"Well, I can't say I'm rightfully surprised that Sinister would hang out in the sewers."
I cringe as I hear Rogue's thick Southern accent streaming in through the video feed. Nightcrawler, Leonardo, and I are sitting in a security van borrowed from the X-Men and are waiting just outside the manhole that Rogue, Shadowcat, and Colossus disappeared through. "Quiet, Rogue," I hiss into the wireless headset. "Those cameras are so we can keep an eye on you, not so you can send a tape of Sinister's new digs over to Cribs."
"Keep your tights on, sugah," she drawls. I can see through Colossus' hidden camera that she's got something of a smirk on her face. "What kinda woman you expect me to be if I don't remark on the interior decoratin'?"
Kitty Pryde, better known as Shadowcat, pops up besides her. "A woman who knows a thing or two about covert operations, that's for sure," she tells Rogue wryly. And that's why I like Kitty. She's had some ninja training herself.
"Look, just keep following the tracking signal," Leonardo whispers impatiently. Though we convinced Splinter to stay behind after going over Nightcrawler's plan, Leo was less interested in staying put. Despite my misgivings, Hank and Nightcrawler both actually encouraged him to come along. Must be something about people who wear a lot of blue, I guess.
"I'm not taking a risk of them trapping you down there in the sewers," Leo continues. "Your job is to go down there, follow through with the plan, and get my brothers out of there. Spider-Man, Nightcrawler, and I will do the rest, but that relies on them not knowing we're so close behind you, so let's try to keep it down. Understood?"
"Da," Colossus answers in his strong Russian accent. He apparently doesn't realize that his microphone is still on when he whispers to Kitty, "This little one appears even worse than Cyclops." The girls snicker quietly, but Leonardo clears his throat into his microphone. Quieting down once more, they continue on their way.
"This is the place," Rogue says at last, looking at a rather huge iron door. "Doesn't look too invitin'. How do ya'll suggest we get in?"
"Well," Kitty murmurs, "having super powers, I'd say we've got a couple of options. However, I've always liked to do the polite thing and knock. Maybe they'll answer and invite us in for a coffee."
"Allow me," Colossus says. Through the girls' cameras, I can see that his skin has transformed into the living metal that makes him so darn strong. As he pulls his fist back, I cringe, waiting for him to give the door one heck of a knock. However, it seems that Kitty's remark about Sinister's hospitality isn't too far off.
With an ever-ominous creak, the door opens on its own. I can tell that the X-Men give one another concerned glances, but they're X-Men. They've walked into traps a whole lot more complicated than this. As they step into the dark underground laboratory, I can feel Leonardo tensing up besides me.
Standing in the middle of the room is the tall, gray-faced Sinister, his close-cut hair and stern features making him look all the more… well… sinister. Behind him are three shadowy figures. A dim light comes on, and each of them steps into the light. It's Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Only… not.
"Ah, ah, ah," Sinister scolds. "It is impolite to pay a visit without calling ahead of time." Oh, so he's trying to make with the funnies now? He's stealing the superhero trademark? I hope Colossus beats him good, even if his idea of a witty remark does fall flat.
"Didn't know that this was a private party, sugah," Rogue remarks. "But now that we're here, we might as well let ya in on a little deal that our buddies thought up. We got a turtle who's shook up somethin' awful 'cuz his brothers are temporarily off bein' evil. So we've decided to pose a trade. Us for them."
"A group of X-Men that Apocalypse has been trying to get his hands on for years," Kitty throws in, "in exchange for three turtles that he's never even heard of. That oughta put you in good with the boss, huh?"
"Are you truly so simple-minded?" Sinister laughs. "I didn't choose these creatures. The shadow spirits did." I can tell that Nightcrawler's resisting the urge to scream out that they're demons, not spirits. "And whereas you might have proved an interesting study once before," Sinister continues, "your time is over. These creatures are part of the new age of mutant kind. Whether Apocalypse takes kindly to them is no concern of mine. War."
At the beckoning, Raphael steps up, stopping just behind Sinister. Without taking his eyes off of the X-Men, Sinister commands, "Do something about our uninvited guests." I shudder as I hear Raphael's voice say that it'll be a pleasure. And the sudden clapping doesn't fill me with too much hope, either.
I can see the explosions racing for the cameras, but I can't see what our heroes are doing to defend themselves. Apparently, though, they're definitely doing something, since all of the screens indicate movement. Shadowcat's screen starts sputtering static, and I panic for a second before remembering that electronics tend to go a little wonky when she uses her powers. It comes back on again soon enough.
When the smoke clears, it's evident that Colossus is standing in front of the girls, his metal skin shining as though proud of having protected them. "I would suggest," Colossus tells Raphael, "we settle this in a traditional confrontation, mutant-to-mutant."
Shocked, Raphael takes a step back, not believing that the three X-Men managed to survive a direct hit with his blasts. Clearly, the demon couldn't shake off Raphael's angry temperament, as I can hear the growl from my headset. "And I would suggest," he says as he stampedes towards Colossus, "that you would have been better off playing dead."
I watch the screen as Raphael comes closer and slams his fist into Colossus' gut. Everyone in the van flinches at the loud, enraged scream that comes from Raphael's mouth as his bones crunch upon impact with solid metal. I know now why Donatello wouldn't want to remember the sound of his brother yelling. Anger, pain, and disbelief don't exactly make for a harmonious symphony.
"I have heard of your resilience, little one," Colossus tells Raphael. "I hope you don't mind if I test it." With that, he throws his fist down at Raphael's face, knocking the turtle back. Before Raphael could right himself, Colossus is on him again, this time shouldering him onto the ground. I notice that Leonardo is forced to look away as the giant metal man seems to mercilessly beat his brother.
Donatello tries to intercede, but Shadowcat jumps in front of him. "Hi," she says rather perkily. "You're Donnie, right? A little spider told me that we'd get along real well."
Donatello looks thoroughly unimpressed. "You little brat," he tells her as he attempts to punch her. She dodges him and continues to do so as he keeps trying to hit her. "I am the Famine. The moment I touch you, there will be nothing left but a pile of dust." It looks like he's got her backed up against the wall, and he grins a rather creepy smile as he lunges for her.
Her camera goes out for a second, frightening me again. I can see through Rogue's camera, though, that Shadowcat's stepped right through him. Donatello blinks and whirls around to see her smiling behind him. "Sorry. I don't usually let strange boys touch me on the first date." With her ability to pass through any solid object—including a living body—Shadowcat dives towards Don. "Especially not when they've got some skittish demon tagging along in the backseat."
It's strange watching her disappear into his body, but the uncomfortable expression on Don's face is telling me that it's working. Since the demon inside of him is still on the fidgety side, Kitty's not having a problem forcing it to the outside, even though she can't really do anything to it. Don isn't looking too good and though that bugs me, it looks like it's making his unwelcome guest feel even worse.
I can't keep focusing on Shadowcat and Don, though. As her phasing powers are working to perturb the uneasy demon, her camera glitches. And Colossus is having his hands full beating the snot out of Raphael. Everything I see is coming from Rogue's camera now, and it doesn't look like she's aiming to remain unoccupied.
"And what about you?" Michelangelo asks, flipping in front of her. "You're such a pretty little girl; don't tell me I'm not allowed to touch you either?" I can see Rogue peeling off the gloves she always wears, and I hope that this last bit of the plan pans out. It was, after all, the trickiest bit to work.
"Shucks, I'm a friendly kinda gal," Rogue tells him cheerily. "And you're just the cutest little thing this side of the Bronx. How's about bein' all gallant-like 'n holdin' my hand?"
"Pestilence!" I hear Sinister shout. "Don't touch her!"
Michelangelo turns to look back at him, and Rogue doesn't seem to take kindly to the interruption. She always was determined when she set her sights on a man. "Aw, stop hollerin', Sinister. The way you're carryin' on, you'd think I had some disease or somethin'. I don't… yet."
I hold my breath as she places her hands on Michelangelo's face. He seems confused for a moment, but then lets out a shrill yell. "Sorry, darlin'," Rogue grunts out as he tries to pull her away. "I gotta sap your strength just enough for ya to stay down. Then we'll see if that pesky demon wants to munch on somethin' a little daintier."
I can tell by the high-pitched groans that she's having one heck of a time trying to absorb Mike's life energy, along with the memories of whatever it was that was done to him. "Oh God," she shrieks. I stand up. This isn't going to work. She's going to be so preoccupied with sorting through Mike's recent memories that she won't be able to defend herself against the demon.
She finally lets go of him, and Michelangelo slumps to the ground. I can see it. The almost-tangible silhouette of something coming out of Mikey. And it doesn't look happy as it slinks closer towards Rogue.
"Spider-Man, stay," Nightcrawler orders me, grabbing my arm as I try to bolt out the door. "She knows what she is doing." For the sake of everyone in that room, I sure hope so. If a demon that's got his heart set on being Pestilence gets a hold of Rogue's powers… yeah, we might as well all start learning how to play the harp and see how we look in white robes.
We all hold our breath as the dark shadow darts towards the camera. This is it. C'mon, Bamf Boy, show me that you've got a brain for strategy.
It stops. It tries again to go for Rogue, but it's stuck. It can't go past her. Colossus finally stops beating on Raphael and looks back, enabling us to see her. There's a very pale sort of luminescence coming from Rogue as she closes her eyes in concentration. The demon can't touch her. On one hand, she's too sick from absorbing too much of Pestilence for the demon to make any use of her. On the other, it looks like Nightcrawler's precaution is working.
Before we left the X-Mansion, Rogue had absorbed a small bit of Splinter's power. Nightcrawler had hoped that, being able to access Splinter's discipline over his own mind, Rogue would gain the knowledge to set up a mystical barrier between herself and the demon, preventing her from being possessed. Despite the fact that she looks ready to tear her hair out over all of the stuff she just absorbed from Mikey, it looks like Rogue's managed to pull through. I guess she learned a lot of self-control from Splinter from that quick touch.
I make a small, relieved sound as I survey the situation on all of the screens. Raphael is barely conscious, and the demon that had taken over his body is forced to look for a new host. It goes for Colossus, but it can't go through his metal armor. Just as Nightcrawler suspected—or, I think, prayed: the demons can only penetrate organic material. Colossus is safe, and he's crouching besides Raphael and trying to help the battered turtle to his feet.
The demon that had taken control of Donatello was forced out by Shadowcat. She was now clinging to the turtle and, from what I could make out, is keeping both herself and Don ethereal and preventing the demon from being able to get at either one of them. I feel another stab of pity go through me when I see the wide-eyed, confused, and altogether terrified expression on Don's face as he clutches to this girl that he had never met.
And from the looks of things, Splinter's mind is doing a dandy job at keeping the ailing Rogue safe while Michelangelo lays unconscious on the ground.
"Face it, Sinister," Shadowcat says, looking back at the alleged mastermind while hugging Don close to her. "Your little demon buddies have only a few minutes to find a new host. Are you willing to put yourself on the buffet table? Might as well give up now, since there's no chance that you'll get Leonardo to act as Death and complete your Horsemen collection."
"Oh, you piteous little fool," Sinister snarls. "Pestilence, Famine, and War can be created at any time without these bothersome demons, now that I have samples of these creatures' DNA." I curse under my breath. So, he did manage to stick some needles in them. If we don't find his main lab, this won't end here. "Besides," he continues. I can see a small smile pull at his lips as he tells us all, "I already have Death."
Leonardo jumps to his feet, confused. "What does he mean? I thought… I thought he needed me. If I'm right here, and I haven't been possessed, then who…?"
"Remind me to thank the spider," Sinister remarks, making a chill go down my spine. "If it hadn't been for his unforeseen involvement, my greatest subject would have never walked into my grasp." There's apparently a door behind him, because I hear something slide open as a rectangle of light floods the room. The silhouette that enters remains anonymous to my eyes until I see the three long claws protruding from each of his hands.
It's Wolverine.