X-Men: Black Fire
\nBy Paradox
\nBOOK II
\nSeveral Hours Later
\nPrologue
\nKitty watched the clouds sweep past the Blackbird’s canopy as the stealth plane\nstreaked towards New York. She had tapped into the radio frequencies and had\nmusic playing softly in the background, her foot absently tapping in time to the\nbeat. Normally, she might be singing along with the band that was playing, but\nher thoughts were otherwise occupied. More specifically, her thoughts were\noverwhelmed by memories and images of a certain young man who wielded red,\ncrackling energies. The image of his steel gray eyes looking into hers with an\nintensity that could only be described as love took her breath away for a\nmoment.
\nShaking her head, she swiveled her chair around so she was facing the\ncommunications equipment. Quickly adjusting several readings, she pushed a\nbutton, opening a communications channel. “X-Men, this is Shadowcat, anyone read\nme?”
\nThe radio crackled to life. “This is Logan, Kitty, good to hear from you.”
\nKitty smiled. “Good to hear you too Logan, how is everyone there?”
\n“Doin’ good,” came the reply, “We’ve all pretty much shaken the effects of\nDracula’s mesmerizing.”
\nKitty nodded, even though no one could see her, and breathed a sigh of relief.\n“Great, I should be back in a few hours and I’ll give you all a brief about what\nhappened.”
\n“Sounds good,” Wolverine said, “We’ll see you then.” The com switched off.
\nKitty sighed and leaned back in her chair, thinking about everything that had\nhappened recently. Not more than three days ago, the infamous vampire, Count\nDracula, had come to them requesting assistance in retrieving some property of\nhis that had been stolen in Chicago. At first, Kitty had denied helping him, but\nhe had used his vampire powers to force her into helping him under the threat\nthat he would have her fellow X-Men kill each other if she didn’t.
\nOf course, she agreed to go with Dracula to Chicago and help him. Normally, the\nvampire lord could have forced her into doing anything he wanted, but she had\nsome magical aid of her own. In specific, a mage by the name of Cole Raven had\ncome to the X-Men several days earlier and asked to become part of them. He had\nonly just begun training for the team when Dracula had shown up making demands.\nFortunately, Cole had dealt with Dracula before and knew how to handle him,\nalong with the fact a powerful vampire friend of his had shown up. After using\nthe X-Men as leverage, Dracula convinced them to help him and the three had gone\nto Chicago and met up with the Prince of Vampires in Chicago, Priest. The\nvampire had agreed to help them out and assisted in finding the lost article of\nDracula’s which turned out to be just a normal piece of jewelry. The trip had\nended with Cole staying behind in Chicago to help Priest run the city, but he\npromised to try and visit her soon.
\nClosing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Kitty steadied her nerves through a\nninja calming technique. When she opened them, the large form of the X-Mansion\nloomed in front of her. Expertly manipulating the controls, Kitty guided the\ncraft into a secret, underground hangar, and prepared to reenter the life of an\nX-Man.
\nX-Men: Black Fire
\nBy Paradox
\nBOOK II
\n1
\nAbout a year later.
\nWinchester, the X-Mansion
\nKitty grunted as she shoved the last article of clothing into a black bag with\nthe decal of a black X in a red circle on it. After she zipped the bag up, she\ntook one last look around the room, making sure she didn’t forget anything.\nSeveral changes of clothes, shoes, socks, underwear, a couple books for lazy\ndays, a laptop computer integrated with the latest Shi’ar technology, and\ndefinitely not her X-Men uniform. “Looks like I’ve got everything,” she said to\nherself, picking up the bag and slinging the shoulder strap. Using her mutant\nability to make the molecules of her body unstable enough to pass through solid\nobjects, Kitty phased through the walls of her room and literally walked through\nthe mansion until she reached the living room, where most of the rest of the\nX-Men were lounging about. A blue furred devil with yellow eyes and a pointed\ntail looked over at her from his spot in the room, clinging upside down to the\nchandelier. “Hello Kitty, all ready for your little trip?”
\n“Yup,” Kitty said with a smile, “All I gotta do is get to the airport and catch\nmy flight.”
\n“You know we can fly you Kitty,” the devil said.
\nKitty shook her head. “No thanks Kurt, I’d rather not get shot down before I had\nmy vacation.”
\nNightcrawler chuckled and nodded. “Very well, but I just wanted to make the\noffer.”
\n“Kid probably wants to get away from it all and fly commercial anyway, huh\nKitty?”
\nKitty looked over at the short man seated in an easy chair in front of the\ntelevision, a beer in one hand and a smoking cigar in the other. “Yeah, that’s\nabout right Logan. I want to just try and do stuff like a normal person would.”
\nLogan nodded. “Yeah, I can see your point. Have a good trip.”
\n“Say hello to Lila for us,” Nightcrawler added.
\n“I will,” Kitty said before rushing out of the mansion. When she got outside, a\nhulking man with close cropped black hair stood waiting next to a sedan.
\n“Are you ready to go Katya?”
\nKitty nodded and smiled. “Yeah, I can’t thank you enough for driving me Pitor.”
\nColossus, the strong arm of the team, smiled and nodded back, opening the\npassenger door for her. “Thanks,” Kitty said, throwing her bag in the back seat\nand dropping down into the front seat. Pitor got behind the wheel and started\nthem off to the airport.
\nFor a long time, they were both silent, neither knowing what to say to the\nother. For a time, Kitty and Pitor had been seeing each other, but that time had\npassed. Now, they remained good friends and close teammates. Sometimes, Kitty\nwondered what it might have been like if they had stayed together. Would he\nstill have gone off and joined the infamous Magneto’s Acolytes? Would he have\nstayed with the team? Would he even be alive?
\nShaking her head of the thoughts, Kitty turned and smiled at her driving\ncompanion. “So, what are you guys going to do while I’m gone?”
\nPitor shrugged. “I do not know. I am sure we will train, but beyond that...” His\nvoice trailed off and he shrugged. “Do not worry about us Kitty, if anything\ncomes up, we will be able to handle it. You just enjoy yourself, you’ve earned\nthe rest.”
\n“Yeah,” Kitty said whimsically. Rest was just what she wanted, rest and quiet.\nYet, she was an X-Man, and rest seemed to always be the last thing she got,\nvacation or not. “Just do me a favor.”
\n“What is it?”
\nKitty grinned at her friend. “If the world is about to come to an end while I’m\ngone, lose my phone number, ‘kay?”
\nThey both couldn’t help but laugh.
\nChicago
\n“What’s the situation?”
\nThe young man in the long, black leather coat looked over his shoulder, a\ncigarette dangling from his lips. “You’re going to have to specify Priest,\nthere’s a lot of those out there tonight.”
\nPriest, Prince of the vampires in Chicago and several other states, rolled his\neyes and leaned his forehead on his hands on the desk. “Please tell me that Ash\nisn’t tearing up Clark street and I’ll be a little happier.”
\nThe young man in the long coat shrugged. “Last I heard, he was dealing with the\nnew Glass Walkers that had come into the city.”
\n“Good,” Priest said and sighed, “That last Sabbat attack really screwed the town\nup. What’s the latest from the Watchtower?”
\n“We’ve got two sightings. I’ve already dispatched Samantha to get to work on\nthem. If we’re lucky, we’ll get them in employment in a matter of weeks.”
\nPriest cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve gotten awful cold recently Cole, something\nbothering you?”
\nCole Raven, mage and the Prince’s Shadow, shrugged and took another drag from\nhis cigarette. “Maybe I’ve just gotten used to being who I am.”
\n“What’s that supposed to mean?”
\nCole waved the question away. “Forget it. Anyway, we’ve got something else to\nworry about.”
\n“What’s that?”
\nCole turned away from the window he was looking out of and walked over to\nPriest’s desk, tossing a photo onto it. The Prince took the photograph and\nlooked at it. The image of a smiling woman with short black hair looked back at\nhim. “Nice looking lady.”
\n“Name’s Lila Chinney,” Cole explained, “She’s coming into town tomorrow for a\nshow at Dock 5 for its grand opening.”
\n“Yeah, I know, Jessica spoke to me about her already, your point is?”
\nCole sighed and took another drag. “The point is, she’s been affiliated with the\nX-Men, and you remember what happened last time we got involved with them.”
\n“Yeah,” Priest said with a smile, “You fell in love.”
\nCole shot Priest a look that made the vampire chuckle. “Yeah, yeah,” he said, “I\nknow, you don’t want to talk about it.”
\n“Try and remember that Priest,” Cole said low.
\n“All right, all right, I’m sorry. So, why are you so concerned with Chinney\ncoming to town?”
\n“Because,” Cole said with an exasperated sigh, “When the X-Men are involved,\neven those who have once worked with them, things go crazy. I don’t want Chicago\nto go to hell and us not be ready for it.”
\nPriest sat back in his chair and folded his hands under his chin. “Okay, so what\ndo you want me to do about it?”
\nCole walked back over to the window and looked out at the city lights, some\nstationary, some moving rapidly. It was like watching a Christmas tree on a\ngrand scale. “I want Ash and Hammer, with Flexor backing us up.”
\n“For what?”
\n“We’re going to stay with this Chinney character until she leaves. If something\nhappens The three of us will handle it best we can while Flexor hauls ass back\nhere for reinforcements.”
\nPriest shook his head and closed his eyes, massaging his temples as though he\nhad a headache. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”
\n“Don’t care,” Cole replied, “It’s prudent and we’re just starting to recover\nfrom that clan war. We need to take extra precautions. Besides,” he said with a\nlook of distaste, “I reviewed Jessie’s security list.”
\nPriest looked at him knowingly. “Not impressed?”
\n“Let’s just say I hope that Hex doesn’t show up, or we could be in trouble.”
\nPriest nodded, smiling at the thought of his vampire aid who was slightly out of\ntouch with the times, considering he had gone into hibernation in 1889 and had\njust recently arisen. “All right, I’ll give you the three, just don’t get them\nkilled, okay?”
\nCole looked over his shoulder at the vampire and smiled for the first time that\nnight. “Since when has anyone died on my shift?”
\nPriest returned the smile, a look of confidence on his face that disallowed\nanyone to think differently than him. “Never, that’s why you’re still with me.”
\nAs Kitty stepped from the plane, she was greeted by the bustle and noise of the\nworld’s busiest airport, O’Hare International Airport. Everywhere around her,\npeople rushed to and from planes, intent on their destinations as though nothing\nelse mattered to them. Several people jarred Kitty on her way to the baggage\nclaim, but she said nothing. All she could do was look around, a grin on her\nface. It felt good to be home indeed.
\nAfter quickly getting her bag, Kitty made her way to the exit of the airport\nwith the intentions of catching a cab to the hotel she had booked reservations\nfor. She was just about outside when a hand clapped down on her shoulder.\nInstinct took over and Kitty spun, gripping the arm in a wrist lock and forcing\nthe owner to their knees. “Okay, just who are you?” she said threateningly.
\n“Kitty, do you always greet people this way?”
\nKitty gasped and quickly released the arm. “Oh Lila, I’m so sorry! I had no idea\nit was you, really.”
\nLila Chinney, famous rock star and mutant friend of the X-Men for many years,\nstood up, brushed herself off, and beamed at the younger woman. The two embraced\nand Lila said, “Don’t worry about it Kitten, I know all about what you and the\nrest of the team have been through.” They broke apart and Lila led Kitty\noutside. “So, what are you doing here?”
\n“Actually,” Kitty admitted, “I’m here to see your concert and do some relaxing.”
\n“No kidding? Well, you’ll just have to stay with me and the band at our hotel.”
\n“Well, I wouldn’t want to impose on you.”
\nLila waved the statement away. “You wouldn’t be imposing, believe me. Come on,\nwe’ve got more than enough room. We’re staying at the Waldrof.”
\nKitty’s eyes widened. “Really? Wow, that place isn’t cheap.”
\nLila shrugged. “Well, the place we’re playing for is spotting the bill. It’s a\nnew alternative club and they wanted a big name there for their grand opening\nnight.”
\n“Well, I’m not so sure...”
\n“I’m not taking no for an answer,” the rocker said with a twinkle in her eye.
\nKitty sighed and smiled. “All right, you talked me into it.”
\n“Great!” Lila clapped her hands and pulled Kitty to a black stretch limo that\nsat along the curb. When the driver opened the door for them, Kitty gave the\nother woman a surprised look. “A limo?”
\nLila shrugged. “Hey, not my idea.”
\n“Whose?”
\n“The owner of the club. I guess they really believe in that five star\ntreatment.” They slid inside and both looked around in awe. The interior of the\nlimo was nothing short outstanding. There was everything from a small\ntelevision, to a full wet bar. Almost instantly, Lila went for the bar and\npoured two glasses of wine. She handed one to Kitty and lifted her own. “To\nbeing treated right.”
\nKitty lightly clinked her glass against Lila’s. “To old friends.”
\n“Amen.” They both drank and fell into a comfortable mode of gossiping and\ncatching up on old times. For a while, the two felt like ordinary people, not\nmutants with superpowers who spent most of their time trying to save the world\nfrom super powered villains. By the time they reached the Waldorf hotel, Kitty\nfelt thoroughly relaxed and was looking forward to going to the concert that\nnight. The two young women rushed from the limo, giddy and giggling from\nexcitement and alcohol. After checking in, the two took an elevator up to the\npenthouse suite. As soon as the elevator doors opened the doors, Kitty gasped.\n“Wow, nice room.”
\n“Yeah,” the rocker agreed as they walked into the suite and began exploring.
\nIndeed, it was one of the nicest hotel suites the two had ever seen. It\nencompassed the entire top floor and was equipped with rooms for guests, a\nswimming pool, sauna, a bathroom that could house ten people at once\ncomfortably, and almost anything else one would want. “This place must have cost\na fortune to rent,” Kitty remarked quietly as they stopped in the living room\narea with its huge forty inch screen television, “I’ll bet whoever set you up\nhere is paying a pretty penny”.
\n“Actually, I own it.”
\nThe two spun around, each ready to defend themselves if necessary. While Kitty\nphased instinctively, Lila already had a place in mind to teleport to, should\nthe need arise. Yet when the attractive woman in the dark blue dress did nothing\nbut smile kindly at them, they relaxed, somewhat. “Who are you?” Lila asked\nbefore Kitty could.
\n“Jessica Rollins,” the woman said, walking over to them and holding out a\nmanicured hand, “I am the owner of Dock 5 and this hotel.”
\nLila took the hand and shook it, raising an eyebrow. “Why own both a club and a\nhotel?”
\n“To have a place for my singers and bands to stay when they come to Chicago, of\ncourse.” She spoke as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
\n“Oh, of course.”
\nJessica smiled brightly at Lila and turned to Kitty. “And are you a member of\nher band?”
\n“Uh, no,” Kitty said hesitantly, “I’m just a friend.”
\n“I see,” the woman said, looking the young woman up and down with eyes so hungry\nit made Kitty squirm, “Do you happen to have a place to stay in Chicago?”
\n“Well, I was kind of planning on staying with Lila here.” She looked over at the\nrocker with an unspoken cry for help.
\n“Yes,” Lila agreed heartily, walking over and looping her arm through Kitty’s,\n“Kitty will be staying with me, I can see there is more than enough room.”
\nJessica shrugged, an eloquent and faint motion of her shoulders. “If you wish\nit,” she said in a musical voice, “But I was simply going to offer you a room of\nyour own, free of charge.” She lifted a hand when Kitty opened her mouth to\nspeak. “I understand, it is not the penthouse, so I will understand if you\nrefuse.”
\nKitty’s mouth worked, but no sound came out. “You’re just willing to give her a\nroom and she’s not even part of the band,” Lila asked wearily.
\n“Certainly,” Jessica said, a peculiar gleam in her eye, “Any close friend of my\nsingers is more than welcome to stay in my hotel for free. I find that with\ntheir inspiration and support, it helps the singers to perform better than\nnormal.”
\nThe two mutants looked at each other and shrugged. “Okay with you?” Lila asked.
\n“Okay with me, okay with you?”
\n“Okay with me.”
\nThey both turned and looked at Jessica “Okay,” they both said at the same time\nbefore bursting into giggles.
\n“Excellent,” Jessica said, clasping her hands before her breasts in excitement,\n“I can send someone up to fetch your bags right away.” She glanced down at her\nwatch. “Oh, I would hurry, you do only have a few hours until the show begins.”
\nKitty looked at her watch and her eyes widened in surprise. When she looked out\nthe window, the time was confirmed. It was indeed six o’clock at night. Where\nhad the last few hours gone. “I guess I should get down to my room and unpack.”
\n“Yeah,” Lila agreed, “I should get ready too. I’ll meet you downstairs at eight\nand we can head over to the club.”
\n“Sounds good,” Kitty said, turning to Jessica, “Okay, let’s g-” the words froze\nin her throat.
\nJessica no longer stood in the room. Instead, a young man in a bellhop’s uniform\nstood in her place, looking expectant. “Can I get your bags miss?” he asked\npolitely.
\nKitty shook her head in confusion. “Where the hell did you come from and where\ndid Ms. Rollins go?”
\nThe bellhop shrugged. “Ms. Rollins let me in and left herself only a moment ago.\nI suppose your conversation had a full hold of your attention, so you did not\nhear me enter.”
\nKitty narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She didn’t believe a word the guy had just\nsaid. After having spent most of her young adult life with the X-Men and their\noff-branch team, Excalibur, Kitty’s instincts had been honed to a razor’s edge.\nSomething just was not sitting well about the whole situation. When she looked\nover at Lila, she could tell the rocker had the same feelings. She gave Kitty a\nlook that said, Go with it, but stay on your toes. Kitty returned the look with\na minuscule nod and looked back at the bellhop. “Okay, let’s go.” She handed him\nher black bag and let him lead her to the room.
\nThe hotel room Jessica had supplied her with was one floor down, and was by no\nstretch small. The room itself had a king sized bed, full bathroom with\nwhirlpool and sauna. There was even a little kitchenette and family room. When\nthe bellhop led her into the room, he placed her bag on the bad and turned to\nher, holding out two card keys. Kitty raised a questioning eyebrow. “Two?”
\n“One for your room and one for the penthouse suite, Miss.”
\n“But, I’m not staying in the penthouse.”
\nThe bellhop remained impassive, giving Kitty no clue as to what he was thinking.\n“I was instructed by Ms. Rollins to give you a card key to the penthouse, should\nyou wish to go up and visit your friend.”
\n“Oh,” Kitty said, taking the card keys.
\n“Will there be anything else Miss?”
\nShaking her head, Kitty dug into her pocket, pulling out a five dollar bill.\n“No, thanks.” She pressed the bill into his hand and the bellhop immediately\nturned and left the room. When the door closed and locked, Kitty sighed and sat\ndown on the bed, looking around the room. It was definitely nicer than anything\nshe would have been able to afford if left to her own devices. Oh well, she\nthought, I’ve got it now.
\nLooking at the clock on the wall, she saw she still had an hour and a half until\nshe needed to meet up with Lila at the front desk. Glancing at the bathroom\ndoor, she muttered with a smile, “Well, since I do have this place...”
\nWith a joyous cry, she rushed to the bathroom, stripping off her clothes as she\ndid. An hour and a half was more than enough to allow her a good pampering that\nshe hadn’t had in a long time.
\nX-Men: Black Fire
\nBy Paradox
\nBOOK II
\n2
\nOnce again, they took the limo to the club. They would meet the rest of the band\nand the roadies at the club. Kitty had dressed for the occasion, logging onto\nthe net in her room and finding out what kind of place Dock 5 was going to be.\nAccording to several personal reports and interviews in the Tribune, the club\nwas going to be a more popular alternative type dance club. Based on that\ninformation, Kitty clad herself in dark blue jeans, a black sweater, black,\nankle boots, and a black leather jacket with Lila’s name embroidered on the\nback. It had been a gift from the band several years ago, and Kitty felt it only\nfitting to wear to Lila’s big opening.
\nThe rocker herself, on the other hand, had dressed considerably different. She\nwore a lycra black crop top and tight black spandex pants, with black, high\nheeled boots coming up to her knees. A short black jacket completed the look.\nWhen Kitty had first seen the woman, she had reddened with embarrassment.\n“Jeez,” she had commented, “Aren’t you a little bit uncomfortable in that?”
\nLila just smiled and shrugged. “Hey, the look works, what more can I say.” Kitty\nshook her head and smiled as they went into the limo.
\nThey were still rolling through downtown when Lila looked over at Kitty and\nasked, “So, why are you in town, really?”
\nKitty looked over innocently. “I’m here to see your show, of course.”
\n“I talked to Logan, Kitty,” she said knowingly, “He said you were going to be\nhere for at least a three weeks. He actually said he thought you might be here\nfor a month.”
\nKitty shrugged. “Well, I might be, I’m not sure. I did want to visit my parents,\nbut they’re out of town, and with everything going on with the X-Men and all.”
\n“Yeah,” Lila agreed, “Seeing your folks might be a bad idea. So, that kills the\nparent visit, what else?”
\n“Well, there’s the show,” She paused and thought for a moment, “I don’t know, I\nfigured I’d just wing it.”
\nChinney laughed. “Same old Kitty.”
\nThe two talked for a few minutes before they pulled up to the club. From the\noutside, it looked like a run down building in a dark part of downtown. The\nwords: Dock 5 were in blue neon letters above the door. Two hulking bouncers\nstood guard at the double doors. All and all, it seemed very nondescript...
\n...With the exception of the huge crowd that waited impatiently outside. There\nwas no discernible line, just a mass of people all pushing and shoving in an\nattempt to get a better look at the limo that was pulling up. When the chauffeur\nopened the door and Lila got out, screams of fans filled the air. People surged\nforward in an attempt to try and touch the legend, but security personnel\nappeared out of no where and held them back with much more ease than anyone\nwould have expected. In fact, the security people, who were all in T-shirts with\nthe words: Dock Crew on the back, did not even lift a hand to stop anyone. All\nthey did was look at them and the giant cluster stopped. When Lila saw the\neffect, her eyes widened and she motioned for Kitty to look as well. When the\nyounger woman joined her side, her eyes widened as well. “They look like their\nin a trance,” Lila whispered, for the sound had died to the point where\nwhispering was actually possible; that in itself was amazing. “Somehow, I don’t\nget the feeling that it’s because of me being here either.”
\n“Yeah,” Kitty agreed, clenching her fists nervously, “I know what you mean. You\nknow a safe place we can jump to if we need to?”
\n“I can get us to the hotel suite in the blink of an eye.”
\n“Great,” Kitty breathed, “We might need to.”
\nThe two quickly rushed inside, making their way backstage to where the band was\nrelaxing. As soon as they walked in, the group sat up and waved.
\n“Hey Kitty, how’s it going?”
\nKitty smiled back. “Going good guys, how about you?”
\nThey all sort of shrugged. “We’re ready to rock.”
\nAs if on command, people started chanting from inside the club, their demands\nfor music raising higher and higher. Lila looked over at Kitty with curious\neyes. “Boy, they let them in quick.”
\nKitty shrugged. “Well, they’re calling for you.”
\nThe rocker smiled and ran her fingers through the shock of black hair. “Too\ntrue, you ready to play boys?”
\nThe band each picked up their tools of music and nodded. “Let’s do it,” the\ndrummer said with a smile, and the stepped from the back room. When they took\nthe stage, the entire club erupted in cheer, and Kitty finally got a good look\nat the interior of the establishment.
\nThe stage was set against the back wall and was a good twenty feet wide, more\nthan encompassing for any band, plus extra. Kitty assumed it was in case the\nband members wanted to work the crowd a little. There were two good sized bars\nagainst the side walls, both of which were currently filled to bursting.\nNormally, Kitty could tell there would be tables and chairs scattered throughout\nthe room, but they had been removed for Lila’s performance to allow for more\npopulation capacity. The dance floor itself was at least forty square feet big,\nwith boxes of different sizes and configurations stacked up on each other in\nvarying patterns. People had already stormed the mini stages and were jumping up\nand down, cheering loudly.
\nWhen Lila saw the crowd before her, a smile like pure energy came over her face.\nKitty couldn’t help but smile either, for she knew Lila. With a crowd as big and\nenergetic as this, she was guaranteed to put on a great performance. “Is\neveryone ready to party tonight?” she yelled into the microphone. An answering\nroar filled the air, making Kitty’s ears ring. “Then let’s do it!” She nodded at\nthe drummer, who clacked his sticks together four times before the entire group\nflew into the music. Unable to help herself, Kitty started to dance, the music\nseeming to take control of her feet and set them in motion. She flung her head\nfrom side to side, unmindful of the way her auburn hair flew into her face. It\nwas as though there was nothing worth living for except for Lila’s voice singing\nout words of promise, praise, thanks, and joy. The whole world seemed to be\nfilled with music, and for a while, people knew happiness.
\nThe musical spell was shattered by the sound of a shotgun blast, causing the\nmusic to come to a grinding halt and everyone to freeze in place. Kitty, her\nmind still whirling with song and color, stood gasping for breath, trying to\nfigure out what the heck was going on.
\n“All right,” a man in a kabuki mask called out, “This is a robbery for all of\nyou morons. All we want is the cash and no one gets hurt.” He waved the shotgun\nin his hands and yelled, “Now, everyone get against the back wall and be cool!”
\nThe crowd instantly rushed to comply, some people getting trampled in the\nprocess. When Kitty saw a young girl of sixteen get crushed beneath the running\nfeet, she leapt from the stage and rushed over, using her mutant powers to\ndiscreetly make her way through the crowd without being trampled herself. When\nshe reached the girl, a quick look indicated a broken ankle, possibly the foot\nas well. “Are you okay?” Kitty asked as she knelt next to her.
\n“My foot,” the girl whimpered, tears rolling down her face, “I’m scared.”
\n“It’s okay,” Kitty reassured the girl, “Everything will be okay and I’ll make\nsure you get to a hospital.”
\n“What the hell are you doing?”
\nKitty looked up and saw a kabuki mask done in red and white glaring down at her,\nits puffy cheeks almost comical. “This girl’s ankle is broken,” she tried\nexplaining reasonably, “We need to get her to a hospital before she goes into\nshock.”
\n“Screw that,” the mask sneered, shoving its very big pistol into her stomach,\n“Get yourself and the girl against the wall before we find out what kind of\ndamage a .357 does to intestines.”
\nKitty growled deep in her throat, her fists clenched in anger. She knew at least\nthree dozens of ways of taking this guy down, but by doing that, she would\nreveal herself as a mutant and a member of the X-Men, and that was unacceptable.\n“Come on,” she tried again, forcibly putting a plea in her voice, “She’s only a\nkid.”
\n“So are you,” the mask responded with a kind of knowledge Kitty had heard only a\nfew times before.
\n“How do you know? I could be the same age as you.”
\n“I don’t think so,” the mask said, slamming Kitty on the back of the head with\nthe gun faster than any normal human could move. Stars exploded behind her eyes\nand she slumped to the ground, moaning softly. When she tried to get up, her\nlegs refused to obey her commands, simply laying useless instead. Gotta get up,\nshe thought desperately, or else these guys are going to kill someone.
\nLooking up at the mask, she glared at it and said quietly, “So, you have to show\nhow tough you are by beating up a girl, huh?”
\nThe mask shook from side to side and Kitty heard a sigh. “Enough of this crap, I\nwarned you.” He put the barrel of the gun to her forehead and tightened on the\ntrigger. With her vision spinning the way it was, Kitty knew she would not be\nable to concentrate enough to phase out. The bullet would punch through her\nbrain and kill her like any human.
\nJust as the mask’s finger tightened down, a figure materialized out of the\nshadows, tackling the kabuki mask wearer and rolling into a crouch next to\nKitty. “Are you okay?” a very familiar voice asked.
\nKitty shook her head and her eyes widened. “Cole, Is that you?”
\nCole looked down at her and his eyes widened slightly before returning to their\nprevious narrowed glare. “Hi Kitty, good to see you again. Give me a few and\nwe’ll talk.” With that, he exploded from the ground, his hands diving into his\ncoat as the five other robbers leveled their weapons.
\nThrowing his body to the side, Cole dodged out of the way of the bullets and\nshotgun blasts, yanking what Kitty saw was a pair of Glock 9mm pistols from his\ncoat. He slid along the ground on his side, firing at the group of robbers. The\nbullets slammed into a few, dropping them to the ground. People screamed,\nthinking they were dead, but Kitty saw differently. Almost instantly, the fallen\nkabuki mask wearers rolled to their feet and made a break for the door, one of\nthem yelling, “It’s Shadow, let’s get the hell out of here!”
\nCole spun to the right and dumped several more bullets into a robber trying to\nsneak up on him, yelling, “Ash, get the front!”
\n“I’m already there bud.”
\nKitty looked to the front door and saw the familiar image of a young man with\nlong black hair in a black trench coat standing in the doorway of the club. He\nheld a pair of submachine guns in his hands and a smile on his lips. The robber\nskidded to a halt and gaped at him. “Oh no, not him too!” one yelled, “Blow out\na wall or something, we need to get out of here!” They all scattered as Ash\nopened fire with the MP-5’s, careful not to hit any civilians in the room. The\nrobbers all split up and started firing at the two, trying desperately to find a\nway out of the club. While Ash simply took the shots as they came, Cole dodged,\nrolled, and flipped out of the way, returning fire with every maneuver.
\nWhen one of the robbers became confused and rushed right at Cole, the young mage\nspun and snapped out his foot, catching the masked man in the head with a\nspinning snap kick. The kabuki wearer was lifted off the ground and spun in the\nair three times before he hit the ground with a resounding thud. Cole looked up\nand yelled, “Hammer, do your thing!”
\nAlmost instantly, the floor beneath three of the robbers exploded up, throwing\nthem into the air and slamming them into the walls. Kitty watched as a hulking\nman with muscles to rival Colossus rose from the hole in the ground. Cole\nslapped his forehead and shook his head. “Dammit Hammer, I’ve told you before,\nminimum property damage!”
\nThe big man shrugged. “Sorry, I wanted to make it look cool.”
\nCole shook his head once more and fired a couple shots at the robbers, who\nreturned fire. “Dammit, start getting these guys gathered up!” Cole snapped,\nleveling his guns and emptying both fresh clips into the chests of the remaining\ntwo robbers. The robbers fell to the ground and did not move.
\nAlmost immediately, Hammer rushed over to the fallen bodies, scooping them up so\nfast that Kitty could barely keep up with his movements. When the big man jumped\nback into the hole, Cole looked over at Ash. “Time to vamoose partner.”
\n“See you at the shop,” Ash called, ducking out the door.
\nCole spun and ran at one of the walls not occupied by hostages, When he glanced\nat Kitty, he threw her a wink and a small smile, seconds before he vanished into\nthe shadows. Kitty shook her head and got to her feet, looking after where Cole\nhad disappeared. With his magick it was possible that he had simply teleported\nonto the other side of the wall or walked through it. Feasibly, she could have\njust phased through the wall and caught up with him. Yet, Kitty knew that if\nCole wanted to make a getaway, there was nothing she could do to stop him. This\nwas his part of town and he could lose anyone in the shadows that seemed more a\npart of him than his skin.
\nShe had just started to say something to Lila when the police surged into the\nclub, yelling for people to freeze that were no longer there.
\n“Where are we going?” Lila asked as they walked out of the club and headed for\nthe limo waiting for them outside.
\n“A club called Excalibur,” Kitty explained as she slid into the limo.
\n“Why?”
\n“I need to see someone about what happened tonight.”
\nLila looked at the younger woman and shrugged. “Okay, it’s your call, my night’s\npretty much shot anyway.”
\nKitty nodded, her face serious, “I know, that’s exactly what I want to know\nabout.”
\nLila looked at her friend for a moment, then her eyes widened in realization.\n“You know something about what happened at the club.”
\nKitty shrugged. “I think I do, but I’m not sure. That’s why we’re going to\nExcalibur.”
\n“What’s at Excalibur?”
\nKitty slid into the limo and reached for the cell phone. “Someone who can tell\nme exactly what happened.” She quickly dialed a number and waited. “Yes, can I\nhave the number for the club Excalibur in Chicago.” The information operator\ngave her the number. “Thank you.” After disconnecting from the information\nnumber, Kitty quickly punched in the club’s phone number. After three rings,\nsomeone picked up the phone. Kitty could hear the sounds of pounding music and\nvoices in the background.
\n“Excalibur.”
\n“Yes, is Mr. Priest in?”
\nThere was a pause on the other end of the line. “Uh, who is Mr. Priest?”
\n“The owner of the club,” Kitty said as though she were talking to a child.
\n“I’m afraid there is no Mr. Priest who owns this establishment.”
\n“Damn,” Kitty hissed, slamming down the phone.
\n“Problems?” Lila asked with raised eyebrows.
\n“I’m just getting stonewalled,” Kitty explained, leaning back in the seat and\ncrossing her legs. “This is really starting to get me mad.”
\n“What were you hoping to find out?”
\n“I don’t know,” the younger woman sighed, “I wasn’t sure. I’ll get my answers\nwhen we get to the club.”
\nAs soon as the limo stopped in front of the dance club, Kitty jumped out before\nthe chauffeur could get to them. She immediately strode to the door, ignoring\nthe way the bouncer moved to block her way. “Excuse me,” the man said overly\npolite, “But you have to wait in line like the others.
\n“Get out of my way,” Kitty growled, “I need to talk to your boss.”
\nThe big man looked down at her and sighed, as though a young girl trying to get\ninto the club ahead of everyone was nothing new. “Look, I don’t like to hurt\nwomen, but if you don’t go to the end of the line-” He reached down and took\nhold of her shoulder.
\nInstantly, Kitty grabbed his wrist and rotated it around, throwing off the man’s\nbalance. She used the advantage and used a hip throw to drop him to the ground.\nThe man hit with a loud thud and he moaned, rubbing his head. “Look,” she said,\n“Where the hell is Priest, I’m not in the mood for this.”
\n“Neither is he.”
\nKitty spun, swinging her fist at the new voice out of instinct. She connected\nwith a face so solidly it should have knocked the person out for several hours.\nInstead, the man’s face only snapped to the side and looked back at her. “Now\nthat wasn’t a very nice thing to say to an old friend like me.”
\nKitty sighed and slumped her shoulders. “I’m sorry Ash, I’m just not in a very\ngood mood tonight and I’m tired of people playing games with me.”
\nThe vampire smiled sympathetically and put a hand on her shoulder. “Come on,\nI’ll take you up to see him.”
\n“What about my friend?” Kitty asked, looking back at Lila as the woman watched\nthe whole scene.
\nAsh looked at her and narrowed his eyes. “How much does she know about us?”
\n“She works with the X-Men all the time, you guys won’t even phase her.”
\nAsh smiled. “Fair enough,” he waved at her, “Come on Lila.”
\nThe rocker hurried up, looping her arm through Kitty’s. As they walked into the\nclub, Lila whispered, “Should I be worried?”
\nKitty shrugged. “I don’t know, I need to see what kind of a mood he’s in\ntonight.”
\n“Who?”
\n“Priest.”
\nLila shook her head in confusion. “Who’s Priest?”
\nKitty allowed the barest trace of a smile to touch her lips. “You’ll see, just\ndon’t get him mad.”
\nThey started up a staircase. “Why not, does he go berserk like Logan does?”
\nThat made Kitty smile. “Worse.”
\nLila gulped. “Ouch.”
\nAs soon as they reached the top of the stairs, the two came to a set of double\ndoors, a man holding an MP-5 submachine gun standing on either side. Ash nodded\nat the men and the two nodded back, one reaching over and opening one of the\ndoors. The trio walked into a luxurious office with plush chairs surrounding a\nlarge oak desk. Paintings of obviously expensive taste hung from the walls,\nsurrounding the group with beauty. There was only one window in the room, but it\nwas a large picture one that looked out at the city, its lights blazing in the\nnight. The single seat behind the desk was swiveled so the back was facing the\ngroup. “Hey Priest, you got company, you decent?”
\nThe chair spun around and a young man of about twenty-one or twenty-two faced\nKitty and Lila, kicking his boots up onto the desk and taking a drag from the\ncigarette in his hand. “Course not, when am I ever decent?”
\nKitty sighed and shook her head. “Same old Priest.”
\nThe vampire Prince of Chicago smiled and bowed his head. “I don’t change for\nanyone Kit, you know that. Who’s your friend?”
\nKitty drew Lila towards the desk. “Priest, meet the rock star Lila Chinney.”
\n“Hi,” Lila said somewhat timidly. It was Kitty’s show and she was more than\nwilling to let her run it.
\n“How’s it going?” Priest returned, throwing her a wave.
\n“Lila,” Kitty continued, “I’d like you to meet Priest, Prince of the vampires of\nChicago.”
\nInstantly, Priest was on his feet, his hand snapping out, grabbing Kitty by the\ncollar of her jacket, and hoisting her into the air. “What the hell do you think\nyou’re doing?” he hissed at her, “I should kill both of you right now for saying\nthat!”
\nKitty’s eyes went wide and she gulped hard. It had been nearly a year and she\nhad forgotten what a temper Priest had. She did remember that he would make good\non his promise if it suited him. “Uh, Priest, it’s okay, really.”
\n“How do you figure?” he spat out.
\n“Lila’s worked with the X-Men before, she’s dealt with weirder stuff than you\nguys.”
\nFor several long moments, the vampire glared at her, obviously weighing the\noptions of letting her live. Kitty knew she could phase out of his grip and run,\nbut then the whole city of vampires would be hunting the two of them down. There\nwas no way she could outrun that many undead. Finally, Priest put her down and\nsighed, dropping back into his chair as though he were exhausted. “Dammit Kitty,\nnext time you plan on bringing someone here to see me, let me know first.”
\n“I tried,” Kitty complained, “But the idiots you have working for you said you\ndidn’t exist.”
\nThe vampire raised an eyebrow. “Kit, do you really think I would use my name\nunder the ownership title?”
\nKitty looked down, her cheeks reddening. Why hadn’t she thought of that? “Well,\nyeah.”
\nAgain, a sigh. “Okay,” he said, “What’s up?” He indicated the chairs and the two\nwomen sat down. Ash moved to the window and leaned against it, pulling out a\ncigarette.
\n“There was an attack at the club Dock 5 tonight,” Kitty explained, “It was done\nby your people. I want to know why.”
\n“Dock 5 huh?” Priest rubbed his chin, his glassing slightly as he thought. “I\ngot a call from my boys in the PD saying that there was a big shoot out at that\nplace. No one was arrested.”
\n“Yeah,” Kitty said, sitting forward, “That’s another thing-”
\nBefore another word could be said, the doors to the office flew open and slammed\ninto the wall with a loud bang. Kitty and Lila spun in their seats to see a\nyoung man stalk into the room, his black trench coat flapping violently around\nhis legs and ankles. “Priest, we need to talk, now!”
\nThe vampire Prince stood up and smiled. “Hey Cole, you’re just in time to meet\nour guests.”
\n“Stow it!” the young man growled, slamming a fist down on the desk so hard the\ncomputer sitting upon it jumped, “Ricky and his crew pulled a job on Dock 5\ntonight, I want a blood hunt on them now!”
\nPriest shrugged. “Hey, they’re Rabble, it’s in their nature.”
\nCole shook his head, snarling in anger under his breath. “Dammit Priest, they\nanswer to Jessica, and that’s her fraggin’ club!”
\n“I’ll handle it,” the vampire said quietly.
\nFor a moment, Kitty thought that Cole might argue with Priest or even hit him,\nbut the mage finally backed down, spitting out a curse and spinning towards the\nwindow Ash stood at. The younger vampire tossed him a cigarette and said, “I’ve\nalready talked with our guys at the PD, no one will ever know we were there.”
\n“Good,” Cole said, his anger slowly starting to dissipate, “I’ve got two of\nRicky’s boys on ice, maybe they’ll tell us where he is.”
\n“Hi Cole.”
\nThe young man froze, his heart stopping for a second and then kicking into\noverdrive. Very slowly, his head turned towards the voice and his steel gray\neyes locked onto a pair of the most beautiful hazel ones he had ever seen. Eyes\nhe not seen for nearly a year, until earlier that night. “Hi Kitty,” he said\nquietly.
\n“It’s been a while,” the young woman said, standing up.
\nCole nodded, his expression growing dark. “Yeah, it has.”
\nFor a long while, neither said a thing. It seemed as though they were trying to\ncommunicate their thoughts and feelings by expression alone. When he could no\nlonger take the heated silence, Priest pushed up from the desk and said, “All\nright. Ash, I want you and Flexor to interrogate the two guys you got a hold of.\nFind out where Ricky is and then bring him to me.” Ash nodded and left the room.\n“Cole, I want you to talk to Jess, find out what the deal is and why she had her\nown club hit just when it was opening. I have a feeling it has to do with\nmoney.”
\nCole nodded and quietly said, “I’m on it.” He started to the door.
\n“Hold on chief,” Priest said, “I didn’t mean right now.” Cole stopped, looking\nat the vampire with a curious eyebrow. “Let her relax and think she’s in the\nclear. Do it tomorrow.”
\nCole turned towards Priest fully. “And just what am I supposed to do until\nthen?”
\n“Take the night off,” he said with a smile and a wave of his hand, “God knows\nthat you’ve been working your ass off.”
\n“I want Ricky and Jessica,” Cole insisted, narrowing his eyes angrily.
\n“You’ll have ‘em, I promise you. Now, get the hell out of here and enjoy\nyourself for once in your life.”
\nCole glared at Priest for several tense seconds and then spun around, storming\nout the door. “I’ll be downstairs having a drink,” he called back before the\ndoor closed.
\nKitty and Lila looked after him until the door cut of her view of him and turned\nback to Priest. “Well, he’s a pleasant fellow,” Lila quipped, “I can see what\nyou like about the guy.”
\nKitty threw Lila a hard look and said to Priest, “What’s wrong with him, he was\nnever that cold.”
\nPriest sighed and sank into his chair. “He’s been under a lot of pressure for\nthe last year. He wanted the job of city sheriff and I gave it to him.”
\nKitty cocked her head to the side curiously. “So he’s sheriff of Chicago, he can\nhandle it.”
\nThe vampire nodded. “Yeah, I know, but it got more complicated once I gave him\nthe job.”
\n“How?”
\nPriest sighed and took out a bottle of red liquid, pouring it into three\nglasses. “Something to drink?”
\nKitty smirked. “Should I be worried about it being blood?”
\nThe vampire looked stricken, and for a minute, Kitty thought she might have\nactually offended him. That sent a trickle of fear down her spine. Offending the\nPrince of vampires in Chicago was not a wise thing to do. Yet when he suddenly\nsmiled, the trace of fear vanished. She should have known better than to think\nthat Priest would take offense to a little comment like hers. “Nah, my blood\nbinding you guys to me just wouldn’t serve any purpose. This is just a little\nred wine.” He extended two cups to the women.
\nLila started to reach for hers and looked at Kitty for an okay. Kitty nodded and\ntook her own cup. “It’s okay Lila, Priest’s a vamp of his word.”
\nThe vampire smiled and put a hand over his heart. “My dear Kitty, you make my\nheart go pitter patter with your kind words.”
\nKitty laughed and took a sip of the wine. “Anyway, you were saying about\nCole...”
\n“Yeah,” Priest said, his expression growing serious once again, “As I was\nsaying, just after Cole took the job of sheriff, a lot of people were giving him\ngrief about him being a mage and not a vampire. There was a lot of teasing and\ntrick playing.”
\n“And Cole flipped out,” Kitty surmised. She could already picture the young mage\ngrowing enraged and begin to kill vampires left and right. She could actually\nsee the bloodlust in his eyes that surpassed even Wolverine’s infamous berserker\nrages.
\n“No, he actually didn’t.” Kitty’s eyebrows went up. “All Cole did was call a\nfull blown vampire meeting here at Elysium at three in the morning when the\nplace was closed down for the night, stand in front of everyone, and offer a\ngeneral challenge to anyone there.”
\n“What kind of challenge?” Lila asked.
\nPriest looked over at her and then back at Kitty, his gaze asking her if it\nwould be wise to reveal anything else. Kitty nodded minutely and Priest\ncontinued. “It was a challenge for the title of sheriff. If anyone wanted the\njob, all they needed to do was kill him.”
\nThe rocker winced slightly. “That’s a little excessive, don't you think?”
\nPriest shrugged. “That’s the way we do things. It tends to keep order and\ndominance that way.”
\n“So what happened?” Kitty asked, anxious to find out more about Cole.
\n“Well, the Rabble next in line for Primogen status stepped up and answered the\nchallenge.”
\n“And Cole won, right?”
\nThe vampire laughed. “Won? Hell, the boy literally ripped the guy apart from the\ninside out without even touching him.”
\nKitty gasped. She knew Cole was a powerful mage, but... “Cole’s not that strong\nof a mage,” she stated flatly.
\n“Bull,” Priest threw back, “That kid’s got so much magick inside him he’s\npractically bursting with power. I had a couple guys from the magi society come\ndown and check him out and they never made it through the door of the club\nbefore they turned and ran as fast as they could.”
\n“Why’d they do that?”
\n“Well,” the Prince said, leaning back in the chair, “When I called them up the\nnext day demanding an explanation, they said that there was so much raw magickal\nenergy radiating from him that it was like he was a living Node.”
\n“A what?” the two women asked.
\nPriest laughed. “Yeah, that was exactly what I said. I won’t confuse you with\nthe magickal mumbo jumbo, just suffice to say that Cole’s a walking magick\nbattery with the strength of a nuclear bomb that’s about to go critical.”
\n“My God,” Kitty whispered, “How does he stay sane?”
\n“He’s been bleeding off magick constantly,” Priest explained, “At least that’s\nwhat he said he was doing. From what I’ve been told, he’s been using his magick\nto teleport from place to place, heal wounds, and generally just been feeding it\ninto the Earth.”
\n“Won’t such raw magickal energy harm the Earth’s structure?” Kitty asked, the\nanalyst in her coming out. Whenever something weird or unexplained happened, she\nalways reverted to science to find an explanation. So far, her knowledge had\nserved her well, but there was nothing scientific about magick.
\n“No, Cole says that he’s only returning the energy to where it came from.\nAccording to him, the energy he’s getting is coming from the Earth anyway.”
\nLila suddenly stood up, draining her glass and setting it on the desk. “Well,\nI’ve had about as much weirdness as I can take for one night, so I’m going to go\ndownstairs and get plastered.”
\nPriest smiled and stood up, taking her hand. “Please, have whatever you want and\nhowever much you want of it, on me. It’s the least I can do for screwing up your\nbig gig.”
\nLila smiled and nodded her thanks before walking out the door. As soon as the\nwooden door closed, Kitty turned back to Priest, eyeing him suspiciously.\n“There’s more, isn’t there?”
\n“Of course, I just haven’t had a chance to talk about it yet.” He refilled both\nof their glasses and lit a fresh cigarette. “About six months ago, the Warlocks\nand the Rabble teamed up with the anarchs of the city in an attempt to overthrow\nme. All combined, they totaled about twenty vampires.”
\n“That’s not a lot.”
\n“On the contrary,” Priest said with a wave of his finger, “That was more than\nhalf the population of vampires in the city. Well, Me, Cole, and Ash got the\nOutlanders, Artists, and Blue Bloods together and formed a counter offensive. In\nthe end, we had a real bloody war. The whole thing was something we call a Clan\nWar. It’s when the different vampire clans, basically, got to war.”
\n“I figured that,” Kitty stated, obviously not liking being spoken to like a\nchild.
\n“Yeah,” Priest blushed, embarrassed by his oversight, “Well, when it was over,\nCole proved to be the major turning point.”
\n“How?”
\nThe vampire stood and looked out the window, surveying his city. “He basically\nvaporized ninety percent of them.”
\n“What!” Kitty yelled, jumping to her feet.
\n“Oh yeah,” Priest said with a nod of his head, not looking at Kitty, “He’s that\npowerful. Ever since then, the vampires from down south, the Sabbat, have been\ntrying to infiltrate the city and Cole’s had his hands full.” He turned back to\nface Kitty. “Needless to say, he’s been under some stress.”
\n“Yeah,” Kitty agreed, “Are you sure he’s okay down at the bar drinking?”
\n“Yeah,” Priest said, “He’s been okay for a while. This whole Dock 5 thing just\nriled him up. That and the fact that you were there didn’t help any.”
\nKitty raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
\nThe vampire looked at her quizzically. “You don’t know?” She shook her head.\n“Kitty, the guy is in love with you.”
\nKitty mouth fell open. For several moments, no words came to her mind, only\nconfusion and disbelief. Finally, when her voice obeyed her again, she quietly\nasked, “How can you be so sure?”
\nPriest chuckled and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Kit,\nI’ve been on this planet for more years than you know. Believe me, I know when\nsomeone’s in love.”
\n“So how do you know?”
\n“Well, for one, Cole would never been so pissed off about that little gunfight\nat Dock 5 as he was tonight. Hell, the kid loves getting into scrapes, lets him\nblow off steam. The only reason he was so pissed was because you were in harm’s\nway.”
\n“So maybe he’s considerate of human life?” Kitty offered hopefully.
\nPriest looked at her for a long time and shook his head. “Cole’s considerate of\nhuman life all right, but he’s also more distanced in situations involving them.\nTrust me Kitty, he’s in love with you, and you feel the same about him.”
\nKitty jerked away from the vampire and faced him fully, glaring into his eyes.\n“What are you talking about? The guy saved my life, of course I like him as a\nfriend.”
\nPriest made a disgusted sound and shook his head. “You humans, you try to hide\nyour feelings from one another too much.” He looked her in the eye. “Kitty, the\none look you gave him when he came in the room spoke volumes. You’re in love\nwith him.”
\nKitty spun around and stormed out of the room. Just before she exited the\noffice, she looked over her shoulder and spat out, “You wouldn’t know love if it\nsmacked you in the face.”
\nAfter the young woman had left the room, Priest sighed and smiled, dropping back\ninto his seat and looking at the two closed doors. Yes, he knew about love. He\nhad been in love shortly before and after his Embrace, but the feelings had died\naway, along with the girl he had fallen in love with. “Yeah,” he sighed, “I\nthink I might know one or two things about love.”
\nX-Men: Black Fire
\nBy Paradox
\nBOOK II
\n3
\nCole slammed down the empty glass on the counter and glared at the girl behind\nthe bar. “Get me another one Liz.”
\nThe dark-haired bartender looked from the glass, to the ten glasses lined up\nnext to it, to Cole. “Um, I’m not so sure Cole, that’ll be number twelve. Don’t\nyou think you’ve had enough?”
\nCole glared at the women, his eyes flashing momentarily with power. “Do I look\neven slightly buzzed Liz?”
\nThe woman shook her head, undaunted by the young man. “No, in fact you look\ncompletely sober.”
\n“Then give me another one or I’ll get it myself, and you know I’ll do it too.”
\nLiz offered Cole a small smile. “Yeah, I know you will.” She reached behind the\nbar and pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels, filling the shot glass before him.\n“Here, but try to lay off the stuff for a while.”
\nCole slammed down the drink and flipped the glass upside-down before setting the\nempty shot glass back on the bar. He glared at Liz for several moments and then\nrelaxed. The woman was right, he was drinking far too much for ten minutes. Even\nfor him, twelve shots of Jack was pushing the envelope. True enough, the alcohol\nwas already burned out of his system from the amount of magick that coursed\nthrough him, but it set a bad example to the rest of the vampires. He was the\nsheriff of Chicago after all. “All right then, set me up a cup of coffee and\nkeep it coming.”
\nLiz’s smile widened and she nodded, her black tresses flying. “You got it.”\nImmediately, she went off to brew up a fresh pot of coffee.
\nCole looked down at the empty glass before him and slowly turned it right side\nup. Reaching over behind the bar, he took up the soft drink extension and pushed\none of the buttons. Water flowed from the nozzle, quickly filling the tiny shot\nglass. With a flick of his wrist, Cole tossed the soft drink extension back\nbehind the bar and looked down into the tiny pool of water. Chanting arcane\nwords under his breath, he allowed the magick inside him to flow out through his\nfingertips and enter the water in the glass. He gasped softly when he felt the\nmagick course through his veins from his heart to the hand that barely touched\nthe glass. The water started to cloud with swirling, pink smoke. He watched as\nthe smoke wove dizzying patterns in the liquid, finally settling on an orbit of\njust along the edge of the glass. The water that the smoke had traveled through\nchanged from transparent liquid to something akin to a television screen. Cole\nwatched as images flew by at alarming speed. Nothing was discernible in the\nchaos that flew by, and Cole gritted his teeth angrily when he could not\nidentify any of the images. “Knock it off,” he growled, magickal energy flaring\nthrough his eyes. Almost instantly, the images froze, as though someone had\npushed pause on a vcr. Instantly, Cole’s eyes went wide when he gazed upon the\nstill picture before him. It was something of a jumble, there was a collection\nof four to five men in different garb. Some were in motorcycle gear, some wore\nbusiness suits. Yet all were intent upon one thing before them, the victim they\nheld pinned beneath them. Cole could not immediately determine who the person\nbeneath the cluster was, but he caught sight of a thick lock of hair and a\nsingle eye looking out, fear widening it so the whites clearly showed. The\ninstant he saw the eye, his heart stopped beating for three seconds. Fear and\nhorror tore through his mind, making it whirl. In that moment, he knew who was\nbeneath the cluster of men, and why.
\nWith a roar of pure fury, he hurled the shot glass at the far wall, causing it\nto explode into thousands of glass shards. The music in the club immediately\ncame to a grinding halt and everyone in the club looked over at the young man,\ntheir eyes either wide with surprise, curiosity, or wisely fearful. Cole glared\nback at them, red energy flickering in his eyes. “You have a problem?” he said\nlow. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the music began once more and\npeople resumed their dancing, conversations, and drinking.
\n“You really need to lay off the customers Cole, they’re starting to get\nnervous.”
\nCole glanced over his shoulder at the person who stood behind him. “They\ncomplaining?”
\n“No,” the man said, “I can just tell.”
\nCole sighed and leaned back in his chair against the bar, his hand absently\nbrushing against the coffee cup Liz had set down without him knowing about it.\n“How the hell does she do that?” he muttered under his breath as he took a sip\nof the steaming coffee. “Kitty still up with Priest?”
\nAsh pulled up a chair and shook his head. “Yeah, they finished up a few minutes\nago, but she still wanted to talk to him about something. Probably just catching\nup and stuff. Her friend Lila’s down here drinking up a storm, though.” He\npaused. “I think she’s about to try for some stage action.”
\nCole looked over to where Ash indicated and couldn’t help but laugh. Lila was in\nthe process of trying to get onto the stage where bands normally performed, but\ntwo of the bouncers were trying to convince her otherwise. “Let her up there.”
\nAsh blinked in surprise. “What?”
\n“Let her up there,” Cole repeated, “We trashed her opening gig tonight, it’s\nonly fair we give her a shot here.”
\nAsh shook his head with a sigh and looked back at the rocker. “Cole, she’s\ntrashed. If she gets on stage, she’ll end up falling off and breaking her neck!”
\nThe young mage turned to his coffee and reached into his coat, pulling out a\ntiny, royal blue felt pouch. He untied the drawstrings on it and withdrew a\npinch of black powder. He released the powder into the coffee and stirred the\nliquid with his finger. Once he was sure the potion was properly mixed, he\npicked up the cup, held it in his palm, and muttered a few words, extended the\ncup to Ash. “Give her this, it’ll clean her up good.”
\nThe vampire took the cup and let out a yelp, bobbling the cup and almost\ndropping it before getting a hold on the handle. “Damn Cole, you didn’t say you\nheated the damn thing.”
\n“Oh,” Cole said with an expression of innocence, “Did I forget to mention that?”
\nAsh grinned widely at his friend and slapped him hard on the shoulder. “Now\nthat’s the Cole I remember.” He laughed and walked off, angling for the stage\nwere Lila was staggering over to the microphone and deftly avoiding the\nbouncers, all the while giggling hysterically. Cole watched as Ash quickly\njumped onto the stage and offered the cup to the giggling rock star. Lila\nhappily took the cup and drank deeply from it. Almost immediately after she had\nfinished its contents, the cup was hurled into a nearby wall, where it\nshattered.
\n“Okay,” Lila giggled into the microphone, while simultaneously pushing Ash away,\n“This song is dedicated to everyone who is about to die.” Cole’s eyes widened\nslightly. A curious choice of tune for such a crowd. “You’re all going to die!”\nshe screamed, “It’s inevitable! Just let your minds whirl and twist in agony and\nlet it all come out. Succumb to the madness that we all have and let yourself be\nfree!”
\nCole was on his feet in a heartbeat, his eyes rapidly flicking back and forth.\nHe quickly scanned the large amount of clientele in the club, hunting for the\none person he knew was there. In the meantime, Lila continued to jabber on like\na crazy person, threatening to bring back the dead gods of rock and roll and\nother such nonsense. The young mage began to work his way through the crowd that\nhad gathered around the stage to watch this crazy woman prattle on and on. So\nfar, she had said nothing that was too offensive, and everyone thought she was\njust some kind of publicity stunt. That wouldn’t last, though.
\nAlmost as soon as the thought went through Cole’s mind, Lila raised her arms to\nthe ceiling and yelled, “Let mutants and vampires rule the world!”
\n“Son of a bitch!” Cole hissed angrily, drawing two fingers across his lips and\nsnapping out his fingers in a tight sweeping gesture. Almost immediately, Lila’s\nvoice was cut off, like a soundproof wall had been placed in between her and the\ncrowd. Her lips still moved, but no sound emerged from them.
\nCole winced as pain rippled through his stomach, but he pushed it away. “Ash,\nget her the hell out of here, now!” Ash immediately grabbed Lila by the waist\nand disappeared backstage. Cole looked around at the people who milled about in\nconfusion. “Jackie!” he roared.
\n“What is it Shadow I mean she was speaking such beautiful words and I really\nthink she was on to something and working together we could create such\nbeautiful art and speaking of art who chose these paintings I mean they have no\nliving color to them and there’s no where near enough blood and intestines to\nmake it seem like anything but trash and -”
\nCole whirled and punch out, his fist slamming directly into the face of the man\nthat had suddenly appeared behind him. There was a startled cry as the man in\nthe artist’s smock and rubber shoes fell to the ground. Cole immediately knelt\ndown next to him and grabbed his collar. “Jackie, what the hell have I told you\nabout coming in here during business hours?”
\n“But Shadow this is Elysium and if a vampire can’t come into safe haven anytime\nhe wants then what’s the purpose of even having Elysium I mean this place needs\nto be decorated better anyway but still-”
\n“Shut-Up!” Cole snarled into his ear. “If you say another damn word that might\nbreach the Masquerade, I will personally rip out your heart and feed it to your\ndecapitated head, you got me?”
\nThe man nodded slowly, fear widening his eyes considerably. Cole hauled him to\nhis feet, dragging him towards the stairs. “Where are we going?” Jackie asked,\nusing a complete sentence for the first time.
\n“We’re going to see Priest.”
\n“Uh-oh,” Jackie said quietly, “He’s going to be pissed. But, when isn’t he\npissed I mean he really needs to take a vacation soon because running a business\nlike his can really be stressful and it really does one good to try and relax\noccasionally and I should know because I try to relax all I can that’s why I\nlook so young even though I am a vampire and we can’t age anyway by that’s not\nreally the point is it-”
\nCole simply drew a finger across his lips and Jackie’s voice vanished.
\nKitty almost ran smack into Cole as he came charging up the stairs with a\nbabbling idiot of a man in an artists smock and nearly white blond hair that\nhung passed his shoulders. Quickly moving out of the way, Kitty asked, “What’s\nup, a trouble maker?”
\n“More than you can possibly imagine,” Cole responded, heading for Priest’s\noffice, “You may want to listen to this, it concerns your friend.”
\nKitty immediately ran to catch up. “Is Lila in trouble?” she asked anxiously.
\n“No, but she almost just blew your guys’ cover as mutants and the Masquerade sky\nhigh. I had Ash get her out of here. He’ll take her back to the hotel until the\ndamn thing wears off.”
\n“What thing?” the young woman asked, concern no forward in her voice.
\n“Dementia,” Cole said simply, and kicked open Priest’s doors, ignoring the\nprotests of the guards. “Priest, we have a problem,” he called.
\nThe Prince sighed and took a drag from his cigarette. “God Cole, don’t you ever\nknock?” He shifted his gaze to the man in Cole’s grasp and slapped a hand over\nhis face and moaned. “Oh God, when did he get out and how the hell did he get in\nhere?”
\n“No idea,” Cole answered, “But he nearly screwed everyone in this room and ever\nsingle vampire in the city.”
\n“How?” Priest asked, but Kitty could tell he did not want to know the answer.
\n“Lila was drunk and got on stage, apparently getting ready to sing.” Priest\nnodded for him to continue. “Well, it turns out she wasn’t drunk after all.\nJackie here decided to use his artistic influences to elevate her thinking to a\nhigher consciousness.”
\n“A sphincter says what?” The vampire said, his eyes wide with complete\nconfusion.
\n“Jackie used Dementia on her,” Cole spat out.
\n“Ah shit!” Priest cried, leaning back in his chair and covering his face with\nhis hands. “What did she say?”
\n“Mutants and vampires should rule the world.”
\n“Wait a minute,” Jackie intervened, “I never had her say that I mean the world\nwould be so boring if there were no humans I mean we wouldn’t really have any\nfood and we’d always be fighting an everything-”
\n“Shut up!” both Cole and Priest yelled, immediately shutting the insane vampire\nup.
\n“How did he make Lila say those things?” Kitty asked, looking at Jackie\nintensely.
\n“It’s a vampire power called Dementia. It allows them to bring out the madness\ninside the victim, thereby making them more like them.”
\nKitty shook her head. “Scary.”
\n“Yeah,” Priest said, glowering at the insane artist, “But all he seems to do is\npiss me off. Jackie, how the hell did you get out of the psycho ward?”
\n“I just walked out.”
\nCole cocked an eyebrow. “Didn’t know he was that good in Obfuscate.”
\n“Neither did I,” conceded the Prince, “Guess I’ll have to reevaluate him.” He\nglanced down at a few monitors on his desk. “How bad is the damage?”
\nCole shrugged. “Don’t know, I shut Lila up with some magick seconds after she\nstarted babbling and Ash got her out of there a split second after. I’d say that\nthe only thing we need to worry about is some mutant haters starting trouble.”
\n“Not many of those in Chicago, but I’ll have the crew keep an eye open.”
\n“Then I’ll leave Jackie in your capable hands,” Cole said, quickly grabbing\nKitty by the arm and dragging her from the room. Just before the doors closed,\nKitty heard Priest yell, “Oh hell no Cole, you get back here and take care of\nthis crazy son of a bitch. Cole? Cole!”
\nCole burst out laughing so hard he needed to use the wall for support. Kitty\nwatched with wide-eyed amazement as the formerly cold and indifferent\nmage/assassin suddenly seemed so human. “I think this is the first time I’ve\nseen you genuinely laugh since I got here.”
\nCole stifled his chuckles and wiped a few absent tears from his eyes. “I needed\nit, believe me.”
\n“So I’ve heard. Have you thought of taking a vacation?”
\nCole’s eyes grew slightly serious. “Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a\nvacation for the sheriff of the city.”
\nKitty shook her head and sighed. “Maybe you should change that. I’m sure Ash is\nmore than able to take over the job for a while.”
\n“Yeah,” Cole agreed, “But I can’t leave the city yet, it’s just starting to\nrebuild itself. I take it Priest told you about the clan war we had.”
\n“Yeah. Despite that, you should really try to get away soon.”
\n“Soon,” he promised, “Once everything is cleaned up and toughened up.”
\nThe two stood in silence for a long time, looking into each others eyes. Kitty\nfelt her heart quicken when his eyes warmed and drank her in, like a man dying\nof thirst suddenly given all the water he ever wanted. Did she feel the same\nway? Realizing that she was taking him in just as strongly, Kitty realized that\nthe answer was yes. The shock of it sent a shiver down her spine. “Um, I’d\nbetter go and see if Lila’s okay.”
\n“Yeah,” Cole agreed reluctantly, “I should really try and take care of Jackie\nbefore Priest-” Before he could finish, there was the sound of flesh meeting\nflesh and a window shattering, followed by Jackie’s fading babbling. “Oh well,”\nhe said sheepishly, “Too late.”
\nThe two laughed heartily and parted ways, both feeling slightly more alive than\nthey had a half an hour ago.
\nX-Men: Black Fire
\nBy Paradox
\nBOOK II
\n4
\nAll around her, glowing red eyes looked out from the shadows, hungrily looking\nat her. Kitty spun around and around, trying to get a fix on any one target. A\nsnap of a twig made her spin one way, a chuckle the other. There was no way she\ncould get a fix on any one target, there was just too many. One of the sets of\neyes leaped out at her, its shadowed talons slicing towards her arm. Kitty\nsimply phased her molecules and let the vampire pass through her.
\nA searing heat of pain tore through her shoulder as the vampire’s razor sharp\ntalons pierced and ripped through the tender flesh of her right arm, severing\nnerves and destroying muscle. Kitty screamed and stumbled back, clutching her\nwounded arm, looking around in fear. Something was wrong, she hadn’t phased when\nthe vampire had attack. Her powers were gone! Looking around desperately, she\nstarted to run. There was no visible exit, but Kitty knew she had to get out of\nthere, fast. There was at least ten vampires around her, all of them hungry, and\nshe had no powers.
\nWhen they all leaped out at her and pinned her to the ground, raking into her\nflesh beneath the nightshirt she wore, Kitty screamed and thrashed about, trying\nto fight of the undead creatures that easily outmatched her strength. When she\nhappened to look up at one of the vampires, she was able to discern the long\nhair of a female. A voice floated into her ears as sweet as living music.
\n“Your powers are gone, little girl. Now you are nothing but food for us.”
\nKitty sat bolt upright in bed, a scream tearing from her throat. The instant her\neyes opened, the demonic visions of vampires ripping open her flesh and gorging\non her blood disappeared. She looked around, her eyes vainly trying to find any\nsigns of undead intruders. Then, she realized she was in a posh hotel in\nChicago, with no vampires around her and a recovering Lila upstairs. Sighing,\nshe reached for a robe and drew it over the silk nightie she wore. Normally, it\nwould not have been her normal sleeping attire, but it just seemed the right\nthing to wear that night. Maybe she was just feeling more feminine than normal.\nThe robe she pulled on was white silk as well, and Kitty reveled in the coolness\nof the fabric as it slithered across her skin, It was the only nice set of\nnighttime wear she owned; being an X-Man did not make her rich. Deciding to\ncheck on Lila and see how she was recovering from her short bout of vampire\npowers, Kitty phased her molecules and started to walk up the air towards the\nceiling.
\nShe had walked no more than two steps before she realized that she was still on\nthe ground. Frowning, she mentally commanded the mutant ability inside her to\nphase herself out and walk on the molecules of air. Yet again, her body did not\nphase in the slightest. “What is going on?” she whispered to herself. True, if\nshe were tired, Kitty had a difficult time phasing, but she had just gotten a\ngood five hours of sleep. She tried over and over again to phase, each attempt\nmeeting with failure. “My powers,” she suddenly realized, “They’re gone!”
\n“Yeah,” a sinister voice hissed, “I know.”
\nKitty spun just in time to see a figure appear from behind the curtains of the\nwindow, its long, sharp fingernails angling towards her throat. Knowing how to\nmore than simply phase, Kitty parried the attack with a martial arts technique\nand slammed a knee into her attacker’s groin. The man grunted in pain and he\nstaggered back, clutching the wounded area. “Oh, I think I’m going to throw up,”\nhe moaned.
\n“Good,” Kitty spat out, kicking out at the man’s head. Just before her foot\nconnected, the man’s hand snapped up with inhuman speed and caught her by the\nankle, a toothy grin spreading over his face so large Kitty easily saw the\nenlarged canines.
\n“Just kidding.” With strength that identified him as a vampire, the man threw\nKitty into the wall just above the bed. Once again, she tried to phase through\nthe wall, but again, her powers failed her. Kitty slammed into the wall, the air\ngetting blasted from her lungs. She fell onto the bed, gasping for breath. The\nvampire was on her in a heartbeat, his claws raking through the silky fabric of\nthe robe and tearing into her shoulder. Kitty screamed in pain the claws ripped\nopen veins and tore out muscle. The vampire licked the blood on his claws and\nsmiled. “Sweet,” he hissed, “And full of adrenaline and fear.” His eyes glowed\nred with undead bloodlust, and Kitty suddenly knew what he was going to do.\nBefore she could react, the vampire buried his fangs into Kitty’s throat. She\nfelt the energy quickly start to drain out of her as her life’s blood poured\ndown the dead man’s throat, giving him strength and life.
\n“No!” she cried weakly, her fists frantically beating on his head with the\nstrength of a child. Her vision began to blur and she felt her heart start\nbeating wildly in an attempt to re-supply her veins with the lost blood. Soon,\nher hands fell to her sides, too weak to continue a struggle.
\nThe vampire pulled his head away with a sigh, a single line of blood tracing\ndown his chin. “Yummy,” he sneered, “You taste really good girl. I think I might\ncome back again.” He traced a finger down her cheek, causing a whimper from\nKitty. “Aw, don’t worry, I won’t kill you. You’re much too good to me alive.” He\nflicked a finger from his forehead in salute. “See you around.” Before she could\nblink, Kitty saw the vampire dive out the open window and disappear.
\nGasping for breath and greatly in need of blood, Kitty tired to reach for the\nphone next to the bed. Her hand shook as it rested on the receiver, and it took\na severe effort for her fingers to close over the hard plastic and lift it from\nits cradle. She had just enough energy to pull the receiver to her ear and rest\nit on the pillow before all the strength left her limbs. For several minutes,\nthere was only a dial tone. “Please,” Kitty whispered, “Help me.”
\nThe dial tone changed to a beeping sound, followed by a recorded voice saying,\n“If you would like to make a call, please hang up and dial again.”
\n“Help,” Kitty croaked to the phone.
\nThere was a click and a female voice said, “AT&T, how can I help you?”
\n“The Excalibur club,” Kitty whispered, “Connect me to the club.”
\n“The Excalibur club ma’am?”
\nThere was a pause and then a ringing, indicating that the woman had made the\nconnection to the club. The phone rang for several minutes with no one picking\nup. “Pick up,” Kitty begged the phone quietly, “Someone pick up.”
\nFinally, there was a click and a voice said, “Excalibur, we’re closed right\nnow.”
\n“Priest,” Kitty gasped, her throat constricting with the effort, “I need\nPriest.”
\n“Um, I’m not aware of any priest here, ma’am, you should try your local church.”
\n“Need help,” Kitty whispered, “Get Priest or Cole, please.” The end of her words\ncame out in a plea.
\n“May I ask who is calling?”
\n“K-ki-” her voice faded off, her vocal cords no longer containing the strength\nto work.
\nSeconds latter, a familiar voice came over the phone. “Kitty, Kitty are you\nokay?”
\n“Cole,” she said, her voice barely there.
\n“Kitty, what is it, where are you?” Her mouth worked, but no sound came out.\n“Kitty, talk to me dammit!”
\nHelp me Cole, she mouthed, trying to force the words from her throat, but\nfailing, I’m dying Cole, please help me.
\nJust before she blacked out, she heard Cole yell over the phone, “Kitty!”
\n“Where the hell are you going?” Cole ignored Ash as he pulled on his coat and\nslid his guns into their holsters. “I said where are you going?”
\n“Kitty’s in trouble.” the mage said simply, trying to keep from hitting the\nvampire in anger.
\n“It’s nearly sunup,” Ash pointed out.
\n“And I’m not Kindred, so I’m not too worried.”
\nAsh sighed and followed Cole as he nearly ran towards the front door. “Cole, we\nwon’t be able to back you up if there’s trouble.”
\nThe mage threw a leg over the motorcycle at the curb and keyed the ignition.\n“There’s no time to wait, Kitty sounded like she was dying. Get on the phone to\nKelly and get her over here, I may need her to help Kitty.”
\nAsh crossed his arms over his chest and gave Cole a long look before nodding.\n“All right, but what the hell is going on Cole?”
\nCole kicked up the kick stand and glanced once at Ash before slipping on a pair\nof Ray-Bans. “I don't know, but I’m pretty sure that the shit’s going to go sky\nhigh soon.” He revved the bike and kicked it into gear, sending him screaming\ndown the street. Two seconds later, the sun peaked over the horizon, its light\nhitting him square in the face. The Ray-Bans kept the sunlight from blinding him\nas he raced towards the Waldorf. As he moved through the streets with expert\nprecision, his thoughts raced through the possibilities of what was wrong. Had\nshe been attacked? Was she still being attacked? Was she dying? The last thought\nmade him yank even harder on the accelerator, making the speedometer jump from\nsixty to eighty. Fortunately, at six in the morning, there were few cars on the\nstreet. Even so, he pulled out his cellular phone and magickally kept it aloft\nby his ear while he used both hands to steer the bike. Another tweak of magick\ndialed the phone.
\nAfter two rings, someone picked up and a voice said, “Chicago Police\nDepartment.”
\n“Patch me through to Officer Jennings,” Cole said hurriedly.
\nThere was a click and a moment later another voice said, “Jennings.”
\n“Pete, it’s Cole.”
\n“What’s up Cole.”
\n“I’m on Clark street right now and I’m trying to get to the Waldorf. I’m in a\nhurry and I can’t have any of your boys in blue stop me.”
\n“Well, I’m on patrol right now, so I’ll make sure you’re clear. Is there\nanything I can help with?”
\n“No,” Cole said, yanking on the bike and careening around a corner so hard the\nback end fishtailed and nearly flipped, “If it’s what I think it is, you’d\nbetter stay clear.”
\n“All right, give me a call if you need help.”
\nCole had the phone hang up and slip back into his coat pocket. Seconds later, he\npulled up to the Waldorf. Squealing to a halt, Cole jumped off the bike and\nraced into the lobby. He could have used magick to simply fly up to her room or\nteleport in, but there were three normal humans standing around and using magick\nin front of them always resulted in painful consequences. As he ran up to the\nmain desk, he said, “What room is Kitty Pryde in?”
\nThe woman cocked a skeptical eyebrow and asked, “And just who are you sir?”
\nCole’s mind snarled angrily and his eyes flashed with magick for a second as he\nquickly manipulated the woman’s mind. “I’m a friend.”
\n“Certainly sir,” she said, typing in the computer, “Ms. Pryde is staying in the\nhoneymoon suite.”
\nWithout saying a word, Cole spun and raced to the elevator, magickally causing\nit to “happen” to be at the lobby and open just as he reached the doors. He ran\ninto the car and punched the top floor button. The doors closed and the elevator\nslowly started its assent. Reaching into his coat, Cole drew out the two Glocks\nand checked the clips on them. When he was sure they were both full and locked\nand loaded, he looked up at the ceiling of the elevator car and evoked more\nmagick, this time directing it towards the motor that controlled the elevator.\nManipulating Time magick, he caused the motors to move faster, so the elevator\ncar rose at an incredibly fast pace. Cole staggered slightly at the increase of\nspeed, but quickly regained his balance. At the floor just below his\ndestination, he set himself up squarely and raised both guns towards the doors,\nready to blow away anything that was not human when the doors opened.
\nThere was a soft ding and the elevator opened, revealing an empty hallway.\nQuickly clearing both directions, Cole raced from the car and sped down the\nhallway to the honeymoon suite. As soon as he reached the door, he tried the\nknob and found the door locked. He pounded on the wooden frame with one of the\nguns, yelling, “Kitty, can you hear me?” No answer greeted him, sending his\nheart beating rapidly. Maybe he was too late. Shaking the thought aside, Cole\nmagickally manipulated the lock and gave it a magickal push, flinging the door\nopen wide. He dropped to a knee in the doorway, scanning the area for any\npotential targets. When all he saw was Kitty laying on the bed, blood spreading\nthrough the sheets, he holstered the guns and raced to her side. “My God Kitty,\ntalk to me!” He gently turned her head so he could see her face. His heart\nstopped beating for a moment when he saw how pale she was, her eyes closed and\nher pale lips parted slightly. She was breathing, but it was very faint and\nragged. He had seen this before and knew with stark reality what was happening\nto her.
\nShe was dying. Wrapping her up in his arms, he called out a single, arcane word.\nInstantly, red, magickal energy swirled around them like a cyclone. Seconds\nlater, they both disappeared.
\nAsh hung up the phone and sighed sleepily. He had done what Cole wanted and\ncalled Kelly and told her that the mage had wanted her at the club, pronto.\nAlthough not happy about it, she had agreed and told him she was on the way.\nAlthough not a vampire herself, Ash knew she had pulled an all nighter already\nand was probably tired. The thought made him yawn and look at his watch. The sun\nwas already up, but the club was well sun proofed. He would be fine for the\nwhole day, but he was feeling exhausted. “He’d batter have a damn good reason\nfor this,” Ash muttered, retrieving a bottle of blood from behind the bar. If he\nwas going to be up late, he wanted a drink.
\nThe cork had not even come off the bottle when a cyclone of crackling, magickal\nenergy filled the dance floor. Ash immediately put the bottle down and raced\nover as Cole and Kitty’s body materialized and the cyclone disappeared. From\npast experience, Ash knew that Cole never used teleportation spells unless they\nwere truly necessary. The amount of magick it took to initiate them was great\nand usually drained him. That, and the fact that it usually caused a great deal\nof Paradox backlash kept him from using the spell except in emergencies. Judging\nby the look on the mage’s face and the condition of the girl in his arms, Ash\ndetermined that it was definitely an emergency. “What the hell happened to her?”\nAsh demanded.
\n“Don’t know,” Cole said, cradling her in his arms and rushing up the stairs,\n“Probably attacked and drained from the looks of it.”
\n“One of us?” Ash exclaimed in disbelief.
\n“Yeah,” Cole shot back as they came to a large bedroom. He raced over to the\nking-sized bed, only to find Priest laying upon it in a pair of boxers,\ncompletely asleep. Ignoring the slumbering vampire, he set Kitty down on the bed\nand smacked Priest on the head. “Wake up sleeping beauty.”
\nPriest’s eyes snapped open, blazing with rage. He sat up and snarled at Cole,\nhis fangs bared and ready to rend flesh. When he saw who it was, the snarl\ndisappeared and he regarded the mage with an air of anger. “What the hell are\nyou doing? I’m trying to sleep here you know.”
\n“I need the space,” Cole said quickly, his fingers running over Kitty, checking\nher pulse, how deep her wounds were, and trying to do anything else for her.
\nPriest looked down at the young woman and grimaced. “Is she gone?”
\n“No, but she will be soon with the all blood she’s lost. I’ve Kelly coming over\nhere, but I’m not sure she’ll make it in time.”
\nPriest leapt from the bed and pulled on a pair of jeans, running over to the\nphone and snatching it from the cradle. He punched in a number and said, “Yeah,\nit’s Priest. Yeah, I need you over here, now! I’ve got a very sick girl here\nwho’s probably dying. Probably a vampire attack. Great, thanks.” He hung up the\nphone.
\nNo sooner had the phone settled on its cradle, a glowing white disk suddenly\nappeared in the middle of the room. A beautiful woman stepped from the disk, her\nbody covered in a decorative green gown. The disk immediately collapsed on\nitself once she was through. “Where’s the patient?” she asked in a musical\nvoice.
\n“Right here,” Cole said, already starting administer potions and salves from his\ncoat to the wounds, “She was attacked, probably by a vampire. Lost a lot of\nblood and her shoulder’s been practically ripped open.”
\nThe woman moved to the other side of Kitty and gently put a hand on her\nforehead. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment before opening them\nand saying, “I need to work fast, give me some room.” Cole immediately backed\noff. The woman placed both her hands on Kitty’s chest and spoke a few soft words\nof prayer. Her hands began to glow with green energy that spread throughout\nKitty’s body.
\nCole watched as color flooded back into her cheeks and her breathing became deep\nand regular. The wound on her shoulder knitted itself back together until the\nskin was pink and fresh. “You have got to teach me how to do that one of these\ndays,” he said.
\nThe woman smiled. “Maybe I will, but we need to focus on your friend here right\nnow.” She turned back to the sleeping girl and gently shook her. “Wake up little\none,” she said gently.
\nKitty moaned softly and turned on her side, gripping at the blankets of the bed.\nHer eyes fluttered open and she looked around the room, staring at the people\nhuddled around her. “Where am I?” she asked quietly.
\n“The club,” Cole said, sitting on the bed next to her, “You were attacked in\nyour hotel room.”
\nKitty slowly sat up, Cole quickly jumping to help her. “I remember, a vampire\nattacked me after I had woken up from a nightmare.” She rubbed her forehead, as\nthough trying to force the memory forward. “When he attacked, I tried to phase\nout, but my powers wouldn’t work.” Realization flooded into her eyes and she\nshot her hand down at the bed. Her fingers pushed desperately at the mattress.\n“My powers are gone,” she whispered.
\n“What?” Cole asked in surprise, getting to his feet.
\nKitty looked up at the group. “I don’t have my powers any more, I’m completely\nhuman.”
\nSilence filled the room, no one knew what to say. Ash was the first one to\nrecover his voice. “How the hell did you lose powers that are a part of your\nDNA?”
\nKitty shrugged, wincing at the wound in her shoulder. “I don’t know. When I woke\nup and that vampire attacked me, I couldn’t phase. I knew how to do it, but my\npowers just wouldn’t respond.”
\nKelly looked over at Ash. “Is she a mutant?” The vampire nodded. “If I may, I\nmight be able to determine the cause of your problem.” Kitty nodded in agreement\nand Kelly sat down next to the girl, gently placing her hands on Kitty’s brow.\nShe mumbled some words and her hands began to glow. Cole felt a twitch in his\nstomach, indicating the magick was being used. He tried to aid Kelly’s efforts\nby filtering his own magickal energies into her, thereby boosting her own\nabilities. Kelly’s hands began to glow more intensely and Kitty winced. “I\nbelieve I have discovered the problem,” Kelly announced, removing her hands from\nKitty.
\n“What is it?” Priest asked.
\n“Someone has dived into you mind and mentally cut off your body’s response to\nyour mental command of your powers.”
\n“Meaning?”
\nKelly sighed. “Your powers are still present, your mind simply cannot send the\nelectrical impulses to your body to active them.”
\nKitty narrowed her eyes slightly, understanding reaching them. “Someone put up a\nmental block around my powers?”
\n“Yes.”
\nCole shook his head. “But, can’t we just get rid of the block?”
\nKelly shook her head. “No, I am not powerful enough and I know no one who is.”
\nKitty jumped out of bed. “I bet Professor Xavier could do it, he’s the most\npowerful telepath on the planet.”
\n“Good idea,” Priest said, reaching for the phone, “You call him up while I get\nback into bed and sleep the day away like a good little vampire.”
\n“Ditto,” Ash said, not bothering to suppress a yawn.
\nCole couldn’t help but laugh. “You guys. We’ve got a high level telepath on the\nloose and all you guys can thing about is racking out.”
\nPriest nodded with wide eyes. “Hell yeah, I’m exhausted.” He flopped down on the\nbed, the phone forgotten. “If you’re worried about Kitty, take her to your\nplace.”
\nCole’s eyes widened and he suddenly spun away, hiding any further reaction from\nKitty. “Yeah, good idea.”
\nAsh stumbled to the door and called back, “Call me if the world blows up,\nnothing else.”
\n“I will stay with you, if you wish,” Kelly offered.
\nKitty looked at Cole, to see if he would give an opinion, but he still had his\nback to her. “Thanks, I’d appreciate it.”
\nKelly nodded. “Perhaps we should adjourn to your home, Cole.”
\nCole nodded and turned to face them. “Okay, but I’ll have to teleport us there,\nI sort of forgot my bike at the Waldrof.”
\n“Whenever you’re ready,” Kitty said, hugging her arms to herself.
\nThe mage took a deep breath and extended his arms out, red magickal energy\nbeginning to crawl down his arms to his hands. He chanted a few words and\nquickly drew his arms in to his chest so they crossed. A second later, a vortex\nof magickal energy swirled through the room, surrounding the three of them. With\na silent thunderclap, they all vanished.
\nX-Men: Black Fire
\nBy Paradox
\nBOOK II
\n5
\n“You have a nice home.”
\nCole pulled off his coat and draped it over the back of a black leather chair\nbefore collapsing into it. “Thanks.”
\nKitty said nothing as the two conversed quietly. She was too busy looking around\nat the well-furnished apartment. Although it was modestly sized, it had\npractically everything one would need. Along one wall of the living room, there\nwas a metal desk with file drawers on one side. Three laptop computers decorated\nthe top of the desk, along with a high quality laser printer and a scanner. Each\nlaptop had a different screen saver running at the moment. The laptop on the\nright displayed a figure in the shadows crouched atop the Sears Tower,\nelectronic wind blowing his coat about. The left computer a montage of eyeballs\nlooking out at the viewer. The middle laptop only had a single shape: an\nupside-down triangle with a line running from each corner and meeting in the\nmiddle, where a dot had formed. The shape was outlined in black with red filled\nin, and the background a slate gray.
\nA large thirty-inch screen television sat against another wall, with a modest\nsofa set up for comfortable watching. Next to the television, an entire\nentertainment center sat in a stone case. The case held a stereo, vcr, DVD\nsystem, and equalizer. A door led to a small kitchenette that was well equipped\nfor the bachelors of Chicago. Another door led to the bedroom and Kitty could\nsee from her vantage point, a king sized bed filled much of the room, while\nthere were a few small dressers and a walk-in closet.
\n“You don’t spend much time here, do you?” she remarked.
\n“No,” Cole answered, going into the kitchen and opening the refrigerator and\npulling out a beer, a bottle of wine, and a plastic bottle with some thick,\nmurky red liquid. After taking a flute from one of the cabinets, he walked back\ninto the room and handed the glass to Kelly and filled it with wine. Kelly\nnodded her thanks and sipped the dark red vintage while Cole put the bottle on\nthe kitchen table and cracked open his beer. When he walked back into the living\nroom, he took a swig from the beer and handed the plastic bottle to Kitty.\n“Here, drink this.”
\nKitty took the bottle and eyed the liquid inside warily. “What is this? It looks\nlike dusty blood.”
\nCole chuckled and took another pull from the beer. “Just a little potion I made\nup for situations like this.”
\n“What situations?” The X-Man asked with a raised eyebrow.
\n“Just drink it,” the mage said, a trace of playful annoyance in his voice,\n“It’ll help you get your strength back.”
\nReluctantly, Kitty unscrewed the cap and sniffed the contents. When she detected\nno smell, she grimaced in anticipation and drank. Immediately, her eyes opened\nand widened with surprise. “Mmmmm,” she said, “It tastes like fruit punch.”
\n“That’s because it is fruit punch.”
\nFor a moment, Kitty was silent. “You tricked me,” she stated flatly.
\n“Not at all,” Cole responded defensively, “It’s fruit punch with a few herbs\nblended in to promote healing. Why do you think the stuff is so cloudy?”
\nKitty shrugged and took another long swallow. When the bottle was drained, she\nplaced it on the table and staggered. “Whoa, I feel so dizzy.”
\n“You’ve had a rough night, you’re probably just tired.” He took her hand and led\nher to the bedroom. “You can use my bed, I’ll be out here all day anyhow.”
\n“You sure?” Kitty slurred, sleep rapidly closing its fingers over her\nconsciousness.
\n“Yeah,” Cole said with a gentle smile, carefully laying her down and drawing the\ncovers up to her chin, “Get some rest, I’ll protect you while you’re asleep.”
\n“I know you will,” Kitty said with a drunken smile, “You always do.” Her voice\nfaded away as sleep overwhelmed her. In a matter of moments, her breathing\nbecame regular and deep.
\n“A sleeping potion?” Kelly asked, walking up behind the young man.
\n“Yeah,” Cole admitted with a nod, “Sleep’s the only thing that will help her get\nher strength back. As is, she’s got a very big handicap to deal with and needs\nto get some rest.” He turned and headed into the living room, clicking on the\nstereo via a magickal tweak. Haunting music seeped from the large speakers,\nfilling the room with imaginary scents and sounds of old.
\nKelly cocked her head to the side and listened for a moment. “Interesting\nmusic.”
\n“Interview With The Vampire,” Cole explained, sitting down before the computers,\n“Call it mood music.”
\n“What do you intend to do?”
\nCole started typing on each of the computers, switching back and forth\ncontinuously. “I’m going to start running citywide checks on all vampires to see\nwhat turns up. Plus, I’m patching into the Nosferatu’s net and letting them know\nI want info on what happened at the club and the hotel, fast.”
\n“Do you require any assistance?”
\nCole shook his head. “No, thanks, you’ve done a lot already. You can rack out on\nthe couch if you want.” He turned and smiled at the woman. “Just try not to shed\ntoo much.”
\nKelly chuckled and nodded. “Agreed, have a pleasant day.” She turned and started\nfor the couch. She had taken no more than two steps when her skin began to\nripple, her face elongating into a snout with her limbs twisted and grew.\nDropping onto all fours, a gray wolf with a white belly opened it jaws wide with\na yawn before jumping onto the couch and curling up against the cushions.
\nCole shook his head and chuckled to himself. “A mutant in the bed, a werewolf on\nthe couch, a mage at the computer...we’re just missing a vampire raiding the ice\nbox to make this complete.” The thought made him laugh heartily into the rising\nsun.
\nThe wolf on the couch lifted her head and whined a question before dropping back\nonto her forepaws and falling asleep.
\nThe bright green grass of the small, circular clearing wavered slightly in a\ngentle wind. The leaves of the great tree to the right of the clearing\nfluttered, its branches bowing slightly. The sun shone down brightly, warming\nhim as he sat cross-legged in the middle of the clearing. His eyes were closed\nand his head tipped back slightly and to the side. He listened as the whispers\nfilled his ears. The grass, the tree, even the air around him spoke softly,\noffering words of wisdom.
\n“How can I help her?” he asked.
\nThe whispers changed focus, seeming to fall in on themselves, as though in\nconversation with one another. Then, they shifted again, all speaking to him at\nonce. He listened to their words and nodded. “Yes, that is true, but what can I\ndo?” More whispered words. He smiled and nodded again. Raising his arms, he\nspread his hands wide and bowed his head in thanks.
\n“What are you doing?” a soft voice asked.
\nCole slowly opened his eyes and looked up to see Kitty kneeling down in front of\nhim, exactly three feet away. Directly in front of her, Cole knew, was the\nalmost invisible granular circle of salt that he had sprinkled upon the floor.\nHe knew that should she try, Kitty would not be able to cross the circle and\ncome to him. With a sigh, he stood and stretched his limbs. “I cast a meditative\ncircle. I thought I might try to get some insight from the divine.” He bowed his\nhead and whispered, “Mary met, marry part, and marry meet again.”
\n“Why?”
\nThe young man stepped from the circle and took up a broom and dustpan, sweeping\nthe circle of salt into the dustpan and emptying it into a small blue pouch,\npulling the drawstrings tight. “I just wanted to see if I could get a new\nperspective on everything. That and I needed to filter all the energy through\nme.”
\n“Oh,” Kitty said with a nod, “That’s right, Priest told me you’ve been needing\nto get rid of excess energy every day.”
\n“True,” Cole said, “But this was more of a meditative filtering. It was more of\na focus of emotions then dumping raw power into the earth. You want something to\neat?”
\n“Yeah,” Kitty said, perking up, “I’m starving. I don’t know why, but I slept the\nday away.”
\n“It’s because of the sleeping potion I gave you.”
\nHer eyes widened in shock. “You gave me a sleeping drug?” she nearly yelled.
\n“Relax,” Cole said, raising his hands in a calming gesture, “You had a rough\nnight and I wanted you to get some rest. You needed it.”
\nFor several seconds, Cole thought she would actually slap him. Then, her\nshoulders slumped and she nodded. “You’re right, I did need the rest. This whole\nbusiness with me losing my powers and a vampire attacking me are just taking\ntheir toll.” Sitting down at the kitchen table, she quickly started eating the\ntuna sandwiches Cole placed in front of her, delighting in the taste. “I called\nProfessor Xavier tonight,” she said around a mouthful of tuna, “He was able to\nlook into my mind from Winchester.” Her expression darkened. “He says he has no\nidea what has cut off my powers and how I can get them back. He said he and a\ncouple of the X-Men were going to come here and see if they can help, but I’m\nnot sure what they can do.” She looked out the window at the bright lights of\nthe city. “I’m not so sure I can go back to the X-Men now.”
\nCole chomped down on a sandwich and studied Kitty with the eye of a scientist\nand a poet. He could see her the emotions playing over her face and knew the\nimpulses that rushed through her body that caused such physical changes. Yet he\nalso saw the delicate intricacies of her, the way her hair gently caressed her\nface and shoulders, the way her lips parted slightly when she breathed, and when\nshe slept, the stark fear her eyes held at the possibility that she might have\nto give up her way of life. He saw the subtle shifts in her body language as she\nspoke each word of pain, the way it seemed as though she were condemning herself\neven if a solution might be at hand.
\nWith a determined grunt, he pushed up from the table and said, “Okay, that\nsettles it.”
\nKitty looked up quickly, a worried crease furrowing her brow. “What? What\nsettles it?”
\n“Get dressed,” Cole demanded with a smile, “I’m going to take you somewhere that\nwill make you feel a lot better.”
\nKitty paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded, standing up and moving\ntowards the bedroom. “Thanks for bringing my clothes over, by the way,” she\ncalled.
\n“No problem,” Cole called back, “I needed to get my bike anyway. By the way,\nwhere’d Kelly go, she wasn’t around when I woke up.”
\n“Oh, she had to leave, said she needed to go back to her pack for a while.”
\nCole was halfway through biting into his sandwich when he stopped, his pulse\nthudding with worry. “She said that to you?”
\n“Yeah, “Kitty said, “She also told me all about her being a werewolf and stuff.”\nShe poked her head out of the bedroom and smiled. “Don’t worry about it, she\nsaid that if I knew about the vampires and magi, I might as well know about the\nwerewolves.”
\nCole shook his head and sighed. He supposed it was inevitable that Kitty would\nfind out about the were population, but he only wished he was there for it. Oh\nwell, he thought, Nothing I can do about it now. He cleaned up the plates on the\ntable and washed them out in the sink, setting them on the drying racks just as\nhe heard the sound of a throat being cleared behind him. Cole turned and froze,\nhis heart stopping for a moment and then hammering against his chest.
\nKitty stood in the doorway of the bedroom clothed in a gown of soft white silk.\nThe folds of the skirt billowed around her legs and hips from the breeze coming\nin through the cracked window. The wind plucked at the delicate sleeves of the\ndress and lifted her hair, making it float around her face like a chestnut halo.\nThe neckline, though not deep, revealed just enough cleavage to tease the mind,\nyet still was able to make her look dignified and innocently beautiful. Kitty\nsmiled and her right hand held her left upper arm in a picture of a shy, young\ngirl. “I don’t quite recall ever owning a dress like this,” she said, “Yet I\nfound it in my suitcase.”
\nCole blushed guiltily. “Well, I know that you really don't like to wear dresses,\nbut I saw it and just bought it on impulse.”
\n“It’s beautiful,” she said, running her fingers over the fabric, “I love it.”
\n“Really?”
\nShe nodded and stepped up to him, nearly touching. “Yes, really,” she said\nquietly, and acting on impulse, they both embraced.
\n“We’d better go, or we’ll be late.”
\n“Where are we going?” Kitty asked into his shoulder.
\n“It’s a surprise,” he said with a smile, and led her outside. A black corvette\nawaited them, its polished hull shining in the moonlight.
\n“Is that yours?” Kitty gasped.
\n“No,” Cole laughed, opening the door for her, “Priest let me borrow it. I can’t\nhave you riding on my bike in a dress like that, can I?”
\nShe looked at him with a teasing gleam in her eye. “You planned this.”
\n“Guilty,” he said, raising a hand in defeat before closing the door and hurrying\nover to the driver’s side. He slid behind the wheel and started the engine,\nwhich growled to life. Expertly shifting the gears, the car screamed away from\nthe curb, narrowly missing a police car rolling by. The cruiser screeched to a\nhalt and the cop leaned out his window, shaking his fist and yelling something\nKitty couldn’t hear.
\n“You really should be careful, that guy’ll probably come after us.”
\nCole chuckled. “No he won’t, I write the guy’s checks.”
\n“What?” Kitty cried, her eyes widening with shock, “Are you saying you own the\npolice?”
\nThat drew a laugh from Cole. “No, nothing like that. That guy back there,” he\nthumbed behind them, “That’s Jennings. He’s a ghoul, a human who’s blood is\nlaced with vampire blood.” He looked over to see Kitty’s surprised expression.\n“Hey, we need people on the Force during the day too.”
\n“I guess so,” Kitty responded quietly, sitting back and hugging her shoulders.
\nCole focused on the road in front of them, but saw the disbelieving look on the\nyoung woman’s face. “Look, none of them are dirty. We don’t work with the mob or\nany other underworld criminal organization. They’re regular cops, just like\nordinary humans. The only reason we have ghouls and vampires working with the\npolice is so we can keep up the Masquerade. The only stuff they do that isn’t\noutside of normal police work is call either myself, Ash, or Priest and let us\nknow about a possible breach of the Masquerade. Then, they help us clean it up\nand make sure no one gets hurt in the process.” He turned to look at his\npassenger. “Okay?”
\nKitty nodded slowly and a smile crept onto her lips. “Okay, I guess that’s all\nright then.”
\n“Good,” Cole said with a smile. He looked forward and jerked on the wheel,\nspinning the car into a one-eighty so it slipped neatly into a parking spot.\n“We’re here.”
\nKitty looked at the old building that they were parked in front of. A few scant\ntraces of spray paint peppered the walls, signs that local taggers had been at\nthe place. The stone walls seemed to be crumbling, but the building still stood\nstrong. It was only one story, with two stone pillars before the front door,\nholding up the overhang of the roof. “What is this place?”
\n“An old temple,” Cole said, opening her door and helping her front the car,\n“City officials tried to get it torn down, but Priest had them keep it up.”
\n“Why?”
\n“He did it as a favor to me.”
\nKitty raised a curious eyebrow. “And just what goes on here, and why are we\ninvolved?”
\nCole smiled and took her arm in a gentlemanly fashion, escorting her up the old\nsteps to the front door. “Let’s just say I think it’s time you got in touch with\nyour spiritual side.” He reached out and opened the door, letting her enter\nfirst.
\nAs soon as Kitty walked into the building, she gasped in surprise and awe. The\nentire interior was one big room. The walls, which were undoubtedly crumbling,\nwere covered with delicate white silks, effectively covering up the blemishes in\nthe masonry. The candle holders in the walls were all set up with fresh white\ncandles that flickered in the slight breeze, yet determined not to become\nextinguished. The floor itself retained its originally wooden finish, yet it was\nyellowed and warped from time. Directly in the center of the entire room was a\nlarge square section of plush carpet, a collection of ten women all milling\nabout on it, talking quietly and laughing among themselves. When one looked up\nand saw the pair of them, she smiled and stood up. Two other women also looked\nup and smiled as well, standing up and brushing themselves off. Almost\nimmediately, Kitty noticed that all three women, as well as the other women in\nthe room, were dressed in simple white dresses, just like her. As the three\nstarted over, Kitty gripped Cole’s arm tightly, whispering fiercely, “We’d\nbetter go.”
\nCole looked down at her and smiled gently. “It’s okay, they’re expecting us.”
\nDespite his assurances, Kitty felt her muscles tense with combat readiness as\nthe three women came over. Closer in, she could see the differences in each. The\none that had originally spied them was most likely in her early to mid thirties,\nwith long brown hair and warm blue eyes. She had a smile that was both disarming\nand motherly in its nature. The younger of the three women looked to be not much\nolder than Kitty. She had flaming red hair that hung passed her shoulders in\nthick curls, almost like a mane. Her emerald green eyes were bright, like that\nof a young girl who is just discovering the world. The third woman had to be at\nleast fifty or sixty years old. Her slightly wrinkled skin and knowing eyes gave\nher the image of a wizened grandmother, ready to pass on the knowledge of the\nyears to a younger generation.
\n“Cole, it’s so good to see you,” the middle woman said, “It’s been too long.”
\nCole smiled back and embraced the woman. “Sure has Rose, I’ve missed you guys.”
\n“Don’t you ever know how to pick up a phone boy?”
\nThat drew a chuckle from the young man. “Haven’t exactly had much time to make\nany pleasure calls.”
\n“I’ll bet,” the younger woman said with an impish grin, “You’ve mostly likely\nbeen out ravishing tender young things like this poor girl here.” She smiled a\nfriendly grin to Kitty. “How badly has he been treating you dear, we’ll fix him\ngood for you if you want.”
\n“Brigit,” Cole said, taken aback, “You wound me to the core.” He placed a hand\nover his heart and his eyes fluttered up into his eyelids. Laughing, he threw\nhis arms around her and hugged her tightly. “Been a long time darlin’.”
\n“Too long.”
\nKitty coughed softly and said, “Um, I don't mean to be rude, but who are you\npeople?”
\nThe elderly woman chuckled quietly and smiled. “You must forgive Cole, he is a\nvery inconsiderate young man and often forgets his manners when among his\nelders.”
\n“Hey,” Cole said defensively, “I’m a perfect gentleman,” he paused, “Most of the\ntime anyway.” They all laughed and Cole began introductions. “Kitty I’d like you\nto meet Brigit, Rose, and Morgan. Priestesses, I’d like you to meet Kitty\nPryde.”
\nBrigit walked over and embraced Kitty. “Welcome,” she said.
\nKitty stood motionless for a moment, not sure what to do, then returned the\nembrace. “Uh, thanks, I guess.”
\nRose smiled and shook her head. She took Kitty’s hand and squeezed it gently.\n“It is good of you to be here with us poor witches.”
\nKitty took a step back, her eyes widening in fear. “Witches?”
\nRose cocked her head to the side. “Well, yes.” She looked over at Cole. “Didn’t\nCole tell you we were?” Cole blushed sheepishly.
\nMorgan sighed and walked over to Kitty, taking her hands in her own wrinkled\nones. “Worry not little one,” she said gently, “We are not the type of witches\nyou think we are. We don't worship the devil, we don't make magic potions out of\nnewt eyes, and we don’t curse people.”
\nKitty nodded. “Oh, I know. It’s just, well, I’m Jewish.” She stopped, as though\nthat were explanation enough.
\nRose cocked an eyebrow. “And?”
\n“So you’re Jewish,” Brigit said, “So what?”
\n“Well, I really don't belong here.”
\nCole smiled secretly and lit a cigarette. “It does not matter what religion you\nhold of value to yourself,” the old woman said, “We are simply a group of women\nwho work to better ourselves and find peace with the elements. You are more than\nwelcome here.” She paused, looking deep into Kitty’s eyes. “Yes, I would say\nthat you definitely could use our help.”
\n“What do you mean,” Kitty asked nervously.
\n“You’ve had something terrible happen to you just recently.”
\n“No kidding,” Cole muttered low enough that no one heard.
\n“You need to find your spiritual center, and we can help you with that.”
\nKitty looked over at Cole and pinned him with her gaze. “This is why you bought\nme the dress,” she accused.
\n“Hey,” the young mage said, raising his hands, “I thought it would look lovely\non you, that’s it.”
\nKitty was about to say something else when Morgan intervened. “It is not Cole\nyou are to blame, nor yourself. Although he does tend do be a little unorthodox,\nCole has a good heart. It is most likely the Goddess who guided you tonight.”
\nKitty looked skeptical. “Are you saying that some divine entity had me put on\nthe dress?”
\nMorgan shrugged and smiled. “Did Cole tell you to wear that dress?”
\n“No,” Kitty said slowly, “It was just such a lovely dress that I wanted to wear\nit, no matter where we were going.”
\nRose nodded. “Yes, the Goddess has indeed brought you to use, and we will try to\nhelp in any way we can.”
\n“How?”
\n“Magic,” Cole said quietly.
\nKitty shook her head. “But you said that you couldn’t do anything for me.”
\nBrigit laughed. “We don’t work with the same kind of magic that Cole does.”
\n“What do you mean?” The X-Man asked.
\n“Well, Cole was born with magic in him,” Rose explained, “He is able to use it\nin a more physical degree than any of use.” Kitty looked over at Cole and saw\nhim do a comical impression of a body builder flexing his biceps. She giggled as\nRose continued, “You see, We work more on a spiritual and mental level, rather\nthan a physical one. We try to attain purity of the spirit and the mind through\nbreathing, chanting, and becoming one with the Goddess.”
\n“But, I can’t do magic.”
\n“Everyone can do magic,” Cole said, walking over and taking her hand, “Everyone\nhas the capacity within them, most people just don’t want to believe it or fear\nit.”
\nKitty studied the young man and cocked her head to the side. “Are you saying\nthat I can do magic?”
\nCole nodded, his face totally serious. “Let Brigit, Rose, and Morgan help you,\nat least for tonight. I’ll be right here the whole time,” he said quickly when\nhe saw Kitty become frightened.
\n“Yes,” Morgan agreed, “It has been too long since you have sat in our circle\nyoung man.” She gave his cheek a hard pinch, like a grandmother, Kitty noted.
\nCole laughed and the group started over to the collection of women. They were\nall looking over at them now, each one with a different expression of interest.\nThey were women of all different types: White, black, yellow, tall, short, thin,\nthick, a complete diversity in races and sizes. “I’m not so sure they want me\nhere,” Kitty whispered.
\n“Sure they do,” Cole said, not bothering to lower his voice, making Kitty wince\nwith embarrassment, “Curiosity is a human thing, not something of malice. Heck,\nwhen I first came here-Ow!”
\nKitty saw Morgan remove her hand from Cole’s ear, which she had just grabbed and\nyanked on hard. “Lower your voice Cole Raven, you know better.”
\n“Sorry,” he said quietly, looking repentant.
\nKitty giggled and followed the trio to the gathering, where all the women stood\nup to greet the newcomer. “Ladies,” Rose said, “This is Kitty, she is going to\nbe joining us tonight.” She looked over at the young woman, as though expecting\nher to make some great remark that would stun the world.
\nKitty gulped back the lump in her throat and had to force herself to keep from\nwiping her sweaty palms on the skirt of her dress. With all eyes on her, she was\nfeeling a kind of stage fright that actors could never experience. This went\nbeyond screwing up a line in a play, this was saying something that would not\ncompletely offend a group of people who held these arcane rituals and ways of\nlife sacred. When she looked over at Cole for support, he simply looked back\nwith a face that seemed to be made of stone. He too seemed to be expecting some\ngreat words to flow from her lips. It was understood that he took all of this\nextremely seriously, and one wrong word or syllable could anger him or worse.
\nSwallowing hard, Kitty quietly said, “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” The tension\nwashed out of her when she saw everyone smile kindly to her. So far, so good. “I\nhope that it’s not too much of an intrusion, my being here I mean.”
\nOne of the women walked over and Kitty was startled for a moment. The woman was\nbeautiful enough to be a model. Long, platinum blond hair flowed down her\nshoulders to halfway down her back. Her crystal blue eyes gleamed in the dim\ncandlelight. The dress she wore made her appear to be like a mythical goddess\nfrom Greek legend. What was a beauty like this doing at a pagan ritual instead\nof out on the town frequenting the most posh of nightclubs? She embraced Kitty\nand said, “Welcome to the circle.”
\nOne by one, each of the women walked over and greeted her like she had always\nbeen there, just away on a vacation for a while. When they had all taken their\nturn, Rose took Kitty’s hand and led her to the center of the carpet, where an\nsmall altar had been set up with white candles in silver candlestick holders.\nShe gestured and Kitty knelt down on the carpet, feeling the silk of the dress\nagainst her legs. One by one, each of the women knelt in a circle around the\naltar, relaxed, yet attentive. When she looked over to see what Cole was doing,\nshe was surprised to see him leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette. She\nwanted to ask what he was doing, but she was afraid she might disrupt some\ninvocation or meditation.
\nRose noticed the concern on her face and smiled. “You can speak freely Kitty, no\none here will hurt you and we haven’t even started the circle.”
\n“Oh, I was just wondering what Cole was doing? I thought he would be part of\nthis.”
\nRose looked over at Morgan, who nodded somberly. “Cole chooses not to partake in\ncircles with us,” the old woman explained, “He feels that his presence would\ndisrupt our psychic energy.”
\n“How? He is a, a witch isn’t he?”
\nRose nodded. “Indeed he is, and I’ve told him time and again that he is more\nthan welcome to join us.”
\n“You know better than that,” Cole said in a dark voice, “You guys are Earth,\nAir, Fire, and Water. I’m Chaos, and I’d only disrupt your focus.”
\n“Chaos is a part of the circle Cole,” Brigit said, “It is the most core part of\nit.”
\nCole shook his head. “No, I couldn’t do that to you guys.”
\nKitty looked up, her eyes shinning with need. “Cole, I’d like you to join us.”
\nFor a long moment, the two looked at one another, each trying to convey thoughts\nand feelings that no words could describe. Finally, Cole closed his fingers\naround the cigarette, crushing it in his hand. Kitty heard the singe of flesh\nand when he opened his hand, the cigarette was gone and there was no wound on\nhis palm. “Hell with it,” he said quietly, “I’m in.”
\nThe three women in charge of the circle all looked at each other in surprise,\nthen all looked directly at Kitty, as though she knew something they didn’t. She\nblushed self-consciously and looked down.
\nCole pulled off his coat and hurled it into the air. The leather jacket floated\nover to a dark corner and disappeared. He walked towards the circle, pulling off\nhis shirt as he did. Kitty stifled a gasp when she saw his bare chest. The years\nof executing special black ops missions and his work as sheriff had toned and\ndefined his muscles to such a degree that he looked like a statue chiseled from\nflesh. Her eyes caught a flash of metal and she saw a chain hanging from his\nneck. The chain led to a wolf’s head the lay against his chest. Two red gems\ngleamed where the wolf’s eyes should have been. He moved over to kneel next to\nKitty, taking up sort of a martial arts meditation kneeling position. He mouthed\na few silent words and looked over at Rose, giving her a minute nod.
\nRose nodded back and regarded the rest of the circle. “Today, we are going to\nwork on focusing your negative energy out of your body and drawing in positive\nenergy. The purpose of this is to better prepare your mind and body to cast\nspells. If you have negative energy within you, the outcome of any magic you\nmight work could be influenced by that negative energy.” Kitty couldn’t help but\nglance at Cole when she said that. Did the young mage have that problem? Was he\nso full of negative energy that the only kinds of magick he knew how to work\nwere ones that harmed instead of helped? “Now, begin breathing deeply and\nevenly,” Rose said, “Let your mind sort of wander. Allow your eyes to dull over\nso there is nothing but a mist around you.”
\nAs Rose’s words crept into her ears, Kitty saw the entire area around her\ndisappear. The people vanished, as did the building they were in. Instead, she\nwas kneeling in the middle of a thick, white fog. She looked all around her, but\nsaw nothing but the fog. “Hello?” she called, and was greeted by the echo of her\nown voice. Getting to her feet, Kitty started to walked through the mists,\nstretching out her hands in an effort to try and feel something solid that would\nindicate she was in the building still. Her eyes strained to see through the\ncloudy whiteness, but could barely discern her hands in front of her face.\n“Cole? Are you there?” She strained to hear the young man’s voice, but only\nnothingness greeted her. Panic began to rise in her stomach, quickly rushing up\nto her chest and clenching at her throat. The fog seemed to want to swallow her\nup whole. “Is anyone there?” she cried, voice barely a squeak.
\n“Feel the negative energy flowing from you,” Roses voice floated through the\nfog.
\n“I’m scared,” Kitty whimpered, tears forming in her eyes.
\n“Do not be scared,” Rose’s voice said, as though hearing her, “Feel the negative\nflow from your heart, out into your chest, down your arms, and into your hands.”
\nA quick, searing heat formed into in Kitty’s breast. She closed her eyes and\nmentally commanded it to move up through her chest, into her shoulders, and down\nher arms. She felt the heat obey her commands, slowly moving as she wished it.\nWhen her eyes opened slightly, she saw the fog folding in around her, moving\nover her chest and around her arms, just like the heat she felt. When she looked\nat herself, she saw a mixture of glowing energy and cloudy whiteness encasing\nher wrists.
\n“Now, return the energy to the Goddess, return it to Mother Earth.”
\nSuddenly knowing what to do, Kitty dropped to her knees and placed her palms\nflat on the ground, which she discovered was a soft, green clearing. Utilizing\nher ninja breathing techniques and Rose’s gentle urging, she pushed the energy\nfrom her wrists into the ground, where they were almost immediately sucked down\nby the earth beneath her knees. Kitty blinked in surprise and quickly stood up.\nRight away, she noticed that there was no more fog. Sunshine beamed down,\nwarming the chill that had entered her bones. Looking around, she discovered\nthat she now stood in the middle of a beautiful landscape, filled with lush,\ngreen grass, great oak trees, and a crystal clear lake that gleamed with the\neffect not unlike that of thousands of tiny diamonds on the surface of the\nwater. A few birds chirped happily as they flew across the sky, offering her\ngreetings and welcome. Kitty smiled and waved back.
\nA curious growl made her spin around, a gasp rising in her throat and her\nreflexes reverting to combative instincts. Her gaze locked with that of a great\nblack wolf that was nearly as big as her. It cocked its head to the side and\nlooked at her curiously. Slowly, it walked over to her, its head down passively,\nits tail wagging happily, and its tongue lolling out of its jaws. Kitty took a\nstep back, drawing her hands before her protectively, already beginning to set\nup a martial arts stance. The wolf stopped and whined, its head dropping lower\nand its eyes looking almost sad. Kitty’s eyes widened at the human-like\nexpression and she slowly lowered her hands. “You want to be friends?” she\nasked. The wolf nodded, panting happily. “Okay, um, what do you want to do?”
\nThe wolf walked over to her and brushed its flank against her legs before\nlowering itself to the ground. It looked up at her and uttered a short bark,\npointing its snout at its exposed flank. Kitty yawned, realizing just how tired\nshe was. Dispelling all of the negative energy inside her had made her tired.\nSmiling kindly at the creature, she lowered herself to the grass and curled up\nagainst the wolf, its fur soft and comforting against her skin. Soon, she fell\nasleep with the friendly creature rocking her gently with each breath it took.
\n“Now, open your eyes.”
\nKitty’s eyes slowly opened, her vision needing a few moments to adjust to the\ndim light again. When she looked around, she discovered that she was curled up\nin Cole’s lap with his arms around her. His eyes were lightly closed and his\nbreathing was deep and even, as though he were asleep. When she looked at the\nmedallion on his chest, the red eyes gleamed brightly for a second. Sitting, she\nlooked over at Rose, her eyes wide. “What was that?”
\n“What was what dear?” the woman asked. “Tell us what you saw.”
\nKitty shook her head in confusion, still not sure what was real and what was\nnot. She looked over at Cole to see his eyes open and look at her steadily. He\nknew what had happened, but he wanted her to say it. “Well, I’m not to sure,”\nshe began, “When we started, everything disappeared and I was surrounded by fog.\nI tried to find something but nothing was there. Then, there was this, heat, in\nmy heart that moved up into my arms. The fog then started following the heat\nuntil they were both in my wrists.” She paused and looked at Rose. “Then, I\nheard you tell me what to do and I send the energy back into the earth. After\nthat, I suddenly noticed I was in the middle of a meadow with trees and a lake.”\nShe stopped and looked over at Cole, her eyes unconsciously moving to the wolf’s\nhead. “Then, this huge black wolf appeared and offered itself as a place to\nsleep.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “After that, I opened my eyes and\nwas back here.”
\nRose, Brigit, and Morgan all turned to Cole, a look of disapproval in their\neyes. “You know the rules Cole,” Brigit said, challenging, “You are not to\nintercede on someone, especially new and inexperienced.”
\nCole’s eyes went wide and he shook his head vehemently. “But I didn’t. I just\nreturned some of my energy to Gaia like always. The next thing I knew, I was on\na dreamwalk as a wolf and I ran into this girl in white who looked lost. She\nlooked tired and I offered her a place to sleep.”
\nMorgan’s expression softened and a smile slowly crept onto her lips. “Of course,\nI don’t know why I didn’t see it before.”
\n“What is it?” Rose asked, leaning in conspiratorially.
\n“They’ve been on a soul quest.”
\nCole was immediately on his feet, his fists clenched. “Bull! I haven’t been on a\nsoul quest in years, and I know what they look like.”
\nMorgan cackled and smiled up at the mage. “Young man, you have only been on soul\nsearches, you have never been on a soul quest.”
\n“What?” Cole asked with a raised eyebrow.
\n“A soul search is when you go into the other world and look for the other piece\nto your soul. The quest is when you think you find it and try to claim it as\nyours.”
\nThe young man shook his head. “I have never heard of that.”
\nThe old woman chuckled. “When you get to be my age, you hear quite a few\nthings.”
\nFor several minutes, Cole just looked between Kitty and Morgan, his eyes wide\nwith mild disbelief. When realization filled them and he looked at Morgan fully,\nshe only nodded with a small smile.
\nThe magical moment was broken by the sound of Cole’s cell phone ringing. “Damn!”\nhe hissed, extending an arm out to where his coat had disappeared. Instantly,\nthe phone flew across the room and into his hand. He suddenly growled in pain\nand bent over, dropping to one knee. Kitty was instantly beside him, a\nsupportive arm around his shoulders. “Are you okay?” she asked.
\nCole only looked up and glared at the three priestesses. “Why didn’t you tell me\nsomeone new was here?”
\nBrigit shrugged and smiled. “Sorry, I forgot.”
\nCole grumbled something Kitty was glad she could not hear and flipped open the\nphone after it had rung for a fifth time. “What!” he growled into the device.\nHis face changed to a look of attentiveness and he nodded. “All right, good\nwork, we’ll be right there.” He slapped the phone shut and looked at the group\nof women. “I’m sorry, but we have to go, something’s come up that just can’t be\nignored.”
\nKitty raised an eyebrow. “We?”
\nCole looked at her and nodded. “Yeah.” He walked over to the corner where he’d\nflung his trench coat and retrieved it, pulling on his shirt as he did so. He\npulled the coat on and walked back over to the circle of women. “I’ll be around\nagain soon, I promise.”
\nRose embraced him and smiled. “We know you will.” She looked at Kitty pointedly.\n“He never breaks a promise.”
\n“I know,” Kitty said softly.
\nCole took turns hugging all three of the women and headed for the door. One by\none, each of the witches hugged Kitty tightly. When Morgan offered an embrace,\nshe whispered in her ear, “When someone goes on a soul quest, it means that\nthey’ve found their soul mate and are trying to let them know it.”
\nBefore Kitty could ask the old woman what her arcane words mean, Morgan gave\nKitty a gentle push to the door and returned to the circle, where the women all\nsat down and began talking, discussing what each had felt during the exercise.
\n“Come on,” Cole said quietly, gently taking her arm and leading her to the car.\nWhen they got in and sped off, he said, “The call was from Hammer. He and Ash\ngot their hands on the vampire that attacked you. We’re headed for Elysium now\nto interrogate him and see if we can’t find any connection to the attack on you,\nthe club, and your powers failing.”
\n“Okay,” Kitty said, her mind still on the dream she had. Had the experience\nreally been a soul quest, like Morgan said? Was Cole truly her soul mate? Long\nago, she had disbelieved in anything like that. Years of X-Men experiences had\nhardened her to the world, teaching her to believe her physical senses and think\nlogically. Yet, this experience was not something that could be analyzed or\nreasoned about. It was a completely spiritual experience that tested her\nbeliefs. Did she hope that Cole was her soul mate, or was she frightened by that\nfact?
\nHer thoughts were interrupted by the jerk of brakes as the car skidded to a halt\noutside Excalibur. Dreaming was over, it was time to go to work.
\nX-Men: Black Fire
\nBy Paradox
\nBOOK II
\n6
\nAlthough only one in the morning, the club had been closed down early so the\ninterrogation could take place freely, without any possible breaches of the\nMasquerade. Ash had two of the ghouls take up guard positions at the entrance\nwith a couple more taking up positions at any other access point of the club.\nWhen Kitty and Cole reached the front door, he only nodded at the two men, who\nnodded back and allowed them inside.
\nAs soon as they walked in, Kitty knew that some very bad things were going to\nhappen that night. There were only a few scant vampires, but Kitty could feel\ntheir power, emanating from them like heat from a furnace. Priest himself seemed\nto dwarf the others, his visage like that of a prowling tiger in a cage, waiting\nto strike. Most of the others seemed to stay away from him with the exception of\nAsh, who stood close by and spoke in hushed tones with the Prince.
\nYet the greatest force in the room, Kitty could tell, was Cole. Raw power\nliterally poured off of him. With his emotions running so high with\nanticipation, she saw magickal energy crackling along his form every so often.\nEvery vampire in the room offered proper courtesy, bowing their heads in\ngreeting or offering words of welcome. When the two arrived next to the Prince\nand Archon, they both looked over. Kitty immediately felt their gaze rake across\nher, drawing a shiver from the young mutant. “What’s going on?” she asked.
\n“We’ve got the punk who came after you,” Ash explained, “Hammer’s bringing him\nover now. He should be here in a few minutes.”
\n“Who’s in charge of the interrogations?” Cole asked, his voice betraying his own\ndesire to be placed in such a position.
\n“I am,” Priest said, his tone bucking any argument.
\nCole’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the Prince. “You know I want in on this\nPriest.”
\nThe Prince nodded. “I know, and you’ll be in on it, but I’m in charge of this.”
\n“Always,” Cole grumbled, spinning and heading for the bar to get a drink.
\nKitty looked after him and then turned back to Ash and Priest. “So, what are you\ngoing to do to the guy when you get him, torture?”
\nAsh shrugged. “If we need to. I figured we could start with vampire mind\ntechniques first.”
\n“Where were you two all night,” Priest interjected, “I would think that Cole\nwould be out hunting this guy down himself.”
\n“Oh, we were just with some friends of his. He thought I needed to relax I\nguess.”
\nAsh cocked an eyebrow and looked her up and down. “Nice dress.”
\n“Thanks,” Kitty blushed, “Cole bought it for me while I was asleep today.”
\nPriest looked at Ash with raised eyebrows, who mirrored the look. “What?” Kitty\nasked.
\n“Nothing,” Priest said with a shake of his head, “Anyway, I want you to talk to\nthis guy too. Recognizing him may be important too, do you remember what he\nlooked like?”
\nKitty shook her head. “Not really, it was dark in the room.”
\n“And he’s a vampire,” Priest finished, “Any way you can identify him as the\none?”
\nKitty shrugged. “I don’t know, but I think so.”
\n“Good enough.”
\nA moment later, the doors to Elysium opened and Hammer walked in, the small form\nbound and tossed over his shoulder looking small and insignificant. He was about\nthirty and good-looking, but his complexion was extremely pale. Kitty guessed he\nhadn’t fed for a while. “I’ve got Ricky,” he announced, tossing the figure from\nhis shoulder to the middle of the dance floor, a good thirty feet. As soon as\nthe man landed, he thrashed about and hissed, his fangs gnashing at the air.\nKitty pressed herself against Cole, her fingers clutching his arm.
\n“What is it?” Cole asked as looked at her.
\n“It’s him,” she whispered.
\n“What?” he said, his eyes wide. “Are you sure?”
\nShe nodded just as the vampire’s eyes locked onto hers. His thrashing stopped\nand a smile crept over his pale lips. “Oh, back for more chickie?” He whispered,\nyet the voice seemed as loud as if he’d been yelling directly into her ear, “You\nwere pretty sweet last time.”
\nCole’s eyes suddenly flashed with magickal energy. The vampire, Ricky, was\nlifted up by some unknown force and hurled into the wall. He was then spun\naround and slammed down on one of the chairs turned upside-down on a table. The\nwooden leg drove up through his back, exploding out his chest in a spray of\nblood. The vampire howled in pain. Kitty cried out in fear and turned her head\ninto Cole’s coat.
\n“What the hell are you doing?” Priest yelled.
\n“That’s him,” Cole growled.
\n“How do you know?”
\n“Didn’t you hear him?”
\nThe Prince shook his head. “No, what’d he say?”
\nCole looked over at the vampire, thrashing about and screaming in pain. “Well he\nain’t in torpor, ask him yourself.”
\nPriest narrowed his eyes and walked over to the vampire. “What’d you just say\nRicky?”
\n“Nothing!” Ricky yelled, “I didn’t say nothing!” His gaze flickered and his eyes\nlocked with Kitty once more. This time, his smile was knowing. It was like he\nknew he could get out of this situation and was promising he would be back to\nfinish the job he’d started.
\nKitty screamed. Cole held her tightly, muffling her screams against him. “It’s\nokay,” he soothed, “he can’t hurt you.”
\n“He’s the one that tried to kill me,” Kitty cried, “It’s him!”
\nPriest looked from Kitty to Ricky and grabbed the vampire by the front of his\nbloodied shirt, pulling him off the chair leg and slamming him onto the floor.\n“What have I warned you about Ricky?” Priest asked dangerously.
\n“Fuck you!” the vampire spat.
\nPriest looked at Kitty. “Are you sure this is the guy?”
\nKitty nodded. “Yeah, it’s him.”
\nAsh took a drag from his cigarette and stepped up. “Hold on folks, let’s think\nabout this for a minute.” Priest threw him a glare. “Hold on, big fella,” Ash\nsaid, “Think about it, Ricky doesn’t have the power to go into people’s minds,\nhe’s only Rabble.”
\nThe group all stopped and thought about that. “You’re right,” Cole said,\n“There’s no way he could have gone into her mind and block her powers.” He\ndisengaged from Kitty and walked over to Ricky, kneeling down beside him. “Who\nare you working for Ricky?”
\n“Go to hell!”
\nCole smiled and curled the fingers of one hand. Instantly, a ball of flame\ncrackled to life in his palm. “We can go easy or hard, your choice.” The vampire\nonly glared at him. “Fine, have it your way.” He flicked his fingers and the\nfireball enveloped Ricky’s leg. The vampire screamed in agony and desperately\ntried to put the flames out. After ten seconds of the leg burning, the flames\ndisappeared and another ball of flame had appeared in Cole’s hand. “You chose\nwhere the next one goes.”
\n“Jessica!” Ricky howled, “It’s Jessica! She wanted me to go after the girl. She\nsaid she wouldn’t prove any problem.”
\n“Why?”
\n“I don’t know, she said she was threatening her business and needed to be\neliminated, that’s all I know.”
\nCole smiled. “Thanks.” He slammed the ball of fire into the vampire’s open mouth\nand down his throat. Standing up, he turned and started back towards Kitty and\nAsh as the vampire exploded into a ball of flame.
\nPriest dove out of the way of the fire and yelled, “Dammit Cole, I wanted him\nalive!”
\nThe mage looked over his shoulder at Priest. Amazingly, Kitty saw the Prince\nclose his mouth and turn away. No one ever shut up Priest. As the mage walked\nback over to the group, he looked at Ash. “We go after Jessica, now.”
\n“Are you sure?” Ash asked, “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.”
\nCole sneered at the vampire. “You’re talking like a Blue-blood, I thought you\nhad Outlander blood in your veins.”
\nAsh’s eyes narrowed and blazed red. “Give me a reason why I shouldn’t kill you\nright now.”
\n“Because Jessica’s a much better kill,” Cole said with a wicked smile.
\nAsh returned the smile and nodded. “All right, let’s do it.”
\n“I’m coming with you.”
\nBoth Cole and Ash looked at Kitty. “Excuse me?” Ash asked in surprise.
\nKitty folded her arms. “If she’s the one who’s stopped me from using my powers,\nI want to be in on this.”
\n“Jessica’s a vampire Kitty, you’d be slaughtered.”
\nKitty glared at Cole and jammed and finger into his chest. “You listen to me\nCole Raven, I’ve been fighting bad guys like her since I was thirteen. I think I\ncan handle myself.”
\nCole looked at Ash for advice and was only rewarded with a shrug. “All right,”\nCole finally agreed, “Ash, give her a gun or two. Why don’t you go change\nclothes Kitty, you have your uniform?”
\n“Left it back in Winchester.”
\n“I’ve got something for her,” Priest offered, walking up, “Just look in the\ncloset in my office.”
\nKitty looked Priest up and down. “I’m not so sure...”
\nThe Prince smiled. “Relax, their women’s clothes, and they’re all used by\nvampires getting ready to go into a fight. I’m sure you’ll find something.”
\nKitty nodded and raced up into Priest’s office. As soon as she was out of\nearshot, Priest leaned in close to Cole and said, “Are you sure you want her\nalong with you?”
\n“What do you mean? She’s been an X-Man for years, I think she can hand one\nvampire with our help.”
\n“Yeah, but she had her mutant powers then. Right now, she’s a normal human.”
\nCole narrowed his eyes. “Priest, she’s been trained by guys almost as good as\nme, I think she can handle it.”
\nThe Prince cocked an eyebrow. “Who taught her?”
\n“Remember the Weapon X program?”
\nAsh’s eyes went wide. “Of course we remember it, we were the ones that broke\ninto the place and took out five of their best experiments.”
\n“You remember the files you picked up on a guy named Logan?”
\nPriest nodded cautiously. “Yeah.”
\n“Logan is Wolverine of the X-Men, and he taught Kitty himself.”
\nBoth Priest and Ash looked at each other in shock for a moment and then back at\nCole. “She goes,” they both said.
\n“I’m glad you feel that way,” a voice said from above them. The three turned to\nsee Kitty in a lycra body suit that molded to her gentle curves perfectly. Cole\nforced down the emotions that had started tidalwaveing through him.
\n“Where did you get that?” he asked shakily.
\nKitty shrugged. “It was the only thing I found in the closet that would work\nwith what we have to do tonight.”
\nCole looked at the Prince. Priest shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “Rebecca\nbought it a year ago.”
\nCole sighed and shook his head. “It would belong to that sex fiend.”
\nPriest smiled and licked his lips. “Oh yeah.”
\nKitty descended the stairs, the three men watching how the body suit formed to\neach supple movement. “Any of you guys got a weapon I can use?”
\nBoth Priest and Ash started reaching for guns when Cole drew a katana sword from\nwithin his coat. “I keep this for special occasions. I can’t think of a more\nspecial one.”
\n“Thanks,” Kitty said, taking the sword and buckling across her back. “Well,\nshall we?”
\n“I’ll stay back here,” Priest said, “If you need me, I’ll have your phones on an\nopen com line. Just yell and I’ll be there.”
\n“All right,” Cole said with a nod as he pulled out his two Glocks and chambered\na round in each. “Let’s do this.” The group walked out of the club. Just before\nthe doors closed behind them, Ash’s voice floated back to Priest’s ears.
\n“Let’s get dangerous.”
\nX-Men: Black Fire
\nBy Paradox
\nBOOK II
\n7
\nDock 5 was quiet and closed when they reached it at two A.M. Ash drove the\nmidnight black van around to the back and parked it behind a couple of dumpsters\nso it would be well hidden. Sliding the doors open, the three slipped out of the\nvehicle and moved towards the rear entrance of the club. Cole took the point and\ncleared the area as Kitty and Ash came up behind him. Everyone had their weapons\nout and ready, Cole with his Glocks, Kitty with the katana, and Ash held a pair\nof MP-5s. Slung across the vampires back was a huge black bag that looked like\nit weighed at least two hundred pounds. Yet, Ash seemed to move as though it\nweren’t even there. Having undead strength had its advantages.
\nAs they neared the door, Cole stopped and looked around. “This is way too easy.”\nHe looked up and said, “I’m going topside and work my way down.”
\nAsh nodded. “We’ll meet you inside.” Cole nodded back and quickly climbed a\nladder attached to the brick wall, disappearing onto the roof. When he was gone,\nAsh looked at Kitty. “Are you sure you don’t want a gun? I’ve got plenty.”
\nKitty smiled and shook her head. “No thanks, I was never good with them.”
\nAsh shrugged and slipped up beside the door, pressing a small black strip to the\ncrack in the door next to the handle. A length of wire led from the strip to a\nhand grip with a red button on it. “You may want to find cover.”
\nKitty nodded and dropped down behind the landing of the back door. Ash backed\noff a little and pushed the button on the hand grip. There was a small flash and\na hiss. Ash moved back to the door and pushed it open, the lock disintegrated.\nThe vampire nodded to Kitty and the two rushed in, each clearing a side of the\nhuge dance club.
\nEmptiness greeted them. The entire club was completely empty just when business\nshould have been booming. The two slowly walked further into the club, Ash\nsweeping his guns left and right. “Something’s not right here,” he said quietly.
\n“Yeah,” Kitty agreed, “There should be people here. Vampires if nothing else.”
\n“Ah, welcome to my haven.”
\nAsh spun and aimed the MP-5 in his right hand at the speaker, the dot of a laser\nsight lighting on a woman’s forehead. Jessica smiled. “I see you came here to\ndestroy me, might I ask why?”
\nKitty stepped forward, her sword held ready. “You had Ricky come after me and\ntry to kill me. I’m pretty sure that you also cut off my powers too.”
\nJessica kept her smile and clapped her hands in quiet applause. “Very astute,\nyoung lady. Perhaps I did not give you enough credit.”
\n“Give it where it’s due, bitch,” Ash growled, “You can come with us and see\nPriest right now or I can drop you where you stand, your choice.”
\n“My choice hmm?” Jessica placed a delicate fist under her chin and cocked her\nhead, as though in thought. “Well, it is an intriguing offer, but I think I’ll\njust kill you both now.”
\nAt the hidden command, shapes appeared out of the shadows, encircling the two.\nKitty looked around to see various types of vampires. They ranged from thugs\nwith knives to the most grotesque creatures Kitty had ever seen sprouting wicked\nclaws from their fingertips. “Well, aside from looking ugly, what else can these\nguys do?”
\nJessica smiled. “Why don’t you find out. Randal...”
\nThe Nosferatu vampire off to Kitty’s left side was suddenly in motion, racing at\nKitty with one set of claws raking towards her chest. Deftly, Kitty sidestepped\nthe attack and lopped off the hand at the wrist in one movement. Continuing the\nmovement, Kitty spun and sliced through the vampire’s neck with a backhanded\nslash. The undead man’s head fell to the ground with a wet plop, followed by his\nbody. Finishing the spin, Kitty spun the sword into a defensive position, ready\nfor the attack from the vampire with a knife rushing at her.
\nThe staccato sound of gunfire permeated the air as Kitty saw glowing red bullets\nrip through the vampire, throwing him back and dropping him to the ground. The\nvampire did not get up. Kitty looked at Ash questioningly, to which the Archon\nonly smiled. “Tracers, great for permanent wounds against vampires.”
\n“Enough games,” Jessica said, “Kill them.” All of the vampires roared and\ncharged in. Kitty desperately tried to fend them off with her sword, but the\nundead creatures were simply too fast. Several were able to get inside her\ndefenses and cut her on her thigh, shoulder, and forearm. Stumbling away from\nthe myriad of attacks, Kitty saw Ash was having the same problem. Everywhere he\nspun and fired, another vampire attacked from the opposite direction. Although\nhe was able to take much more than her, Kitty saw that he would be in serious\ntrouble soon. Dancing out of the way of a set of claws, she drove the sword\nthrough a vampire, wrenching it up through his chest and head as she pulled it\nout. As the body dropped, Kitty looked at the sword in amazement. There was no\nway she should have had the strength to do that. Obviously the sword was not\nordinary.
\nSo caught up in her surprise, Kitty never saw the vampire that came up behind\nher, took the sword away by grabbing her wrist with one hand and the hilt with\nthe other. Kitty cried out in surprise and slammed a fist into his face,\nknocking him back. The vampire stumbled away, but he still had the sword.\nDisarmed, Kitty watched in horror as a group of five vampires surrounded her,\ntheir fangs bared in a cruel smile. “Feeding time boys,” one hissed.
\n“Feed on this!” said a growling voice as three metal claws punched through the\nvampire’s chest and ripped out through its side. When the creature dropped,\nKitty let out a whoop of joy.
\n“Logan!”
\nWolverine smiled and casually swiped his claws through another attacker, ripping\nout their intestines. “Hiya punkin’, miss me?”
\nKitty’s eyes went wide as the vampire Wolverine just gutted rolled to his feet,\nhis fangs bared in a feral hiss. “Logan, behind you!”
\nWolverine spun as the vampire raked its claws across the mutant’s chest.\nWolverine grunted and dropped back a step. “What the hell are these things?” he\nasked as he tore into the man.
\n“Vampires,” Ash answered as he rolled up to his feet next to Wolverine and\ndumped a burst from the MP-5 into the downed vampire. The undead creature\nscreamed and laid still. “Either put a stake in their heart or cut off their\nheads, otherwise they’ll just keep coming at you.”
\n“Thanks for the advice,” Wolverine said as he dodged a set of claws.
\nAn explosion behind Kitty made her spin around. She had just enough time to see\na vampire become engulfed in flames and explode. A figure in a dark brown duster\ndropped lightly to the ground. “I tink dat dese here vamps ain’t so tough if you\nknow where to hit dem.”
\nKitty smiled. “Good call Gambit.” Her smile evaporated as another vampire in\nbiker leather leapt at his back, claws extended. “Gambit, behind you!” The cajun\nmutant spun and reached for a card. As fast as the X-Man was, the vampire had\nthe speed of the undead and was far faster. Gambit had no time to get out of the\nway of the claws that reached for his heart.
\nSuddenly, the vampire was blown back, bullet holes appearing in its chest. As it\nsank to the ground, a trench coated figure dropped down. “You’d better watch\nyour ass instead of flirting, pretty boy,” Cole growled, “Otherwise you’ll be\ndinner for the next few days.”
\nGambit was taken aback for a moment, but regained his wits and spun, launching a\nfew cards at the vampires. Cole shook his head and looked around at the battle.\nThings were not going well. Wolverine was being hit on all sides. Despite how\ngood he was, the undead don’t tire. Eventually, he would slip up and then be\ndone. Gambit was able to make use of his ranged attacks, but he only had so much\nhe could throw. Soon, he’d be out of ammo and dead in the water. Kitty had moved\nup beside him, her weapon lost. “We’re in a bad way here,” he shouted over the\nbattle, putting bullets into every target he could get a shot off at, “We need\nto break off and regroup.” He quickly looked around. “Where’s Ash?”
\n“Heads up kids!” a voice laughed, “It’s rock and roll time!”
\nCole looked and saw Wolverine and Gambit hit the ground as Ash swung the Vulcan\ncannon from his back and open fire. Cole’s eyes went wide and he dove to the\nground yelling, “Ash you crazy son of a bitch!”
\nThe Archon only laughed and let the 30mm cannon spit fiery death at the vampires\nin the room, bullets cutting them almost literally in half. When the entire\nattacking force of vampires were laying on the ground either dead or\nunconscious, Ash ceased firing and hefted the Vulcan with one hand. “Any left?”
\n“Only me, fool.”
\nAsh spun just in time to see Jessica rake her claws across his chest. The Archon\nfell to the ground, a scream tearing from his throat. The Vulcan fell from his\nhands as he groped at the deep gouge marks in his chest. Blood flowed from the\nwounds like an opened pipe. Wolverine stepped forward and raised his claws. “Try\nthat on me sweetheart.”
\nJessica smiled and her eyes suddenly glowed red. An instant later, Wolverine\nfell to the ground, writhing in pain. Cole’s eyes went wide. “No way can she do\nthat, unless...”
\nJessica laughed. “Very correct Shadow, I’m not a part of your little sect of\n“good vampires”.”
\n“Sabbat,” the mage hissed.
\n“Bravo.” The woman flickered and Gambit fell to the ground, a huge hunting knife\nburied in his leg. He grasped the handle and cried out in pain, but did not tear\nit free. The vampire smiled and looked back at Cole and Kitty. “I’m surprised\nyou didn’t know, Cole. Usually you’re on top of these things.”
\nSuddenly, a blast of white flame blew out Jessica’s chest. She froze for a\nmoment and looked down at the hole in surprise, as though not able to believe\nwhat just happened. She turned and looked directly into blazing eyes of Priest.\nHe pressed the twin barrels of a sawed-off shotgun to the underside of her chin.\n“I knew,” he said coldly, pulling the trigger and vaporizing her head with a\nblast of white phosphorous. The headless body slumped to the ground.
\n“You knew about her and didn’t tell me!” Cole yelled angrily, “What the hell is\nthe matter with you?”
\nPriest shrugged. “Prince’s privilege.”
\nKitty only shook her head and walked over to Gambit, examining the knife in his\nleg. “Gambit’s in a bad way, we need to get him medical attention.”
\n“Don’t bother,” Cole said, walking over. He placed a hand on the knife and it\nfaded away to nothing. Placing his hand on the wound, he muttered a few words\nand his hands glowed with white energy. Slowly, the wound closed until only\nfresh, pink skin remained.
\nGambit blinked in surprise. “Neat trick, you couldn’t do dat before.”
\nCole shrugged. “I’ve had a yearlong crash course in magick.”
\n“Yes,” a ghostly female voice floated in the air, “A pity it will not help you\nin the end.”
\nCole’s eyes narrowed and he looked around. “I figured you were behind this,” he\ngrowled, “What the hell do you want?”
\nSmoky energy filled a corner of the club and slowly took the shape of a woman.\nWhen the smoke dissipated, a woman with green hair, white skin, and a purple\nleotard stood smiling. “It is time Cole.”
\nThe mage glared at the Goddess of death. “Why the hell did you use vampires to\nattack Kitty, she has nothing to do with this.”
\nLillith only smiled. “On the contrary, she is very important to you, and by\ndestroying her, I destroy the only goodness in you.” She waved a hand and Kitty\nwas flung against a wall, the breath blasting from her lungs and leaving her\ngasping for air. Wolverine roared and charged at the woman as Gambit flung a\nscore of energized cards. As the adamantium claws raked across the woman’s chest\nand the cards exploded against her head, the death goddess only laughed and\nflicked her wrist, sending the two mutants flying. When the hit the ground, they\nboth fell unconscious.
\n“Leave them alone!” Kitty screamed.
\n“Silence, little girl,” Lillith sneered, “You will be next.”
\n“Like hell,” Ash growled, climbing to his feet, the wounds in his chest slowly\nknitting together. His hands closed on the Vulcan and he brought it to bear.\n“Suck on this for a while!” The cannon roared as a spray of bullets slammed into\nthe green-haired woman, throwing her back into the wall and sending up a plume\nof dust and debris. Ash ceased firing and walked as the goddess’s form moved\nthrough the dust, completely unharmed.
\n“Fool,” she laughed, “Even in my ethereal form, your weapons cannot hurt me.”
\n“Then try this on,” Priest yelled, charging in and raking his razor sharp claws\nacross her chest. Lillith fell back, five gash marks scarring her white flesh.
\n“Very interesting, I did not believe you to be so powerful, vampire.”
\nPriest smiled. “That’s usually everyone fatal mistake.” He slashed at her again.
\nLillith sighed and lifted a hand, promptly sending Priest flying through the air\nto slam into a wall and crumple to the floor. “Truly, this is starting to bore\nme.”
\n“Then let me liven it up,” Ash cried, as he leapt onto her back and sank his\nteeth into her throat.”
\nCole’s eyes went wide. “Ash, don’t!” But it was too late. As soon as the\nvampire’s fangs sank into the dark goddess’s white flesh, a tiny trace of black\nfluid seeped from the wound as Ash drank deeply. No more than five seconds after\nhe had begun feeding, the Archon reared his head back and howled. The entire\nlower half of his face was covered in the thick, black blood of the dark queen.
\nAsh dropped down to the ground and crouched, his eyes blazing red with a\nbloodlust Cole had never seen in a vampire before. Hungrily, Ash licked his\nlips. “Yum,” he snarled, “Better than Garou blood.” He took one step towards the\nwoman before a strangled cry escaped his lips. He grasped at his chest and fell\nto the floor, twitching violently.
\nLillith smiled at the writhing vampire. “Foolish little vampire, my blood does\nnothing but destroy, even your kind.”
\nCole looked around at the chaos around him. All about, his friends and comrades\nlay either crippled or dying. His eyes found Kitty’s and homed in on them. She\nreturned his gaze with one of wide-eyed terror. She knew she was about to die,\nhe could tell that. “No way,” he growled. Spinning, he faced the pale goddess,\nhis eyes narrowed. “Lillith,” he yelled, “Let the rest go and you can have me.”
\n“No Cole,” Kitty cried.
\nLillith smiled at the mage and walked over to him, using her demonic powers to\nfloat Kitty over beside her. “Oh, rest assured, I will have you no matter what.\nThe rest I could care less about.” She smiled at Kitty. “Except this one.”\nReaching up, Lillith caressed Kitty’s cheek, sending a chill through the young\nwoman. “She’s very pretty, isn’t she Cole.”
\n“What do you want?” the mage bit out.
\nLillith smiled. “Give yourself to me as my willing slave and I will let her go.”
\n“Don’t do it Cole!” Kitty yelled.
\nCole ignored her and focused his glare on Lillith. “Do you swear that you won’t\nhurt her if I agree?”
\nThe goddess waved an absent hand and sighed. “Yes, yes, I’ll let her go.”
\nCole nodded and let his guns fall to the floor. “Deal.”
\n“Cole, no!” Kitty begged, “Please don’t do this!”
\n“I’m not going to let you die Kitty,” Cole said grimly.
\n“So noble,” Lillith mocked, snapping her fingers. Instantly, Kitty fell to the\nfloor. Cole was immediately at her side, crouched down beside her and cradling\nher in his arms.
\n“Cole,” she begged softly, “Please don’t do this. Everything good you’ve tried\nto accomplish here will be for nothing if you do.”
\n“I can’t let you die Kitty,” Cole said quietly, “Not you.”
\n“Why?” she asked, her eyes wide with emotion. “Say it Cole, please say it.”
\nThe mage clutched her tightly. “Because I love you Kitty,” he whispered.
\nThe young mutant sobbed and tears rolled down her cheeks as she held onto the\nyoung man that had asked for her heart, and she had given it to him. “I love you\ntoo,” she whispered back.
\n“Very touching,” Lillith said in an annoyed voice, “But it is time for us to go\nCole, we have preparations to make.”
\nCole glared over his shoulder at her and gently disengaged from Kitty. She gave\na soft cry of protest and reached out to him. “I’m sorry Kitty,” he said\nquietly, “But my mistress is calling me and I have to go.” He stood and walked\nover to Lillith, standing beside her and slightly back.
\n“No!” Kitty screamed, jumping to her feet and rushing at the goddess, punching\nher in the face again and again. Lillith sighed again and flung Kitty away from\nher in one simple gesture. “Foolish child,” the dark queen sneered.
\n“Lillith!”
\nThe death goddess turned and looked at Cole with surprised eyes. His roar of\npure fury echoed through the empty dance club. The rest of the mage’s companions\nstirred awake and slowly started rising. “What was that you said to your\nmistress, slave?” she mocked with a smile.
\nThe smile evaporated as Cole’s fist, crackling with energy, slammed into\nLillith’s face, sending her flying across the room to slam into a wall, cracking\nit from base to ceiling. “You dare!” she hissed.
\nCole began walking slowly towards her, the rest of the vampires and mutants\nmoving behind him. Kitty rushed over to him and took hold of his arm. Cole\nsqueezed her hand, but continued to glare at Lillith. “You promised not to hurt\nher,” he growled, his voice having lost any trace of humanity.
\n“You can’t hurt me,” the dark queen said, standing wobbly before getting her\nbalance, “I am the queen of the underworld. I am immortal.”
\nCole’s entire body began to crackle and pulse with magickal energy. The\nintensity was so powerful that everyone had to step back several feet or be\nburned. The energies rippled along Cole’s form, outlining his every muscle,\nevery vein. Kitty watched in awe as more magickal energy began pumping up from\nthe floor into the young man, as though drawing power from the very planet\nitself. More and more magick dumped into the mage’s body, causing a corona of\nred, crackling energy to form around him. When Kitty looked back at Lillith, she\nsaw something she could not believe.
\nThe goddess looked afraid. “You cannot destroy me,” she announced haughtily, but\nher voice did not have the strength to indicate she could back up her threats.
\n“No,” Cole agreed, “I can’t. You’re part of the cycle of life and there’s\nnothing I can do about that. But there is something I can do.”
\n“What?” Lillith barked.
\nSuddenly, Cole’s eyes burst into black flames. The magickal energy that\nsurrounded him suddenly went as black as death and filtered down into his arms,\nfinally crackling violently in his palms. The young man drew his hands to his\nright side and curled his fingers, as though holding a tangible object. The\nblack magickal energy suddenly roared to life, forming a pulsing and crackling\nenergy in his hands. The power of it was so overwhelming everyone had to cover\ntheir eyes, including Lillith. “Go to Hell Lillith,” he roared, “And don't come\nback!”
\nCole shot his hands forward and a wave of magickal energy blasted through\nLillith and the five buildings behind her, leveling them where they stood. Dust\nplumed into the air, creating a mushroom cloud a mile wide. Kitty felt herself\npulled to the ground by Priest as chunks of wood and concrete washed over them.\nShe screamed as a large sliver of wood drove into her thigh. Priest instantly\ncovered her up with his own body and held her gaze with his eyes. “Hang on,” he\nyelled into her ear, “I’ve got you.”
\n“Cole!” she screamed back, “What about Cole?”
\nPriest shook his head and shuddered as a chunk of concrete the size of a\nVolkswagen slammed into his back. The vampire only grunted and remained where he\nwas, tossing the granite block away like a toy. Kitty looked around frantically,\ntrying to catch some glimpse of the mage. Her eyes widened when she saw him\nstanding in the midst of the urban typhoon, a shield of crackling energy around\nhim, deflecting every piece of debris. Then, smoke enveloped them all and Kitty\nlost sight of him.
\nThe group waited for a few minutes as the dust settled and then slowly got to\ntheir feet. Priest expertly took the wooden spear from Kitty’s thigh, but she\nstill screamed in pain. Yet the agony faded instantly when she saw Cole laying\nface down amongst the carnage of the five blocks around them. Hobbling over,\nKitty fell to her knees beside him, more from a lack of strength than the desire\nto. “Cole,” she cried, “Cole are you okay?” She heard a weak moan and wept for\njoy. Carefully turning him over, she looked into his half open eyes, cupping his\nface with her hands. “Cole, don’t you die on me,” she ordered firmly as tears\nrolled down her cheeks, “You can’t die now that we knew how we feel about each\nother.”
\nCole smiled weakly and reached up to caress her cheek. “I’m not going to die\nKitty,” he said, barely above a whisper, “I wouldn’t do that to...you...” His\neyes closed and he fell limp in her arms.
\n“Cole!” she screamed. Looking over her shoulder, she begged the others,\n“Someone, help him!”
\nPriest was immediately on his feet and rushing over to the two, as was\nWolverine. They crouched down next to the mage and Priest felt for a pulse.\n“He’s alive,” the vampire announced, “He’s just passed out. The strain was too\nmuch for him.”
\n“Let’s get him to a hospital,” Wolverine said, picking up the unconscious young\nman.
\n“No,” Priest said, “We’ll bring him to Elysium. Follow me.” Picking up Kitty,\nand then grabbing Ash by the unconscious Archon’s collar, he led the group\nthrough the remains of Dock 5 towards Elysium, the one safe haven Kitty knew\nexisted in Chicago.
\nX-Men: Black Fire
\nBy Paradox
\nBOOK II
\nEpilogue
\nCole looked up as the door to the plush bedroom in Elysium opened. “Who is it?”\nhe asked quietly.
\nKitty poked her head in and smiled. “Hi,” she said brightly, “I just wanted to\nsee how you’re doing.”
\nCole smiled and pulled himself into a sitting position. “I’m all right, I guess.\nI feel weak as hell, though.”
\nKitty smiled and walked into the room, the beautiful white gown Cole had bought\nher swirling with every step. “Well, you just took on a goddess from Hell, it’s\nto be expected.”
\nCole chuckled and took a cigarette from the pack on the night stand beside the\nbed and lit it with the lighter next to the pack. “You shouldn’t smoke those,”\nKitty warned, “They’ll kill you.”
\nCole smiled. “Well, like you said, I just took on the Goddess from Hell and\nlived, I’m not exactly worried about dying of cancer.”
\nKitty’s expression grew serious. “Sometimes, Cole, it’s the little things that\nkill us, not the big ones.”
\nThe two looked into each others eyes for several quiet moments and then Cole\nnodded, stamping out the cigarette in an ashtray. “So, you come in here to say\ngood-bye?”
\nKitty smiled and shook her head. “No way, I’ve still got a month of vacation\ntime left and I intend to spend every moment of it with you.”
\nCole cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t you need to go see Professor X to get your powers\nback?”
\nKitty grinned and pushed her hand to the mattress, then phased it through. “Once\nJessica died, her mental blocks vanished. I’m a normal mutant again.”
\nCole chuckled. “Good to hear.”
\n“How about you? Do you have anything left?”
\nCole shrugged and lifted his hand. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then,\nred magickal energy crackled through his fingers and coalesced into a beautiful\nred rose. “I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve.”
\nKitty took the rose and inhaled its scent. It was a real rose, created from\nnothing but the love in the young man’s heart. “How bad are you?”
\nCole shrugged. “I’ve lost most of my power. Everything I had been building up\nfor the last year is gone. I’m basically at about half of what I was when I\nfirst met you.”
\n“Will you ever get your full powers back?”
\nThe mage shrugged again, as though unconcerned. “Who knows, maybe I will, maybe\nI won’t. It won’t change a thing.”
\nKitty nodded and then suddenly leaned in, kissing Cole fully on the mouth.\nCole’s arms wrapped around the girl and held her tightly, kissing back with\nfevered passion. When they broke, they were slightly out of breath. “So,” Cole\ngasped, “What happened to Ash?”
\nKitty giggled. “Well, Priest had to slam him against the wall a few times to get\nLillith’s blood out of his system, but he’s okay now. He’s pissed, but he’s\nokay.”
\nCole chuckled. “That’s Ash for you, he nearly gets ripped apart from the inside\nby a demon goddess and just comes out pissed off.”
\nKitty laughed again. “You feel up to going out?”
\nThe mage nodded and smiled. “You bet, I’m tired of laying in this damn bed, but\nPriest kept throwing me back into it every time I tried to sneak out.” With\nKitty’s help, he rose from the bed and pulled on his shirt, boots, and trench\ncoat. They walked down the stairs, arm in arm, to the club part of Elysium.\nAlthough it was night, it was still too early of an hour for the club to be\nopen. Priest and Ash sat at the bar drinking from beer mugs filled with blood.\nThey both had loopy grins on their faces. “What’s up guys?” Cole called.
\nThe two vampires turned and smiled lopsidedly. “Hi Cole,” Ash slurred, “Wanna\ntie one ‘ff?”
\nCole looked at Kitty. “What have they been drinking?”
\nKitty shrugged. “I heard them mention something about getting drunk, but I don’t\nknow how they could do that.”
\nCole chuckled and shook his head. “Okay guys, what did the bleeder drink?”
\n“Ta-key-la,” Priest said in a laughing, high pitched voice.
\n“Oh jeez,” Cole said, “We’d better get somewhere quiet, their drinking a drunk’s\nblood, so their going to get royally trashed.”
\n“Sounds good to me, where do you want to go?”
\nCole thought a moment and then smiled. “I think I have an idea.” He concentrated\nfor a few moments, sweat popping out on his forehead. In the next instant, Kitty\nfound herself on a blanket laid out at a cliff’s edge, a breathtaking view of\nthe city before them.
\n“I didn’t think you could do that.” Kitty said in surprise.
\nCole smiled. “Takes a lot out of me,” he gasped, “But I can do it. Besides, I’d\nrather be laying in your arms with nothing to keep me up any day.”
\nKitty smiled and folded him into her arms, placing a kiss on his forehead. The\ntwo sat there for a long time, holding each other as though it were the last\ntime. “So where are Wolverine and Gambit?” Cole finally asked.
\n“They went back to the mansion,” Kitty said quietly, “They said they thought we\nneeded some time without them.”
\n“Nice of them,” Cole murmured, snuggling his face into Kitty’s stomach. He\npaused for a moment and then whispered, “Kitty, don't go.”
\n“What?” she asked, not quite hearing him.
\nCole sat up and looked into her eyes. “Kitty, I don’t want you to go back. Stay\nwith me, here in Chicago. I love you with all my heart and I don’t want to lose\nyou again. Just ask Priest, I was a monster while you were gone.”
\n“I know,” Kitty said softly, “But the X-Men are my family as well as my friends.\nI made a promise to help them and I can’t go back on that.”
\nCole looked down and nodded. “I thought you would say that.” He looked back up\nand smiled. “Of course, I’m a firm believer in long distance relationships.”
\nKitty smiled and nodded. “Me too. Some day Cole, we’ll be able to be together,\nforever.”
\n“And ever,” Cole whispered as he kissed her, his hands working at the clasps of\nher dress. Kitty only kissed back as her hands traced to the waistband of his\njeans and unfastened the snap there. Quickly, they stripped each other of their\ngarments and explored each other’s bodies, tracing the flatness of a stomach,\nthe curve of a thigh, the swell of a breast. Kitty’s gasps came sharp and quick\nas Cole worked a different kind of magic on her.
\nWhen they finally lay still, bathed in sweat and held in each other’s arms, Cole\ngently kissed Kitty on the lips and smiled at her. “I love you Kitty.”
\n“I love you Cole,” she whispered back.
\nFrom the city, they heard an enraged voice echo throughout the great skyscrapers\nand apartment buildings. “GUN!”
\nBoth of them laughed into each other’s mouth as they kissed, the moon bathing\nthem in a cool, pale light that promised warm dreams and endless love.
","frontmatter":{"text":"X-Men: Black Fire - Book II","tags":["dark","captured","villain organization","Transformation","fire","communication","symbol","Cyclops","training","Gambit","robots","Shadowcat","Wolverine","Kitty Pryde","forced humiliation"],"date":"9/26/2026","part":"1"},"excerpt":"X-Men: Black Fire By Paradox BOOK II Several Hours Later Prologue Kitty watched the clouds sweep past the Blackbird’s canopy as the stealth…","timeToRead":115,"fields":{"slug":"/stories/paradox_xmenblackfire/part2/"},"author":{"authorName":"Paradox","authorEmail":null,"authorSite":null},"series":{"seriesName":"X-Men: Black Fire","parts":[{"fields":{"slug":"/stories/paradox_xmenblackfire/part1/"},"frontmatter":{"part":"1"}},{"fields":{"slug":"/stories/paradox_xmenblackfire/part2/"},"frontmatter":{"part":"1"}}]},"storyStats":{"visits":0},"summary":"Kitty Pryde, once empowered and strong, is gradually weakened and made vulnerable by a vampire attack, losing her mutant powers and being drained of blood. Cole, her lover, fights to rescue her, using his magical abilities to heal her and teleport them away from danger, leaving Kitty in a state of intense vulnerability and dependence on Cole's strength and protection.","similarStories":[]}},"pageContext":{"nextInSeries":{"series":"X-Men: Black Fire","part":"1","favorite":null,"date":"9/26/2026","text":"X-Men: Black Fire - Book II","tags":["dark","captured","villain organization","Transformation","fire","communication","symbol","Cyclops","training","Gambit","robots","Shadowcat","Wolverine","Kitty Pryde","forced humiliation"],"published":null,"slug":"/stories/paradox_xmenblackfire/part2/","templatePath":"./src/templates/stories-post.js"},"slug":"/stories/paradox_xmenblackfire/part2/","templatePath":"./src/templates/stories-post.js"}},"staticQueryHashes":["4139622702","641652024","942210989"],"slicesMap":{}}