The Children's Crusade (Part Three)
By TheLostMaximoff
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.
"He's not answering his cell phone." Pixie nervously bit her lip as she put her phone to her ear once more and heard the sound of the automated voice system telling her to leave a message after the tone.
"Maybe he has it turned off," suggested Rockslide as he sat on the floor and flicked through the TV channels, "Man you guys have a lot of channels."
"Do you always think about TV so much?" asked Anole.
"You two worry way too much," countered Rockslide, "Julian said he was going to call before they left to come back here. That means he'll call when they're ready to leave."
"Or it means he's in trouble," corrected Pixie, "I just got the message that there's no service."
"We have to assume that's bad," stated Anole, "We need a quick way to get to Los Angeles so we can back them up. Any suggestions?" Anole and Rockslide stared at each other for two seconds before they both suddenly looked at Pixie. Megan let out a small squeak and felt herself shrink under their combined gazes. She knew what they were about to suggest and she didn't like it.
"Uhm, well we could . . .," stammered Pixie hopelessly as she tried to come up with some alternative.
"You could teleport us there," finished Anole.
"Guys, remember the last time I tried that," reminded Pixie, "It was a super-huge mess and we ended up all scattered around everywhere. It only worked in Limbo 'cause it was Limbo and that place was, like, the black magic capital of the universe or something."
"It's the fastest way to get there," said Anole.
"I could put you two on my shoulders and then jump across, like, three states Hulk-style," added Rockslide.
"Yes!" agreed Pixie frantically, "We should totally do that. That is such a way better idea than . . ."
"Beam us up, Scotty," finished Anole, "Our friends are in trouble and we don't have the time to discuss it further."
"Alright," mumbled Pixie, "Just don't blame me if something screws up. I tried to warn you."
XXXXX
Hellion mumbled incoherently as he awoke to find himself in a limousine. He glanced over to the window in an attempt to figure out where the car was going but he saw that the glass was too dark to make out anything.
"I thought you would be used to this," said a somewhat familiar voice. Hellion saw a man that he didn't exactly expect to see again sitting across from him in the car.
"Kingmaker," muttered Hellion, "I thought part of our deal was that you would leave us alone after I did you a few favors."
"That was never part of our deal, Mr. Keller," reminded the Kingmaker, "Our deal was a simple exchange. You ran a few errands for me and, in return, I gave you enough money to help you restart your little club. I never agreed to leave you alone."
"What the hell is this about and where are the girls?" asked Hellion.
"I have a client who wants a word with you," stated Kingmaker, "He doesn't like what you're doing and he asked me to make sure you don't succeed."
"Like you could ever stop me," said Hellion as he attempted to use his telekinesis on the car. Unfortunately, the Kingmaker always came prepared and he had already taken precautions against such an attack.
"You are quite predictable, Mr. Keller," lamented Kingmaker as he gestured to the manacles that were currently keeping Hellion's hands locked together, "You'll find those cuffs keep you quite powerless. You know I never come ill-prepared for a job."
"Where are the girls?" asked Hellion again.
"Behind us," assured Kingmaker as he gestured to the second limo following theirs, "Miss Ashida is keeping an eye on them and I've got a few operatives keeping an eye on her. She was really quite easy to sell on the idea of betraying you. All it took was the proper motivation."
"What did you tell her?" asked Hellion.
"The same thing I tell everyone," retorted the Kingmaker with a smirk, "I make dreams come true, Julian. All you have to do is be willing to play the game. Your parents were quite willing, you were quite willing, and now she is quite willing. You X-Men really aren't as high and mighty as you paint yourselves as, Julian. Everyone has something that they want. All I do is provide the means."
XXXXX
"What the hell are you doing?" Surge rolled her eyes as she looked at Dust and Mercury. The Kingmaker had only brought one set of power-nullifying cuffs so they had to improvise. Since Surge's powers were very effective at keeping Mercury and Dust in check, Kingmaker decided to take two cars. Surge knew he had people watching her. He hadn't told her where they were going, only the driver knew for sure. Nori didn't intend to mess things up just yet. She was intent on playing the game and seeing where it would lead her.
"I made a deal," stated Surge, "Kingmaker has a client who wants you guys to stop what you're doing. I help him and I get everything that I want. He's already helped me with my control problems. You wouldn't believe what a relief it is to not feel this constant buzzing, tingling feeling all the freakin' time." Mercury looked Surge up and down and finally saw what she was talking about. Nori was wearing a pair of metal bands around her wrists.
"Nori, listen," explained Mercury, "You don't know this guy like we do. Making a deal with him is like dealing with the Devil. Nothing good will come out of it."
"So I should trust the X-Men to take care of me?" asked Surge contemptuously, "I mean that's worked out so well for me. Come on, Cess, if Forge was such a super-genius inventor then why did I have to wear those huge, clunky gauntlets instead of these things? If Cyclops and Miss Frost were such great leaders then why did they just give up? The adults never cared about us, Cess. They never really wanted to help us or teach us. All they wanted to do was turn us into soldiers and then send us off to die for some stupid cause."
"Your anger is greatly misplaced, Noriko," stated Dust weakly. Surge's lightning attack had taken a lot out of her and she was still recovering from it.
"Don't start with it again, Sooraya," warned Surge dangerously, "You lost the right to criticize me when you and Megan decided to abandon me."
"I made a mistake," admitted Dust, "It does not have to remain this way, Nori."
"I have to keep up my end of the deal," reminded Surge, "If the Kingmaker wanted to kill you guys then he would've done it already. Apparently this client of his wants to do it himself."
"So we should believe you that Julian's okay?" asked Mercury skeptically.
"Yeah, you should," replied Surge, "You shouldn't put so much faith in him, Cess. From what the Kingmaker told me, he's done some pretty terrible things in order to get the money he needs to keep your team together."
"What are you talking about?" asked Mercury.
"Makes sense that he'd lie to you," said Surge with a grin, "We seem to have some time to kill. I'll tell you what I heard and then you can decide if it's worth staying on the team."
XXXXX
"This is the place Nori worked at," said Pixie as the three New X-Men stood outside Rockwell's, "I mean there's totally no guarantee that she even still lives in this part of the city."
"After that teleportation, I think I could use a drink," admitted Rockslide as he steadied himself again, "Man, I think this is the only time I wish I could still throw up."
"Suck it up," said Anole, "She got us here in one piece and that's the important thing."
"Tell that to my stomach," replied Rockslide, "I think I left it back in whatever dimension we went through." Anole ignored Rockslide's grumblings and attempted to open the door to the bar. He wasn't surprised that it was locked. He craned his neck and looked through the glass on the front door. He could see the scorch marks on the walls. Something had happened in there.
"Anyone know how to pick a lock?" asked Anole.
"If you wanted the door open then you should've just said so," said Rockslide as he pulled his arm back and readied to strike the front door of the bar. Anole looked at him and shook his head, indicating that breaking and entering didn't possess the level of tact and secrecy that was required for this operation.
"We can't risk the attention," stated Anole.
"I never get to do anything fun," grumbled Rockslide as he lowered his fist. Pixie stifled her giggles as Rockslide crossed his arms over his chest and turned his back to his teammates, sulking as if he was some five-year-old. It was then that he noticed something on the bottom of his foot.
"Santo, what . . .?" began Anole.
"This better not be what I think it is," said Rockslide as he lifted his foot off the ground, "Seriously, someone's gonna have to scrape this off."
"Eew, gross," stated Pixie, "There's totally no way I'm touching that whatever it is." Anole braced himself as he put his hand under Rockslide's foot and scraped against it. He stared at his hand, his fingers now covered in viscous, silver goo that looked very familiar.
"It's not dog crap," confirmed Anole, "You're safe there."
"Isn't that what Cessily's body is made out of?" asked Pixie as she studied the liquid, "Is she, like, leaking or something?"
"There's more of it," confirmed Rockslide as he saw a line of the liquid mercury trail down the street, "You think something's wrong with her?"
"She's not leaking," said Anole as he shook his hand to get rid of the gunk, "She's leaving us a trail."
XXXXX
"Get out," ordered Surge as she gestured to the goon who opened the door to the limo. Mercury and Dust made no movement to get out of the vehicle. Surge's hand suddenly crackled with lightning, the arcs of electricity dancing back and forth in a dangerous pattern.
"You can't trust him," stated Mercury.
"You can't trust Julian," retorted Surge as an arc of lightning snaked from her fingers and hit Mercury, "That was a low-level jolt. Get out of the car and don't give me any more crap unless you want a big one." Mercury winced in pain as the electricity ran through her body. Her liquid body warped and contorted before settling back into something that resembled human. Mercury nodded and Dust slid out of the car.
"Where does this one rank on our list of bad situations?" asked Hellion as he joined his two teammates.
"Is it true?" asked Mercury as she looked at him.
"Is what true?" asked Hellion in return.
"That 'trust fund' of yours," said Mercury, "That money came from the Kingmaker, didn't it?"
"You don't have any time to talk about this," said Kingmaker, "Mr. Keller, I need you on that plane there. What happens to the girls isn't my concern."
"You can't expect them to just walk away," said Surge, "They'll come after you."
"So take them out then," ordered Kingmaker as he gestured to some of his men. They grabbed Hellion and escorted him to the plane. Mercury moved to stop them and felt a bolt of lightning hit her in the back.
"Killing them wasn't part of the deal," reminded Surge.
"I make the rules," retorted Kingmaker, "If you want your relationship with Mr. Alleyne back then you're going to have to work for it." Kingmaker walked towards the aircraft and left a few of his agents to make sure Surge did what he told her to do. He had obligations to complete concerning his client and, personally, he couldn't wait to see what that client had in store for Julian Keller. Kingmaker hadn't forgotten the incident he had been involved in with the Hellions. It was a demeaning ordeal that left him with a very nasty grudge against all of the kids involved, Julian in particular. He practically died of laughter when Hellion had come to him begging for scraps but the moral humiliation he had put Julian through wasn't enough punishment.
"Fine," agreed Surge as her hands lit up with lightning and she turned to Dust, "We'll start with you." Dust held up her hand and a torrent of sand shot from it, sending Surge to the ground. Sooraya was still weak from the shot she had taken at the bar but she would use whatever strength she had left to resist. The agents Kingmaker employed quickly pointed their guns at Dust. Mercury quickly threw herself in between the men and Dust. The bullets sank harmlessly into her liquid metal body.
"I know how it feels, Nori," assured Mercury as her hands turned into claws and she came at the first agent in line, "I wanted him to fix things between me and my parents. It'll be a lie, Nori. The Kingmaker will get psychics or whoever else to mess with David's head until he takes you back." Cessily's claws turned the first man's gun into pieces with one swipe. Her other hand contorted itself into a blunt object that she hit the man over the head with.
"You'll be living a lie too," reminded Surge as she picked herself off the ground, "You'll be out running around playing hero and living off of money your leader took from a bad guy, money that he had to kill for. I guess I can live with myself if you can." Mercury contorted her body to avoid the bolt of lightning that came her way. It hit one of the Kingmaker's agents, the man falling to the ground in a spastic fit as the electricity struck him. She knew she had to kill time. The trail of liquid mercury she had been leaving wasn't much but she knew if her teammates discovered it, they would waste no time in following it back to her. She had to hold the line until reinforcements arrived. Unfortunately, due to the pieces of herself she had to leave behind to make the trail, Cessily was moving slower than usual. That meant she couldn't dodge Surge's lightning bolts forever.
"You're being completely unreasonable," said Mercury as she came at Surge.
"You're in complete denial," retorted Surge as she fired a lightning bolt at Mercury that hit her square in the chest, "You have to know it's suicide to go against someone with my power, Cess."
"I think all of us are used to suicide missions," assured Mercury. Surge let out another lightning attack but a giant object made of rock jumped in front of Mercury to take the blow.
"You girls really know how to throw a party," said Rockslide as he looked down at his teammate, "We could see the lightning for miles."
XXXXX
"Where are we going?" The two agents escorted Hellion to his seat. He sat down and watched as they clamped his feet to the chair and connected his manacles to the arms of the seat.
"My client wants to deal with you personally," assured the Kingmaker as he gestured to the two agents before regally sitting down in his own chair across the aisle from Julian. The two agents went into the cockpit and prepared the plane for takeoff. Kingmaker had only settled into his seat for two seconds before a set of clamps suddenly locked his legs to the chair and his arms to the armrests in a mirror of Hellion's restraints.
"What the hell is this?" asked Kingmaker in surprise as he struggled against the restraints. Hellion's laughter couldn't reach over the roar of the engines as the plane lurched forward and took off into the sky. Kingmaker clicked a button on the armrest in an attempt to notify his minions in the cockpit of his current accommodations.
"Little change of plans, boss," explained one of them over the intercom, "You see, you cut us a pretty large paycheck but, well, we got a better offer from this new client of yours. You can understand that, right? I mean it's nothing personal; it's just business."
"You ingrates!" snarled the Kingmaker as he continued to struggle against the clamps, "I made you what you are and I swear that when I get out of this I will break you! Do you hear me? I will destroy your wretched, pathetic lives!"
"I really don't see how you could get used to this kind of talk, big brother." Hellion's attention perked up at the very familiar voice. His attention turned to the television screen that had come alive with a video of his brother, James.
"What the hell is this about, James?" asked Hellion.
"I'm the client," stated James with a smirk, "It's not surprising that you couldn't figure it out, Julian. You were never very bright."
"This treatment was never part of our agreement," said Kingmaker as he gestured to his shackles.
"I'm amending the agreement," explained James, "You see, my big brother's little superhero career isn't the only blight on the family name I'm attempting to destroy. I'm sick of my family constantly owing you favors, Kingmaker. I'm sick of the fact that all our fortune came to us through your scheming and manipulations. I bribed a few of your men and concocted this nice, little scheme. You see, there's a bomb on this plane and I doubt either of you are in a position to diffuse it. That means that tonight is the last night either of you will embarrass or humiliate my family ever again."