Unmasqued
Posted on Thu Aug 25th, 2022 @ 11:28am by Charles Xavier & Elias Buckley & Tammy Thompson & Bliss Hawkins
2,116 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 2: Northern X-Posure
Location: New York City
Timeline: August 4th, 1990
~Professor. If you can hear me, I'm with Bliss and Leadfoot! I'll follow along unless you say otherwise. I can switch between groups at light-speed. When you're ready, say the word and I'll take action.~ Surge mentally sent to the professor.
Katy willed herself not to turn the tables on the guys, but she restrained herself and let them put the bag over her head.
"Please don't hurt my friend...." Bliss pleaded with the men.
"Tranq'em if they get squirrelly," said one of the men in ski-masks.
As the van sped away, the Professor attempted to speak to them all.
~This is becoming increasing difficult~ he confessed. ~But I am still tracking you via Cerebro as well as Surge. However, once they arrive at the second location, Surge is to remain at a distance unless someone is in true danger~
The sudden admission of the Professor angered Bliss. She had placed herself in an intentional position of weakness because she trusted him. To declare he might not be able to get them out of danger should they need it pissed her off.
Soon the van turned into a multi-level parking garage that stood more than six stories tall and likely had underground levels as well.
~I am shifting to the driver's mind~ the Professor said. ~So far there does not appear to be anybody else. The vicinity is difficult to penetrate without Cerebro, so either there is a telepath nearby or there is some sort of technology afoot. Be on your guard, everyone~
~OK professor. I'll hang back once they get to where they are going but I'll keep an eye out and if someone looks like they might be in real danger well I won't wait if someone looks like they are going to b seriously hurt.~ So far so good but they were not out of the wood yet! There was always the risk she might be detected and things could go sideways and the girls could get hurt.
As the van came to a quiet stop, the masked goons fell silent as well. The quiet was far from calm and, between the hushed whispers and nervous grunts from the men, bordered on ominous.
"What have you brought me, darlings?" The dusky voice was decidedly feminine despite the mild muffling.
"Coupla' piccola," said one of the goons.
"Have you scanned them?" A pause and a grunt. "Good. Let's get those hoods off. I want a good look at the merchandise."
And, with that, the hoods came off. The terrain around them appeared to be an abandoned underground parking garage fortified with makeshift defensive measures. A criminal domain without a doubt.
The woman who stood before them wore a tactical catsuit of luxurious design and a starkly golden mask over her face. Long raven locks fell over her shoulders that looked freshly feathered.
"Why, aren't you a couple of lovelies? I can see why the boys snatched you up."
"Eat dirt, monkey breath," Katy spat when her hood came off and she looked around. "Who are you supposed to be for Halloween, the hairy heffer?"
The golden masked woman just chuckled at first. Then she discharged her heavy caliber pistol into the ground. "Hm. Pretty mouths always get stuffed first," she said as the gunshot resounded throughout the underground enclosure. "What about your friend there?" The woman raised her gun at Bliss but kept watching Katy. "Think she'd like to bite the big one?"
Katy flinched at the incredibly loud sound and looked down. She was fast, but not speeding bullet fast.
"Golden goose here is not about to shoot us, not after she's gone to so much trouble."
Bliss looked sullenly at the masked woman. She noted multiple ways of how she could cripple or kill the woman should she need to. But she was still playing nice per the professor's wishes.
"She might have all the bells and whistles of a Cobra Commander wet dream, but she smells just like every child abuser I've ever met. Did one of your uncles play hide the sausage with you and this is how you think you're going to get back at him?"
The woman slowly reached up toward her mask, slow enough for her henchmen to turn their heads away. When she removed it, a grisly visage scarred by burn marks smiled wolfishly at them. Her eyes glistened with pure sadism. "I survived a plane crash, as a matter of fact. Why don't you show me what you can do? I need to appraise my wares before offloading them."
And, with no other warning, she fired two more shots, one at each girl.
But they were blanks.
Laughing maniacally, she said, "Well, that's a disappointment. Neither of you can do anything? Maybe I should just Shanghai you like in the old days and be done with it."
Her laughter stopped when she saw only Bliss in front of her. Speaking into her radio, she said, "We got a speedster. Lock down everything."
Bliss sighed with bored annoyance, shifting her weight to the the other foot.
"I'm not impressed either. You're not in charge, at least not the big guy. Why don't you stop wasting my time and take me to who makes the decisions. Then I'll show you something impressive."
"I am Madame Masque," said the woman proudly. "Capo of the Nefaria Crime Family and low on patience for mouthy little whores. You've got exactly one chance to impress me if you can, otherwise I've got business to finish."
And then it all went black.
Meanwhile, Surge was scouting the perimeter to see what there was too see. ~Professor, gonna take a quick scout around and check out the place~
A quick perimeter check revealed radio jammers in effect that would prevent all communication in or out. In Surge's case, it became an effective prison just short of a Faraday cage.
~Professor! This is bad! They got high powered radio Jammers! They could trap me real quick! Hadn't thought bout that! ~ Tammy was getting scared. The thought of being trapped was very scary! She could take them out maybe but that would reveal her presence.
~I'm aware~ the Professor replied. ~But I am beginning to lose my stamina following so many minds at once... be careful and stay out of sight if you can. Katy is attempting to flee the scene and--~
A sonic burst set off along the perimeter with a prolonged and resounding tone. The resonance was downright crippling at any speed or frequency.
Surge cried out in pain! she fell to the roof stunned! she was still in radio wave form but only just. One more blast and she would be out. Out cold and back in human form! That hurt bad! Her head was throbbing!
"Well, well, well, whadda' we got here?" said a surly voice from the corner of the roof. "Looks like we got one of them muties."
"Whaddya' waitin' for?" asked another voice. "Put the squeeze on 'er!"
One of the masked men swiveled an emitter around and pointed it straight at Surge. "Think it's the speedster boss lady was talkin' about?"
Surge screamed and fell unconscious on the roof.
But the two masked men didn't stop. They turned their sonic weapons onto Surge with relentless sadism even though she'd stopped screaming.
A blur passed by one of them, leaving him disarmed.
"Huh?" he turned his head to the left and to the right.
The blur swooped by again, this time nearly taking the head off the second masked goon.
"There's two of them!" shouted the first masked goon who had been disarmed. "There's two--"
Katy came to a stop as her swing ended in a follow-through motion. She dropped the weapon which she'd held by the barrel and used to bludgeon the two men the stock. It clanged next to Surge's head, rousing her from unconsciousness.
Tammy woke up and shook her head.
"I'm outta here," Katy said to Surge. "If you had half a brain, you would be, too."
And then she was gone.
"Leadfoot! Wait! Don't go!" Well she tried. She was really starting to like each Katy but she was gone. ~Professor can you hear me?~
~Yes, Tammy. I will try to reach her~ And then the Professor's almost material presence alighted.
While at speed, long away from the city and running toward her new life, Katy was pushing the Professor's voice out of her head.
~Katy, don't do this~
But it was too late. Katy ground her teeth so hard it made her jaw ache. Joining the X-Men had been a mistake, clear from the point Cyclops had broken into her apartment and tore it to shreds with his reckless optic blasts.
~Don't throw away everything you've worked for~
Yet if she were honest, life was better before. Came and went as she pleases. Nobody to answer to. Any object or luxury she ever wanted in her grasp. No whim left unfulfilled. And she traded that for what? An opportunity to get shot at by
some crime boss for no payout? Some half-baked dream of peace? No. Katy already knew peace, and it was found in a life of victimless crime, not being a stupid pawn for a stupid professor and his stupid students.
~We're better with you, Katy, and you are better with us~
But Katy wasn't listening. She was already past the line of no return and well into Plan B.
Reluctantly, with great grief and sorrow, Professor Xavier removed the Cerebro helmet for a moment in order to collect his bearings. He could bring someone to the fount of knowledge and learning, but he could not force them to drink. Maybe one day Katy's path would bring her back to the X-Men. Today, however, Professor Xavier had other responsibilities that required his oversight and immediate attention. He replaced the helmet interface and reached back out to his team.
When the lights came back on in the underground parking garage, nobody was left standing. Madame Masque, her masked goons, everyone to the last man was gone. In their place was a fine red mist that floated over fibrous chunks of human remains strewn about like the low tide at Omaha Beach.
~Bliss! What have you done?!~ Professor Xavier was horrified by the realization of what had just transpired, but he realized that Bliss had entered a fugue state, having been pushed to the brink and fallen over. Not since Jean had he felt... ~Help is coming, Bliss... I am so sorry~
The Professor's mind moved to Tammy.
~Tammy, I need you to guide Bliss back outside, by the hand if necessary. The Blackbird will retrieve you both as soon can be arranged, but you both need to get out of there~
~I got it, Professor~ Tammy quickly zipped inside and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw what had happened.. "Dear god!" She stared at Bliss. Maybe they deserved it but still it was a horrific sight. "Oh Bliss! What have you done hon!" she shook her hand and took Bliss's hand and led her out of the room and into the clearing where the blackbird could land and pick them up. Tammy was pretty shaken by what she saw and it would be a long time before she could shake it off.
Well, fuck... Fable stepped out of the space between dimensions and into a sticky mess of pulped biological waste. Recently squished and pulverised by the look of it too, since it was still warm and radiating a moist heat in the underground space. He gagged, cast his gaze around the place for signs of actually living life, and then followed the footprints in blood, tracking his own over the existing.
"Hey!" He called to Tammy's back as he watched her lead a spaced-out Bliss. "Blackbird's not coming. X sent me to get you." He didn't ask if they were okay - seemed like a dumb question - but Elias did pick up the pace to end up in front rather than behind them by conventional means. "Hey," he repeated, unsure if they were both headfucked by the liquidation soaking into the concrete behind them. "Hold my hands, we're getting outta here, alright?"
He presented his two hands, willingly held out for them to grab onto. "C'mon, hurry up." There would be cops or vultures of some kind for sure sooner rather than later.
"Let's go then!" She took his hand. "Let's get the you-know-what out of here!" Surge said.
The trio vanished, leaving behind a gory scene of violence and whatever evidence may have led them to the Nefaria crime family's buyers.
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