Chapter Two

Marta Wagner burst into the sitting room in a BAMF of purplish smoke.

"Suzie!" she exclaimed, slightly breathless. "I knew I'd find you here. Where's Dad?"

Marta's younger sister, Ingrid Susan Wagner, was staring at the wall-sized 3D viewscreen, watching uniformed groups of animated characters blast each other with super-charged energy rays. The surround-sound speakers were going full volume, and Marta had to shout to be heard.

"What?" Suzie shouted back, groping for the remote with a hand as pale as the moon. Lowering the volume, she turned to face her sister, her golden eyes narrowed in her thin, elfish face. "What do you want, Marti? I'm trying to watch a show here!"

"I need to find Dad!" Marti repeated, her long, spaded tail swaying anxiously behind her.

"So?" Suzie said, casually flicking a strand of azure blue hair behind her pointed ear. "Go find him, then!"

Marti clenched her pointed teeth.

"I will, if you can tell me where he is."

"Well, he was here until a few minutes ago. Then, I think he got a call."

Marti rolled her night-goggle green eyes.

"Terrific," she said. "Where'd he take it?"

"How should I know?" Suzie snapped, her eyes drifting back to her show. "He left, I changed the channel, end of story. Why do you want him so badly anyway?"

"A priority call just came in," Marta said. "Priority A, actually."

Suzie raised her blue eyebrows.

"Ooh, sounds big. Any clue what it's about?"

"Nope. They won't talk to anyone but Dad."

Suzie scowled.

"Well, that's hardly fair. But I suppose you could try outside," she offered. "The front steps, near the drive. You know how Dad likes to pace out there when he gets a private call."

The indigo-furred teenager shot her sister a toothy smile.

"Good thinking. Thanks."

Suzie just turned the volume back up, no longer interested in her sister's mission.

BAMF!

Marta appeared on the manicured lawn outside Braddock Manor, facing the broad front steps. Sure enough, her father, Kurt Wagner, was pacing there in long graceful strides, his indigo tail thrashing behind him in agitation as he spoke into his comm unit.

"Dad!" Marti exclaimed, and dashed over to him on all fours. "Dad, I need you to—"

"Not now, Marti," Kurt said, waving her away with a thick, three-fingered hand without breaking his conversation. He was speaking to whoever was on the other end in rapid, colloquial German, his words flowing so quickly Marti had to really concentrate to figure out what he was saying.

["Why can't you just wait?"] he said, pacing across the stone landing at the top of the stairs then walking up the ancient brick wall before turning around and pacing back the way he'd come. ["You know we're coming down there next month. We could take the boxes then."]

"Dad?" Marta tried again, bobbing up and down on her fuzzy, two-toed feet. But he just kept talking.

["It wouldn't be any trouble. The jet has plenty of cargo space. Honestly, Mutti, I—"]

"Dad."

["I just think it's a lot of trouble and expense for nothing. You have the entire summer to get ready for the—"]

"Dad!"

["I know that, Papa. I know. And you're right too, Mutti. Excalibur could be called up at any time. But that has always been the case and we still managed to come down to see you at least once a year…"]

"Dad!"

["I know our schedule is unpredictable, but we've already made the plans… Brian is more than capable of taking care of things while we're away…"]

"DAD!"

"WHAT!" Kurt exploded at last, fixing her with a blazing golden glare. "What is it, Marta!"

"I just thought you might want to know that Commander Thomas is on Priority A and he's asking for you. You can take the call in the Control Room."

"Ach, Gott..."

Kurt ran a harried hand through his short, indigo curls.

[Yes. Yes, Mutti. Your point has been proven. OK. OK, send the boxes! It is your money after all. I just hoped to save you some trouble—

"Yes, Papa, I understand. I love you too. Yes, I'll tell them. Yes, Mutti. I have to go now, though— I love you. Bye.]

"ARGH!"

"What was all that about?" Marta asked.

Kurt sighed.

"Your Oma and Opa are going to be moving—"

"Moving!" Marti exclaimed. "But…why? I love that old house by the river!"

"Ja, so do I," Kurt said in his faint Bavarian accent. "This is the first they have told me of their plans as well. They've already started cleaning the attic and sorting things out. They called to let me know they are going to be sending me some of my old things from when I was a child."

Marti tilted her head.

"But couldn't we just pick that stuff up when we go to visit next month?"

"Of course we can!" Kurt said, sounding as if he'd just been vindicated. "And, that's what I told them! But you know how your Oma can get when she is cleaning..."

Marta smiled and chuckled behind her hand.

Kurt caught her smile and returned it with one of his own.

"Ja, well, enough of this family drama. What was it Commander Thomas wanted?"

"You." Marti said.

Kurt shot her a look.

"That's all I know, honest!" she said. "He wouldn't say anything more. At least, not to a lowly Junior International X-Man like me."

Kurt sighed.

"All right, all right. I'll go take his call. In the meantime, I want you to gather up the rest of the team and tell them to prep the Blackbird. The way this day has been going, I've a feeling we'll be needing it sooner or later."

Marti snapped to attention with a sharp salute.

"Jawohl," she said.

Kurt smiled and ruffled her bright red curls.

"I'll count on you, then," he said, and disappeared in a BAMF of smoke. A moment later, a grinning Marti followed his lead.


BAMF!

Nightcrawler appeared in Excalibur's expansive Control Room, deep in the heart of Braddock Manor. Stepping forward, he tapped the flashing Priority icon on the comm station's flat panel keypad with the spade of his tail, then used one thick finger to type in his ID code and password.

Instantly, the dim room was illuminated by a broad, holographic viewscreen projected by the complicated computer system built into the walls. Within the viewscreen floated the broad shoulders and stern, jowly countenance of Commander Dai Thomas of Scotland Yard.

"Wagner," the scowling man grunted. "'S about time."

"Dai! Guten Tag! I see you are your usual jovial self this morning." Nightcrawler greeted his old friend with a smile. "What's the emergency?"

"'S'not good, that's what it is," Dai said grimly.

Nightcrawler's smile dimmed.

"Kurt, how quick can you get your team down to London?"

"Twenty minutes," the IX-MO Colonel said without hesitation. "Why? Where are you?"

"Kingston. The TK Maxx on Clarence Street." The weary cop looked deeply angry. "Tell your team…there's been another murder. Can't tell officially 'till the tests come back, but jus' from looking I'd say the vic's a mutant. That's why I called you."

Nightcrawler nodded, his golden eyes burning with an inner fire that more than matched Dai's.

"Another hate crime, then?" he asked, his white fangs slightly bared. "Same M.O.?"

Dai grunted his affirmative.

"You better be prepared, Kurt," the hardened police officer warned him. "Whoever this perp is, it seems he's escalatin'. This scene ain't pretty."

To Be Continued…


NOTES: Kurt's adoped parents are from the animated X-Men: Evolution series, and featured in my little story "After the Good-Byes."
Commander Dai Thomas of Scotland Yard is from the comic series Excalibur, and featured in my story "April Fools."