Thank you all for the lovely reviews and the ongoing support with the kudos/favs/alerts! Apologies for being a few days late, on top of a rush to the veterinary emergency room and a day keeping vigil on my pup, this chapter was hella difficult to put into words for unidentified reasons, even though it is so clear in my mind. Nonetheless, got it trudged out, cause ya'll so awesome!
(Also. Could NOT figure out what the heck is on Sinister's forehead. A gem? An apocalyptic portal? A 3M band-aid? A smudge of ketchup? Anyway, I got lazy, and I'mma be bypassing that red diamond whatever-it-is and his forehead's gonna be as smooth as an a-hole's bottom!)
Next chapter will explain the so called ghost in the mansion and we'll also be skipping a bit of time, want to be tackling teen!Charles already ;)
Warnings: violence involving children.
"Let me assure you.. Magneto now, is it? You can trust me. And Emma... This is how you treat an old friend? I'm hurt."
They were gathered in the lavish lounge hidden behind the Hellfire Club.
Nathaniel Essex, or Mister Sinister as he liked to be called here, sat splayed out and relaxed on one side of the octagonal couch set up, and Erik sat rigidly upright opposite him, with Emma, looking gracefully disinterested, to his right and Raven, in human form clad in a skin tight blue dress, to his left. Azazel stood behind them, to the side, leaning on the wall of decorated shelves. His casual demeanor was only a facade, and his tension is evident in the slight jerk of the deadly sharp tip of his swaying tail. Angel and Janos were stationed out in the club area as a precaution.
"I know about your experiments on mutant children. I want to know why."
Erik does not bother keeping the disgust and vehemence out of his voice, though it was having the opposite effect on Sinister than he wanted. The man just took another long sip of his brandy, looking serious for the first time since Erik has known him, before answering.
"Would you believe me if I said it was for the continued survival of our kind?"
Without even waiting for the raised eyebrows across the room, Sinister barked out a laugh.
"Bah! Neither would I! I did it because I could! ! I did it for my own survival. And I am sure we here are all capable of doing unspeakable things when our own survival is at stake. So what do you say, Mags, shall we bury the past and let this be a... reintroduction to a beautiful friendship?"
The art-deco patterned hidden double doors swung abruptly open, Angel and Janos, looking worn and wary, were pushed through the entrance by a pair of too-large hands with that ended in nails as sharp and study as claws. The man had a mane of wild blonde hair that extended down the sides of his cheeks, and large long canines that even a closed mouth could not hide. There was something about him that reminded Erik of Logan Howlett.
The man was joined by two others, both of whom looked only a handful of years older than Scott. One of them had silky chestnut hair that almost brushed along his shoulders, but the most striking feature about him was his deep glowing eyes, burning red like ember. He sauntered into the room with a confidence no one at his age ought to have, balancing a long metal staff on his shoulder with his right hand, and flicking through a deck of cards in his left. The moment his blazing eyes landed on Raven, he gave her a flirty wink and blew a kiss her way. The second man was shorter, but that could be due to his hunched back. His skin was ghastly pale, bordering on a green tinge, but everything else about him seemed to be fairly average. That is, until his tongue extended out of his mouth, and kept extending until it reached his temple to brush away a stray strand of hair.
Erik couldn't quite place why he found the latter man familiar until he met Emma's eyes.
So that's where the boy disappeared to. Mortimer Toynbee, probably abducted by Sinister after the explosion of the Black Womb site.
Every single piece of metal in club began to rattle. The more Erik thought about what torture the young man might have endured under Sinister, the more he wanted to pull all the iron out of the smirking man's blood and drill each molecule through the man repeatedly.
"Well... perhaps less of a reintroduction but an audition."
Sinister said with a wide knowing smirk, and he gestured with a flick of his fingers for his three associates to attack. The man sat back, one hand swirling his glass of brandy, enjoying the dancing puppets around him, and idly thinking of who he should pick as his next experiment.
"I-I can't feel who it is.."
By the forth explosive boom that shook the mansion's sturdy foundations, Hank finally gave up hope that it was Erik having a bad day and losing control of his powers. A ferocious roar bellowed through the corridors.
"WHERE ARE YOU! ? GET OUT HERE AND FACE ME! !"
Even his voice shook the walls, and the man sounded murderous.
It was just Alex, Hank, Sean and the children in the mansion tonight. None of them have been in real combat since Cuba. Hank had been asked help on a few assignments for Erik, but he was always spared the fight, and focused on finding out what the machinery or drugs were used for. They were sorely ill prepared to face danger.
"Alex-"
The blonde man didn't need to be told. He knew very well how dangerous and useless he'd be without the suit.
"My suit's in the bunker."
"Jean, Charles and I will go with you, let's try Cerebro and contact Erik. If Jean couldn't access the man's mind, there's a good chance he's got some type of helmet on like Erik's. If all else fails, we should try to at least get the helmet off, and Jean, Charles, we may need your help to incapacitate him when his mind is accessible."
The two young children nodded, and looked more alert than frightened. Jean had clutched her hand tightly onto Charles', but neither arms were trembling. Hank was torn between relief that the two of them were not in total panic and also despair in the fact they needed to involve them at all.
"Then we'll try to give you time and lure him outside. Ro, we need you to create a fog, and Scott, help me cover Ro."
Sean was already on the move, he needed that man to follow him outside before he notices Charles, whom Sean is sure is who the intruder is after. Ororo's normally iridescent sky blue eyes faded white as she called for a thick build up of fog and mist into and around the mansion. From out of the darkness, graceful tendrils of gray fog danced its way towards the mansion, swirling and enveloping the building in condensed darkness and the unique smell of what can only be described as ozone. Scott adjusted the sittings on his visor to 75% full blast. He's yet to try the visor at over 80%, nor has he ever intentionally aimed his optic blasts to hurt a person before, to say he was nervous was an understatement.
"Jean, Charles, do you think you can help us communicate with each other mentally?"
"I think so.. but I don't know for how long I can maintain it."
"I can take turns with Charles."
'Can everyone hear?'
A round of mental assent followed as they split into two groups and disappeared into the gray mist.
"FUCKING COWARD! ! YOU THINK A BIT OF SMOKE IS GONNA HIDE YOU! ?"
Before another wall could be slammed through, Sean appeared out of the fog before the massively muscular man, clad in a tattered old shirt, oxblood in color and faded jeans. He was wearing an overly large, smooth, red metal helmet that covered the man's entire face and head, revealing only his eyes and mouth. Moreover, the helmet was bolted onto another thick metal plate on his shoulder, ensuring there was no way to just knock the helmet off his head, they'll need Alex or Scott to melt through that metal.
"You want him? You gotta go through me first!"
Sean swiftly backed into the fog, leading the trespasser out into the darkened gardens out back. As soon as the man stepped out of the mansion, Sean let loose an ear blistering wail, shattering all the glass and chinaware in range. However, the man was either physically immune to the sonic wavelengths or the helmet had shielded him from the severity of the attack, and he just kept stomping towards the the retreating Sean.
'Damn it! I'm only gonna be good as a distraction. Scott, the helmet!'
'Got it!'
With one hand to steady his visor, Scott took aim at the bulky man now charging towards Sean, and fired, knocking the man out of his assault, but not off his balance. Scott maintained his optic blast, aiming directly at the base of the helmet where it was attached to the shoulder plate, hoping that would be a weak spot of the contraption.
The man's movements slowed, but as soon as he turned his attention on to Scott, and barreled towards him, the optic blasts proved to be ineffective. Not one to give up or back away, Scott attempted to switch his visor to a stronger setting.
'Scott! Get out of the way! Run! !'
Panic and despair echoed within with Sean's voice, before a flash of immeasurable pain. Then nothing.
'Scott! ! !'
Alex's voice blared through everyone's mind.
'Scotty! Talk to me! Are you alright!? I'm coming to you right now! !'
'I-I'm alright... but Sean..'
An image of an unconscious and bloody Sean in the arms of a fallen Scott was being projected by Ororo to the others.
"Who the hell are you brats? More leeching strays?"
In Scott's peripheral vision, Ororo was hovering in midair, arms spread upwards and wide apart, head tilted towards the sky as if to call upon its powers. When she abruptly faced back down at the intruder, her face was fierce with anger, eyes a smoldering white. Without further warning, bolt after bolt of lightning struck from the skies, hitting the man with deadly precision. The sheer force of the lightning pushed the man flat into the ground, and finally he stopped moving.
But only for a brief moment, not even enough to catch a breath.
The man defied his immense bulk, and jumped up, charging directly at Ororo, who was now too stunned to move away. From behind the intruder, Alex released a heavy beam of pure red plasma energy blasted at his back, startling Ororo awake, and giving her the opportunity to take flight into the night sky. Alex's beams may be higher in potency than Scott's but at the same time, it was also more difficult to get under control, so the man was unable to maintain precision for a longer than a few seconds at a time.
"ENOUGH! ! I DIDN'T COME HERE TO BABYSIT! WHERE THE HELL IS HE! ! ! ? ?"
Alex could practically see the fury seeping out of the helmet. The intruder turned to face Alex, and the moment their eyes met, Alex knew he was in deep shit. Alex had little choice but to make a momentary run for it. He couldn't release another blast when the others were still so close to the masked man.
"Get back here you fucking piece of chicken shit! !"
They headed towards one side of the mansion, away from an unconscious Sean who was being frantically looked after by Scott and Ororo. The man seemed to gain further destructive momentum when he started running, each of his steps leaving a hole in the ground, and he was gaining on Alex with alarming speed.
'Shit! Hank, what's happening with Cerebro?'
'Give me ten more minutes!'
'I don't know if you'll have ten minut-'
'Alex! !?'
Multitudes of panic laced through each other's mind when Alex does not respond immediately.
'I-I'm fi-ne... Fu-ck.. H-he's de-stroyed the po-wer box.. Scott-'
'I'm here Alex! I'll come help you!'
'No Sc-ott.. I need you.. t-to go to C-Cerebro and help Hank.. seal it shut.'
'But-'
'Now Scott! I'll be f-ine... h-he's heading b-ack inside.. for Char-les.. Go now! ..H-Hank...'
'...I'll keep them safe, Alex.'
With the power off, Cerebro is of no use, but even standing inside this vast dome should amplify Charles' and Jean's telepathy. Just as the distinct wiring within Erik's helmet neutralizes telepathy, the wiring within each individual panel of Cerebro was designed to magnify and intensify. They just needed to get that helmet off.
"After this, I'm going to build a regenerator to a regenerator."
Hank said, mostly to himself, but half hoping it would ease the minds of the two children with him. The lights were off now too, and they were forced to go by the few hand held flashlights Hank had the foresight to stock in every room in the mansion.
Charles and Jean were huddled behind Cerebro's control panel, their previous alertness has mostly faded, and all Hank could make out under the limited light was fear.
"Whatever happens, you two need to stay hidden, okay?"
A powerful thump came at the soldered together entrance before Hank could make them promise, each pound of the cold metal bringing about a frightened twitch in the children. Scott stood to the side of the entrance, hoping to blast at the helmet again when the man invariably breaks down the doors. He was reeling from the image of Sean collapsed over him, and the knowledge that Alex was badly wounded. Scott set his visor to 100%. He no longer cared whether he might kill the man.
The banging continued, and the steel doors have curved inwards. It would only be a matter seconds. Hank gave one final glance towards the direction of the hidden children to make sure they could not be easily spotted.
When the doors finally gave way and smashed over to the other side of the dome, Scott immediately fired, focusing again at the spot he had shot at before. At full capacity, Scott was finding it more strenuous to aim and balance at the same time. His shoes were losing their grip on the smooth steel floor, and the pure force of his optic plasma was pushing his weight further and further back until he reached the wall. This did not go unnoticed by the intruder, and he strode towards Scott with purpose, pushing the young man into the wall with his own plasma force, until he was more or less stuck deep inside a molten cavern.
Hank managed to jump the intruder before he buried Scott behind all that misshapen steel. The Beast's hidden strength took the man by surprise, and Hank managed to get a few bolts loosened with the pliers he found. Hank's attempt at removing the helmet fed the man with renewed levels of rage and power, and he flipped Hank off onto the ground as if he were a pile of flint.
Then the intruder jumped up and performed a leg drop directly onto Hank's chest. The colossal amount of pressure drew out all of Hank's breath, leaving him lying powerless in a pile of rubble, coughing blood, fighting just to breathe, painfully. But the man didn't seem satisfied as he loomed over incapacitated man on the ground, ready to drive another kick in to him.
From behind, a piece of rubble hit the man's back.
"Stop! Shop hurting him! ! Get away from him!"
It was Charles with an armful of steel and brick wreckage. His small growing body trembled in terror, but his eyes were determined sapphires of tenacity. The masked man faltered somewhat when he processes the child's face. It was as if he was seeing a ghost. He was so shocked, he doesn't notice the last remaining bolts on his helmet were quietly unscrewing themselves.
"...you must be his son. You look exactly like him... Exactly the way he looks in my worst nightmares!"
Hank tried to yell for Charles to run, but all that his body would allow was bloody short and labored gasps. The last thing he sees before he faded into unconsciousness was the fragments of light catching on the moving bolts.
With one sweep of his arm, the massive man grabbed onto Charles by the neck, and lifted.
"Even when you're in danger, he still hides like the coward he is!"
Charles' legs kick and flail about, his small hands tugged uselessly at the man's oversized hand around his neck, struggling for air. The man notices the red haired girl behind the row of monitors, and he smirks at her as he is about to throw Charles into the wall like garbage.
"Stop! ! No! ! !"
"Ugh.. I'm gonna spend an hour in the tub."
Raven spoke as she stretched and massaged her neck. Before Azazel could reply with a 'may I join', they had arrived in the mansion's main foyer. To sight of debris and destruction.
"Wha... what the hell.."
Angel's horrified tone reflected what everyone was thinking.
"I sense Ororo back outside.. Sean is with her, unconscious... Alex is nearby too, injured."
Emma had transformed into her diamond form and if diamonds could develop a cold sweat, she was the image of such a phenomenon.
"Blood flow down in the bunker...Cerebro."
Erik could feel the gathered hum of iron molecules down in the bunker., and the iron fast flowing, indicating accelerated heart rates.
"Stop! ! No! ! !"
The voice was muffled, but clearly it was Jean's, and Erik was on the move immediately.
"Janos, Angel clear the perimeter and look for Alex, Sean and Ororo, the rest of you with me to Cerebro, now!"
Azazel snapped his hands on to his fellows, and Erik readied his powers to attack at once.
~x~
The sulfuric smoke cleared to the sight of unmitigated destruction. Hank was unconscious and bloody near the center of Cerebro in a crater of crumpled concrete and metal.
"Oh my God! Hank! !"
Raven ran to his side, but was afraid to move the man for fear of hurting him further. A few feet away was an enormously built man, frozen, his face a mix of shock and madness, and a red cone-shaped helmet floating in midair beside him. Another few steps further still, was Charles and Jean gathered close into one another, almost hyperventilating but hypnotized by the helmet.
"Charles, Jean are you hurt! ?"
At the sound of Erik's voice, the helmet clatters to the ground, the sound of which snaps Charles out of his daze and his face crumbles up when he faces the distressed man.
"Erik... h-elp.. Hank.. S-Scott... everyone... help.."
Jean, still with a bewildered look on her face, looked around for a moment, then her eyes promptly rolled back and fainted into Erik's embrace.
Emma transformed out of her diamond form, focused on Jean with complete awe and pride.
"I believe her secondary mutation just manifested. Telekinesis."
"The man just turned up and bashed down the door.."
With Erik back, Scott was easily freed from his metal prison in the wall of Cerebro.
"He was looking for Charles.. I don't know what he would have done to him if knew Charles was... right there."
Erik had asked Azazel and Emma to go find and 'convince' the area's best doctor to pay the mansion a late night home visit. Charles had gone with Raven to try help the others and provide whatever comfort they could at the moment. All the children were thankfully relatively unhurt. Scott will suffer a few heavy bruises, but he's able to move about freely. Jean had woken up, after a short rest and she joined Ororo in bringing in some ice and clean towels help those suffering with more sever injuries.
Emma has placed the intruder into a deep coma for the time being. When things settle down in the mansion, Erik wants to speak to the man himself. He would have preferred to have Azazel lock him somewhere in Hellfire, but he didn't want to risk Sinister getting his hands onto this man.
'His name is Cain Marko.'
So as to not remind the others of their horrid night, Erik had taken off his helmet, and he was unnerved by the sudden iciness prickling inside his head. However, that feeling was nothing compared to what stirred inside him by the name Emma had just given.
Snapshot: The Proposal
Charles, aged 4 and ¾
~x~
Mrs. Etiquette's Guide to the Perfect Marriage Proposal.
By reading this, you have taken the first step towards asking your special lady friend to share the rest of your life with you. Follow these simple steps, and you will have a swooning bride-to-be in your arms in no time.
~x~
Step 1: Make Certain She is The One.
For days, Charles stalked Erik with his startlingly blue eyes and piercing gaze. The child would stare, mouth mid-gnaw, for minutes without blinking. It was harrowing even to watch let alone be on the receiving end of such intense scrutiny.
Charles would be there in the morning when Erik awoke, standing on tip toes beside his pillow.
He'd be there when Erik gets out of the shower, peeking from the slightly open bathroom door.
His eyes would follow Erik's clumsy pre-coffee attempts at pouring the dark liquid drug.
He would have his gaze studiously glued on him when Erik wanted to... well, when Erik needed alone time. And alone time has not been forthcoming for days.
"Charles... May you please explain why you've been staring at me all day?" For the past week.
"To make sure you're the one! !"
The gooey smile that broke Charles' staring was enough to quell Erik's urge to ask further, and let Charles do his thing. What's the worst that could happen anyway?
~x~
Step 2: Finding the Perfect Ring
Charles naturally turned to Hank as his go-to man for encyclopedic knowledge of all things he didn't understand, and Hank obligingly gave the toddler a half day long lesson on the history of rings going back to the first invention of the wheel and the natural occurrences of circular shapes in nature. Packed full of knowledge, the toddler set about finding that perfect ring. 'The token of your affections', Mrs. Etiquette says.
The rest of the day was spent rummaging through the garage all the way to the hidden attic, but Charles still could not find it. He was about to give up in teary defeat for the day when he noticed a small wooden box covered in a thin layer of dust, hidden deep inside the bottom drawer of his father's large oak desk.
Inside the simply decorated box was a mismatch of photos, letters, and trinkets that Brian Xavier had collected over the years. One particular item that caught Charles' eye, and left him giddy and excited, was a small solid silver bangle that was too small to fit a grown man, but too big to fit on a finger. On the inside of the bangle was an inscription in beautifully handcrafted script font.
Charles F. Xavier, 1930
The toddler looked confounded at the piece of jewelry in his small hands. He's never seen this before, yet it had his name on it and birth year on it. Charles concluded that this must be a birthday gift that he was not supposed to find. The child felt guilty at having gone through his father's possessions while he was away but this was a dire situation, and he was sure his father would understand once he was done wooing Erik.
~x~
Step 3: Be Romantic
"I'd like to be swept off my feet."
Since Hank sputtered his drink at the mention of romance, Charles had to ask someone else about what being romantic entailed. Raven was the obvious choice, because Sean always teases her about her romantic getaways with Azazel. She answered Charles question with a dreamy look and fluttering lashes.
He probably should have asked for Azazel's opinion too, but Charles had found a broom first, so it was time to get busy sweeping.
~x~
Erik was increasingly certain that Charles wanted him dead, or at the very least heading down the stairway bottoms up, face first. Since the night before, the boy had started to carry around a broom twice the height of his little body, and going on an affront at his bruised heels.
Everywhere he turned, Charles would be waiting, with that damn broom normally used for sweeping up the fallen leaves outside. And it was as if Charles was deliberately try to trip him over, placing extra effort his dramatic sweeping movements. The most horrifying fact was every time Erik managed to remain upright, Charles would pout and make puppies eyes at him and the broom, then sweep even harder the next attack.
Finally, when Erik was about to set down onto the couch to catch up on some newspapers, Charles attacked from behind with his mighty broom, and Erik fell ungracefully with a yelp into the cushions.
"Did I sweep you?"
"...yes you did-"
"Yaaaay! !"
Erik could only look wide eyed with no small amount of fear at the boy running away in triumph.
Meanwhile, Raven literally blended into the wall so that Erik would not see the guilt, written in capital letters and underlined in red on her face.
He does hear her snorts though.
~x~
Step 4: Make it a Surprise
It was during dinner one rainy night. Everyone had settled in their usual seats, but Charles still had not joined them at the table.
"Charles!? Dinner's ready!"
Scott was about to volunteer to find Charles' chirpy voice sprung from somewhere under the table.
"Erik! !"
Charles' head popped out between Erik's legs from under his chair, freaking everyone out, especially Erik, if his string of German cussing was any indication.
"Charles... Y-you startled me! What on earth are you doing down there?"
"Good! It's a surprise!"
~x~
Step 5: Be Traditional
Charles crawled out from under the chair, and knelt on the ground beside Erik. His mouth suddenly formed an 'O' as he remembered to kneel on one knee. From his pocket, Charles retrieved a silver bangle that looked to be one of those you present to a new born baby. Charles extended his little arms to offer Erik the bangle, which he now also notices the inside of which is covered partly with a small piece of white duct tape, with 'Erik' written in Charles', currently, haphazard handwriting.
"Erik, will you marry me?"
The table goes silent.
Erik doesn't know how best to handle this particular predicament. He doesn't want to encourage Charles' bizarre idea of marriage, but he can't bare to break the boy's heart. Nonetheless, his lack of instantaneous reaction has led to Charles' wobbly lips, not to mention a full table of murderous looks his way.
"Yes! Yes, yes... of course... I-I'd love to.. marry you, Charles."
Charles jumped up in pure bliss, and crawled his way up into his favorite cushion in the world; Erik's lap. In his other pocket, the boy takes out a small jar of honey and a rumples pieces of paper with a circular drawing.
"Here's the honey, and I drew a moon... Azza! Please can you take us to Hawaii now? We gotta make babies! How many babies do you think the honey will make? Should we bring a bigger jar?"
"Wait wait.. You forgot to kiss your bride, Charles!"
Erik and Charles' reaction was instant. Erik gave Sean a glare that would have normally drilled holes, but Charles without any hesitation pulled Erik's face down and gave the man a big wet kiss on the cheek.
"No! On the mouth Charles. You gotta kiss your bride on the mouth to seal the deal."
Before Erik could object and lecture Sean about inappropriate child rearing, Charles stood up upon Erik's thighs, and with his small hands at Erik's cheeks, the boy bought their faces together, and gave Erik a big, wet kiss full of moistened lips.
~x~
Charles finally fell asleep, hogging two thirds of Erik's bed, after proudly showing the man the magazine article that led him down his wooing adventure, and also on the advise of which left him refusing to let his bride sleep alone on their wedding night. Erik wanted to slowly shred the magazine with an array flying knives, but the dopey smile still plastered on Charles' face was enough to cause him temporary memory loss.