"Having an enemy means that you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."
[xxxxx]
Chapter 20: The Enemy
If there was such a thing as love at first sight, Warren Worthington III could say that he was victim to it. From the moment he laid eyes on Lenore Davis, with her vibrant red tresses and vivid blue eyes, he wasn't ashamed to say that he was in love. Not definitely, but he was sure that he had feelings for her. He had never been in love before, but there was just something so indescribable about Lenore.
Of course, the thought had occurred to him that she had the psyche of an eight-year-old, but what he felt was hardly mental. It was a physical feeling, but not something he could describe as lust. It was like his brain had finally found what it was looking for — a missing piece that Warren had never noticed to be lost.
And now he was going to save her.
With consideration, it all seemed so cliché: love at first sight with a beautiful young maiden, a kidnapping committed by an evil queen, and now the hunky prince galloping in on his white stallion to save her — or in this case, a handsome heir flying in on his white angel wings. Not exactly storybook, but he would settle.
"Warren!" Storm's voice called from his left, some yards away. "That's it down there!"
He quickly shook any further thoughts at Lenore from his head, and looked down at Mutant Town, a dark mass of inactivity. Instantly, he knew which one of the many buildings that laid below was the one they had come for. It was tall and wide, taking up at least two lots. At Storm's direction, they began to descend gently.
"Is that Wolverine and Colossus?" Warren asked as he got a clearer view of the details on the street.
"I asked him to wait when he contacted me, but I never thought he'd listen." Storm replied curiously.
They landed a moment later, both Wolverine and Colossus waiting with their arms crossed. Wolverine stood with his neck titled a bit, looking away.
"Something wrong? You look a little down, Wolverine." Warren said and smirked playfully, but Wolverine didn't return his perkiness.
Storm ignored him. "Are you sure this is it, Logan? The building seems a bit..." She paused to look up at the tall brick building disapprovingly. "... indiscreet."
Wolverine flashed a look over his shoulder at the warehouse, then nodded once. "I'm sure this is it. In this neighborhood, people like the Superiors don't need to be discreet."
"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Storm asked, and quickly Wolverine turned his head away with a grunt. "The others will be here soon enough."
"It's not that." Piotr explained, seeing that Wolverine wouldn't. "He's embarrassed," Wolverine passed him a forewarning glance, but he went on. "He wasn't able to find a way inside."
"I'm not embarrassed, I'm fucking angry." He mumbled.
"Why don't you just make one?" Warren suggested. "Pete, you could knock down that wall with just a shove."
"I was trying to go for a more subtle approach." Wolverine grunted.
"I'd say it's a little too late for that."
The four X-Men turned to face two advancing strangers, one man and one woman, both with pure white hair that glowed in the moonlight.
"Who the hell are you?" Wolverine growled and unsheathed his claws with a sharp snikt.
The woman smirked and raised her hands defensively. "Whoa, there. Might as well put those away. We're not here to fight."
"At least not yet." The man added quietly, earning a nudge in the side.
"Tell us who you are." Storm demanded, and clouds quickly began to gather overhead.
Their solid expressions didn't waver, but they gave in. "You can call me Quicksilver." The man said. "And this is Albino."
"They're with Magneto." Wolverine grumbled, his nostrils flaring in and out as he breathed. "I can smell it."
The white-haired woman, Albino, clenched her jaw. "Can you also smell that we're not here to fight? Right now, we just wanna talk."
Wolverine could tell that both of their emotions weren't as aggressive as they would be if they were looking for trouble, be he denied it. He also knew that they were with the Brotherhood, or the Superiors, and they could be confusing his senses somehow. All he had left to rely on was his instinct, and sometimes even that was questionable.
"Logan," Piotr said, laying a hand on his teammate's shoulder in an attempt to calm him, but it only infuriated Wolverine more. "They mean us no harm. Put your claws away."
Reluctantly, Wolverine willed his claws to slide back into is forearms and straightened his stance.
The woman smiled. "Good. Now if you—"
Snikt!
For a moment, the world around Wolverine slowed down. As Albino was speaking, she turned slightly, distracting herself enough that she most likely wasn't paying attention to what she was doing. The man, Quicksilver, did not present a problem either - his attention was directed at Storm, and his eyes studied her in her tight leather suit, so he wouldn't have enough time to notice the situation and react to it.
Just as soon as it had slowed, the world came crashing into motion, and Wolverine lunged for the woman, claws outstretched. But the next moment, she was gone. Wolverine's forceful punch, aimed directly at the woman, caught nothing but air where she had once been and the lack of a recipient caused him to fall to the ground.
"Nice try." Quicksilver said, appearing a few feet away from Wolverine, Albino in his arms.
"Damn teleporters." He groaned, standing up.
"Guess again, Wolverine." In a gust of wind, the man was in front of him, a smirk on his face and a shine in his eyes that suggested malicious intentions.
[xxxxx]
Elizabeth had never thought about having children. Of course, when she was younger she would have fantasies about being the perfect housewife with a perfect husband and two well-behaved children, and even a Golden Labrador named something cute, like Bailey. Yes, although it was hard to believe, Lizzie Barnes once dreamt of the white picket fence life. But now Lizzie Barnes was Elizabeth Cole, Panther, a mutant. A Superior. And Superiors didn't have time for children and Labradors named Bailey and white picket fences.
Still, she thought, sighing. It would be so nice to have children.
"Are you alright, dear? You look a little ill."
Elizabeth drew in a deep breath, bringing herself back into reality. "Yes, dear." She replied, giving a calm smile toward her husband. Silently, she wondered how William would feel about her thoughts of a family.
"Lenore," Elizabeth asked, looking gently at the red-head who sat across from her. "Are you enjoying your scallops? I made them especially with you in mind, you know."
"They're really good." Lenore said with a smile, and took another bite.
Outside, there was a flash of lightning, followed quickly by a clap of thunder loud enough to shake the house and flicker the lights.
"Oh, dear." Elizabeth said, concerned. "I hope there's not going to be a storm. The electricity is so feeble here."
"I wouldn't worry, honey." William said in a certain tone. "We haven't had a storm since summer. Beside, you know New York — bright and sunny all year round." He said sarcastically, earning a nudge in the stomach from his wife.
"I sure hope there'll be a storm." Lenore said, smiling.
Elizabeth frowned. "You don't mean that."
She nodded. "Yes I do. I like storms. The sound of the rain on the roof is nice, and the lightning looks really pretty sometimes. And the thunder is neat."
"Well, I certainly don't like storms. The basement seems to always flood, and even after it drains there's those rats. I swear, you'd think they would learn to swim! And the thunder always keeps me awake at night. Doesn't it, darling?"
William nodded, his mouth filled with food.
"Yes, and besides, I've had enough water for a lifetime. Growing up on Mackinac Island... I don't think I can bear to see another drop of water!"
"You lived on an island?" Lenore asked, wide-eyed.
Elizabeth smiled. "Yes, I did. When I was just about—"
A crash of thunder interrupted her voice, shaking the warehouse violently. The lights went out immediately, shrouding the group in darkness, but a flash of lightning quick illuminated the house, followed by a final rumbling of the thunder.
"Whoa! Did you guys see that?" Lenore exclaimed, jumping out of her seat to rush over to the window, where she could get a better view of the storm.
"Lenore, stay away from the windows!" Elizabeth scolded, following Lenore into the next room as another combination of lightning and thunder rocked across the sky.
"Whose that?" Lenore asked as Elizabeth and William joined her, pointing down to a group of people on the street below.
She could hardly see their faces in the dark with so much distance, but immediately she knew who they were.
"Lenore," She gasped, pulling the redhead away from the window. "Go get Jade and John. Tell them to hurry."
"Liz," William said softly once Lenore was gone, embracing his wife from behind.
She spun around in his arms to face him and drew in a long breath. "I have to go, Will. You'll stay here with Lenore. Protect her."
"Don't go. I'll fight, you stay with Lenore." He paused. "You mean too much to me." He absentmindedly held her tighter, pulling them closer together.
"No, Will. I have to go. My sister's down there. I need to fight alongside her."
William looked at his wife, studying the expression in her eyes. The concern I feel for her, he realized, must be just as great as the concern she feels for Isabelle.
"Alright." He said reluctantly and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead, but she pulled him in for a longer, more passionate kiss. After a long moment, Elizabeth pulled away when she noticed that Camouflage and Pyro were waiting in the threshold between the kitchen and the dining room.
"You wanted to see us?" Camouflage asked with one eyebrow raised in interest.
"Yes," Elizabeth said, trying to retain some amount of dignity after being caught making out with her husband. "Albino and Quicksilver seemed to have started the fight a bit prematurely.
"We know." Pyro spat. "Magneto said that he wanted all four of use down there to help out. Mystique and Scarlet Witch are staying behind for back up."
"William is staying here to keep an eye on Lenore, but I will go."
"Alright then. Panther, go suit up."
Yes, Elizabeth Barnes was a Superior, and Superiors did not have time for two children or a Labrador named Bailey or a white picket fence. Superiors did not have time for family, because Superiors were family.
[xxxxx]
Surprisingly, four against two wasn't as easy as Wolverine had expected it to be, especially since one of those two moved faster than six of himself, and the only thing one of those four could do was flap his wings and shed a few feathers.
With claws drawn, Wolverine again swung at the white-haired speed devil, but again he was too late. Swing, miss. Swing, miss.
Wolverine grunted as he was again punched in the stomach, but it was no use trying to react as the man rushed around him.
Punch, miss. Punch, miss. Punch, hit.
The glory of his small victory was quickly stolen as Storm interrupted his fight with a lightning bolt that struck Quicksilver down just as soon as Wolverine got a swing at him. He knew that the shock would keep the speed demon down for long, but he still missed the satisfaction of gaining a lead on his opponent.
"Go!" Storm called, her eyes white as she fed the slowly approaching gale. "Find Lenore! We can take it from here!"
Her words were a curse as three more Superiors poured from the building, once of which he recognized as John Allerdyce, Rogue and Bobby's old buddy.
Wolverine turned back to Storm, wondering if he should stay to aid them, but she gave him a nod that reassured him of his teammate's capabilities on the battlefield.
With relative ease, Logan slipped out of the fight just as John and his two Superior friends joined in, slipping into the shadowed alley from which his foes had just emerged. Their scents were fresh, making it particularly easy to find where they had entered the alley from.
He traced their scents to the back of the alley, a narrow passageway set between the Superiors' warehouse and an even dark, dustier building. It was hard to pinpoint the exact origin of their scents, so Wolverine began to look for places that they might have used as an exit. He considered just crashing through a window or even the wall, but then that would put him off the trail, which would take a while to get back on.
Frustrated, he punched the brick wall, but that seemed to do nothing but crush a few bricks and bruise his knuckles. Then, out of the corner of his eyes, he caught sight of a garbage can.
It was silver and round, with nothing that could sat it apart from any other standard trash can. It sat in a corner of the alley, filled with black banana peels and rats and other gross city garbage. Logan looked at it curiously and walked toward it before pushing it aside. Underneath laid a person-sized hole that, from the smell, he could tell led down into the sewers. Reluctant but determined, Wolverine jumped into the darkness, ignoring the ladder that hung down.
Below, it was horrible mix of smells that ranged from bile to seared fresh to rotting compost. He abandoned the tempting sewer waters for the slightly more appealing cement that bordered the reeking waterways.
It wasn't hard to distinguish the fresh scent of the Superiors from the sewer stench, and it wasn't long before Wolverine found his way into the warehouse. He landed in what he figured to be the basement, since it was filled with nothing but debris from the crumbling, disgusting building around him.
Now, that's no way to talk about someone's home, Wolverine. Control's voice itched inside his head.
Instinctively, he unsheathed his claws, and although he knew they were no use against Control telepathically, his claws offered a sense of security and a release of tension. "Where are you, Control?" He asked aloud, breathing in, searching for some fresh trace of her bitter scent in the air.
Logan... I don't want to fight. Everything will be better if you just take your friends, go back to your cozy mansion and forget all about little Lenore.
"Just give me the girl back and we can avoid a very violent and bloody scene."
Telepathically, Control laughed — a laugh that scratched at his brain and made him wince. Your expectation of my hospitality is touching, really, but not matter how much I would like to avoid a confrontation, you are by no means taking my sister away from me without a fight.
She left his head with a dull jab, one surprisingly less irritating than her laugh.
"Telepaths." Wolverine grumbled.
[xxxxx]
"Jake..." Rogue whispered. "Jake, do ya think they're gone?" She asked, but her question was only met by silence, then a soft snore. "Oh my God..." She said rolling her eyes. "How the hell can you be sleepin' at a time like this?"
"I'm not sleeping." Jake answered in a sleepy voice.
Their chairs had been moved so that they faced away from each other, and now Rogue too was granted with the honor of a blindfold.
"Yes, you were. Ah just heard you snorin'." She countered.
"I was so not sleeping. I heard every word that you said."
Rogue sighed. "Y'know what? Nevermind. Ah have an idea."
Jake sat up in his seat and began to excitedly play with the ropes around his wrists, which he had surprisingly gotten used to in the past few hours. He was desperate to get out of his chair and maybe grab a cheeseburger on the way home, where he would stay up till midnight playing Streetfighter with Evan. "I'm listening." He said, a bit desperately.
"Okay, well it's gonna sound stupid, but Ah think it might work."
"I'm listening." He repeated.
"What if Ah just... try to untie your binds and you do the same?" She said, wriggling her hands around to try and find his.
Jake stayed silent for a moment. "You just thought of this?" He asked doubtfully.
"Hey! Ah don't hear any bright ideas comin' from you, Neuro. By the way, since when has anybody ever called you that?" She continued to work at the twine, trying to find some pattern to the knot.
Jake bit his lip. "They haven't. But I thought, if I'm ever gonna be an X-Men, I'm gonna need a codename, right? And Neuro just seems to kinda... fit."
"Well Ah think it sounds kinda dumb." Finally, Rogue pulling a stringer, releasing the knot and freeing her friend. "Yes! Ah got it, Jake."
"Oh, yay. Now you can insult me face-to-face." He said dryly before shaking his binds off and standing up. He tore his blindfold off flooding his eyes with light. "Eureka! I can see!"
"Good for you! Now could you please get these stupid ropes off'a me?"
Hurriedly, he pushed aside his chair and began to work at the twine, unsure if he would be able to get the binds off of her before someone came to check on them.
"Will ya hurry it up, Jake?" Rogue complained.
"Will you stop bitching for a minute so I can concentrate on this?" Jake said, furiously pulling and tearing at the twine.
She sighed genuinely. "Sorry if Ah come off a little bitchy, but Ah'm just hungry and tired and Ah kind need to pee really bad."
"It's okay." He said, returning a sigh. "We're both a little on edge, and that's understandable. But goddammit, Rogue, we've been here for less than five hours."
"Hey! A girl's gotta do whatta girl's gotta do."
Pulling at a final twine, the knot gave way and binds fell to the ground. "Oh, thank God! My back hurts like hell!"
After a brief stretching and back-cracking session, both Rogue and Jake were ready to flee. Jake had no trouble using his telekinesis to pick a few locks, a trick he had learned from Dr. Grey a couple a years back and also one that he had misused on more than one occasion.
[xxxxx]
At any other time than this, Wolverine would have loved to have two scantily clad women waiting for him with mischievous intentions. But these two women were Scarlet Witch and Mystique, and their intentions weren't as innocent as Wolverine could want them to be.
They were waiting there for him, he could tell, when he took the cage elevator up to the third floor. It looked like a large apartment, with a full living room, a kitchen, a dining room and several other rooms that stayed hidden behind closed doors.
The two women stood in the hallway with casual stances, as if he was late for some appointment. There was a moment before they addressed each to other that Wolverine found familiar — a moment that he took to draw his claws and snarl.
"Hello again, Wolverine." Mystique said in her deep voice, eying him from head to toe.
"Nice get-up." He said, noting her change of costume from the last time they had met — she now dawned a loose-fitting white dress and let her sticky orange hair grow out so that it now billowed down her shoulders.
She smiled slightly in amusement. "I'll take that as a compliment."
It was hardly a moment before she started the fight, taking a generous leap into the air and landing behind him, so that he had an obstacle at every angle — two walls at both of his sides, Scarlet Witch in front of him, and Mystique at him back.
Wolverine turned in order to keep an eye on both women, but his efforts were in vain as the moment he turned away from the witch, he found a coffee table hurling him through a wall and leaving him to groan in familiar pain as he fell roughly to the ground. He rose in the pile of debris, only to find Mystique and Scarlet Witch advancing toward him through the large hole he had left in the wall.
"Logan!"
"Rogue?" Wolverine called instinctively, his attention turned toward the threshold of the living room, where Rogue stood with Jake at her side and a look of horror on her face.
"I'll deal with them." Scarlet Witch said, quickly fleeting after the two teenagers, who in response disappeared out of sight.
His attention returned to Mystique, who had again begun to advance toward him. He made the first move this instance — a gaping swing of his claws — which she flawlessy dodged, unobtrusive to her stream of motion.
She made a quick jump and aimed a kick at his neck, but Wolverine caught her leg reflexively and pushed it away. While he continued to try at her with his claws, only barley grazing her skin with each swipe, she continued to make quick, tight punches and kicks, only some of which he managed to evade.
"You need to brush up, Wolverine." Mystique sneered as she dodged another one of his punches, and fought back with a take at his side.
Wolverine swiftly caught her wrist before she could touch him and pushed her down. "I could say the same for you." Seizing the moment of his advantage over her, he quickly pulled back his clawed fight and—
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. There'll be quite a mess to clean up." Said an all too familiar voice, one that Wolverine had not heard in quite a few months.
Not of will, his claws retracted, and Wolverine knew exactly who was behind his involuntary act.
"Magneto." He spat angrily before turning around to meet the face of his long-time enemy.
"Wolverine." The older mutant greeted in response before gesturing behind him. "And I believe you've already met Control and Majesty."
Standing the threshold between the living room and the hallway was Control, her originally messy blond hair pulled back into a tight bun. Clinging casually to her side was Lenore, only a few inches shorter than her sister.
"Majesty?" Wolverine asked, still staring at the two sisters as they stared back. Lenore held a look in her eyes — it was calm and unafraid, but not a look of recognition. She looked at him like a stranger, like the enemy.
"Yes, don't you think it fits Lenore well? She is so regal, even with the psyche of a child."
"What did you do to her?" He demanded angrily as he turned back to Magneto and saw that Mystique now stood at his side. Wolverine tried again to unsheathe his claws, but Magneto's hold on his metal-laced bone structure stopped that.
"It wasn't him," Control joined in, making her way from the hallway to Magneto's side. "It was me. And as far as Lenore is concerned, the only thing that I did to her brain was expel all the lies she was told by the X-Men."
Wolverine growled.
"Go on, growl all you want." Control continued, a smile twitching at her lips as she glanced briefly at his hands. "I bet you wish you had those claws of yours to protect you now, huh? Well, I'm sorry to inform you this is one fight that you've lost, Wolverine."
"Not so fast, Blondie." A southern accent said.
A smile crawled across Control's mouth as she turned around to face it. "Rogue, do you really want to—"
Silence befell the room, and immediately Wolverine felt a release of pressure as Magneto released the hold on his claws.
Standing the threshold beside Lenore and Jake was Rogue, her hands glowing a brilliant crimson, the color he had only seen from the power of the Scarlet Witch. "It wasn't hard to pull a fast one over on your friend, Wanda." Rogue said, a slightly malicious smirk playing at her lips.
Magneto stepped forward, his demeanor full of rage and annoyance. "Where is my daughter?" He demanded.
"Don't you worry — we left her in a safe place." said Rogue. "But now Ah've got her powers and her memories. So lem'me ask you, Control: do you really want to go up against my power?"
Control clenched her jaw and she stepped forward. "Your power is no match for mine, you arrogant girl!"
Snikt!
In a moment, the room erupted into a flurry of violence — scarlet bursts of chaos lashing against the white flashes of pure mental power, clinks of shining adamantium versus precise, combat techniques, the chaos of kinetic against kinetic.
Lost in this mess of violence was a girl, her hair bright and red in color, her blue eyes hidden behind shut lids. She had seen so much violence in her life, most of which she didn't remember. She did not understand most of the stupid things that went on in the world, but the one stupid thing she did understand was why these people in front of her fought, and it was because of her.
"Ah know who you are, Control!" Rogue's voice rose over the sounds of chaos, loud enough — she made sure — for everyone else to hear.
"You know nothing!" Control retorted, throwing a burst of her psionic energy at Rogue, which she swiftly dodged.
"You can't hide it forever!" Rogue screamed, blocking another psionic burst with a shield of Wanda's power. "Show yourself — Phoenix!"
Dun dun dun! Oh, no — Control is Phoenix! Or is she? Or am I just teasing you? Or am I? Read on to find out! The next chapter will be in shortly.
Thanks again to martshi3 for being my reliable beta!
The quote is by Winston Churchill, and I hope that you already know who he is! Especially my British friends out there.