Warning:
This story is for adults only! The story has strong sexual and violent content as well as offensive language. If this is something that you feel uncomfortable with or if not old enough according to the law, the author would suggest that you read no further.
Disclaimer:
I do not own the X-Men, Avengers, the Fantastic Four nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Feedback is always welcome at superbangjason@yahoo.com
Pawn of HellfirePart 1On a rainy April afternoon the private jet landed at Teterboro Airport. The sole passenger had little time to think as she was whisked from the tarmac into the waiting limousine. She had never been in a plane before; let alone a private jet. The seats were leather and there was a stewardess assigned to her. Assigned! She was the only one on the plane but it was this woman’s entire job to keep her happy on the flight from Chicago.From their brief meeting a few weeks ago she’d known Professor Xavier was rich, but this was extravagant by any standards. Her little adventure with the X-Men was enough to convince her that this was what she wanted to do; she wanted to make a difference. She was going to be a superhero and save the world.Now, speeding along in a black limousine, Kitty Pryde’s eyes went wide as she got her first sight of Times Square. The glamorous glow off the billboards and marquis dazzled her teenaged brain. It was done. She was hooked. Like the old song said, she wanted to "-be a part of it; New York, New York".The limousine arrived at its destination, a Fifth Avenue mansion unlike any she had ever seen. It had wrought iron fences, colonial craftsmanship and a wigged attendant in full Revolutionary War era dress acting as doorman. He opened the limousine door while the chauffer got her bags.“Welcome to your new home, Mistress Pryde,” he said as he held an umbrella out to protect her from the rain. “And more importantly, welcome to the Club.”Inside her wet sneakers sank into the plush carpet of the entryway. A woman in a French maid outfit took her coat, another took her bags. She was a little curious as to why they were wearing dog-collars. Kitty wasn’t used to being waited on like this, so it did put her a little on edge. As if she wasn’t nervous enough. The X-Men were superheroes and they said that they would train her to be one.Her musing was interrupted by the sound of a now familiar voice. “Welcome to New York, Kitty.”She turned to find the piercing blue eyes of Professor Xavier. He was in his wheelchair, just as the last time she saw him, but his clothes were much different. He wasn’t wearing a uniform like the attendants. His clothing was made of finer material, with fringes and cuffs for pure ornamentation. It looked like very expensive white crushed velvet, but seemed to be embroidered in gold? The attendants were dressed as servants, he was dressed as royalty.Pushing the wheelchair was Peter Rasputin, the ‘big hunk’ that she’d met in Chicago. They shared a brief blushing glance as she looked him over. He was as put together as she remembered, but his clothing was as strange as Xavier’s. He was dressed in a red Bolshevik costume, like something out of the Nutcracker Suite.“I see you’ve noticed the costume,” Xavier said. “A necessary change I will explain about on our way to meet with the others.”Peter turned the wheelchair around and Kitty followed out the door and into the lavishly decorated hallways.“Much has changed since you last met us Kitty. There have been a few losses, and changes made out of necessity. As you recall when we fought Emma Frost last month that she was accompanied by hired mercenaries with advanced technology. As it turns out she was the White Queen of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, a ranking officer in a secret society older than America with vast resources and an interest in mutant affairs. Once we left you the X-Men confronted the Hellfire Club here in their power base. We won, but it was a pyrrhic victory,” Sadness softened his egalitarian features. “Cyclops, Scott, the team leader died in a psychic confrontation with Mastermind. This snapped Phoenix to her senses but at the cost of his life.”Kitty watched in silence. She’d never met this Cyclops but she had seen him on the news. If she wasn’t mistaken he was one of the X-Men since the beginning.The uncomfortable silence was not unnoticed by Peter. “Professor?” he asked with unmistakable concern.“I’m alright. The X-Men are alright. The day was saved. But it was a tumult of events that lead to the changes you’re about to become a part of Katherine, if you so choose.”Kitty blinked. This wasn’t exactly what she thought it would be like. She thought it would be action and adventure, not melancholy and loss.Before any of them had the chance to utter another syllable the oaken doors of a meeting room were opened. Candlelight reflected off the decorum inside. Crystal chandeliers, polished silver candelabras, and exquisite art on the walls; for all its opulence this room was actually sparsely furnished. Inside was little more than a long table with seating on the side opposite her. In front of every seat was a small banner with an image of a chess piece on it. As distracting as the room was the occupants were more so.Kitty recognized them, but she didn’t remember them like this. The short hairy guy, the Wolverine she had thought was so creepy in Chicago. She remembered him as a deer remembers a wolf, an instinctual fear. She knew for certain he was dangerous. He was dressed similarly to the professor, but pitch black colors instead of white. Now he seemed a literal wolf in sheep’s clothing.Next was Ororo, the X-Man she had actually hit it off with in Chicago. She seemed such a woman of simple tastes but her dress was the exact opposite; a floor-length white gown with a long shimmering trail behind her. It was sleeveless, with stones stitched in that caught the light. She was radiant, shining in stark contrast to her dark skin. Ororo greeted her with a smile.As she returned the smile with one of her own, Kitty spotted the final occupant. It was Jean Grey, the Phoenix, but she was not as Kitty remembered her at all. She remembered a friendly, pretty young redheaded woman. The hair was still red, and she was still pretty, but the friendliness was completely gone. The sweater and slacks she remembered in were replaced by the most painful looking outfit Kitty had ever seen. It was all black-leather straps and buckles, so tight it looked like she couldn’t breathe. She could, Kitty knew as her heaving bosoms strained against their leather restraints audibly with every breath. She wore thigh-high boots, long leather opera gloves, and black leather panties that barely concealed much of anything. Even her hair was restrained, tied up into a tight bun at the back of her head. Like the French maid she’d seen before Jean had a dog-collar with a shiny silver ring.Kitty may not have realized she was staring, but Jean Grey did. “It’s wine,” the redhead said coldly as she nodded towards the glass in her hand. “Would you like a taste?”Kitty felt butterflies in her stomach. “I don’t think I’m old enough.”Jean sauntered over to the nervous girl, hips swaying with every step. She stirred the red wine with her gloved pinky. She stopped, bent forward to bring them eye-to-eye, and traced the contours of Kitty’s lips with her wine-soaked fingertip. “No harm in having a taste is there?” she sultrily whispered.Slowly, Kitty licked the wine off her lips. With the way Jean was bent over she practically shoved her tits in Kitty’s face. Her green eyes lingered on the nervous girl’s body.“Jean,” Professor Xavier said with authority, “Take your place. We have much to discuss with Ms. Pryde.”Jean smirked. “Tell me when you want another taste,” she whispered as she righted herself and walked to her seat.Kitty was left standing while the X-Men took their places at the table behind their banners. Professor Xavier sat in the middle. The banner in front of him was the chess piece ‘king’. “As I was explaining to you Katherine, after we fought the Hellfire Club there were some changes that had to be made. The X-Men were an idea about building understanding from the ground up. By educating children, mutants would eventually be accepted by the mainstream. That’s not how things are done however. We secluded ourselves in our mansion in Westchester. We didn’t interact with regular people. Once the locals found out about us there would be a witch hunt. We were dooming ourselves to fail.”“And at the same time Jean was having trouble controlling her powers. Had she gone insane it would have been a disaster for all mutantkind. There would be panic. Politicians would pander and it would only be a matter of time before we were rounded up, put in camps, and executed.”Xavier paused briefly. “Do you understand everything so far Katherine?”Kitty nodded.Xavier continued. “In analyzing Jean’s particular situation we realized that the most control that she had over herself was when she was under the influence of the Hellfire Club. It wasn’t the illusions they created for her, it was the restraints her mind had made on herself. It was the only way halt to her symptoms and begin to repair the psychic damage. She had full recall of those methods she imagined and why they had worked. After much debate we decided the villains were the ones with the correct method of controlling such power.”“For Jean to have discipline over her powers required a heavier hand than what I was used to using. Jean can’t be the only mutant who needs such harsh methods. Perhaps if I had tried something like this sooner poor David would-”“Professor,” Wolverine butted in, “Proteus was beyond anyone’s reach.”“But that is the point.” Xavier seemed to get back on track. “My methods worked for the first generation of X-Men, but the Inner Circle was more effective, had more influence on events and inadvertently helped Jean through theirs. So I’ve rethought the situation and we are going to adapt to the changing world. Here, at the Hellfire Club we are in the center of New York City, not cloistered away in Westchester. We can respond to emergencies faster. We can use the Club to create a positive opinion of mutants in the mind of the economic, social and political elite. Rather than trying to change the world from the bottom up, we will do it from the top down.”Meekly Kitty spoke. “Okay, but what does this have to do with me?”“You,” the Professor spoke, “like us are the next stage in human evolution. That is not just a physical state of being, but a social and moral one as well. I tried to apply regular morals and societal standards on Jean and she nearly destroyed the universe. It was not her fault she lost control, but mine for not training her to control herself.” The Professor wiped the sweat from the top of his bald pate. “Tell me Katherine, can you control your powers?”Kitty frowned. “Not all the time.”Xavier nodded. “And Katherine, are you afraid of discipline if you need it?”Kitty’s lip quivered. This was getting really weird. They’d saved her life not a month ago but between that time and now they seemed to have changed. She wasn’t sure if she liked those changes. “If I need it,” she finally said, “no.”“We’re building a new society Katherine, something that is very rarely done.” Xavier indicated with a nod. “You are very brave for doing this, Katherine. I see no reason not to train her. I, Charles Xavier, King of Hellfire, extend the invitation to you Ms. Katherine Pryde, to membership in the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club.”“I don’t understand.” Kitty said, “I thought the Hellfire Club were the bad guys.”Jean finished off her wine and placed the empty glass on the table. “The old Inner Circle were. We took care of them. The Hellfire Club is ours to do with as we please. And we want to use it to find, help and train young mutants like you to form an evolved society for the future. But that will be a big change. Are you scared of change Kitty?”“No,” she said truthfully. “Everything for me has changed lately. I found out I’m a mutant, my parents are getting divorced. Everything is going to change; you just have to change with it.”The last sentence brought a big smile to Jean Grey’s face. “Than I, Jean Grey, Queen of Hellfire, second the invitation of membership to Katherine Pryde to the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club.”Kitty’s nervousness was going away. They were dancing around something, but she didn’t know what. “What is with this invitation thing?” she asked them flatly. “I thought I was here for schooling and training.”Ororo smiled. “Oh Kitten, we will teach and train nearly any mutant that asks. But we don’t invite them all into our Inner Circle. We are voting to let you in on all of our secrets, to groom you to eventually take over the Hellfire Club when we are gone. We are determining how much we can trust you Kitten. Do you trust us?”Kitty was a little shocked this came from Ororo. “Of course I trust you. You’ve already saved my life, and I’d like to think I helped in saving yours.”A big smile came to Ororo’s face. “Than, I Ororo Munroe, Bishop of Hellfire, third the invitation to Katherine Pryde.”“Do we still have to do this?” Wolverine said gruffly, “The King counts as 2 votes, Queen and Bishop are one each. Even if me and the Rooskie vote against, she’s in.”“Logan,” Xavier had a twinge of anger in his voice, “ceremony exists for a reason.”“Fine,” Wolverine said short of a huff. “We may ask you to do things you don’t like, nasty things. Are you going to chicken out on us at the last minute?”Logan was confrontational, something she knew how to deal with; head on. “I’m not afraid.”Logan either forgoes or forgot the speech. “Hellfire Knight says she’s in, over and out.” And he returned his full attention to his beer.Jean suppressed her chuckle and Charles Xavier’s face disappeared into his hand. Before there could be any repercussions Peter Rasputin spoke his part.“Katherine Pryde, you said you were not afraid of discipline, you said you were not afraid of change, you said you are not afraid of being true to your word; so Katherine, there is one more component, one unforgivable sin that the Inner Circle cannot tolerate under any circumstances.” Peter tried to sound hard, but his voice instinctively softened in a way Kitty thought was cute beyond words. “Katherine, are you loyal?”Kitty smiled. She felt like she would melt if he kept looking at her like that. “I’m loyal to a fault Peter.” She said with the utmost confidence.“Than I, Peter Rasputin, Rook of Hellfire, extend the invitation to join the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club.”Xavier sounded pleased, "It is unanimous. Jean, if you would?”Of their own volition, decanters of red wine floated across the room and filled everyone’s glass; everyone but Logan that is, who was provided with another beer. As the containers set themselves down, an ornate wooden box floated to Kitty’s hands.“This is it Katherine,” Jean Grey began. “If we toast to you, you are in. There is no going back. If you want to turn away we can wipe your memory and have you back in Chicago by morning. It would be like none of this had ever happened. The choice is yours.”Kitty bit her lip. She’d thought that she’s already made this decision. While Peter, Logan and Ororo were exactly as she remembered, Jean and the Professor seemed a bit darker. Going back to Chicago was not an idea she relished, but she could do it. If they wiped her brain it wouldn’t change the fact that Kitty Pryde had very little waiting back for her in Chicago.“I have questions.” Kitty said.Xavier nodded.“Why me?”Ororo laughed. “You are too humble, Kitten. You are young, pretty and capable. For as nervous as you feel we know you to be determined. If you want to succeed you can, you just have to let us train you. Trust us Kitten, we have your best interests at heart.”Kitty blushed. She was not used to being complimented.After a moment of recovery she asked her next question. “If you are the “Bishop”, Ororo, and Professor Xavier the “King”, what would that make me? It seems all the chess pieces are taken.”“All the powerful ones,” Logan said, “and you are not ready for those yet. Xavier is the king, he makes the decisions of club policy and his votes carry more weight. Jean is our queen, in charge of training the next generation of mutants. Ororo is the bishop; she is the public face of the Hellfire Club and organizes all our social gatherings. I’m a knight, I quest. I organize missions. Peter is our Rook, in charge of the defending the ‘castle’ and protecting the Inner Circle from outside threats.”Logan looked at her sternly. “You would be the pawn. You have no power. You have no vote. You do what we say because we will train you, protect you, and when you’re ready we will promote you.” Logan gave that a moment to sink in. “don’t go thinking you’re expendable, darlin’. The whole reason we’re doing this is for the future. When you’re ready I may take you on missions, but not till I say you’re ready. But if you train hard, follow orders, I don’t see why you couldn’t be going on X missions in a couple years.”Kitty understood. ‘Pawn’ made sense. It wasn’t the most powerful piece but at least it was on the board. Plus she could get promoted. It seemed the structure of the Inner Circle was rigid and that may be the only way to advancement.It was a lot to take in and not what she expected. Still, she had a few more questions that needed answers. “What happened to that Nightcrawler guy?”“He works under me.” Jean said. “In New York City he would be a tough person to hide. His movements would be limited. He would draw attention to us. Kurt’s not the only mutant with a unique look and I’m sure we will find others who would not be able to leave our mansion here. Nightcrawler is out in Westchester, setting up the Xavier estate to receive these students. At least there they can walk outside with out being harassed.”That made sense too. She knew Nightcrawler was kind, but his demon-like features freaked her out. She knew she would get used to him with time, but John Q. Public probably would not give him the chance. Professor Xavier worked his whole life toward human/mutant understanding. If New Yorkers learned to accept the human-looking mutants in the city, it would ease them into accepting the monster-looking mutants in the country.Kitty nodded her understanding. The changes made sense, and it was not like they were forcing her to conform. It was all her choice. If she didn’t like the answers she could be sent back to Chicago.With that in mind she asked her last question. “What’s in the box?”Jean smiled, “All that you will ever need.”Kitty opened the box. Inside was a black leather collar, just like the maids and Jean wore. She picked it up and watched the light shimmer off its lone silver ring.“Put it on,” Jean whispered. “Put it on and join us.”With numb fingers Kitty Pryde placed the collar around her neck. “I’ll be your pawn.” She tightened the buckle around herself, “I trust you to train me, to look out for me and teach me everything I need to know. I’m not afraid.”The X-Men raised their glasses to their newest recruit. “To Katherine Pryde,” Xavier toasted, “the first Pawn of Hellfire.”
