The Cold Hearted Truth
Chapter Twelve
Kaleidopy 

INSIDE THE MANSION

" I am not a patient man, Charles." Essex stands by Scalphunter while glaring at Xavier.

" Got a surprise for you, Sinister."

" Creed, your interruptions are becoming bore some." Essex turns around to face him only to see Storm shoved through the door. " Oh, what indeed a treat," He smiles. " Welcome Ororo, so good to see you again."

" The feeling is not mutual, Sinister." Storm glares at him. " May the Goddess find a way to protect the X-men."

Chuckling, Sinister moves out of her way, the moment he lays eyes on Gambit, he turns to Creed, his voice speaks, each word like acid dripping over hot coals. " Release him before I strike you down!"

" Don't wet on yourself, Essex, I haven't laid a claw on him, yet."

Sinister ignores Sabertooth's remark, he opens his hand and motions to Gambit. " Come to me, my son."

Remy didn't hesitate obeying Sinister's command. In fact, he wanted to get away from the mansion and the X-men as fast as Essex could open a tesseract.

Sinister glances up at Xavier. " Now Charles, how should Sinister punish you for stealing his most valuable treasure. Haven't you learned yet, that you can not enter his mind without my knowledge?" Essex shakes his head in a mocking matter. " So very unprofessional of you, don't you think, Charles."

Harpoon rushes in, " Boss, we got a,"

" YOU!" Angel screams at him.

Harpoon turns to Warren and smiles. " Got your wings back, Worthington, maybe Roadblock and I can pluck them for good this time."

Xavier places his hand to his forehead. Speaking by using telepathy, ' Remy, can you hear me?'

Gambit turns to him. ' Y' know Gambit hear y', mebbe he don' wanna answer.'

' Remy, please, what ever Sinister has told you, I am not your enemy.' Xavier pleads. ' He is trying to destroy us one by one. Sinister is only using you.'

' Funny, Essex say de same 'bout y', Professor.'

' Remy, you know that I have never lied to you.' The Professor tries to explain. ' What reason would I have to lie to you now? Sinister was masquerading as Eric The Red, he used mind control on the X-men to manipulate their actions at that trial.'

' Yes, I do, but with one exception,' Xavier continues. ' I am not a shape shifter.'

Remy looks at Essex and then back at Charles. ' Non, y' be wrong, Professor,"

' Am I, Remy? You seem to be having doubts yourself now.' Charles says. ' Sinister knew how that memory of the massacre was destroying you, he used that as a weapon to reclaim you.' Xavier notices that Sabertooth was watching him. A crooked smile creeps across Creed's face, a smile that Charles knew meant trouble. He continues to use his telepathy to communicate with Gambit, but he knew his time was limited. ' Remy, are you aware of your memory implants?' He sees the surprised look appear on Gambit's face. ' I take it then by your actions you do not realize that you were never involved in the massacre. It was a memory implant that Sinister created.'

' I was dere, it was my fault de morlocks died,' Remy shakes his head.

' No,' Charles admits. ' You were never there, let me finish.'

" What's the matter, Essex? Losing your touch." Creed whispers close to Sinister so that only they would hear the conversation. " Xavier's still up to his old tricks."

Sinister glares at Sabertooth, then turns his attention back to Gambit, who he notices was occupied with someone else. Essex knew exactly who that someone else was. He turns to Xavier. " So you want to play games, Charles!" He shoots a force bolt at Xavier's wheelchair, knocking the professor out of the chair and onto the floor.

" Professor!" Jean rushes over and helps him sit up. She glares down at Sinister from the balcony.

" Don't waste your powers on me, Mrs. Summers, you forget that I can equal your powers and more." Essex eyes her threateningly. " Ask Charles,"

Warren suddenly takes to the air and grabs Harpoon, and flies the two of them out the front window.

" Just you an' me, Arclight," Rogue flies at the female marauder, before Arclight has time to defend herself. Rogue grabs the woman around the shirt and slings her several times before letting her go. The marauder hits against the wall and is knocked unconscious. " Next time Sugah, ya'll knock before ya enter mah home."

Sinister never takes his eyes off Xavier, as he opens a tesseract, " Remington, you may leave, Sinister will revenge you in ways that he can only do and enjoy."

Remy, glances at the tesseract, then turns his attention back to Sinister.

' Jean, you and Betsy use your powers to get Sinister's attention while I contact Storm and Wolverine.' Charles orders his two telepaths. He then uses his telepathy to reach his second in command. ' Ororo, you and Logan stop Remy, if he leaves with Sinister we may never get him back.'

' I am on it Professor,' Storm turns to an already angry Wolverine, who held the collar that was once around Ororo's neck. " Logan, if you will be so kind."

" My pleasure, darlin'." Wolverine suddenly leaps in the air, and lands in between the tesseract and Gambit, who tries to dodge out of his way. Logan tackles him and both slide several feet across the floor. Gambit manages to turn over and get to his feet, but before he could take a step, Logan grabs him by the leg and yanks him down hard.

" Yer not goin' anywhere, Gumbo." Wolverine turns him over and pins him down. Noticing that Gambit's eyes were glowing, " Use those powers on me Boy and I promise, one of us will be hurting and it won't be me. Get my meaning."

" Get off me, old man." Remy struggles to free himself. The more he struggles, the more Wolverine tightens his grip. " Let go b'fore Gambit kills y'"

" Hafta take a number." Wolverine opens two of his claws on his right hand and makes sure that Remy's head in between them, who suddenly freezes in terror. " Just lay there and keep yer yap shut," He leans over, his voice barely above a growl. " Gettin' tired of yer attitude, if ya want act like a brat then I'll be more than happy to accommodate ya." Remy glares harshly at Wolverine, who only laughs, " That's right Boy, if looks could kill, I'd be dead, too bad ya hafta lay on the floor and watch the X-men rip ol' Mister Sinister apart."

Several of the Marauders were grouped together watching the X-men, Riptide creeps over to Scalphunter. " Think we should help LeBeau, the Boss won't like it if he finds out what just happened?"

" Did you see anything?" Scalphunter asks him.

" Nope," The other Marauder cracks a smile. " Didn't see a thing,"

Sinister, thinking that Remy had entered the tesseract, was occupied with Charles Xavier, who he knew was trying to hide the fact that his powers were weaken. He had already blasted Jean and Betsy with a force bolt for trying to stop his mind probe on Xavier. " Charles, it seems your little vacation away from your X-men has changed you in ways that only Sinister can notice. So nice of you to reveal that little bit of information to me." He motions to the Marauders, with a slight wave of his hand to begin the attack.

Scalphunter and Roadblock pull out their weapons, aiming them. " Like shooting ducks in a pond." The Marauder leader grins. " Open fire!"

Neither Marauder has the chance as a whip suddenly yanks both weapons out of their hands. Both turn around to see the Starjammers behind them. They had appeared out of no where.

Hepzibah yanks harder and the weapons come back to her hand as she snaps the whip on the ground.

" You didn't tell me you could do that," Corsair glances at her. Hepzibah justs winks at him. Corsair then turns his attention to Essex. Raising his weapon, he aims it. "AND YOU!!! KEEP AWAY FROM MY SONS!!!!"

" You pathetic worm," Sinister glares at him. " You have no idea how powerful your sons really are, well one of them anyway, Sinister has always known." He starts to chuckle as he turns to Cyclops. " Scottland has got potential, a shame he chooses to follow Xavier on his blind mission. And Alexander, how can I say this in a polite way?" He grins with his usual chuckle. " Is a dud, where I and my research are concern."

Scott takes a quick glance at Wolverine and at the pinned Gambit, who was making no attempt to escape for fear of Wolverine's claws slipping. Smiling to himself, he had to admit, Logan was the best at what he does. He changes his actions and glares at Sinister. " Did you conveniently forget to mention Remy, or have you somehow forgot he is a Summer's too?"

" Summers? Remington is no Summers." He notices the shocked look on Cyclops' face. " Oh dear, you do look troubled, my child." Sinister starts laughing again. " Remington is your brother, half brother to be precise, you both share the same mother." Essex continues. " Kate Summers, was the subject for my gene splicing experiment. She bared Sinister the perfect subject, Your mother gave Sinister what he desired most, a son."

Several people in the room gasp for air, while Corsair blinks his eyes in a state of shock. During this time, nobody notices Bobby getting to his feet and turning into his ice form, just waiting for a chance to pay the Marauders back for their sneak attack on him and Bishop. Bobby looks down at Bishop, who remains face down on the floor, but he caught something that made him realize that Bishop was playing possum.

" No, your lying." Scott screams while shaking his head in denial.. " Mom would never agree to,"

" Who said she agreed?" Sinister laughs deeply.

" You raped my wife!!" Corsair yells in outrage. He takes a few steps towards Sinister only to have several of the Marauders click their weapons as a warning.

" Raped, Christopher? How insulting!" Sinister raises an eyebrow. " You should be proud that Sinister choose your wife to bare his son. Truly an honor for any female non mutant to be given. No such woman has ever had that honor with the exception of my beloved wife." Sinister continues to study Corsair, as if trying to find something of value. " Your family was attacked to claim what is rightfully mine, and I took it. Sinister was not about to allow his greatest achievement to be raised by two mere homo sapiens." Essex seems to reminiscing before continuing. " Kate Summers fully believed you were the child's father until I revealed my identity to her and my purpose for delivering the child. She refused to give me our son once he was born. In fact, she even plotted to kill me to keep the child. Indeed a remarkable woman, no mear human ever showed that much courage against Sinister. A pity that she had to endure such hardships. But in the end, Sinister prevailed. "

Remy lost all the fight in him, after hearing Essex confession. Wolverine sensing the emotional turmoil raging within his friend, knew what he had to do, but he hated the fact, it was his only choice. " Ya hear what Sinister did to yer mother, Boy?" Logan shakes him harshly, to make him look at him. " Do ya have any idea what kinda horrors she went through, keeping that kinda shame hidden from her family. She risked her life ta protect ya from that thing ya seem ta worship? Betcha ya mother be real proud of ya right now, wouldn't she?" Wolverine grabs both of his hands full of Gambit's shirt and lifts him off the floor, jerking him around to face the conflict going on between Sinister, Cyclops and Corsair. " Ya listen real good and tell me Sinister has yer best interest at heart. Ya mebbe Sinister's son but there's no way in hell ya mother wanted ya near him. She tried everything ta keep ya away from him and ya know it now, don't ya?"

Remy drops his head as Storm sits down and pulls him into her embrace. She continues to hold him as Wolverine sits by her side. He places his hand on Remy's back, " Sorry I had ta do that ta ya kid, but ya needed ta know the truth.

" Logan, dear friend," Ororo glances at Wolverine, compassion in her eyes. " Can you give us some privacy. I know Remy is about to display some hidden emotions that he would prefer to do in private." She takes Wolverine's hand. " Do not worry, my friend, we are quiet safe and hidden from the others. Go! Scott needs all the help he can get."

" RO!!" Wolverine nods slightly and gets to his feet. He slowly approaches Cyclops. " You alright, Cyke?"

" What do you think!!" Scott glares at him, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. " Sorry Logan," He nods in Sinister's direction. " He's bragging about it. He is actually standing there and bragging about what he did to my mother," He grits his teeth. " I didn't think I could hate him anymore than what I already did, but now,"

" Easy Slim," Logan puts his hand on Scott's shoulder to calm him. " Your father is on the verge of going ballistic, and," He nods back towards the direction from where he came. " Gumbo's a mess."

Before Scott could even think he could hear his father's angry voice denying Sinister's claim.

" You're a liar, William is my son," Corsair glares sheer hatred at Sinister. " Kate would have told me what you did to her if it was the truth."

" Not if her two young sons were threaten," Arclight suddenly speaks up. She slowly gets to her feet, rubbing her head, she joins her fellow Marauders. " I remember the woman quiet clearly, once she was guaranteed that her two oldest children would not be harmed, she became very greedy. " She announces. " You should have heard her crying, begging the Boss to let her keep his son, after he was born. The woman actually had the gall to demand a blood test to decide the child's father. She was pathetic," Arclight begins to laugh. " You know the more I think about it, if we had killed Cyclops when he was four years old, we could have saved ourselves all the trouble he has cost us over the years."

" Enough," Sinister orders her. " You have said quiet enough."

" Kate went through hell after you stole William, I thought for three years she was losing her mind." Corsair continues to hold his weapon, pointing it into Sinister's chest. " Because of you, I lost everything." His trigger finger was trembling. " My wife, my sons, everything."

" Exaggerating a little bit, aren't you, Christopher." Sinister begins to laugh again. " I permitted you to keep your little family intact, minus what was mine of course." He laughs harder mostly to add insult to injury, " William, indeed. Remington is a more fitting name for the son of Nathaniel Essex." Sinister smiles triumph fully. " Tell Sinister the truth Christopher, you claim to be Remington's father," Sinister folds his arms, waiting to see the reaction on Corsair's eyes. " Then whose eyes does the boy have, yours or Sinister's?"

" Hey Cyclops," Scrambler glances over at Scott and starts laughing at the leader of the X-men. " Maybe your mother was a lot more friendlier to Sinister than she led on, hum?"

The Marauders begin to join in the laughter.

Scrambler continues, " Maybe she even got to, umph!!!!" He never finishes the sentence, because Scott knocks him down with a right cross. When several of the Marauders start to make a move on Cyclops, Rogue, Wolverine, and Hank back him up.

Scott glances at his father, who was on the verge of firing the gun that was shaking in his hand. Scott suddenly caught a glance at Storm, and who was also with her." Remy?"

" What?" Sinister suddenly turns around to see Gambit coming up behind him. He approaches Remy, using his height to his advantage, Sinister towers over him. " What would you have done with this knowledge, Remington, run back to the ones who tossed you away like yesterday's garage." He glares up at Charles before continuing. " Sinister told you all that you needed to hear, mear details about your parentage would only serve to aid our enemy's goals."

. " Y' attacked my mother, Essex! She was but anot'er specimen t' y'! Just anot'er 'xperiment for y' t' play wit'." Remy screams out his anger, while activating his powers. His eyes begin to glow, starring at Sinister, Gambit tries to charge the belt around Essex's waist. When nothing happens, " What de?"

" DESIST!" Sinister grabs both of Gambit's wrists and lifts him up. " I care not how you were brought into this world, all that matters is, YOU ARE MINE." Essex shakes him. " Sinister altered your DNA when you were first born to make you more powerful, do you think for one moment that I would be foolish enough to allow you to use those powers against me?" He suddenly begins to laugh, " You may deny Sinister, Child, but nothing you can do will ever change the fact that you are the true son of Nathaniel Essex." He slowly lowers Gambit back to his feet, " You are Sinister's greatest creation."

Scalphunter stood back watching the events take place as did Riptide and Scrambler. For the most part, the Marauders wanted nothing more than to learn the real reason why Sinister truly cared in his own strange way for LeBeau. The connection now revealed between the two, the Marauders hopes of turning Sinister against the Cajun were forever dashed, they now know who ever attempts in the future to drive a wedge between father and son would suffer a most horrible fate before dying on one of Essex's famous lab tables.

Sinister glares over at the Starjammer captain, who suddenly begins to rush him. Sinister sighs. "So typical." He calmly raises his hand and opens his palm towards Corsair, the Starjammer captain is knocked across the floor by a force beam.

" Dad!" Cyclops turns around quickly to check on his father.

" I'm alright, Scott." Corsair blinks his eyes several times before he got his barrings. He slowly gets to his feet, glaring at Sinister, he speaks to his son. " You and your friends get your brother to safety." Corsair speaks the next words with spite. " Sinister is mine."

Remy, his eyes still glowing, begins to charge the floor down at Essex's feet.

" Boss, the floor!!!" Scalphunter yells out a warning.

Sinister notices what is happening, steps away before the floor explodes. " Temper tantrum, Remington?" He places his hand on top of Gambit's head, smiling down into his son's squinted angry eyes, he begin to chuckle. " You do have your father's temper, don't you? But," He suddenly grabs a hand full of hair and yanks it back, causing Remy to cry out, as his head snaps back. " This is neither the time or the place for you to display it."

" Get 'way from him, Sinister." Rogue flies straight at Essex, only to be knocked back by an unseen force field that Sinister suddenly puts up. Getting to her feet, she starts beating against the unseen wall. " Ah'll break it down, and when Ah do, Ah'm gonna knock ya clean back ta th' sewer ya crawled outta of."

" Jean, you and Elizabeth join your powers with mine." Charles motions for the two telepaths to come closer. " Together we can break Sinister's force field."

All three telepaths touch their foreheads and close their eyes.

" Starjammers attack." Corsair glares at several of the Marauders, who were not inside the force field. " Especially them."