Hello, everyone! So sorry for the delay in uploading this chapter! It's been finished for almost a week, but extended hours at work has meant that I haven't been able to get at my laptop as often as I would have liked! Hope you all forgive me!
Logan's Wolverettes: My dear friends have been busy with the little button at the bottom of the page! Thanks to nileena, bluedragon1836, Laudine, Sniktchick, Sarra Ambrai, wolverina32, FrozenVoices, sagas. pen and The Scratch Man!
With our story now taking a dramatic leap forward, I hope you all enjoy the next chapter! Onward ...!
ooXoo
11. Deathstrike
"I've checked the front and back doors, Rems, they're both locked." Jubilee blew a bright pink bubble as she trotted back into the lounge and approached the Cajun, trying to ignore the accusatory glare being levelled in her direction by Mrs Marsters as she lay stretched out on the couch, bolstered by a pile of cushions. Nikki, sitting on the floor at her mother's feet, grinned at her friend ruefully as she passed by.
"Remy? You listening to me there?"
"Gambit hear you, petite." The tall mutant paused in his inspection of the patio doors to watch her approach and then turned back, rattling the door handle to make sure they were locked before placing his back to the framework and allowing his eyes to rove around the room. With his mutant capabilities now out in the open, he had temporarily removed his ever-present sunglasses and his devilish red eyes glittered eerily in the soft light provided by a single lamp in the opposite corner of the room. Despite being early morning, the fog had blotted out the sun and the house was dark and strangely silent.
"I think the fog's getting thicker, Rems." Jubilee looked unhappily out of the patio doors and then stooped to pick up the Cajun's bo staff from where he had left it resting against the back of a chair. She gave it an experimental swish through the air and handed it to him with another pop of her gum. Gambit took it wordlessly and motioned her away from the doors with a crook of his finger.
"Don' stand too close, petite. Dere's somet'ing moving out dere an' it isn't de local squirrels."
"Geez!" Jubilee backed off slightly and Gambit placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. No one had yet put voice to the suspicion, but he was sure the rest of his team-mates were thinking the same thing – that the fog's mysterious appearance could hardly be a coincidence. Wherever they went, the X-Men seemed to attract trouble like moths to a flame, often dragging the unwary and innocents alike along with them. Most survived the experience. Some did not. So, with no idea of what they were up against, it was imperative to keep Kristi's family out of the line of fire and protect them at all costs. To this end, Wolverine and Wildstar had taken themselves on a tour of the house, thus serving a two-fold purpose – to check that nothing could get in and take them unawares and also to give Mrs Marsters some time to come to terms with Logan's identity. Cool heads were needed if the X-Men were going to figure out what was going on and the last thing they needed were accusations being thrown about like so much bad rubbish.
As if his thoughts were the catalyst, Jubilee suddenly sighed heavily. "Do you think she's gonna be okay, Remy?" she asked, her voice tinged with concern.
"Who, petite?" Gambit figured he already knew, but didn't want to jump to conclusions.
"Kristi." Jubilee scuffed unhappily at the carpet with the toe of her boot. "I mean, it was bad enough when her mom hated Wolvie for being older then her, but now she knows he's Wolverine …" Her voice trailed off, dejectedly.
Gambit shook his head. "Don' you worry none 'bout de Wildstar, petite. She's not gonna let her mama get de better of her, an' de Wolverine won' let anyt'ing happen to his mate. Dey'll be okay, Jubilee. Remy sure of it."
"I hope you're right, Rems. I'm her best friend and right now I feel about as useful as a chocolate teapot."
Gambit snorted in amusement. "Wildstar knows you're dere for her, petite. We all are. De X-Men, dey look after their own, non?"
Jubilee nodded. "Too right, Rems!" She punched the air in determination and then glanced sideways as Mr Marsters entered the room. His gait was quick and his face agitated as he moved to the couch and sank down into a space by his wife's feet.
"The 'phone's dead," he announced to the room in general. "I've tried every number I can think of, but all I get is this weird squealing noise."
"Have you tried the police?" David pushed away from the wall he'd been leaning on and advanced a few steps. "I mean, they're supposed to be prepared for any emergency, aren't they? They've got to answer."
"Well, unfortunately somebody forgot to tell the police that, because their 'phones are down too." Mr Marsters reached out to take his wife's hand. "Whatever is happening here, we're all alone."
Jubilee snorted in astonished annoyance at the same time as Nikki exclaimed "But we're not alone, dad! We've got the X-Men to protect us!"
"And a fine job they've done of it so far, too." Mrs Marsters put in, raising herself up on one elbow to glare at her youngest daughter. "If they're so wonderful, why are we surrounded by this infernal fog in the first place, hmm? Answer me that! And another thing, how do we know that one of them hasn't caused this fog to make themselves look good when they come to our 'rescue'?"
Jubilee could contain herself no longer. She pulled away from Gambit's retaining hand and advanced on the couch, raising her trademark sunglasses so that she could glare at Kristi's mother eye to eye.
"You really are the silliest woman I've ever known!" she declared crossly, as both Gambit and Nikki winced. "Take a look around you – does that fog look natural to you? Or that any one of us would cause it just so we could get some kicks by rescuing the 'stranded civilians'?" She waggled her fingers in quotation marks. "Well, I've got news for you, lady – the X-Men don't need to rely on cheap tricks to get their jollies. We've faced aliens, Sentinels and scaly creatures with really big teeth. We've travelled into space and witnessed the birth of suns. To even suggest that we could have instigated all of this just to make ourselves look good is frankly insulting!"
The stunned silence that greeted her words was broken by Wolverine stalking into the room. The charged atmosphere told him instantly that something was amiss and he glared at Jubilee, garnering his attention by virtue of being the closest. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." Jubilee turned her back on Mrs Marsters and stomped back to the patio doors. "We were just discussing the fog."
The firecracker affected an air of innocence but Logan wasn't fooled. The kid smelled wrong and the others in the room were displaying a range of emotions that went from outrage to downright shame. Something had happened in his absence, but he couldn't quite his finger on it and now wasn't the time to ask questions.
He grunted and tossed a couple of small devices onto the nearest chair. "The comlinks are down," he growled, irritably. "All I'm gettin' is an annoying squeal."
"It's the same with the 'phone lines," confirmed Mr Marsters, ignoring his wife's disgusted snort. As he'd never had any problem with the older man dating his daughter he saw no reason to instigate a feud. "What does it mean?"
"Nothin' good, that's fer certain." Logan turned to the door just seconds before Kristi appeared, alerted by his mate's mental signature. "Any luck?" he asked, hopefully.
Kristi shook her head. "Not a peep," she admitted, ruefully. After patrolling the upstairs windows with her mate, she had returned to her bedroom in the hope of contacting Jean or the Professor telepathically, using the familiar surroundings as a means to relax and focus her mind. The attempt had failed. "It was weird," she admitted, with a grimace. "All I could sense was ….. static."
"What the hell is going on here?" Logan stalked to the patio doors, shouldering between Jubilee and Gambit and glaring out at the mist as though he could force it to give up its answers by sheer willpower alone.
"Shouldn't we be doing something?" David looked around at the other occupants of the room, helplessly. "I mean, surely there's something we could do other than sit here and watch that fog getting thicker. What about the police? The army? Shouldn't one of us be going for help?"
"Nobody's going anywhere." Logan looked back over his shoulder, his eyes dark and dangerous. "There's something evil out there – I can smell it – an' nobody's leavin' this house until we know what we're facin'."
"You can smell something evil?" Nikki's eyes were full of wonder, the teen obviously intrigued by this revelation. "Geez! That is so cool!"
It wasn't exactly how Logan would have described it, but now wasn't the time to argue the pros and cons of mutant gifts, so he settled for raising an eyebrow at her before turning back to his perusal of the mist …..
…..He was just in time to catch the sparkling orb of wytchfyre as it hurtled towards them out of the fog …..
"Get down!" he yelled and twisted around, throwing himself over the prone form of Mrs Marsters and gathering Nikki to him just as the doors blew inwards with a roar of impacting energy, sending debris flying across the room with deadly accuracy. He grunted in pain as a jagged panel of glass glanced off his back, but was on his feet in an instant, shielding his mate's mother and sister with his own body as he ushered them towards the far wall. Bundling them into a corner, he heard the distinctive whine of Gambit's energy projectiles and turned just in time to see two glowing cards deflect a sizable chunk of doorframe away from David's head. The pop and crackle of Jubilee's fireworks told him that his young sidekick was similarly engaged, and when a golden glow reflected off the fog that was already trying to encroach into the room he knew his bondmate had powered up.
Gambit grabbed David's arm and pushed both him and his father against the wall, immediately moving to Wolverine's side to help protect them. Jubilee sent a barrage of fireworks through the ruined doorway and out into the fog, where they exploded with muffled thumps.
"There's something out there!" she yelled over her shoulder, hands raised to unleash more mayhem.
"Get back here, Jubilee," Logan snarled and indicated the spot beside his bondmate.
To her credit, Jubilee hesitated for only a heartbeat before scrambling backwards over the glass encrusted carpet to join her team-mates, where she summoned a couple of fireworks and held them above her hand, ready to throw.
With all eyes fixed on the ragged gap in the wall that had once been a set of patio doors, they waited …..
Something moved in the distance and Logan hissed, alerting the others and simultaneously reaching out with his senses, inwardly cursing the air of wrongness about the place which masked any approaching scents. He snorted, trying to force the stink from his nostrils, and scrubbed a hand across his face irritably. He could feel Nikki pressing against his back in her eagerness to see between him and her sister and he put out a hand to hold her back, not trusting her common sense to keep her behind him where it was safe. The kid's too much like Jubilee fer her own good, he growled inwardly.
The shapes in the fog resolved into two indistinct figures and Logan moved forward to meet them, leaving his team-mates to close ranks behind him. The fog pulsed and swirled around the newcomers, parting before them and rolling in again behind them as if cutting off any means of escape. It seemed almost alive in its intent.
Logan clenched his fists, feeling the tell-tale itch of his claws nudging against the skin between his knuckles. He resisted the urge to unsheathe them, knowing that the civilians were already spooked. The sight of his metal blades erupting from his hands could cause a panic, and the last thing they needed was someone trying to make a run for it across a possible line of fire. The claws, if they were needed, would be a last resort.
And then that thought went right out of his head as he finally put a name to the scent that reached him through the swirling mist. Feeling a snarl well up in his throat, he released his claws with a flick of his wrists, ignoring a startled scream from Kristi's mother, and prepared to unleash a brutal and bloody death on the two women who stepped through the hole in the wall with an air of quiet confidence.
The taller of the two, dressed in figure hugging desert fatigues, flexed her fingers as though preparing to fight ….. and then dropped into a deep, respectful bow, her eyes never leaving Wolverine's. "Logan-san."
"Yuriko." Wolverine sketched a bow in return, but his claws remained unsheathed. He had faced this woman too many times in the past to give her the benefit of the doubt.
If the two women were intimidated by his blades they didn't show it. Instead, the taller woman's eyes flicked to each person behind him in turn and she tilted her head, thoughtfully.
"You're a difficult man to find, Wolverine. Took us a while to track you down after we realised you had disappeared from the school." She nodded her head towards the civilians. "Is this your pack?"
"No." The word was barely recognisable as such, being little more than a feral growl, but Yuriko nodded.
"I understand. Nevertheless, they are important to you in some way. I recognise the little one." She flipped an unusually long finger at Jubilee, ignoring the firecracker's annoyed snort. "So, family perhaps? Although not yours. Maybe the girl's?" Her eyes swept over Wildstar this time before her elegant Asian features morphed into a cruel smile. "Such an exquisite creature. Could it be that the solitary Wolverine has finally taken a mate? My my ….." And she began to laugh, a chilling sound that made the skin at the back of Kristi's neck prickle.
Wolverine raised a clawed hand. "Cut the crap, Deathstrike. Whaddaya want? I take it that all this ….." and he nodded towards the fog " …..is your doing?"
Yuriko jabbed an accusing finger at the feral. "I want what I've always wanted, Wolverine! Your head on a platter and my father's metal back with its rightful owner."
"Well, good luck with that," Wolverine snorted.
Yuriko's eyes grew wild and her fingers began to lengthen, becoming obscene parodies of Wolverine's claws. "Do not mock me! I will have my revenge!"
"Or die tryin'?" added Wolverine, dismissively. "We've been through this a hundred times or more, Yuriko, an' it always ends the same way."
"But this time it will end differently." Yuriko's face was a mask of hatred, her eyes flashing with insanity. "If I cannot have my father's metal, no one will, including you." She turned to the second woman, who was standing slightly behind and to one side of her, beckoning her forward. "This is Spellbind. It is her powers which have brought you here to this place."
A polite cough directed her attention to Gambit. "Forgive de interruption, but where is 'here' exactly?"
"This is the netherworld – a place between the world of the living and of the dead." Spellbind made a strange gesture and a tendril of fog snaked in through the ruined doorway and wrapped lovingly around her hand. "I walk the veils between worlds – its minions are mine to command, their powers my own. In this realm, I am without equal."
"Well ….. okay." Wolverine tossed the woman a wary glance. "But what has this got to do with us?"
Deathstrike took up the narrative once more. "I will be made a fool of no longer, Wolverine. This dwelling exists here only because Spellbind wishes it. Once we have left, it will be drawn back into its own world, but without Spellbind to aid its passing, the transition will not be kind on any organic material still within its walls. I would suggest you vacate as quickly as possible before the inevitable happens."
"Hey, wait a minute! By 'organic material, you mean us, don't you?" Jubilee, as ever, came right to the point.
Deathstrike gave her a small bow. "You are an astute child."
"An' what's supposed ta happen to us?" Wolverine was sure he knew the answer to that question, but needed to ask it anyway.
"You will die, Wolverine. All of you. And when the denizens of this place have stripped you all down to the bone, I will return and claim what is rightfully mine." She raised a hand in farewell as Spellbind began to chant and make strange movements with her hands. "Farewell, Logan-san. When next we meet, your spirit will be free and your metal will be mine."
Wolverine allowed his claws to slide slowly back into his forearms as Deathstrike and Spellbind became as ethereal as the mist they had appeared from. Yuriko's final words hung heavily around the room as Jubilee stalked forward, dismissing her fireworks with a casual wave of her hand.
"Well, you really know how to pick 'em, don't you, Wolvie? They're as mad as a box of frogs. Both of 'em. A psychiatrist could retire comfortably on the proceeds from just one of 'em alone."
"You … you know those people?" Mr Marsters was staring at the spot where Deathstrike and Spellbind had stood just moments before, his face white.
"Only one of 'em." Wolverine glared accusingly at the fog and turned to his team-mates with a growl. "Yuriko Oyama, now known as Lady Deathstrike. She's bad news. Death an' mayhem stick to her like fleas to a dog."
"She ….. she had … she had claws for hands ….." David was clearly rattled by the whole experience, hardly able to iterate what he wanted to say. " ….. And ….. and you …"
"She hates you." It was a statement of fact, not a question. Logan looked steadily back into Mrs Marsters clear but frightened eyes.
"Yes." He saw no reason to skirt around the subject.
"She said you have something of hers."
"Not entirely true, but ….."
"Then for heaven's sake, man, give it back! Don't you understand what's happening here? She's going to kill us all for something that's not our fault! Call her back! Give her whatever it is you've stolen!"
Mrs Marsters suddenly found herself staring at three razor sharp blades not three inches from her face. Behind them, Logan's fury clearly shone in his eyes, which had darkened to almost feral black.
Nikki screamed and Mr Marsters made a grab for his wife, pulling her back from the mutant's lethal claws. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Ya wanna give these back?" Logan shook his claws, angrily. "Do ya? Do ya think I ever wanted 'em in the first place? Christ, you people make me sick!"
The snap of his claws retracting was loud in the stunned silence that followed his outburst. For just a moment, his eyes sought out those of his mate, his face haunted with words he couldn't convey. Then, with a low growl of discontent, he turned and strode stiffly for the door, where he paused and looked back. "If I were you, I'd think about gettin' some stuff together before this place gets dragged back to where it came from."
With that, he strode through the door, leaving team-mates and civilians alike staring after him in confusion.
Mrs Marsters was the first to recover. "What the hell is wrong with that man? He's dangerous, I tell you! Did you see? He threatened me with those ….. those claws of his! And I only suggested ….."
"Mother!" Kristi pitched her voice a little louder than intended and her mother's mouth snapped shut in shock. Her father started forward, but she held up a hand to keep him back, recognising her anger as her mate's, not her own. "That man," she said, more softly. "has just saved your life, in case you were too busy to notice. And the metal that Deathstrike wants back and which you're so keen for Logan to give up? It's attached to his bones, mother – bonded to his skeleton by men who called themselves civilised and who wanted to create a weapon that couldn't be killed. Men from our government, mom. Men who should have had more compassion for a fellow human being, but who saw only a mutant and dollar signs in front of their eyes." She took a deep breath, determined not to cry. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to see if my mate needs any help."
She didn't dare look back as she left the room, painfully aware that she'd just let the cat completely and irrevocably out of the bag by saying that she and Logan were mated, but it was too late to call the words back now. Resolutely putting her faux pas behind her, she followed her mate's emotions upstairs and found him in her room, angrily stuffing a pair of her jeans into his duffle bag as though he could wrestle them into submission. The rest of his and Remy's clothes lay in an untidy heap on her bed.
Kristi cocked her head to the side, smiling gently. "I don't think they're in any fit state to argue with you, Logan," she remarked, gesturing at the pummelled jeans.
Logan snorted and tossed the duffle onto the bed, running a hand distractedly through his hair and sending it into wild disarray. "I ….. I'm sorry for what happened back there, Kris. It ….. it's this place. It's all wrong ….. sending my senses screwy. I ….. I wouldn't have hurt your mom."
"I know. It's okay." Kristi left the door open behind her and walked to her mate, enfolding him in a hug, surprised by his rare show of insecurity. "It's okay," she repeated, soothingly.
Logan allowed the hug for a brief moment before pulling away and reaching for the duffle once more.
"What're you doing?" Kristi had a fairly good idea, but sensed that she needed to keep the feral talking.
"Packin' some of our stuff." Logan crammed a pair of his own jeans into the bag on top of hers. "We've no idea how long we're gonna be here an' our uniforms ain't gonna hold out forever."
Kristi raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You actually think we're gonna get out of this alive?"
Logan paused, his face determined. "Yeah. Don't you?" He turned as Nikki poked her head in at the open door. "Whaddaya want, kid?"
Nikki shuffled her feet, nervously. The feral's outburst had revealed himself to her in a new light, but she still felt the need to accept him for what he was, despite being more than first met the eye. "I ….. um … I came to see if everything was okay and if I could help."
"Ya can help by givin' this to yer dad." Logan thrust Gambit's empty duffle into her hands. "Tell him to fill it with food. Nothin' perishable, mind. An' nothin' fancy. An' tell yer brother to come up here an' fill Jubilee's bag with clothes fer yer family. It's on her bed."
Nikki nodded and made to go, only to duck back when Logan called her name. "Tell 'em to hurry," he added, urgently. "I don't think we've got much time left."
Nikki scampered off downstairs with the duffle. Seconds later, David's feet thumped up the stairs and headed into Jubilee's bedroom.
"How long do you think we've got?" asked Kristi, rolling up one of Remy's shirts and handing it to her mate.
"Not long," Logan responded, decidedly. He paused, looking out of the window at the rolling mist. "Funny thing is, I can't help thinkin' I've been here before. I remember ….. someone ….. an' a door ….."
"Did the door lead back home?" asked Kristi, hopefully.
"I don't know." Logan shook his head dismissively and zipped up the now full duffle. "Come on."
He took one step and staggered as the house suddenly seemed to be wrenched sideways. Kristi grabbed at his arm for balance and a scream sounded from the lounge.
"What the hell was that?" Kristi looked around, fearfully, as the room steadied.
"Christ, I think we've just run outta time." Logan set off at a run, catching himself with a hand on the door jamb as the floor tilted crazily beneath his feet. "We gotta get out, Kris, before it's too late!"
In the hallway, they almost collided with David, who was clutching Jubilee's duffle in front of him like a life preserver. His face was ashen and there was an unmistakable look of fear in his eyes.
"Go fer the door!" Logan yelled at him. "Don't look back! Just go!"
David ran, almost falling down the last two steps in his haste. Kristi and Logan were right behind him. In the downstairs hallway, they separated, David bolting for the front door and the two X-Men heading for the lounge. Mr Marsters was just coming out, the rest of his family behind being herded by Jubilee.
Logan fell into step beside his young partner as Kristi stopped to help her father with his bag. "Where's the Cajun?"
"He's already outside," Jubilee assured him and Logan nodded, acknowledging his team-mate's common sense in securing their retreat. He startled as Mrs Marsters clutched at his arm.
"My son?" she demanded, fear for her son momentarily blocking out her hatred for the feral.
"He's out." Logan gave her a push to get her moving. "Go!"
The hallway seemed to spin crazily around them as they bolted for the door and Logan, his senses grounded in reality, resisted the urge to throw up. Mrs Marsters wailed in terror as the walls buckled inwards as if seeking to enclose them and when the floor bucked beneath their feet and tripped Nikki who was running just in front of him, the feral bent and scooped her up into his arms without breaking pace.
"Hurry, mon ami!" Gambit was standing at the open door, beckoning them on with his staff. A brace of playing cards glowed in his other hand. "De house, it is collapsing, non?"
There was a brief scuffle in the doorway as both Kristi and her father tried to get through the door at the same time and the bag got caught between them, but Gambit grabbed the duffle and pulled them through and the others fell out of the doorway and into the fog with just seconds to spare. The house seemed to contract and fold in on itself and then, with a soft whump of displaced air, it was gone ….
David dropped his duffle onto the ground with a thump. "Jesus!" His knees gave out and he sank to the floor beside the bag, staring at the clearing in the fog the house had occupied just moments before. The mist moved quickly in, eager to claim new ground. "Jesus Christ!"
"My house!" Mrs Marsters looked shellshocked. "My things! It's all gone!"
"It's gone back, mom. Gone back home. It'll be safe." Kristi hoped she wasn't telling a lie.
Mr Marsters was peering around them, fearfully. "What happens now? I seem to remember someone saying it was dangerous to go into the fog ….." He trailed off, swallowing audibly in the following silence.
"We keep movin'." Logan set Nikki's feet on the ground and hoisted his duffle into a comfortable position on his shoulder. "There's gotta be a way home. All we gotta do is find it."
"But which way do we go?" Mrs Marsters moved to lean heavily on her husband, taking comfort from his closeness.
"Any way is good, right?" asked Nikki, waving a hand in front of her face to clear the mist and failing miserably. She took a step away from the group. "Come on! Follow me!" She turned back to beckon to her sister …..
….. and screamed as something small, scaly and multi-fanged leapt straight for her throat …..
NEXT: Expect the unexpected!