Chapter 41
At the Institute...
First task upon leaving the school and arriving at the mansion; Check up on Haze's condition.
She was down in the infirmary as the Professor and Magneto watched on. The 2 old friends turned enemies were now temporary allies until this crisis was dealt with. Mesmero had to be stopped. Apocalypse must not be allowed to be freed from his prison. No matter what it took. Both Magneto and the Professor agreed on that.
"Beast, how is she?" Charles asks about the unconscious girl. When they went to retrieve her they found her passed out and she has been unconscious ever since.
"Physically she is fine," Beast can report. "Mentally..." he leaves that to the 2 Lady Masterminds currently probing Haze's mind. Magneto had insisted only they be allowed to check inside Alicia's mind so as to keep his secrets. Haze has been to the Savage Land and he wasn't ready for Charles to learn about that yet.
Regan and Martinique probe deep into the blond girl's mind.
"Ladies?" Magneto queries.
"When Mesmero broke his connection he detonated a memory bomb," Regan phrases what was done.
"The last 2...3 weeks are completely blank," Martinique reports.
"Should have realised Mesmero wouldn't leave us that easy a clue," Charles concludes, meaning Mesmero made sure to delete anything that Haze might have seen or heard that could have been useful.
"Indeed," Magneto agrees.
"We might be able to piece some of it back together...possibly," Regan hedges her bets.
"But it would take a lot of time," Martinique gives the bad news on that.
"We don't have that sort of time," Magneto concludes. "Ladies, repair what damage you can," he instructs. He wants Haze well and on her feet as soon as possible.
"Yes, Magneto," they chime together.
Charles and Magneto turn to leave and head to their next destination. It's odd this...them working beside each other again after so long.
"Your thoughts, Charles?" Magneto inquires what his old friend thinks they should do next.
"Our goal is two fold. First; we must prevent Rogue from securing the final key," he lays out what is the most logical assumption as to why she is under Mesmero's control. He's using her like he did the others to obtain the 3rd key. He moves on to the second part of what needs to be done now. "And in the event we fail..."
Magneto can pick it up and agrees with Charles' thinking. "We find the door first and defend it. But for that we should assemble only our most experienced team members," he proposes.
"Agreed," Charles goes along with that thinking as they enter the computer room. "To prevent Mesmero taking anyone else under his control mental blocks must be placed in each of them. It is the only way. If you feel your telepaths aren't skilled or powerful enough, Magnus, I will do it."
"Your offer is most generous, Charles but my Lady Masterminds are formidable," Magneto politely declines the offer. Again, same reason as with Haze. He has secrets he needs kept from his old friend.
"I have no doubt," Charles says, not wishing to start an argument. Though this has already been done for Logan, Sabretooth, Gambit and Domino before they left to keep them safe from Mesmero.
The 2 men come to a stop behind Shadowcat who is busy collating all the data they have thus far managed to gain on Apocalypse.
"Shadowcat," Charles speaks her name, giving her permission to speak.
"We've had, like, limited success in determining Apocalypse's origin. There are stories of him all over the Earth. Our best guess is Ancient Egypt," she informs Magneto in a business-like tone. When the occasion called for it, Kitty could be all business.
Magneto leans down over Kitty's shoulder and reviews what is on screen. Some of this he knows from his own research. "Try his real name," he suggests. "En Sabah Nur."
Kitty is deeply uncomfortable at having Magneto so close to her. She turns her head and looks at the Professor as if asking whether she should do that.
Charles nods and Kitty gets to it.
"You never mentioned you had discovered his name," Charles critiques.
"You never asked," Magneto retorts in his cold, deep voice.
Kitty rolls her eyes. You can practically smell the testosterone.
There is a gust of wind and Superman appears still in his clothes from earlier.
"Superman," the Professor greets him.
"Superman," Magneto greets him as well, eyeing the clothes.
"I was at the graduation ceremony before you ask," he says to Magneto, in response to the look Clark noticed he was getting from the Master of Magnetism. "Didn't want to cause a fuss so I dressed to blend in."
"I see," Magneto says. "Should have learned that your place, like mutants, is not to try and fit in to their world."
"To quote Domino, stow it," Superman says shortly, his mood far, far from the place he'll just politely let Magneto's crap wash off him.
"You went after Rogue," Charles has long ago figured out what happened when they finally realised Clark was missing.
"Yes...but Mesmero ambushed me and..."
"And?"
"Ah, we should probably remove the breakables before I say this in front of our magnetically inclined friend here," Superman cautions.
"Just tell us," Magneto orders.
"Ok..." Superman draws it out. "Mystique has betrayed you."
"What?!" Magneto roars and the whole room vibrates. "That no good, ungrateful woman. When I get my hands on her..."
"Erik!" Charles snaps. "Focus!" he demands. "Apocalypse first. Mystique later."
Magneto reigns his temper in. "You are correct, Charles," he concedes. "Forgive me," he apologises for his lack of control of his anger.
"Mystique was there?" Charles just wants to confirm.
Superman nods.
"That might explain Alicia but we'll probably never know for certain," Charles speculates.
"What else did you learn?" Magneto wants to know from the alien teen.
"Not much I'm afraid. Mesmero caught me before they got to the good stuff. Next thing I knew was when the Sons of Anarchy wannabes showed up," he quips.
Kitty chortles. Sons of Anarchy. That's a good one.
"When I left they had the scent and were on the trail," Clark informs them about the gang of 4.
"Good," Charles says, pleased of at least some progress.
"And you didn't go along, why?" Magneto asks, picking up on a fault in the story.
Clark tries to think of an answer but can only really come up with the truth. "Because Rogue absorbed me...well some of me. I need to recharge if we're going to stop her."
"Recharge?" Magneto inquires with a note of curiosity. While he knew Superman was an alien and the range of powers he seemingly had and his weakness to the meteor rock there was much Magneto didn't know but would like to know. He still believes if he could persuade Superman round, he is the perfect person to help unite mutantkind. Magneto will concede it is the one thing he cannot seem to manage to do.
"Like I'm going to explain that to you," Superman scoffs. "Lets just say what I need is here. The Professor helps me out a great deal...more than the press realises...more than I let them know."
"There is much you don't tell the press," Magneto knows, his implication clear.
"Oh puh-lease. Don't try the expose me threat. SHIELD is way ahead of you and as I told them go right ahead, then look me in the face and count the zero fucks I give."
"Superman, language," Charles reprimands him.
"Sorry. Bad day," he apologises, a little chastised.
"I can understand that," Charles forgives him.
"If you'll excuse me," Superman says and departs the room.
"You need to be nicer Erik," Charles critiques. "Superman is...not what you imagine him to be."
"He's wasting his talents playing hero. When the world finds out the truth he will be as hated and ostracised as mutants are," Magneto believes.
"And the X-Men will still be here to support him in any way he needs."
"Of course," Magneto concedes. Charles would hardly do less. "Tell me though, Charles, how are things with the White Queen and her Hellions nearby?" he asks. He has a right to be concerned about them.
Charles sighs. When they were leaving the football field Emma tried to worm her way in. Magneto coldly dismissed her saying that they didn't need the Hellfire Club's help in anything and that the only help they could offer was ridding the world of their ilk so yeah, don't think Emma is going to be an ally this time.
And in truth Charles didn't want them involved either. They had demonstrated they couldn't be trusted and this was far too important to risk their involvement. The last thing the Hellfire Club should be near is the possibility of gaining more power and one thing they've learned about this is that whenever they cross swords with Mesmero there is substantial power they end up facing off against.
In response to Magneto's question Charles says, "What is there to say, Erik? You know their games as well as I do. It's always hard to figure out the final goal. However if we're keeping score they did manage to snatch, you could say, one of my students, Magma but we got 2 of theirs. In no small part thanks to Superman."
Magneto actually chuckles at that as strange as that may sound. He's glad to see his old friend hasn't lost his touch.
Course with Magneto comes the Acolytes and they were here, in the mansion. In fact they were in the kitchen as Martha and Storm made them something to eat. Always play a good host...and Storm was keeping an eye on them in case they try anything.
"Spasibo," Colossus says gratefully as a plate is placed down in front of him. He is surprised but touched by the nice gesture.
"If anything needs char-grilled I can help," Pyro offers, itching to burn something. He gets what is placed in front of him.
"Say no," Quicksilver advises as he too is given food.
Martha places a plate down on front of the green-haired Polaris. "Thank you," she says. "But why are you being so nice?" Lorna asks because she can't figure it out.
"Why wouldn't I?" Martha asks back.
"Well...you're human," Polaris says as if this explains everything.
"Yes."
"And I'm a mutant."
"Yes."
"And we're...enemies," Polaris lays it down.
"We're not enemies," Martha declares it. "At last not from my perspective. What you are is a gifted, lovely, brave young woman who is possibly about to undertake a very dangerous task and therefore it is minimally my responsibility to see you well fed and have you at full strength," she says with very real honesty.
Ororo smiles softly. This is why she loves Martha as her friend. Such a simple but genuine honesty.
"It's probably poisoned," Pietro warns.
"Quicksilver," Storm warns him off. She won't tolerate that sort of accusation against her friend.
"What?" he asks as if he can't figure out what he said wrong. "Tell me human what are you getting out of this?" he asks it in an accusatory tone. After all in his head humans only exploit mutants.
Martha doesn't rise to the insult and remains calm. "The satisfaction of aiding special young people in making the transition to adulthood."
Pietro snorts.
"You better not be being rude, Pietro. You're a guest."
Pietro freezes at that voice and his eyes turn to the door to find his sister standing there, changed into her more usual Goth looks and clothes, her eyes narrowed and glaring at him intently. He swallows. "Wanda," he says, his voice shaking.
"Wanda," Lorna says, her voice lifting, her face lighting up. For months she was so wished for a chance to speak to her sister.
Wanda's cool gaze, her eyes the same colour as her twin, lock onto her supposed half-sister. The truth is Wanda has not been entirely sure what to make of her. She's not against having family per say. In fact if she takes the analogy Clark is like her brother she likes having that version of family. She turns back to her brother. "Are you being a good guest, Pietro?" she asks him, her voice giving clear indication of what she'll do to him if he isn't.
"Uh...well of course I am!" he proclaims too enthusiastically.
"Then say thank you for the meal Mrs Kent and Ms Munroe have made for you," Wanda basically commands him to do.
"Thank you," he says with not any enthusiasm whatsoever.
"There we go. Was that so hard?" Wanda asks him, secretly enjoying tormenting him.
Lorna giggles at Pietro's sour look. He's usually so confident...ok he's cocky but around their sister he's so timid. It's weird. What is it that happened between them that resulted in this? "Will you join us?" she makes the offer to her older sister.
Wanda arches an eyebrow. "Why would I do that?"
"We're family."
Wanda laughs mockingly. "We are not family," she coldly dismisses that claim.
Lorna frowns in confusion.
"Look, even if I was to believe you are really my sister and not some poor sap Magneto deceived because you happen to have similar powers you don't seem to understand anything of the ramifications. Tell her Pietro."
"Me? Tell her what?" he asks clueless.
Wanda gives him a look of 'Are you kidding me?!'. "Oh I don't know. How about the part where he must have cheated on our mother, you complete twat!" she snaps, exasperated at him already and he's only been here a short time.
"I know he's not perfect," Lorna speaks up in her father's defence.
"You don't know squat. That man is a monster," Wanda says, her hatred for her father coming through strongly.
That goes too far for Lorna. She jumps to her feet. "That's not true! Take that back!"
Wanda chuckles mirthlessly as Pietro looks on in panic as his sisters square up to each other.
"Now look..." Pietro starts to say before his mouth is encased in a hex sphere, cutting out the sound leaving his mouth moving but no words that can be heard.
"Stay out of this," Wanda tells him. She stalks up to her little sister. "I have to know how gullible are you that you believe the lies that come out of that psychotic, heartless bas..."
SMACK!
Wanda is stopped by Lorna slapping her. The young teenager is shaking with fury and the metal objects in the room are too.
Wanda rubs her cheek, her eyes narrowed in cold rage. In a battle of anger Lorna's is no match for what is buried inside Wanda's chest.
Everyone else looks on, unsure whether to get involved or not.
Lorna's hands clench into fists. She hates people who insult her father. "Shut up," she whispers in fury. "What is wrong with you? He's our father. All he wants is to make the world safe for us and our mutant brothers and sisters."
Wanda snorts rudely. "Are you really that stupid?"
"I never had a father growing up. All I had was my mother and humans put her in a coma for the sole crime of giving birth to me," Lorna says, anguish clear in her eyes.
"A mob killed my mother," Wanda retorts, anguish in her eyes too. "Don't try and lecture me on that I don't know your pain. Nor try and tell me it's a valid excuse for following that man into waging his little war against the world."
Lorna glares at her hard. "You still had a father. Me...you don't know what it feels like to think you're unwanted..."
SMACK!
This time it's Wanda who slaps Lorna.
"Don't you DARE say that!" Wanda explodes. "Let me tell you a story, Polaris. It's about a man who threw his own daughter into an asylum because she couldn't control her powers. A man who decided his daughter wasn't important enough to take the effort to care for. A man who threw her away like yesterday's garbage! Want to know who that daughter was?! It was me!"
Lorna's eyes widen. "W-what?"
"Don't believe me ask our no good brother who left me to rot for half my fucking life! Go ahead ask him!" Wanda shouts into Lorna's face as she releases her hex on Pietro.
Lorna looks forlornly at Pietro. "S-she's lying..." she whimpers. "Tell me she's lying...or-or that she's wrong," she begs.
Pietro doesn't know what to say in all honesty. He does feel guilty about leaving Wanda for so long.
"She's telling the truth," a soft spoken voice says...courtesy of Colossus.
Lorna looks at the big Russian. Piotr doesn't lie to her. They're friends...good friends...he's almost like a big brother in a way.
"You're not suppose to tell her that," Pietro hisses at Colossus.
"It's true," Lorna realises. Oh God how can it be true. "How could he?" she asks at a tear-filled whisper. "How could you not tell me?" she asks anyone present here.
"I could not," Colossus says, sadness and regret deep in his voice.
"Our father has something on him," Wanda states what they all pretty much know. "Doesn't he?" she asks Colossus, looking at the big Russian. "He has some way to force you to obey him."
"Does he?" Lorna asks Colossus.
"I cannot say," Colossus gives the only answer he can. That he is literally not permitted to say.
"Pietro?" Lorna asks her brother instead.
"I can't answer that. Don't ask me to answer that," Pietro says which only goes to reveal that it's true.
"And you wonder why I disown you," Wanda says in disdain at her brother. "Why don't you just tell her that father only did what he had to. That he had no choice," she mocks that excuse. "Let me tell ya something, Pietro, there's always a choice and the people here let me choose which is why I choose them over you and that sorry excuse for a human being who claims to be our father. And you, you're no better than him," she accuses the silver-haired speedster. "You sit there and make excuses for him and are just his pathetic little yes-man. Frankly the two of you make me sick."
"I...I, uh...need to go," Lorna says, her voice cracking as she flees the room. She can't deal with this.
"Was that necessary?" Pietro asks his sister.
Wanda glares at him. "Do you even know if she is really our sister? Or did you just mindlessly accept what father told you?"
"She is our sister!" Pietro insists.
"In that case the answer is yes, it was necessary because as a good sister what I'm going to do is save her from the likes of you and him."
"You're really never going to forgive us are you?" Pietro says in sad shock at the venom that is still pouring off his sister. He always thought one day, she'd calm down and realise they're still family and forgive the mistakes of the past.
"Any reason I should?" Wanda asks because she sure as hell can't think of one. "You left me to rot in a hell-hole for half my life Pietro while you went around abusing your powers to amuse only yourself. You could have gotten me out any time but no. I doubt you gave me a thought."
"That's not true. I thought of you," Pietro will argue that.
"Yet locked up I remained. Your excuses, his excuses, I have no more tolerance of. I am an X-Man and nothing is going to change that," Wanda states forcefully before turning and exiting the room.
There is a silence that prevails. Colossus stares down at the table, stewing in his own shame.
Martha blinks. "That actually went better than I thought it would," she tries to joke to Ororo.
Ororo smiles slightly. It was always only a matter of time till something like this blew up, what with Wanda under the same roof as her despised family. It was inevitable.
Pyro, meanwhile, has been tucking into a thick juicy steak as if none of that was going on. "Hmm, this sure is good eating Sheila," he appreciates perhaps the finest steak he's ever eaten. "Are there seconds?"
Down in the infirmary Clark is getting a quick check-up from Beast after he explained what happened.
Hank can't find much wrong with him apart from being drained.
"So I was thinking I'd use the solar lamps to help me recharge," Clark is saying.
Beast nods. "I see no issue against that."
Clark hops off the bed. The lamps had been moved since the last time he was in down here. He pauses at the sight of Alicia. "Is she alright?" he asks.
"She should be according to Magneto's 2 telepaths."
"Where are they?"
"Bathroom break I think," Hank gives what he believes they were going off to.
"It's going to be a long day with the Acolytes here," Clark grumbles.
"I concur," Hank says. You could feel the tension in the mansion.
The two of them leave the infirmary and head for the storage closet where the lamps are. They open the door and find them easy enough. Beast flicks on the light switch.
"Is there a power socket in here?" Clark asks.
"I believe so, why?"
"Because it's easier if I just stay in here, out of the way," Clark thinks.
Hank could see that. He finds the socket and plugs the lamps in before adjusting them to the setting he thinks will work best.
Meanwhile Clark is taking his shirt off. They've found this works best if there are no clothes in the way...though he has no intention of going further than topless just to be clear.
"I'll be just down the hall if you need anything," Beast says as he leaves Clark be.
"Thanks Mr McCoy," Clark says back. He stands himself in between the solar lamps, shuts his eyes and just bathes in the light, his skin tingling nicely as his body absorbs the energy. He wishes he knew of a way to speed this up. He needs to be at full power if he is going to stop Rogue now she has absorbed his abilities.
"I can see what you mean, Regan. The stretch marks would be so worth it," a husky voice suddenly breaks into Clark's consciousness.
"Oh so definitely," another female voice says in agreement, as husky as the 1st.
Clark's eyes snap open and he turns round to find Regan and Martinique in the closet with him, eyeing his form hungrily. Where did they come from?
Sheer chance, the door was left open a crack and the 2 sisters spotted the shirtless young man and well...how could they not come get a closer and if they have their way hands-on look.
Regan smiles. "Hi there luv," he says in her strong English accent. "You remember when I said I'd have your babies..." her eyes roam all over his chest. God she thought he looked amazing in his costume...out of it...she can barely restrain herself from licking every inch of those washboards...and there is a certain dampness forming between her legs. She licks her lips hungrily, leaving them glistening with moisture. "I bloody meant every word," she says, her voice dropping several octaves as her lust begins to take hold.
Clark wasn't sure if she did remember that. It was ages ago when they were fighting over the power inhibition technology and she was half out of it after Betsy kicked her ass when she said it.
"And I wouldn't mind be the receptacle for your passengers in exchange for a ride on your train," Martinique adds, her voice overflowing with sexual desire, as she commits every chiselled inch of the Adonis before her to memory. Regan had told her all about meeting Superman previously, gushed about it really and how she wouldn't mind having his babies if it meant being able to have him and Martinique could now see why. Damn, she could have done with bringing another pair of panties. She too licks her lips in the same hungry manner as her sister.
The 2 sisters smile with dark lust. God it had been awhile and just look at the male specimen they have here, trapped. Now usually they're not for sharing with each other but on this occasion it seems there is plenty of him to go around.
Even though he could get past them easily enough Clark can't help but still feel that he is in so much trouble here.
Author's Note: On the show it was very brief showing only Magneto at the mansion but the rest of the Acolytes had to be there too which gives me so much room to add scenes like Wanda and Lorna talking...and slapping each other. Ah, sisterly love at its finest. Oh Clark, how do you manage to get yourself in situations like that? Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews. Next up; Dark Horizons part 4 as both the hunt for Rogue and the location of Apocalypse's tomb continue.