference and it had to be her. Catrina was too much of a woman, Urs' muscles would be too conspicuous, and Von… well Von had twelve extra body parts (six legs, six eyes). "Alright zen," Jack said, allowing Robin to exit his tent.
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It wasn't hard to find their seats. By the time the group of mutants had arrived at the circus, the tent was already crowded with chattering people, excited about the unique show to come their way. Because of the crowd, the empty seats in the front row popped out to the mutants. They also knew it was where they were intended to sit, because there was a break in the benches where Xavier's wheel chair could be slid in.
Seeing this, Jean pointed it out to the others. Scot nodded and they weaved their way in between the many people still trying to find their seats. Once they arrived, they saw reserved signs tapped to the backs of the bleachers. Taking their spots, Xavier on the end where the gap was, Jean next to him, Scott next to Jean, then Hank ( dressed in a sweatshirt with a hat to cover his face); then Storm and Kitty, watching several of the younger mutants, were up higher in the stands, using the tickets Scott had bought.
All of a sudden, the chatter stopped as the lights in the tent went out. There was only a second of fear, as three spotlights hit the center of the tent. For a moment, it stayed like that. The impending darkness pressing in on the light, but the barrier never breaking. Then, as if to defy the light, a dark figure stepped out of the shadows.
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"Ah!" Kurt stumbled, but caught his balance, an orange splotch across his back. "Every time," the teen mumbled as he sent an apologetic look towards the Wolverine he had pushed onto the ground. Kurt walked over to him as the desert scene disappeared from around them to reveal a metal room, and Logan rose to his feet, shaking his head at the blue demon. "You know elf, a bullet isn't going to stop me anytime soon, but it will slow you up a bit." Logan said, looking at the now shy teen standing next to him. "C'mon, let's see how Rogue is doin with watching Jubes and Popsicle."
Kurt nodded and put a hand on Wolverine's arm before BAMFing out of the Danger Room and into the kitchen.
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"Ah swear, when I get my hands on ya two!" A smiling Iceman rode out of the kitchen door on a wave of ice, a hysterical Jubilee sitting in front of him. There was a reason why the two had to stay behind, behavioral problems. Unfortunately, for Rogue, she wasn't to fond of clowns. And all those people being there, it was too risky for her. Besides, a quiet evening at the manor didn't sound too bad until she began cooking dinner. "Get back here!" The Mississippi girl shouted, fuming as she stepped out of the kitchen with spaghetti and meatballs strewn over her head and shoulders, which were hunched up in anger, and her fists were visibly shaking.
That's when Kurt and Logan appeared next to her, both recoiling when the angry girl turned towards them. "You don't look so good sis," Kurt stated cautiously. This earned him a frustrated cry from the girl as she stormed past them, gently tapping Kurt with an ungloved hand in the process, then teleporting up into her to change outfits. "Vhoa, glad I vasn't here vhen vhatever happened vent dovn."
"Yeah, we might've been part of those meatballs," Logan stated before he turned to follow the icy path that their culprits left behind. More curious about what happened than giving punishment, although he knew that they would be stuck with scrubbing the toilets every night for the next week. Being several bathrooms in the manor.
Kurt watched with his golden eyes as Logan disappeared. Then he thought he heard something, or someone outside. There was the slight rustling of bushes then steps. His pointed ears picking up the slight noises that most anyone else would have missed. Cautiously stepping towards the door, Kurt was surprised when the door bell rang…
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The figure wore a dress coat, only waist length, and a white shirt underneath and straight black pants. A dark top hat with a black, silky ribbon tied around it shadowed the pale face below it. White gloves curled around a gold tipped cane, which was held straight in front of the person. A few seconds of silence gave away to a calm, steely voice. "You are about to experience a sensation like no ozer; a mesmerizing act zat vill leave you hungry for more. Prepare yourself to be amazed, to be in awe, to question everyzing… prepare yourselves for ze return. Of. Ze. Munich Circus!" At this, the figure lifted its head and tossed its top hat. The lights suddenly all came back on to reveal a spectacular show of tight walkers, elephants, clowns, trapeze performers, and more.
All the commotion and the sudden awement of the audience allowed the pale ringleader to retreat back stage. However, they did not do this before Jean Grey and Charles Xavier got a close look at the person. Both of them realizing something that the eyes of the people couldn't.
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"That was Robin, from earlier today," Jean leaned in close to the professor, noticing that the words were lip synced and the man known as Jack, looked a little too much like the German teen that had visited. "Yes, I felt something was wrong," Xavier said. He then looked up at Jean, as if something had just dawned on him. The girl saw this look and understood right away what he was thinking. "If that was indeed Robin, then where has our mysterious ringleader gone to?"
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Stepping over the melting ice on the floor, Kurt reached for the golden knob on the front door. Cautious at first, Kurt decided he should just open it and that he was being paranoid. Turning the knob and swinging open the door, the blue teen froze as a cruel smile made it's way to his vision and a gun was pointed at his head. "Vell hallo Nightcrawler!"
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"Scott, Hank, we must hurry back to the institute, I'm afraid Kurt and the others may be in danger." Xavier said, wheeling himself out of his spot. Jean stood and quickly sent a telepathic message to Storm, who in return told Kitty. When the girl went to stand up, the older woman told her to stay here and watch the younger mutants. They should be able to enjoy themselves for the night after all the frenzy of the late morning. Kitty reluctantly agreed to stay, her stomach twisting and her heart being tugged at.
When Storm got to the floor of the stands, the group of X-men moved out of the tent and towards the car, hoping that their fears were nothing more than paranoia, and if they weren't… then they prayed that they wouldn't be too late.
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There was a BAMF and Kurt disappeared just as the gun fired off. Cursing, the man stepped into the manor, only to have a sudden spike of pain shoot through his back. Kurt had teleported behind Jack, kicking him in the lower back. However, the man ignored the pain and dropped the black pistol, pulling out a white gun, which held darts in it. Just as Kurt reappeared in front of the him, Jack shot off one of the darts. Again, the blue mutant was too quick as the dark embedded itself into the railing of the stairs.
Grinding his teeth together, the man moved to the center of the main lobby. Looking around him, Jack waited for his prey to appear again. Instead, a burly looking man appeared from the door way where the ice lead. Behind him were two young teens, looking rather surprised.
Seeing the gun in the man's hand, Logan roughly told Jubilee and Bobby to stand back as he rushed towards the man standing in the middle of the room, claws drawn. Snarling, Logan leapt into the air, ready to pin the man on the ground. However, Jack simply smirked and fired off the white weapon. A green dart stuck out of Logan's shoulder, causing some pain which messed up the man's aim as he landed next to Jack instead of on him. Pulling out the dart, Logan threw it to the side. Then he noticed he felt different.
Drawing in his claws slowly, the man noticed that the puncture wounds they caused in between his knuckles, wasn't healing as fast. Little drops of blood escaped before the wounds closed. Realizing what the dart had done, Logan became rather concerned. He no longer could protect the children without worrying about himself. This would greatly reduce his ferocity in the attack.
Growling again, Logan allowed his claws to shoot again, the pain no longer dull from use. When he readied himself, he noticed that the metal weapons already had spots of blood on them before he began fighting again. "You weakened my regeneration ability," Logan growled, staring at the man.
Smirking Jack, picked up his black pistol again. "Vell yes, but only veakened. I could not figure out hov to take avay your povers completely." Jack aimed for Logan's head, "Vant to see hov potent the poison vas, zat is nov in your blood?" There was a loud bang, as the gun was fired off. Wolverine winced, ready for the pain from the searing bullet. Instead, there was a sudden wave of coldness and the sound of cracking ice.
Both men stared, astonished at the wall of ice that stood in front of Logan, the bullet stopped just inches away from Logan's head. Sighing, the man nodded a thanks over to Bobby, who stood tensely in the door way. The boy nodded back, taking in a deep breath. "That was close!" Jubilee exclaimed from behind her friend. However, Jack was not as amused as the two teens.
He quickly turned to them, intent on killing them both. Firing off the gun twice, he was once again stopped by Iceman. Growing angry, Jack tossed away the pistol once again. When the mutants saw this, they rushed forward, no longer afraid of the man. Jubilee was the first to attack, her fireworks heading straight for the man. She was greatly taken off guard when the man held up his hand and sent a barrage of the sparks back at her.
Jubilee fell back into Bobby, who caught the girl with one arm and sent off a beam of ice towards the intruder. The man simply lifted his palm towards the boy, sending the wave of ice back at him, encasing both Bobby and Jubilee. Logan saw an opening as the man was looking towards the two downed mutants. Taking one hand, Wolverine sent four of his claws into the man's lower back, while the other four found their way in between the shoulder blades.
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"Rogue!" the southern bell jumped and held her shirt tight to her chest, white straps showing on her shoulders. Blushing, Kurt quickly turned around as his sister quickly replaced her shirt and began to scold the teen. However, she was stopped when Kurt rose to his full height and quickly blurted out, "Jack's invaded ze manor, ve need to drive him off. Logan probably heard ze shot fired at me-"
"Are ya hurt?" Rogue asked quickly. Kurt shook his head vividly and continued explaining. "Ve need to hurry and get everyone out of here. Jack's got more zan bullets vith him." Confused, Rogue was about to ask what her brother meant when they suddenly heard two gun shots. Not waiting for Rogue to put her gloves back on, Kurt grabbed her arm where the shirt covered, and teleported them out of there.
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"Ah!" the man cried, grimacing as the pain shot through him. It was the clearest pain he had felt in a long time. It was pure pain, no powers covering it up. Wolverine gripped the side of his head, his ears still ringing from the blow. His sight was slowly coming back to him, causing the bright white to fade into the image of the manor. Growling, Logan looked up into the black eyes of Jack, suddenly fearing the worst was about to happen.
An amused look was held in the man's crazed eyes. His smile spread further than should be possible, as his pale skin seemed to grow even paler. Breathing heavily, the man let out a shuddery breath. His body relaxing at seeing Logan so badly hurt by the hit to the head. Cracking his neck, Jack showed that he was jolted by the pain he had experienced, his back healing up quickly thanks to borrowing some of his foe's power.
Stepping towards Logan, whom was leaning against the wall of ice that had saved him just a few moments ago, Jack reloaded the dark gun. "You see, ze problem vith you is zat dumm pover to heal fast. Because of zat, I can't expect to defeat you vith only one dosage of my poison. Instead, you need two shots… but ze time between the two shots hasn't been long enough yet, so it might kill you." Jack finished off, his voice had taken on a dangerous tone, one that didn't really care if another died at his hand.
Logan tried to move, but his body still hurt from the blow to the head and the kick he had received after that to the chest. Gasping for breath, the man realized just how deadly Jack could be. He felt as if he had fallen from a plane once again. Wincing, Logan sat up as straight as he could. He had to try something. If he were to die right there, he wouldn't have cared much, if it hadn't been for the others in the manor. If Logan couldn't defeat this mad man, then it was likely that they wouldn't have the power to either.
Smiling once again, Jack took aim for right between Logan's eyes. Ready to pull the trigger, Jack's eyes suddenly went wide with surprise as a spaded tail came out of nowhere and took hold of the gun. As the gun was tugged upward, Jack followed it to see that an angered Kurt Wagner was gripping to the ice wall. Smirking, Jack pulled hard on the gun, causing the blue demon to be thrown towards the man.
Regaining himself before the two collided, Kurt let go of the gun and teleported. Appearing above the man, Kurt landed on Jack's shoulders, his tail whipping around the ringleader's neck. Grabbing at the boy's tail, Jack stumbled backwards and felt a sudden pressure on his jaw as Kurt got ready to snap it, something the man himself had taught the boy to do. Becoming enraged, Jack pointed the dart gun up to Nightcrawler just in the nick of time.
Kurt leapt back from the man as the dark entered into his chest. Landing on his feet, Kurt nearly fell over as the liquid spread quickly throughout his body. Clutching the soar spot, where the dart had hit, Kurt glared at jack. Showing his fangs, the blue boy charged, knowing that teleporting would be useless.
As Nightcrawler leapt at Jack, the man waited until Kurt was only a few inches, then swung his hand with the gun. Kurt was sent flying, hitting the railing on the stairs and fell to the floor, unmoving. Jack hooked his dart gun back into its holster as he walked over to the injured teen. Crouching, the man looked at the passed out face of the one he had come for. It was still tense, as if the fight wasn't over. And it wasn't.
Jack only saw two golden eyes as pain came to his side and Kurt flipped up on his feet, swaying a bit from the hit to the head. "Little bastard," Jack coughed as he stood to his feet, breathing heavily. The fight was taking a lot out of him. Wiping away some blood that had dribbled to the side of his mouth. Then he noticed Kurt's eyes dart to the side quickly, looking over, he saw Wolverine was healed enough to at least stand up. Rolling his eyes, the man soon realized that he would have to wrap this up before Logan was completely able to fight.
"Let's see if I can use zis," Jack said, before disappearing in a wisp of smoke, and popping up behind Kurt. Hitting the mutant, hard, in the back of the head, Jack continued to teleport as the teen collapsed. Logan couldn't react in time as another dark was shot into his back. Immediately, it had the desired effect, causing Logan to collapse on the floor.
Teleporting back over to his prey, the man reached into his pocket, thinking why he hadn't used Kurt's power before. Pulling out a thin bracelet, the man took hold of Kurt's spaded tail and slid the bracelet over his tail. Immediately, it tightened around the implement, as the red dot lit up. Letting out a breath, the man reached down and took hold of the back of Kurt's uniform. Standing up straight, Jack dragged Kurt's body away from the fight scene, and out the front door.
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A/N: Now, you can't leave without a review, not for this chapter! C'mon people, let me hear your opinions, I gotta know!