Hi! *waves* Thanks to such an enthusiastic response to Part 2, my muse came 
back with a vengeance and wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote at least 
part 3A. More will come tomorrow - guaranteed!

Title: Into The Heart of Darkness
Part: 3A/?
Author: Stormy
Warnings: Angst, light humour
Pairings: 3x4 established, 1x2 forthcoming
Archive: Jacky's page (addy's in the sig) and whoever else wants it!

Please! Enjoy! And tell me if you did!

**********************************************************



PART 3

*    *    *


Beeping. It echoed rythmically and steady in his ears. It annoyed him. 
Profusely. He must kill it.

Heero struggled to open his eyes but they seemed to have lead weights 
attached to them. His mouth tasted cottony and dry; he tried to swallow, and 
coughed instead.

A rustling sound cought his attention and he heard a gentle voice telling 
him to wait. Seconds later, he felt hands helping him to a sitting position 
and the rim of a cup touched his lips. He drank greedily at first, wincing 
slightly as it stung his sore throat and his eyes opened completely. A 
beautiful red-haired woman sat next to his bed, calmly putting the cup back 
down on the table. Heero's eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the I.V in 
his arm and he reared up from the bed, ripping the needles out. The woman 
backed up slightly, still wearing the calm expression.

"Calm down. No one's going to hurt you here. You're safe, Heero."

The voice sounded vaguely familiar. Heero focused on her face even as his 
body tensed in readiness for an attack. If this were an OZ trick, he'd be 
ready. The woman held up her hands placatingly.

"I promise you, you're safe here."

Heero listened to her voice and awareness slowly crept into his mind even 
though the tenseness did not leave. The woman sighed.

:: Maybe you remember this, hmm?::

Heero jerked backwards in shock, slapping a hand to his head.

"You," he whispered. " The telepath."

"You DO remember," she chuckled. " I'm glad."

Heero's eyes narrowed again as something else came to mind. He vaguely 
remembered being taken out of his...

"What have you done with our Gundams?" he asked in steely tones. " And 
where are the other pilots?"

The woman looked puzzled for a minute - and then her face cleared.

"Are you referring to those robots we found you in?"

For a minute, Heero had a mental image of the fit Wufei would throw if he 
heard a woman calling his Gundam a 'robot'.

"Yes."

"We've put them in our hangar. They're safe there. As you are here."

Reinforcement of safety. Heero grunted. " And the pilots?"

"--are all fine."

The door suddenly slid open and Heero automatically reached for his gun. 
Finding it missing, he scowled blackly at the woman who's attentions shifted 
to the newcomer. Heero's eyes widened and his jaw actually dropped.

A giant, fuzzy blue gorilla with fangs, a white labcoat and spectacles, 
carrying a clipboard, bounded into the room. Heero stared mutely, unable to 
say anything. [1]

"And how's our patient today?"

The gorilla headed for the his bed and his fingers clenched. The red haired 
woman's eyes widened.

"Beast, STOP!!"

*    *    *

Jean had been satisfied with the progress she had been making with the 
brown-haired boy. She had felt him relaxing slightly - inwardly, she 
wondered why a boy his age would be so mistrusting and wary. When the door 
opened, she knew exactly what he'd been reaching for - the gun she'd found 
on him and moved to a safe location.

_What kind of world did they come from_? she wondered.

Jean had sensed Beast coming and was unsurprised by his appearance. Heero, 
however.....Jean only had a split-second to register the shock and then the 
bizarre calmness of mind exhibited by Heero, as though some remote part of 
his brain had been turned on that shut off all emotion except what was 
needed to deal with the here and now. Heero attacked.

The boy rolled off the bed with lightening quickness, striking his foot out 
and connecting with Beast's stomach. [2]

"Oooooofff!!" Agile and quick as the Beast may be, he was unprepared for an 
attack from a child on a sickbed.

Heero ducked and wound up in the corner of the room. His mind noted the lack 
of any windows, coming to the instant conclusion he was on some sub-terrain 
level and that the door was the only way out. He began analyzing possible 
escape routes as he watched the blue-furred man rub his stomach.

::Stop!::

Heero merely raised an eyebrow, his soldier mind already adjusting to the 
idea of telepathy, filing it away to use as a reference in the future. [3] 
Hank chuckled.

"The boy packs quite a wallop!" he said. Jean sighed.

"I'm sorry Hank. I should have warned him." She turned to Heero, marvelling 
at the feeling of deadly intent rolling off of him in waves. " Heero, I'm 
sorry. I should have prepared you. This is Dr. Henry McCoy, codenamed the 
Beast. He's been taking care of you and your friends."

"Pleased to meet you, young man, " Hank smiled.

Heero studied the man balefully, keenly noticing the words 'codename'. Jean 
stepped forwards.

"Heero?"

Blue eyes snapped back at her.

"Where are the others?"

Jean smiled again. " I'll take you to them."

She gestured to the door and Heero moved towards it silently, keeping his 
eye on the bouncing blue doctor. Outside the room, Jean crossed the hallway 
and knocked once before opening it as a familiar voice answered. Heero 
slipped around her to see Trowa sitting on the bed where Quatre was 
currently lying. Both looked to be okay and Quatre seemed to be regarding 
Jean with some familiarity. He must have been one of the last ones to wake 
up, he reasoned. He was slightly disconcerted by that fact. Jean put her 
hands on her hips.

"And when did you get out of bed?" she asked Trowa with mock sternness. 
Trowa shrugged and stared at her impassively. Quatre smiled.

"Heero!"

Heero stood next to the bed and gave them a quick once-over to see for 
himself that they were okay. He looked at Trowa who nodded fractionally. 
Quatre agreed.

"We can trust these people Heero, " he said eagerly. " My space heart tells 
me so."

Heero grunted and turned back to Jean. " Duo and Wufei."

Jean's eyes went dark and she looked away, biting her lip. " Wufei is fine," 
she said. " He's one room ov--"

"Where's Duo?" Heero cut her off, not liking the expression on her face.

"We couldn't find him," admitted a voice from the door. A tall man wearing 
a visor walked into the room. " We only found the four of you." He stuck out 
his hand. " I'm Scott."

Heero stared at the man, ignoring the hand. Scott shrugged and dropped it.

"Maxwell is missing?" Wufei apeared in the doorway. He took in his friends 
current state and seemed somewhat satisfied with their condition. " Was he 
not with Deathscythe?"

Heero closed his eyes and tried to recall what had happened. He remembered a 
black wave coming towards him as he fastened his harness. He remembered 
Duo...his eyes snapped open.

"He didn't make it into the cockpit!" he growled, anger and fear mixing 
together to create a deep wellspring of concern. " He was opening the hatch 
when that black thing hit us!"

"So he might have been transported elsewhere," theorized Hank, stroking his 
furry chin thoughtfully. Quatre's eyes widened in concern.

"Possibly another dimension altogether?" Scott asked, moving next to his 
wife who took his hand. Heero's gut tightened as he heard that and Quatre 
gasped out loud.

"Nah, he's here," came a gruff voice from the busy doorway. Four heads 
snapped up and focused on him.

"Logan - did you find him? " Jean asked hopefully. The feral man shook his 
head.

"Nope - but I smelled 'em."

The four pilots exchanged puzzled glances. Jean noticed their confusion and 
decided to explain.

"Logan's a mutant. As we all are."

"Mutant?" Trowa asked, speaking for the first time. Logan chuckled, 
somewhat amused at their naivity.

"Guess they don't have those where they're from."

"Mutants are humans that are born with special abilities."

"Abilities?" Quatre asked this time.

"What do you mean Duo's here?!" Heero slammed his fist into the table by 
the bedside, splintering it. THAT certainly  recaptured their attention. 
Hank clucked his tongue disapprovingly as he noticed the long slivers now 
deeply embedded in Heero's fist. _He acts like he doesn't even feel it_.

In reality, Heero didn't feel it at all. Al he knew was that somehow, they'd 
been transported to a strange world and Duo was missing. He stared fixedly 
at Logan, not even flinching as the wildman glared back at him. " You said 
you SMELLED him?"

"Logan has extra-heightened senses as part of his mutant abilities," Scott 
explained. " He also has an accelerated healing factor - most injuries don't 
even faze him."

"Sounds like Heero," Wufei commented. Hank picked up his ears.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I smelled him," Logan said, ignoring the chatter around them. He had 
to admit - he liked this Heero kid. Logan couldn't smell a hint of fear in 
the boy, only anger and concern for his teammate. He nodded approvingly. 
Something in him told him that this boy wasn't used to feeling concern over 
someone - that's why he could sense Heero's anger so strongly. In an effort 
to understand, he'd wrongly identified it as anger instead of what it really 
was. Logan leaned against the wall. " He was there at one point. I was 
checking out those robot things--"

Wufei's eyebrow twitched.

"-- and caught a whiff of a scent on the black one that I smelled back at 
the warehouse. The kid, Duo or whatever, was there."

Scott's lips thinned imperceptively and even Jean and the Beast looked 
somber. Heero focused on Wolverine.

"Is he dead?" he asked, in tones so quiet, they chilled. Logan shook his 
head. Heero let out a silent sigh of relief, his stomach unknotting and his 
heart obligingly climbing back down out of his throat and into his chest 
where it belonged.

"Thank Allah," sighed Quatre. Wufei looked relieved and Trowa lifted his 
head.

"Then where is he?"

"Probably with Sinister," Beast murmered, eyes vacant. Heero pounced.

"With who?"

"One of our enemies," said Jean quietly. " Duo must have been caught in 
Fatale's teleportation radius and transported with Mr. Sinister."

"Where?" Heero asked, already running through rescue scenarios. Quatre and 
Trowa seemed to be thinking the same thing. Wufei addressed Jean.

"Your enemy is named Mr. Sinister?" He shook his head, a harsh laugh 
issuing out of his throat. Jean glared at him.

"I wouldn't laugh Wufei," she said, and the serious tone in her voice cut 
through the dragon heir like a knife. " Sinister is a twisted, diabolical 
madman who delights in tormenting and torturing people. He's responsible for 
the suffering and deaths of so many innocent people--" Jean broke off and 
turned her head as memories of a group of people being slaughtered like cows 
danced through her head.[4] " He's a monster."

"And he's got Duo," Heero finished. Wufei bowed his head at Jean.

"I apologize for my rudeness."

Jean gave him a weak smile and nodded. Quatre seemed to be twisting the life 
out of the blankets covering his lap and Trowa captured the hands in a 
soothing gesture. Quatre leaned against him. At the sight of this, Jean 
smiled faintly, sensing the connection between the two. Scott noticed too, 
and he squeezed his wife's hand once.[5] Heero began pacing the length of 
the room.

Duo was in the hands of a madman. Duo. Laughing, life-filled, violet-eyed 
Duo who loved ice cream sandwich's and stargazing on the roof of their 
safehouses. Heero felt a burning rage well up within him at the thought of 
his partner being in the hands of a man like Sinister seemed to be.

::You care about him.::

Heero glared at Jean who wore a sad expression.

:: Stay out of my mind:: he mentally growled at her. Jean nodded, a faint 
blush coloring her cheeks. Heero felt the faint tingle leave his mind. He 
changed his look over to Scott who seemed to be the leader of the group.

"We're going to rescue him." It wasn't a request.

Scott nodded, already knowing that the professor would be monitering the 
conversation.

:: Sir?::

:: I'm here, Cyclops. I've already begun searching for Sinister's location 
using Cerebro. If we could find the signature once, we may be able to do so 
again.::

:: Have you been listening the entire time?::

:: Yes.:: The professor's mental voice sounded sad. :: They're so young, yet 
so old. There's images of such devastating pain literally radiating off them 
- it's all I can do to shield myself from the worst of it.::

Scott frowned and looked at his wife who nodded, hearing what the professor 
had said. :: That bad, huh?::

"Talk out loud," Heero growled at them. Jean looked at him in surprise and 
then laughed out loud - Heero had caught on pretty quick. Wufei raised an 
eyebrow. Quatre and Trowa looked puzzled.

"She's a telepath," Heero said, jerking his thumb at Jean. Quatre's eyes 
widened and he clapped his hands.

"How interesting!" he said, eyes shining. " You sense things too?"

"Too?" Jean echoed. Quatre nodded.

"My space heart lets me feel things - emotions of the people I care about, 
or am close to."

"That sounds like an empath," commented Beast with interest. Logan snorted, 
knowing what would happen if he let this conversation continue.

"Back to the kid...."

"The professor's trying to track down Sinister," Scott announced. " 
Meanwhile, Hank is going to check you kids one more time and then we'll take 
you to the hangar so you can see for yourselves that your robots are okay."

Wufei's other eyebrow twitched.

Quatre noticed and smothered a laugh. " They're called Gundams, sir."

"And I'm called Scott, or Cyclops," Scott answered. " I'm not old enough to 
be a sir, yet."

"I'd like to know more about your Gundams," Beast said eagerly, barely 
containing his excitement. " I've never seen that type of metal before - it 
seems almost as dense as adamantium." [6]

"It's called Gundanium," said Trowa. " And it's indestructible."

"Fascinating!"

"Hopefully after you find that everything's okay, we'll have tracked down 
your friend," Jean said. " We'll find him. We won't let Sinister have him."

Heero merely nodded and allowed Scott and Jean to herd them upstairs. He 
could hear Quatre asking questions about mutants and powers and he watched 
heard Wufei ask Logan where his sword was. Heero tuned them all out as he 
thought of how Jean had described Sinister. He wondered if Duo was okay.

*    *    *    *    *    *
END PART 3A
*    *    *    *    *    *
.

Man oh man - the ideas for this just keep coming! Part 3C will deal 
primarily with Duo awakening in Sinister's little dungeon o' doom - what's 
in store for our beloved Shinigami?? *Stormy cackles* I am having TOO much 
fun with this!

What's a fic without Notes?:

1. C'mon - wouldn't ya know something would shock the Perfect Soldier this 
badly and Duo's not around with a video camera?

2. For those of you about to argue with me that Jean could've stopped the 
attack because thoughts move faster then actions, let me remind you that A) 
she believes Heero is a normal human child, none of this enhanced Perfect 
Soldier stuff and B) he was just out cold - they weren't expecting such a 
violent attack from a bed-ridden child! Ah, the joys of surprise!

3. I believe part of Heero's training was to learn to quickly accept the 
unexpected and adapt accordingly. that's why he caught on so quick. Dr. J 
done good for a change!

4. Jean was referring to the Morlock Massecre that occured in Uncanny X-men, 
issues 208 to 212  I believe....*goes to rummage through her comic 
collection*  Anyhoo, the Morlocks were a band of mutants who's mutancy were 
too apparant for them to attempt to live normal lives as humans. They lived 
underground in the tunnels beneath the X-mansion until Sinister decided that 
they were the "pollutants" in the mutant gene pool and had them exterminated 
in a massive slaughterfest by the Raiders. It was recently revealed in 
Uncanny X-Men #350 that Gambit was one of the Raiders that initiated the 
attack. To Remy's credit though - he didn't know why they were there until 
the slaughter began. Then he tried to stop it and managed to rescue one 
little girl who grew up to be the mutant child psycopath, Marrow.

5. I'm sure some of you are raising a few eyebrows (typical Wufei syndrome) 
as to why Jean or anyone else for that matter, weren't immediately disgusted 
by the apparent relationship between Trowa and Quatre. Actually, the X-men 
are among the most open-minded individuals due to the racial bigotry 
directed at them just for being mutants, nevermind their sexual preference. 
Also, it's nothing new - they're friends with the Canadian superhero 
Northstar who came out of the closet in Marvel comics YEARS ago.

6. Adamantium is the strongest metal on earth, indestructible and a large 
chunk of it is currently taking up residence in Wolverine's body - his 
skeleton was fused with the metal years ago. I am ignoring the storyline 
where Magneto ripped the metal out - Wolverine still has his metal body!!  
This will be demonstrated and explained better, in chapters to come.

C&C required for purpose in life! Please ask me any questions or tell me if 
anythiing needs clarifying. Again, I'm trying to keep it as clean and 
together as possible and it's sometimes really hard to do!

**********



PART 3B


"Y'okay sugah?" Rogue came up from behind Remy and wrapped her arms around 
his waist. She knew what kind of memories the Cajun' had floating around in 
his skull - heck she'd experienced them first hand [1] - and she knew that 
this mission would be preying on her man's mind for some time. Remy sighed 
and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Jean had telepathically relayed their conversation with the Gundam pilots - 
knowing that Sinister had one of those kids in his grasp made Gambit sick to 
his stomach.

"Not really, petite." Gambit turned to face her and smiled at the open look 
of concern on her face. Once again, he found himself thanking whoever it was 
that delivered this woman to him. " I'm worried 'bout dat kid."

"Me too, sugah."

Rogue lay her head on Gambit's chest and just listened to his heart beat for 
a while. Remy stroked her hair idly as he sifted through his memories.

Growing up on the streets of New Orleans was rough when you were a cute kid. 
It didn't matter how old you were - there were enough perverts in the world 
that wanted young boys, males and females. Young, old, ugly, beautiful - it 
didn't matter to the pimps on the streets what the customer looked like. All 
that mattered was what the customer WANTED. Remy had fought against that for 
so long - and it earned him numerous battles against the gangs who wanted a 
piece of him for themselves. And that was BEFORE he learned he was a mutant.

Remy remembered a dark alley, a street gang and fear. A lot of it. Pain too. 
Terrified and out of control, Remy had lashed out with uncontrolled powers, 
blowing up the alley, and the surrounding buildings to boot. For a long 
time, he couldn't gather up the strength to move.

And then he appeared.

Dazed, weak from both weeks of little to no food, and the release of such 
energy had drained Remy to near-death and he was certain he was about to die 
when a deep voice spoke to him and a large hand pulled him out of the 
wreckage.

Sinister took Remy in and taught him in the use of his powers, taking vials 
of his blood for experiments, and teaching him how to be the best. Remy 
shivered at the memory of some of his training methods: the spilling of 
innocent blood to teach the concept of no mercy, pitting him, a child, 
against a group of insane mutants that Sinister cloned, to teach him how to 
kill. The beatings to weaken his resistance. The nightmares of tanks filled 
with half-grown clones.

It had taken a while before Remy had regained the strength needed to break 
free while Sinister was away. Back on the streets, Remy ended up 
pick-pocketing the pants pocket of a man who took Remy in and adopted him as 
his son, and made him a member of the Thieves guild. his prior 'training' 
under Sinister helped him leap through the ranks until he was granted the 
title Master Thief at the unheard of age of nineteen. [2]

Sinister hadn't forgotten him though - oh no, that would have been too much 
to hope for. Sinister had appeared to him one night and told hiim that 
Remy's skills were required and that he would be rewarded if he helped. If 
he didn't, Sinister would destroy the Thieves Guild and everyone Remy loved. 
Including his then-girlfriend, Belladonna.

Remy agreed, and he'd undertaken the job. He had to devise a way to enter 
some underground tunnels, bypassing the security, and leading a team in to 
dispose of some 'troublemakers'.

The troublemakers turned out to be cast away mutants, whose main powers 
seemed to be simple deformitys that marked them as such and therefore made 
them need to live away from people who would torment them. They were the 
old, the weak. Some were sick. Most had no dangerous powers. Many were women 
and children. Sinister had thought them to be a disgrace to the mutant race. 
The slaughter was on.

Remy remembered the horror and nausea that welled up within him at the sight 
of the Mauraders tearing into the flesh of the innocent mutants who's only 
crime was looking different from other people. Stricken, he'd tried to stop 
the carnage and was attacked by the mutant powerhouse Sabertooth. Hardly 
able to breathe and bleeding profusely, Remy managed to gather up one child 
and flee the bloody scene, the screams of the innocent ringing in his ears. 
[3]

Remy shuddered and Rogue tightened her grip. " Stay with me, Remy," she 
murmered, lending him her vast strength. Sometimes she wished that her 
superhuman strength also meant being able to physically take on the pain of 
others as well, to burden herself instead of her loved ones. It would be a 
fitting penance for the lives she'd literally stolen, thanks to her mutant 
power of absorbing a person's very life energy through skin-skin contact. 
But all she could do, was be there for Remy. And she knew in the end, that 
was all he really wanted. After a few minutes, Remy backed up a bit. Rogue 
glanced at him.

"Better?"

"A bit." Remy decided to turn the conversation away from himself and he 
looked over to where the five machines,or Gundams, as the small blond kid 
had called them, stood against the wall. Five gundams. Four pilots. Remy's 
eyes narrowed.

"We gotta help dat kid Rogue," he whispered harshly. " It can't happen 
again."

"We will, sugah," Rogue said soothingly, feeling her own resolve within 
herself. " It won't."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


Everything hurt. Arms, legs, body - even his braid hurt. Duo's awareness 
slowly seeped back into him in gradual staged. It took him a few minutes, 
but he eventually realized that something wasn't quite right. For one thing, 
he seemed to be surrounded by water. The filter strapped to his nose made a 
snorkling sound as he breathed and he watched the bubbles float by his line 
of vision with each breath.

The other thing that bothered him was the fact he had no clothes on except 
his boxers. Now Duo may be an exhibitionist at heart, but he preferred his 
little shows to be on his own terms.

_Not while I'm floating in a tank, like a scene from a cheesy horror movie_!

Duo's eyes opened all the way and he peered through the discolored water, 
trying to catch a glimpse of what he was dealing with. He could see a row of 
computers along one wall, and he could see other tanks...Duo inhaled sharply 
and nearly choked. There were what looked like half-formed humans in those 
tanks. And most of them were looking at HIM.

Duo wanted to scream. Instead, he began thrashing his arms and legs, trying 
to break the glass. After a few minutes of futile kicking, all he had to 
show for his efforts were some bruised and bloody toes.

_Okay, THAT was pointless_. He mentally sighed, keeping his gaze away from 
the...things, in the tank. _So where am I_?

Duo tried to retrieve those elusive memories that would give him some kind 
of clue as to what happened. As far as he could tell, he was the only one 
there - no sign of Heero or the others in that creepy room. From what he 
could see anyway - and there was no way in HELL he was opening his eyes over 
there again.

"Ah, you're awake. Wonderful."

Duo snapped his head up at the deep voice. And immediately wished once 
again, that he could scream.

A powerfully built man stood there, encased in what looked like bluish-black 
armour. Blue-black metal tendrils of ribboned-cape swirled about his 
shoulders, rippling as though they had a life of their own. That was creepy 
enough. He had white skin and black hair severely pulled back off his face 
which revealed a blood-red diamond on his forehead. Blackened lips curled 
back in a sneering smile, revelealing sharp white fangs. But it was the eyes 
that made Duo cringe in fear. Deep red, pupil-less, and GLOWING. They looked 
like a demon's eyes. _I've died and gone to hell, just like I said I would_. 
Duo shrank back from those eyes, as much as he could in the limited room in 
the tank.

"I wasn't going to spare your life when I found you among the remains of my 
laboratory," the man said, arms crossed as he stared mildly at his prisoner. 
Duo was sure that the man could SMELL his fear. " I couldn't see why I 
should."

Even in the grip of terror, confusion shone through his eyes.

"You fascinate me," the man said, finally turning away. Duo breathed an 
inward sigh of relief as those eyes left him. " One of my minions scanned 
you to see if there was anything worth gleaning from your little mind before 
I disposed of you." He turned back and Duo whimpered. " You are a child. Yet 
you are also a trained terrorist. A highly skilled one." His eyes narrowed 
as his lips pulled back in an evil smile. " You remind me of another I once 
had in my possession. He escaped." The man growled at the memory of loss. " 
But YOU won't." [4]

Duo closed his eyes tightly. He was definitely NOT a prisoner of OZ, that 
was for darn sure. On the other hand, he got the distinct impression that 
this was not a good thing. Duo whimpered again. Pain, fear, confusion all 
welled up within him, stripping away his normal defense mechanism - how the 
hell was he supposed to cover up his emotions with denial when he was 
floating in a tank, staring at a demon? He didn't know where his friends 
were, if they were even ALIVE.....a feeling of hopelessness overwhelmed him 
and tears began to leak out of the corners of his eyes, mixing with the 
saline solution he was in, and disappearing.

"You'll be happy to know I'm going to spare your life."

Duo's eyes flew open.

"Your machines....Gundams....they fascinate me. They are of a material I've 
never seen before, capable of causing more destruction then Sentinals. And 
you will help me to retrieve them."

Duo shook his head wildly. NEVER! He would NEVER betray his friends like 
that. Sinister chuckled, a dangerous sound that sent another bolt of fear 
through him.

"Oh you will help me - you won't have a choice." Sinister snapped his 
fingers, and a door opened. Two large men entered the room. One was 
Indian-looking, tall and broadshouldered, with a harness over his shoulder 
that looked to house a bow against his back. His eyes were dark and deadly. 
The other was shorter but equally dense-muscled and compact, even moreso 
then his tall companion. Wearing black leather trunks, boots and gloves, the 
man had FOUR arms! Duo's eyes widened in complete shock. Four muscular arms, 
rippling with power, the man had a decidedly evil smirk on his face as he 
fixed his stare on Duo.

"This is Harpoon and Forearm," Sinister informed him. " They will be 
your....trainers." He chuckled. " They will teach you a few things you will 
need - and they will teach you to obey. Once you heal enough to begin." [5]

Again, Duo's eyes registered confusion amidst the fear. Sinister understood.

"It won't do to have you half-healed before you begin - they wouldn't have 
any fun. Besides - I have a feeling you would die before giving in to me - 
your mind revealed to me that you have had much experience dealing with 
torture. " He smiled, and Duo shuddered. " That is another reason you prove 
interesting." He walked over to a computer and tapped a key. A small 
platform raised itself from the ground, a plastic, dome-shaped shield over 
the top. The shield  slid back and Sinister plucked a small object from 
within the protective tower. He held it between his thumb and forefinger in 
front of Duo.It looked like a tiny, metal scorpion. " Do you know what this 
is?"

Duo shook his head frantically.

"This is a handy little object I created a long time ago," Sinister said in 
reflective tones. " I used it on a young mutant codenamed Morph. It 
increased his efficiency, boosted his power level - and as an added bonus, 
it made him completely loyal to ME." [6]

Duo's eyes clouded over with terror.

"Oh yes little one," the evil mutant smiled. " I will increase your skills, 
make you better then you've ever been before. And in return, you will help 
me retrieve the Gundams, teach my men to use them - and you will help me 
destroy the X-men!"

More confusion. but Sinister wasn't looking at him anymore.

"I didn't recieve biological weapons or armies through that blasted machine 
- but one step at a time I suppose." He turned back to Duo. " At least with 
the X-men out of the way, I'll be one step closer then i was before."

A truly evil look spread over his face as he pressed a button on the side of 
Duo's tank. The water level began to drop somewhat until Duo's head was 
above it. Duo tried to speak but the filter prevented him from making a 
sound. Sinister pressed another button and a small window slid open at Duo's 
ear level. Duo whimpered in his mind as he watched Sinister bring the little 
scorpion thing closer to him until he placed it on Duo's temple.

Duo felt a prickling, crawling sensation that made him want to scream. Then 
pain, blinding pain as something burrowed into his head. He felt blackness 
creeping up on him on all sides and he thrashed wildly.

_NO!! HEERO! QUATRE! ANYBODY_! He screamed within his mind, even as he felt 
his resistance crumbling. The last thing he remembered before the room went 
dark was a pair of prussian blue eyes straing at him, imploring him to not 
give up. _I'm sorry Heero_, was his final conscious thoght before his eyes 
closed.

Sinister watched the little scorpion dig its way into Duo's scalp, embedding 
its way into his neural pathways and rerouting them accordingly. He turned 
to Harpoon and Forearm.

"He'll wake up soon, and then you are to train him," he said coldly. " From 
what I recieved from his mind, he's normally a very vibrant--" he sneered at 
the word."-- and caring person. They say that the greatest cruelty comes 
from the kindest person. I believe we shall put this to the test." His eyes 
gleamed. " Break him."

Harpoon and Forearm exchanged eager grins. " Yes sir."


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Heero whirled around, blinking furiously. For a second, he could've sworn he 
heard Duo's voice in his head. _What the..._

Jean watched him with concern. " Heero?"

"I'm fine," Heero said, shaking his head. He must be imagining things. They 
were on their way to the war room, where Cyclops said everyone would gather 
to start making plans. Heero was getting impatient.

Cyclops hit a large flat button on the wall and the metal door in the shape 
of a rounded X, pulled apart. He led the way inside. Heero, Quatre, Trowa 
and Wufei stood against the wall where they could see everybody. Jean again 
marvelled at this.

_Like little trained soldiers_, she thought.

Cyclops decided to start things odd.

"First of all - let's finish the introductions. Heero, Wufei, Trowa and 
Quatre." He pointed out each pilot to the other X-men. " You've already met 
Jean Grey and Beast and Logan, also known as Wolverine."

Wolverine lifted his lip in imitation of a smile. Again, Heero was 
nonplussed. He'd seen worse.

"This is Ororo Monroe aka Storm - co-leader of the X-men. She can control 
the weather."

The white-haired goddess nodded at the boys, wearing a friendly smile. She 
was wearing her battle suit of black and purple skintight material. Quatre 
returned the smile tentatively. Trowa merely nodded back. Wufei bowed and 
Heero folded his arms as if to say, 'Get on with it!'

"This is Rogue. She has the powers of flight, super-human strength and 
invulnerability. She can also absorb a person's energy through skin to skin 
contact. If they're a mutant, she can absorb their power and use it for a 
brief period of time."

A red-haired woman with a white skunk streak waved at them, green eyes 
sparkling. She was dressed head to toe in dark green material with white 
trim. " Look but don't touch fellas!"  [7]

Wufei grunted.

"This is Remy Lebeau, codenamed Gambit. He can bio-kinetically charge any 
object with explosive energy."

A serious-looking young man raised a hand in greeting. Heero studied him for 
a moment - he could sense a feeling of urgency in him, like he had a 
personal stake in what was happening. The man lowered his sunglasses and 
Heero blinked in spite of himself - the man had red and black eyes!

"Oh!" he heard Quatre exclaimed softly. Remy shrugged as though he were 
used to the reactions. Scott cleared his throat.

"Remy has had the most...experience in dealing with Mr. Sinister. "

Heero's eyes flew back to the brooding young man. Remy met his gaze 
squarely. Heero saw it then - a connection between the two of them. Hate. 
Grudging respect. The same feelings he himself felt when he thought of Dr J. 
The feeling of angry acceptance over acknowledging who it was that taught 
you what you know. The hatred you feel towards the same person, for the 
methods they chose. Remy nodded slowly, recognizing  the same in Heero.

"Will he hurt him?" Heero asked Gambit quietly. Remy hesitated - and then 
nodded.

"Yes." Remy listened to the intake of air from the young boys. He hated to 
do it - but it was best that they be prepared. " If he finds him useful, 
he'll torture him, break him 'til he'll do anyt'ing Sinister wants in order 
to stop de pain.  De harder he struggles, de worst it will be."

Quatre closed his eyes. Trowa's narrowed into angry slits.

"If he don't find him useful....he'll just kill him."

"Would he?"  Wufei asked. " Find him useful, that is?"

"Maybe." Remy shrugged. " Hard t' say."  He folded his arms and leaned back 
against the wall, lost in memories.

"Duo's from another world, the operator of that large Gundam," Jean said 
thoughtfully. " Sinister's got a few telepaths of his own - he'll probably 
keep Duo around long enough to get all the information he can."

"Worst case scenario is dat Sinister makes him one of DEM," Remy shuddered.

"Them?"  Trowa asked.

"A Maurader. " [8]

Logan growled dangerously. Beast and Storm exchanged deadly looks, the pain 
on the weather goddess's face almost palpable.

"What's a Maurader?" Heero asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer. 
His fists tightened in anticipation of Cyclop's answre.

Cyclops sighed and brushed a hand through his hair.

"Sinister's hitmen. Murderous, bloodthirsty assassins' who thrive on 
bloodshed. Give them a target - they don't care who - nothing makes them 
happier."  His matter-of-fact answer hit the gundam pilots with all the 
subtlety of a sledgehammer in the gut.

Quatre envisioned their smiling Duo painted in blood. He recalled vicious 
battles against OZ where Duo's maniacal laughter rang out as he mowed down 
his enemies and a tremor ran through him.

"Maybe not so much of a switch," he whispered. Trowa tightened his grip 
around the blond's waist.

"What?" Cyclops stared at Quatre. Jean felt the uneasy agreement echo 
through the four boys and she started violently.

"What kind of world DO you come from?" she asked incredulously.

In the end, it was Quatre who told them of their war-torn world. How five 
colonies sent five boys to battle against an entire federation. How they had 
been denied their childhood, forced to spend their free time recovering from 
battle wounds and nightmares that made them scream into the night. Jean 
closed her eyes as she tried to imagine these four innocent-looking children 
as trained terrorists.

"Dear god," she whispered. Logan pointed his stogie at Quatre.

"Why'd ya say it wouldn't be much of a change?" he asked. " This Duo of 
yours a killer?"

Heero's eyes blazed in righteous fury and only Wufei snatching the back of 
his tank top prevented him from leaping at the feral man. He had the vague 
impression that Logan could easily take him, regardless of his Perfect 
Soldier training, but he found he didn't care. He spat out angrily at Logan.

"Don't you EVER say that about Duo!"

Trowa and Wufei levelled deadly stares at the X-men for seemingly condemming 
their team mate. Storm looked at Quatre - yes, even the friendly-looking boy 
had the angriest expression she'd ever seen.

"Well, that was obviously the wrong thing to say," Hank said, scratching 
his head in confusion.

"Everyone just calm your hormones now," Rogue said as she stepped forward. 
"Logan didn't mean it that way - right sugah?"

Logan shrugged. " Sure."

Quatre fought the anger down. They didn't know. He had to make them 
understand.

"We're Gundam pilots," he said at last, wondering how he was going to 
explain this. Technically, they WERE killers - and weren't at the same time. 
"We fight, yes - we kill. But only in battle."

Cyclops nodded, still looking skeptical.

"But Duo - Duo's different." Quatre rubbed his eyes. " We kill and hate 
killing. So does he. But when he's in the heat of the battle - he's not Duo 
anymore."

"He's Shinigami," muttered Heero.

"Death?" Beast asked curiously. Quatre nodded.

"He kills - and takes pride in doing what he does. Because he does it so 
well. On some level, we all feel the same way."

"But Maxwell also takes it twice as hard," said Wufei. " He's lost his 
family - everything to war. He's devoted to protecting innocents. When he 
kills, he sees in front of him the people who took his family and friends 
away."

"Outside of war, Duo's the happiest person to be around - he won't rest 
until he's cheered you up. Underneath that goofball facade, he's one of the 
most fiercely loyal people you'll ever know." Quatre rubbed his face again. 
"It would take a lot to make him fight innocent people - I can't see him 
doing it. But I can see him killing his TARGETS."

Quatre stressed that last word and Jean realized with a start, that she 
understood. Regardless of who was there, if Duo saw it as a target, 
especially after being in Sinister's clutches - he'd destroy it. It was 
perfect. Sinister had dozens of ways to manipulate minds - and then he'd 
have a child doing his dirty work for him. One that was used to it.

"That bastard," she whispered. Quatre nodded - his eyes shone as he saw her 
come to her conclusions.

"Now you understand."

"As we all do," came a new voice from the door. Everyone turned and saw a 
bald-headed man enter the room in a flying wheelchair. Minus the wheels. " I 
am Professor Xavier, founder of the X-men." A sorrowful look crossed his 
face as he addressed the group. " And I have some bad news."

*    *    *    *

The boy opened his eyes again. This time though, he wasn't surrounded in 
water. No - he was on a table. He blinked and sat up slowly. Where was he? 
Something about the room seemed familiar but pain spiked in his head when he 
tried to remember...anything. What the....

He swung his legs off the table, wincing as the pain in his head flared 
briefly before disappearing. He couldn't recall anything - where he was, 
even WHO he was. He looked down at himself - he was dressed in black, 
leather-like material. Not quite leather - he touched the material 
curiously. It felt like his whole body was encased in some kind of pliable 
armour. Interesting. Black boots, black gloves - he felt a weight swing 
behind his head and he captured it in a quick move. It was a briad - his 
braid. He felt some kind of significance attached to it but when the 
familiar apin began to return, he decided it wasn't important. But he 
checked and  - yup. The tie at the end was black too.

The door opened and the boy leaped to his feet, landing in a crouch. 
_Automatic instincts_, his mind told him and he briefly wondered what other 
instincts would come to mind. Then he saw two men enter the room and he 
focused on them.

"Who are you?" he snarled, watching them warily. The two men grinned. The 
boy noted the huge size of the one, and the two extra arms on the other. 
_More interesting_.

The big one gave him a slow smirk.

"We're your....training partners."


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
END 3B
*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


Heh heh - here comes the fun parts!

Notes:

1. Rogue was referring to the time when their timeline was disrupted. She 
kissed Remy - their first kiss - when they thought their world was about to 
end. But it didn't and that kiss left Remy in a coma for days, and all of 
his memories were left in Rogue's head. She knows first-hand all the terror 
and pain Gambit felt at the hands of Sinister - and that's why she's equally 
determined to help Duo.

2. I'm taking some more creative liberties with Gambit's history - don't 
quote me as being exact.

3. See my notes on the mutant massecre in the last chapter.

4. Who do YOU think it is? *grins*

5.  Harpoon and Forearm are established villains in the Marvel universe as 
Sinister's hitmen, also known as Mauraders.

6. Here's where I'm doing a mini-corssover between X-men the comic and X-men 
the cartoon. Morph was never in the comics - the closest he was was a 
character known as the Chameleon who died back in Uncanny X-men #50 - YEARS 
ago. In the cartoon though -Morph was thought to be dead until he turned up, 
working for Sinister courtesy of that little bug thing implanted in his 
head. I figured that was as good an explanation as any as to why Duo would 
work for Sinister.

7. I'm using Storms costume from issues #350 on up - the black/purple shorts 
and shoulderless (but not sleeveless) top spandex armour suit with the boots 
and wrist and ankle bracers.#355 or #356 has the best pic of it.

8. Mauraders! I mistakenly called them Raiders when I was describing the 
morlock massecre - they are called Mauraders, not Raiders. And they're 
ruthless killers.

**********


PART 3C


Quatre watched Heero go to work through the plate-glass window of the Danger 
Room. Beside him, Wolverine grunted in appreciation as Heero performed a 
series of picture-perfect rolls out of the line of laser fire, coming up in 
a ready stance and firing back with precision accuracy. Quatre wasn't 
surprised at how easily Heero had taken to the virtual reality room - it was 
just one more example of the Perfect's Soldiers ability to adapt and adjust.

Since that moment three days ago when the Professor had told them they 
couldn't find Duo via the residual energy they did last time, Heero had been 
a walking bundle of nerves and tension. Smiling faintly, the Arabian pilot 
remembered the Japanese man's introduction to the Danger Room.

*    *    *    *    *


Heero slammed his fist into the table, a dangerously calm look on his face 
as he stared up at the bald man.

"You can't find him."

Professor Xavier looked at the boy sadly, knowing how he felt without having 
to delve into the boys psyche. For all his control over his facial features, 
the boy didn't know the first thing about masking his emotions or his 
thoughts. The professor winced at the pain and worry he could sense on all 
of them.

"Sinister either has found a way to shield the energy coming from the 
dimensional generator, or it was completely destroyed when the four of 
you--"

"--five," corrected Trowa.

"Five," the Professor allowed with an apologetic nod. " When the five of 
you came through."

"What about Cerebro's normal method of searching?" mused Hank thoughtfully. 
"Surely since the boy hails from another dimension, his brain wave pattern 
would be noticeably different and therefore easier to track?"

"That works in theory," the Professor said, folding his hands in his lap. " 
Unfortunately, it requires a great deal of energy to search a limited area. 
And we have no way of knowing whether Sinister is even in the area - Fatale 
knows no earthly limit when she teleports."

"If we could expand the search radius...." Hank's voice trailed off as his 
mind began thinking alternate ways of boosting Cerebro's power. Quatre 
winced as he felt Heero shudder with repressed tension, and he rubbed his 
chest. Jean flicked her eyes at him.

"Quatre? " she asked, a gentle smile on her face. " Since it seems we're 
going to have to wait, at least for a little while until we're able to find 
your friend, I wonder if I might be able to talk with you later."

"I'd enjoy that," said Quatre, bowing his head in a show of respect. Trowa 
tilted his head slightly.

"May I join you?" he asked quietly. Jean felt a wall of unease and mistrust 
directed at her - nothing personal, she realized. Simply years of not being 
able to trust ANYBODY made him very over-protective of the people he'd 
eventually let into his heart. She smiled at Trowa, trying to convey all her 
sincerity to him in that single glance.

"I would be honored if you joined us," she said.

Wolverine grunted and pushed himself off the wall, grounding the cigar he'd 
tossed so casually, under the steel toe of his boot. He motioned towards 
Heero.

"I don't know 'bout you - but I prefer to work off my tension," he said 
simply. " Too many things are jumbled around yer mind right now - and since 
we ain't going anywhere, anytime soon until the eggheads--" he jerked a 
thumb at the Beast and the Professor. "--figure it out. Up for a little 
excerise?"

Heero's eyes barely flickered. " Show me."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *

That had been two hours ago. Upon hearing the kind of missions they usually 
undertook, Wolverine had programmed a kind of high-tech shooting gallery, 
with lots of targets. Quatre stifled a giggle at the remembrance of the look 
on Heero's face when the wild man had handed him  a shiny, high-powered 
laser. It was like a kid at Christmas time. Quatre and Trowa had returned 
from their little talk with Jean [1] and stopped by to see how Heero was 
doing in the Danger Room, a virtual reality room used for the training of 
mutants in the use of their powers. [2] Watching Heero take out another 
target and then leap what looked like three stories to the ground with 
deadly grace, pivoting on one foot to crush another target's windpipe, 
Quatre chuckled.

"You do realize that you'll probably never get him out of there," he said 
casually to Wolverine who was monitering the kid's progress.

"He's doin' real good," Logan commented - rare praise indeed from a man who 
spent over a decade training with some of the finest assassin's Japan had to 
offer. " Must be some kind of world you guys live in."

"Some kind," Quatre repeated. Trowa, at his side as always, chuckled softly 
at the understatement. Then his eyes narrowed - a man had snuck up behind 
Heero who was busy taking two others down at the same time. About to call 
out, he watched Wolverine jab a button and end the sequence. Heero whirled 
around and fixed a deadly stare at the observation room. Wolverine shrugged.

"You missed one."
"No I didn't," Heero said quietly. He hit the door release  and exited the 
room, pausing only long enough to grab a towel to mop up the sweat dripping 
off him. Wolverine raised an eyebrow as he looked questioningly at Quatre 
and Trowa.

"That's where his partner would have taken him down," said Trowa quietly. 
Quatre watched Heero disappear, heading back to his designated room. " He 
knew the guy was there."

"He just didn't care," Quatre finished as the two of them left the 
observation room. Wolverine watched them leave and a faint look of approval 
crossed his face. He fished another cigarette out of the belt of his costume 
and lit it up, blowing smoke rings into the now empty room.

"I'll be damned."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *



Sinister watched the monitor with obvious delight, the bluish light 
reflecting off his pale face. With the contrasting shadows, it made the dark 
man seem even more like his name then before.

The screen showed what his clones had dubbed their 'playroom'. It was there 
that that his newest acquisition was receiving his specialized training. 
Under his 'care' for two days now, he felt his protege was coming along 
nicely - the implant in the boys head helped a lot. It also helped that his 
two trainers were very thorough. Harpoon and Forearm had commented on how 
the boy's natural fighting instincts had come into play, dramatically 
enhanced by the foriegn technology embedded in his skull. Sinister chuckled 
and turned away from the screen and focused instead on another one, this one 
filled with lines of text instead of a video feedback.

Threnody stood next to him, faintly puzzled. Normally, hers was not to 
question why - but Sinister didn't usually keep to many humans alive. She 
knew that part of the reason was because the boys mind revealed the 
information needed to pilot the Gundam machines that had been brought to 
their world, but such information could be extracted  easily. They didn't 
need the boy. " Master? Why is he still alive?"

Sinister spared her a level glance, and she felt herself shrink back 
slightly.

"The boy's not a mutant," he said finally. " But his reflexes, his agility 
- they far exceed normal human levels. Whether this is a direct result from 
his extensive training he underwent to become a Gundam pilot, or whether it 
is plain genetics is undetermined." He smiled, teeth flashing. " And you 
know how much I hate leaving anything undetermined."  He turned back to the 
screen and highlighted a string of text.
"Observe. Since coming under my control, he's increased his natural 
abilities by nearly seventy percent. On normal humans, the bug only reaches 
a maximum of thirty percent, and then in only a few select humans of superb 
physical shape." He nodded at the boy's chart. " I would determine him to be 
at the class of a low-level Beta with the powers of enhanced speed, agility 
and strength. That's with the bug, and being human." He shook his head. " 
It's almost unheard of."

"But why bother training him?" Threnody persisted. She knew she was pushing 
her luck but to be perfectly honest, she was bored. This was interesting. Do 
the math. " You used a low-level telepath to scan his mind - you don't need 
the boy to operate those machines."

"I know. The boy serves another purpose. " Evil eyes gleamed with an unholy 
light. " Consider him...insurance."

Threnody's eyes narrowed...and then widened in realization.

"The X-men won't fight back at full strength against a child. And I don't 
believe the boy's friends will hurt their comrade deliberately to prevent 
him from stealing the machines. Besides," he added, his tone going cold. " I 
take great amusement in causing emotional pain - broken bones heal, wounds 
scab over - but the human mind is so frail. I want to watch him fight his 
friends. I want to see him live up to his name. I want to see the look on 
HIS face when he sees what I've done."

"HIS?" Threnody asked. Sinister chuckled.

"What I lost when Remy escaped, shall be made up with this boy," he 
murmered. " He can't emit bio-kinetic energy - but his skills are so closely 
matched to that of Remy Lebeau...parallel worlds are such interesting topics 
of discussion, don't you think, my dear?"

Threnody knew when she'd reached her limit. Sketching a quick bow, she 
turned to go back to her research work. On the way out though, she paused 
and watched the monitor where the boy was battling Harpoon.

"Shinigami," she mused thoughtfully at the name Sinister had given the boy, 
and then shrugged. It wasn't her business.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Shinigami snorted, inhaling great gulps of air as he watched his opponent. 
He could feel cracked lungs screaming at him with each breath, ribbons of 
blood continuing their downward trek on his body - but still he smiled. The 
name the dark man had given him seemed familiar - at any rate, he couldn't 
remember what his name HAD been, or if he even had one. At least this one 
had meaning.

"Not bad kid," growled Harpoon as he flexed his arm, gingerly. " But I 
still have to hurt you for that."

"Try it," Shinigami hissed as he prepared for the attack. He had only known 
the his two sparring partners - Harpoon and Forearm - and their dark master 
for two days, as far as he could remember. But they seemed to be like him - 
or the him they said he was. Shingami recalled the discussion from two days 
before:

(FLASHBACK)

"We're your....training partners," said the big man with a decidedly evil 
smirk. The boy crouched down, ready to defend himself. Suddenly the door 
opened again and a man in dark armor walked in. The boy caught his breath at 
the corpse-like visage.

"What the..."

"I am Sinister," the man said, cutting him off smoothly. " I am the one who 
healed you."

"Healed me..."

"You were injured quite badly during the explosion," the man continued. " 
You suffered a concussion as well as other injuries - but you're awake. 
Good."

"Who are you?"

"I told you who I am," Sinister said with a cold look. The boy shivered 
under its icey gaze. " You may consider me your...employer."

The boy looked distrustingly at him and Sinister met his look evenly. " Who 
am I?"

Sinister smothered a dark laugh as he decided what to tell the boy. 
Recalling the interesting tidbits of information gleaned from the boy's 
mind, he settled on one. " You are called Shinigami."

"Death..." the boy's voice trailed off as he thought about it. Shinigami. 
It rang a bell, deep in his mind. It sounded familiar - accepted. " I think 
I remember..."

"Good." Sinister pointed at the two men in the room. " They will be 
training you, to regain what the...explosion, took from you."

"But I-"

"Quiet!" Sinister whirled around and backhanded the boy who hit the ground. 
Hard. He hadn't even seen it coming. " You will train with them. You have a 
mission coming up - you will not fail me."

Shinigami glared up at him from the floor, and Sinister grinned at the look 
of hatred. _Oh yes - it begins_! His training methods were a bit unorthadox, 
but he didn't want his minions to care for him - he wanted them to hate him. 
To fear him. To become as ruthless as he himself was. He restrained himself 
from chuckling at the combined fear and hate directed at him from the young 
boy. A curt nod, and Harpoon moved towards the door.

"Let's go, punk," he growled. Forearm jerked the boy upwards and propelled 
him to the door. Shinigami spared one last glare at the dark man before he 
was dragged out the door. Sinister watched him disappear and the dark man 
began to laugh. Shinigami heard that laughter echo in his ears over and over 
again - he had to make it stop....

(END FLASHBACK)

Two days and numerous fights later, Shinigami had grudgingly won the respect 
of his sparring partners. They had accepted him as one of them - a 
cold-hearted killer. Didn't he just kill a guy in that morning's fight? 
Riptide or something - he had expected to feel remorse over the man's death, 
but all he could feel was a sense of elation as his enemy fell beneath his 
attack. Maybe it was because they'd told him the man would simply be cloned. 
He'd be back. Shinigami shrugged. He watched Harpoon circle around him - one 
of the unspoken rules in all the fights was that no one could use their 
powers. Shingami didn't care - as far as he could tell, he didn't have any. 
He wondered vaguely whether or not that would make him a liability in a 
fight - he had the strangest feeling that at one time he had a power....a 
weapon of some kind. Guns he found, were extremely familiar to him, but he 
still had the oddest sensation of something being missing...

He focused back on his opponent - watching with satisfaction as Harpoons one 
arm remained limp. _Where'd I learn about pressure points, anyway_? he 
wondered before Harpoon leaped at him with a snarl of rage.

"Time!"

Forearm stopped the match just as Shinigami ducked out from under the big 
man's attack. He felt his body shriek in pain and was grateful for the stop 
- but he knew better then to tell anyone that. The door opened and he 
watched the dark man - or Sinister - enter, feeling the fear well up again. 
Even Harpoon and Forearm shuddered slightly  - the man fairly exuded evil, 
like a sickly stench.

"I think you're ready for a short mission," the man said. " There is a 
mutant I need a sample of DNA from  - and then he is to be disposed of. This 
is the perfect opportunity for you to get back in...the swin4g, of things."

Shinigami kept his eyes lowered as he nodded. Sinister laughed.

"You'll need a weapon," he said. " You have no real powers--"

Shinigami felt an odd sense of shame creep over him.

"--so you'll use this."

He tossed a metal staff at the boy. Shinigami's eyes narrowed as he caught 
it deftly. It was silvery in color, with a smooth handled-grip for easy 
manipulating. At the one end, there was a large indention in the metal and 
he felt the staff hum with a faint, familiar energy.

"What...."

He noticed a switch on the handle. Pressing it, he cried out in surprise as 
a greenish flame arced out of the end and sayed there, in a curved shape. 
Shinigami's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the flame, feeling the 
heat wash over him.

"I KNOW this," he murmered, staring at the flickering light. Sinister 
snorted.

"Of course you do," he said with disdain. " What is Shinigami without his 
death scythe?" [3]

Shinigami froze - that was SO familiar it hurt. The feeling of rightness 
swelled within him and he believed, now more then ever, that this was the 
truth. He had the feeling that the truth meant a lot to him....

Sinister watched the boy carefully swing the scythe in a low arc, gradually 
adjusting to the feel of it. His  no-name telepath had picked the image of a 
scythe quite clearly out of the boy's head. Thermal energy was nothing new 
to Sinister - it had been mere child's play to create the weapon being held 
so carefully by his new toy. And this served two purposes: a) It would make 
the boy believe in him even more stringly, something he'd never been able to 
accomplish with Remy years ago, which would make him fight more effectively. 
 And b), it would make him even more dangerous. That fiery blade would cut 
through anything short of adamantium - the material that made up the handle. 
The mission wasn't necessary - but he needed proof of the boy's loyalty. 
This little test would prove whether or not the boy was worth killing, or 
worth keeping around. He watched as the boy's eyes lit up and a sinister 
smile curved his own lips.

"Shinigami lives," he hissed, staring at the scythe in rapt admiration. He 
whirled around, slicing a deep tear in the metal wall and watching as the 
jagged edges seemed to literally melt away. He hugged the staff to him 
possessively.

"Mine," he breathed and then he began to laugh - loud, maniacal and 
completely hysterical. " MINE!"

Harpoon chuckled as he patted his bow in understanding. Forearm growled.

"So the kiddies got a new toy," he taunted, eyes hard as diamond. " Can you 
handle the mission with it, pretty boy?"

He froze as the deadly blade slid to a halt directly under his throat, the 
heat rising from it stinging his skin until he could smell the scent of 
burnt flesh. Shinigami's eyes glowed with feral intent.

"I think I've got the hang of it," he whispered conspiratorally. " Wanna 
test it?"

Sinister watched the whole proceedings with interest. This was working out 
even better then he had planned. He cleared his throat and the three of them 
snapped to attention.

"The mission," he said. " Do not fail me."

"No master. " Harpoon, Forearm and Shinigami bowed their heads. Sinister 
tilted Shinigami's head up, digging deep clawmarks into the tender skin.

"Do NOT fail me," he said again, watching with delicious glee as the fear 
waged war behind those violet-eyes. Then came grim acceptance and then sheer 
anger at being bullied. Unable to strike out at his master, Sinister knew 
that the boy's target would feel the brunt of his rage. " Or you will die. 
And you will not be cloned. UNderstood."

"Understood," the boy bit back, fingers caressing his new weapon with 
purpose.

Sinister watched the three of them leave and then his dark laughter filled 
the room.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
END 3C
*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Notes:

1.  Jean's little talk with Quatre and Trowa will be elaborated on next 
chapter. And we'll find out what Wufei's been up too as well!

2. The Danger Room is a large room, secreted under the mansion. Programmed 
with alien technology, it creates solid projections, used in the training of 
mutants in their powers. It can simulate long falls, space conditions - and 
it is possible to die in the simulations because they are SOLID projections. 
If you program a beach scene with an ocean and a man-eating shark, you'd 
better not count on the shark's attack passing through ya  'cause you'd be 
DEAD!

3. I have been WAITING for this - I've had an image of Duo in black combat 
clothes, waving his scythe around for the last three chapters!


Coming up - why's Wufei sneaking 'round the mansion? What did Jean talk to 
Quatre about? What's Gambit got planned? What's the mission that Duo--oh 
excuse me - Shinigami's being sent on? And why will it leave a lasting 
impression that will impact him for the rest fo his life?

C&C please!

Stormy