....And Then, There Was Chaos

Mac stood in the middle of Duke's tent and watched him move about the space, organising his gear and getting dressed in his uniform. "I think we should divide into three groups, instead of six. One team outside, the rest in smaller groups on each level, on the inside. We'll all have our coms in case somethin' goes wrong." She could feel the virus working inside her but shrugged it off as just hunger pains and loss of sleep. The heat of fever was rising and her vision swam a bit but not enough to make it noticeable to anyone but her. It was a wonder she could stand on her own and only have a headache.

"That would only confuse our troops instead of the enemy. Besides, the more we have in a group, the easier we will be to take out." Duke paused from buttoning his armoured vest and turned to look at the frailed woman in his tent. "Don't tell me you're havin' your doubts because that bitch is here." It had been established early on in their relationship that Duke had a definite problem with women in charge. Women tended to be more melancholy and rely on their hearts more than their heads in times of trial. He and Mac had often fought of such differences but Mac had also proved to be just as headstrong as Duke.

"Non. It don't matter who or what I fuck, I can do my job regardless. I'm just saying that we'll have more on an advantage if we go in and flush them out instead of fighting from the outside in." His anger was enough to push the nausea up a level. Mac was visibly swaying now.

Duke took notice of her stance and slight swaying but didn't say anything. Rubbing his chin with the fingertips of his right hand, he sighed inwardly and took into account of what they were up against, and just how stable Mac would be during the fight. "She got to you, didn't she?"

"No."

"Don't lie to me, girl." Closing the gap between them in two steps, Duke caught her by the hips and held her upright. "I can smell the sex all over you. She comes in, flauntin her pink cunt in your face and you fall for it. Before you know it, you're between her legs, fucking her so good you don't see her mind-fucking you in return. Do you think it's just a coincidence that she's here and you didn't ask her to be? If it's a good fucking you need, LeBeau," pressing his groin against hers, Duke continued, "I can give you something hard to slide up and down on."

Mac pushed away from him. "You'd like it too much." It was possible that Duke could be a real jerk around Mac but she knew he had a crush on her since their meeting some years earlier. However, giving in to him meant giving in to his strange conquest for control and not relenting until the female was reduced to a mindless servant. Mac wasn't about to ever submit that far to any man.

Duke smirked. "Maybe that's what you need, a good hard dick to screw your head on straight."

"Spare me." She turned to leave but lost her balance and shuffled to her left, bumping into a small footlocker that stood on its side. Bending over it until she caught her balance, she didn't hear Duke come up behind her and press himself against her, holding her there. "Let go, Duke."

"Or what? Huh? You'll run out there and tell your daddy that I touched your no-no place?" Leaning in closer, Duke rest his lips next to her left ear and whispered, "ever since you were hit with the beam, your body has been goin' crazy, doing anything it can to stay alive. The same day you placed the call to Xavier was the same day you changed your hair, but most important, you got zapped. Didn't you?"

A groan escaped as Duke had rest his weight ontop of her, pinning her to the footlocker. "Get off of me."

At the moment, Rogue had passed by and had heard the commotion as the footlocker Mac had been leaning over was just inside the tent flap. The plea for Duke to get off of Mac was enough to force her to interrupt. Throwing the flap aside, Rogue stepped in and grabbed Duke by the back of the belt and pulled him away from Mac. "What in Tarnation do you think yer doin with her?" Holding Duke, now, by the shoulder, she glared at him as she stepped inbetween the two.

"She's gone soft. I was just-- helping her to see the light." Duke snarled his retort as he stared the other woman in the eye.

Mac pushed herself off of the locker but didn't turn to face either of them. "S'ok, momma. I'm alright." When she did finally turn around, the black, ringletted hair was gone and long, thick, straight auburn hair revealed itself, much to the shock of Rogue. The violet in her eyes darkened from the light thistle that hid her true emotions of Rogue, Gambit and the rest of the X-Men. "The truth has to come out sooner or later."

"What the--?" Rogue released Duke and stepped forward to let her gloved fingers touch a lock of shiny auburn hair that framed the face of young, Cajuned Rogue. "Who are you, really?" Their eyes met and Rogue found herself staring into her own eyes but with different colour.

"Rhythm MacKensie.... LeBeau. There's no ring yet but, you an' Poppa an' Logan are-- were-- all I knew. Y'all taught me how to use my powers and control them but you never told me what to do when I lost you all." Mac averted her eyes and made her way over to the edge of Duke's cot and sat down. She couldn't bear the feeling that Rogue gave her from this new information.

Rogue wasn't sure what to do with this tidbit of information but yelling at the young woman -sick woman- was not part of the thought. "Yer sayin' that Remy and Ah-?" She glanced over at Duke for any sign of a joke but there was none revealed. Mac had been serious in calling her "momma." Rogue recalled the blowup in the rain with Mac and Duke in which it also led to Mac saying something about Rogue and Remy getting together but she had pushed it off as only a half-heard vent session. Rogue was, more or less, stunned that she now stood face to face with the future- Rogue and Remy's future- and found herself scatter-brained with questions about the gap.

Mac nodded. "No time for other details. We have to get going if we're gonna end this." Standing up and brushing quickly past the two people, Mac contained a heavy breath and a sigh of relief that someone knew her secret. She hadn't bothered changing back to her black hair as, like her mother, could only absorb through touch. Instead, she walked back to her tent knowing full well that Gambit was noticeably watching her. She began breaking down her tent and hadn't noticed Jonathon standing behind her until he spoke.

"She's gone." Saying it flatly, Jonathon didn't expect for her to jump or even to respond at all but he could tell something was wrong. "Are you alright?" Coming around to stand in front of her as she was kneeling on the ground, rolling up her tent gear, he took the time to look at her expression. Noticing the tears that glistened down her cheeks and hitting his knees, Jonathon wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "What happened?"

Pushing away to dry her eyes, Mac made no move to look at him but forced herself to answer the question, eventhough it was beyond her beliefs. "I told her; my mother. It had to come out anyway. I can't hide myself any longer. My power can keep until this is over." The com in her side pouch, on her left side, rang in a familiar tone and Mac immediately answered it. "LeBeau." The voice on the other line was telling her the good news of Scott's condition and that they were going to locate the Blackbird and get it operational for their return. "Great, Candice. Thanks."

Logan had stopped a few feet from them and hadn't bothered with the notice of Mac's hair change. "Hey! Move it, you two."

~~~~~~~

The teams had been determined to three teams but the order had changed. Gambit, Storm and Beast led a team of 12 to go in the back way while Jean, Rogue, a few high powered mutants and Jonathon came in from above. Duke, Logan and Mac went in the front door. Jubilee stayed outside to wait for Scott and Candice in the Blackbird as well as helping the armored divisions.

Grabbing Logan by the arm, Duke halted them from going any further than the entrance. "Wait. Floor might be booby-trapped."

Logan grunted and sneered back at the man next to him. "I ain't got time for traps."

Shoving her way between the two men, Mac removed a single toothpick from a small pouch that rest on her right side from a belt. Charging it, she tossed it into the dark entry and watched the glow land in the middle of the floor. The sliver of wood exploded, revealing a series of nigh invisible wires that spiderwebbed the entrance. "One more step, Logan, and--" picking up a small stone from the ground and tossing it into the middle of the web, releasing a total of six glowing white spears on either side of the hallway, "you'd be shish ka-bobbed." The spears came out of one wall and shot across into the paralleling wall, repeating the motion through the rest of the hallway in a quick movement.

Duke and Logan glanced at each other but didn't comment.

Mac took the first step inside and gingerly walked along the edge, carrying a small LED light stick. "Medieval. I like it." She smiled and looked to her left to see the two men following her footsteps.

With Duke ending the line of three, he trailed behind a few steps with his pride, a nuclear assault rifle that resembled an enhanced but smaller rocket launcher. "So, what exactly is it that you do?" Nudging Logan's shoulder and making quick glances back to the smaller man in the middle.

"Chaperone." With a loud schlack of metal, Logan released the claws on his right hand and held them up for Duke to see. "If I have to keep you two separated this whole 'family outing', I'll finish any qualms you start." Logan sheathed his claws in time to turn and see that Mac had stopped and was now turned around to stare at them with her arms crossed.

Keeping her voice low and her tone flat, Mac narrowed her eyes at the both of them, who had fallen out of the line. "You two are very noisy church mice." Behind her was a round foyer with a stone, round table in the middle of the room. On the table was a book, John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men.' Mac cautiously made her way to the table and lifted the hardcover of the book.

Logan snorted at the book. "Never pictured Sinister as a reader. Must be a message."

"It is." Mac agreed.

Duke slipped the book from her hand and closed the cover. "Yea, only the strong survive."

Raising his eyebrow at the statement, Logan concluded, "let's make sure it's us. Let's go." With a huff and a sniff at the air, Logan was able to catch a whiff of oil from a big machine, coming from somewhere down corresponding hallway. Waving a hand at Duke and pointing to where the smell was coming from, Logan grabbed Mac by the arm and nudged her behind him. He followed Duke down the corridor with Mac in tow, senses alert and brain always thinking about a way out or through any obstacle, in particularly, Sinister.

They came to a closed door, steel and humming. It looked like a solid green machinist door with a small keyboard placed on the right wall, for entrance. Each of them stared at the door as if thinking how to open it. Logan glanced over at Mac and nudged her on the arm, "you gonna open it, or just sit here and stare?"

"I'm not a hacker."

Logan smiled and raised a clawed fist. "Good." He punched at the keypad and sank his claws in deep, hearing the pop and snaps of circuitry. The door opened but only six inches from the floor. Logan pulled his claws out and examined the edges of the tall door. The crack between the top of the door and the ceiling seemed like it was caught on a thick cable.

Duke readied his assault rifle he had been holding like a security blanket. "I say we blast it."

"Oh, that'll be quiet." Mac sneered.

The former mercenary stepped closer to her and hardened his expression. "That's the idea, little girl. We're here to kick his creepy blue ass back to Hell and whether he hears us or not, is his problem. Frankly, I hope he's pissin his pants."

Logan cleared his throat.

Duke exhaled his anger as he heard Logan release his claws again. "Would you rather just stand here and wait for Sinister to open the door?"

Mac sat down on the floor, in front of the crack. "Nope." She glanced up at Logan. "Think you can lift this about four more inches?"

Smirking, Logan liked the way she thought. "Yea," leering over at Duke, "put down the pop gun and lift, kiddo." With Logan on one side and Duke on the other, they pulled up as hard as they could and managed to raise the door another 2 1/2 inches.

Switching to lay on the floor, Mac stretched her right arm under the door but quickly removed it, retrieving a small square mirror from her vest pocket. She slowly slid her arm back under and used the mirror as a viewer to make sure there were no traps or mutants in waiting before squeezing herself under the door. It was a tight fit but she had lost so much weight that her body barely contained any fat. When she had made it through, she stood up and looked around the other side of the door for a dual keypad. There was only a touch screen with a handprint outlined on it.

"Hn." Not finding any other way to open the door, she settled on her next thought, which had actually been her first. "Door opening. Move it or lose it." Placing her right index finger on the steel door, she drew a solitairy outline of a doorway. The line she traced glowed purple and went from bright to faint as the charge burned through the 12" thick steel. When it had burned through, the cut steel fell straight down and then teetered in, towards her, landing only a few centimetres from her feet. The large crash echoed through the enormous room and into the adjoining corridors.

Logan and Duke sauntered in, ready to kill any opposing factor.

"Relax, boys. So far, it's empty." Mac casually smiled and looked very pleased with herself but only for a second as the next sound they heard was a loud, shrill alarm. "Okay," she evened her gaze on an unthrilled Wolverine, "so, it ain't a perfect theory. You try bein' impulsive for awhile." Crossing her arms, Mac waited for Logan to assess the situation and quickly changing her stance, again, as she heard someone coming down one of the dark corridors.

~~~~~~~~~

Remy hung upside down and twirled in a slow, uncontrollable spin. His long monterey had draped around him and made it impossible to see where he was. He and Storm had been separated from the team and now hung from a cord, in the middle of a makeshift torture chamber. "Chere, you alright?" They had been back to back to each other but she had been quiet since the above floor gave way and both tumbled down, into where they were. "Stormy?"

"Do not call me that, Gambit." Storm came to and warily spoke. "Where are we?"

"Dunno. Mebbe in a game room, non?"

Storm looked around to what she was able to see. "I do not think so. Do you think you could release us from our bindings?"

Remy swatted the monterey away from his face and looked up at the chord around their ankles. "Oui. Look out below." Folding himself to reach up, at the cord, he had to strain to reach the knot, behind his left ankle. Once his fingertips touched it, he charged the loops and then straightened as the chord crackled and snapped, dropping both occupants down to the hard floor. Remy landed first, cushioning Storm as she landed directly on top of him. "Uhf!"

"Thank you for the soft landing, Remy."

"Don't mention it, chere." Remy was out of breath from the landing and having Storm land on top of him, yet he had managed to answer her. He sat up and slipped a playing card from his coat pocket, charging it as a light for them. "Kinda kinky, eh, Stormy?" He eyed several devices around the room that were items he knew from history books; iron maiden from the 12th Century, 14th Century stretching device and multiple chains and irons from various time periods.

A voice came from the darkness that skirted the edges of the room, "glad you agree, Gambit." The voice had been doubled and echoed eerily with a deep rumble. Sinister sounded older and more gruff than what the two X-Men had heard in their time. The time difference had weathered him as much as any other mutant in that day and age, immortal or not.

Remy moved to a defensive stance. "Show yaself, coward!"

The deep, echoing voice laughed wickedly. "You will see me soon enough, LeBeau." Something moved in the darkness, a machine flicked on, giving way to another loud movement as the stones beneath their feet gave way once more at both Gambit and Storm fell into small, personal cages, among Jean, Rogue and Beast. The laughter continued with a hearty roll of thunder.

The card had slipped from Remy's grasp and exploded somewhere between Remy's fingers and hitting the floor. The room around them had gone completely black until another change had started warping around the newly acquired pawns.

Each cage glowed and slowly descended down to the floor, moving together until they made one, complete cage that contained the majority of the X-Men. Round, metal bars glowed blue with electricity and pulsed a hum, draining the mutants of their powers.

"Gambit!" Jean called out from the other side of the cage. She stepped closer to the two additions and embraced them, thankfully. "Are you two alright?"

Storm nodded as she accepted Jean's hug. "Yes. We were following a light when the floor gave way, ensnaring us in a trap."

"Rogue and a few others came under attack from an unseen source. The few that were with me, mysteriously vanished. I continued on, to look for you, and just when I did, Vertigo came out of nowhere. She hit me with a powerful blast of the most nauseating force. Sinister must have amped her powers since we've come forward. When I woke up, Rogue was standing over me." Jean took a breath and looked around the cage at her companions. "I believe we have a traitor in our midst."

Rogue stepped forward and folded her arms. "How can we level it down to which one? Any one of them could be a mole." Recalling the earlier incident in Duke's tent, Rogue had pieced together a small net of those who might be suspected. Her thoughts then fell on the information she had learned about the mysterious young woman and wondered if Gambit had made the same assumption, granted he had been watching Mac as closely as Rogue had.

"I think I might know." Jean looked around the cage.

Continued.