X-Men: Black Fire

By Paradox

BOOK I

Five

The woods whistled passed him in a blur. Everything around him was alive with a different scent. The trees seemed to pump out the sweet smell of sap. The ground beneath his feet gave slightly with each step, yet he felt it as clear as anything he had ever experienced. Looking up, he saw the moon begin its rise into the sky, striving to join its twinkling companions, the stars. A smile creased his lips as he lowered his gaze directly in front of him. The woods would have stopped any normal, living man, but he was far from normal.

And he sure as hell was not alive.

Ash wove through the trees with unnatural skill, instinctively knowing where each branch was, how to get around it, and where such a movement would place him in relation to the rest of the trees in the forest. Stretching out with his senses, Ash hunted for the being he knew was on his way here.

There he was, already too far ahead of him to make a different. “Damn,” he hissed, “I knew I should have taken the car.” Reaching inside him, Ash drew on the power within the blood that coursed through his veins, telling it what he wanted to do. Almost instantly, Ash shot forward with what could only be described as inhuman speed. Everything around him that had been merely a blur before now blended together, like a fresh painting that had water thrown on it. Colors ran into one another, making shades the human eye would never comprehend. Sounds seemed to fade away, yet remained as crystal clear as before.

Moving so fast that he could not be seen, Ash raced towards the mansion that loomed two miles ahead. 

                                                                        * * * *

“So, you really can do magick?” Kitty asked, wide-eyed.

Cole nodded with a smile. “Sure, wanna see some?” The girl nodded and Cole looked over at one of the candles sitting on a small table. He whistled at it and crooked his finger in a “come here” gesture. The flame instantly hopped off its wick and split apart at the bottom, forming into two tiny legs. The living flame walked over to the two of them and bowed in a grand gesture. Kitty giggled.

“Remarkable,” a heavy voice breathed behind them, “I have never seen such a curious application of pyrokinesis before.”

Kitty and Cole turned to see Beast crouched on the back of their couch, looking at the fame intensely. With his glasses on, Henry McCoy looked like a comical version of the boogie man. He scratched his chin with the sharp nails of his right hand, considering. “Can you control the flame at a molecular level, or merely project some form of telekinetic field around it to maintain its structural integrity?”

Cole drew back, raising his eyebrows in total confusion. “Say what?”

“How do you do it?” Kitty translated.

“Oh, well, I just ask it to do something and,” he shrugged, “It happens.”

“Curious,” Hank said.

A beeping sound from the com unit interrupted any other questions that might have been posed. “Kitty, Hank, Cole, could you please come outside for a moment?”

Beast bounced over to the intercom and pushed the talk button. “What seems to be the problem Scott?”

“There’s someone out here who wants to speak to all of us, including Cole.”

Beast looked back at the two young people and nodded, indicating that they should follow him. Both stood and started after the hulking, blue-furred form. Cole paused before leaving the room, checking the charge on the clips of his guns, and then quickly caught up with Kitty. They swiftly moved through the halls until the trio stepped out the front doors into the cool night air.

As soon as they did, all three froze. A heartbeat later, Cole was in motion, drawing out both of his guns and aiming them at the man with the European features and long, flowing cloak that stood apart from the rest of the X-Men. “What the hell is he doing here?” Cole growled.

Cyclops, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, and Storm all turned to face the young man. “He has come requesting assistance,” Storm replied.

“Yeah right,” Kitty retorted, taking up a position beside Cole, “I remember the last time he decided to ask for a favor. What is it this time, more problems with your disciples?”

Dracula, Lord of the Vampires, inclined his head towards the two young people and spoke in a resonating voice that tried to seduce away their worries. “You have nothing to fear from me, young woman, I wish you no ill will. I have come asking for the assistance of the X-Men.” He looked over at the young man that stood beside her. “I am somewhat surprised to see you here Cole.”

The young assassin’s aim never wavered. “No more than I am to see you Blue Blood,” Cole sneered, “How did you know where to find me?”

Dracula smiled a fanged smile and shook his head. “It was never my intentions to come for you, young man. Although, I must say, it is indeed good fortune that you happen to be here. Your skills could be quite useful in the problem that exists.” He looked at Cyclops. “If we might adjourn inside?”

Cyclops nodded and the group of X-Men started for the door. Cole jumped in front of them, his face a mask of disbelief. “Are you guys crazy, inviting him inside?”

Cyclops merely brushed passed the young man, not even bothering to look at him. Cole’s eyes narrowed in concentration as he looked at the rest of the X-Men. When he saw the look on their faces, he gasped. Looking over, he saw Kitty start to look Dracula directly in the eye, a scowl on her face. Although the young man knew that Kitty meant to tell the vampire lord off, it would have been a grave mistake. Reacting with reflexes born of years of training, Cole hurled himself at Kitty, knocking her to the ground. The two hit the ground hard, becoming a tangled mass of arms and legs.

“What are you doing?” Kitty yelled at him, “Are you crazy?”

In response, Cole rolled to his feet and brought one of his guns to bear, snapping off two shots before anyone could blink. The energy shots blasted into Dracula’s eyes, making his head snap back. When he looked back at the two, the area around his eyes smoldered and smoked, but the vampire was apparently unharmed. “Damn!” Cole hissed.

“Young man,” Dracula said in a low, dangerous voice, “That was very rude.”

“So’s dominating the X-Men’s thoughts,” Cole fired back.

“What!” Kitty said in surprise, looking over at her friends as they disappeared inside. “What did you do to them?”

Dracula smiled. “Nothing permanent, I assure you. They will remain as you see them until what I wish is brought to me. For that, I will need you two.”

Cole shook his head in confusion. “Wait up, what the hell are you talking about? You want us two to get something for you?”

“In exchange for the X-Men’s life, yes.” A dark smile curved the vampire’s aristocratic features.

“Why don’t you tell me why I shouldn’t just kill you now?” Cole challenged.

The question drew a laugh from the vampire lord. “Young man, I do so miss the laughter you bring to me. Have you forgotten that your magickal powers, though powerful indeed, can do nothing to me?”

Cole cursed under his breath.

“Come, I have already been invited inside, why do we not make ourselves comfortable so I might explain to you what it is I require.”

Cole helped Kitty to her feet, making sure her head was in any direction but Dracula’s eyes. “Whatever you do,” he whispered, “Don’t look into his eyes.” Raising his voice, he addressed the vampire, “Just what is it that we can do that the X-Men can’t?”

Again, the vampire lord only laughed. “Come, and all will be explained.”

The three followed Dracula through the mansion until they came to the living room. The dead man seated himself in on of the plush chairs, the fabric and wood shifting and rippling until it formed a regal throne. Cole and Kitty sat down on the couch, watching the vampire closely. “So,” Kitty said finally, “Speak.”

“Very well,” Dracula sighed, almost looking human for a moment, “I require you to recover something of mine that has been stolen. It is the ancient pendant of Ra.”

Cole cocked an eyebrow. “Ra? As in the Egyptian god Ra?”

The vampire nodded. “Indeed. I have had it for many centuries and it was stolen recently when someone happened upon my place of rest.”

“And this amulet does what?” Kitty asked, her interest piqued.

“That is none of your concern, little girl.”

“Hey,” Cole snarled, “You address her with a little more respect!”

“Silence, young man, or something terrible might happen to your new friends.” He snapped a finger and Cyclops and Wolverine walked into the room. “Gentlemen, please show our young attendants here what I mean.”

Moving almost robotically, Wolverine grabbed Cyclops by the collar, placing his knuckles directly beneath the team leader’s jaw. In return, Cyclops pressed his ruby-red visor against Wolverine’s eyes. As soon as their preparations had been made, both men suddenly become motionless. “Should I chose to, I could simply have these two kill each other in a heartbeat. I dare say that Wolverine’s claws would be more than adequate to shear Mr. Summers’ head from his shoulders.” He looked over at Wolverine. “And dare I say it, One full blast from Cyclops’ visor at this range just might kill our short friend here.” A smile played on his lips as he turned back to Kitty and Cole. “Now then, are you prepared to assist me?”

“Go to hell,” Cole spat.

Dracula sighed. “Well, I can see that there is no true love between the elder of the team,” he paused, looking at Kitty. Unconsciously, she huddled closer to Cole. “But perhaps the lovely Ms. Pryde could change your mind.”

Before either of them could react, Kitty was wrenched from her seat on the couch, pulled through the air until she was in Dracula’s grasp. The vampire lord smiled as he bared his fangs just a breath’s distance from her throat. “Perhaps I should bring this tender young girl over. Maybe that would inspire you to help me.”

The young assassin snapped up his guns, painting two red dots on Dracula’s forehead. “If you try anything with her,” Cole breathed, “I’ll die trying to kill you.”

The vampire only laughed. “Young man, you do not have the power or skills needed to defeat a vampire such as myself.”

As soon as the words were out of Dracula’s mouth, the doors to the mansion crashed inward, snapping off their hinges. All three looked over at the doorway to see a shadowed form in a black trench coat slowly walk into the room. “Is this a private party, or can anyone crash?”

Both Cole’s and Dracula’s mouth dropped open as they said at the same time, “Ash!”

The shadow walked into the light revealing his features. He was a young man, not much older than Cole. His long black hair was tied in a pony tail, revealing his features. They were almost wolf-like in their ferocity. Sharp, blue eyes looked at them, taking in every detail. When they finally settled on Dracula, a smile curved his lips. “Drac, Drac, Drac, you just don’t seem to learn.”

“What are you doing here?” the vampire lord demanded.

“What else,” Ash said with a shrug, “Following you.” He shifted his glance to Kitty and smiled. “Hi there, nice to meet you.” Kitty nodded mutely.

“Young man, I suggest you leave now before something happens that no one wants.”

Ash looked at Cole, one eyebrow raised. “Is Mister ‘I think I’m lord of the vampire’s’ threatening me?”

Cole only smiled and looked at the vampire lord. “You know, I think he is.”

Ash’s grin turned wicked and Kitty saw the young man’s canines lengthen and sharpen into fangs. “Ooo, I love it when they do that.”

For a moment, Dracula was caught off guard and Kitty took advantage of it. Using her mutant ability to make her molecules unstable, she phased through the undead lord and rushed to Cole’s side. “Who is that guy?” Kitty asked in awe and fear.

“Just a good friend of mine with a knack for really good entrances,” Cole replied with laughter in his voice.

“Thank you very much,” Ash said with a grand bow before focusing on Dracula once more. “Now then, where were we?”

Dracula took a step back so he stood behind Cyclops and Wolverine. “Attack me, Outlander, and these two, along with the rest of the X-Men, will perish by each other’s hand.”

Ash looked over at Cole and cocked an eyebrow. “Do we really care about that?”

Cole sighed and nodded. “Afraid we do, Ash.”

“Damn,” he said under his breath, “I was hoping for a workout.” He looked back up at Dracula and locked eyes with him. “All right Vlad, spit it out, I don’t have all night ya know.” He chuckled at the joke.

“Simply retrieve my amulet and return it here to me. I will keep the X-Men here, the way they are, until you return.”

“And if we can’t get it?” Kitty asked, already knowing the answer.

Dracula merely shrugged, an eloquent motion of his shoulders. “Then the fabled X-Men will become my new progeny.”

“Bull,” Ash hissed, taking a threatening step forward, “You know the rules as well as I do, and embracing against someone’s will is forbidden.”

“You have no power over me, whelp.”

Ash smiled. “No, but I’ll bet Priest would be a might upset with you if something were to happen.”

The vampire lord visibly gulped with nervousness, not something that happened, ever. “Very well, Ash, I will keep the X-Men the way they are now until you return, but nothing more.”

“Fine,” the young vampire said, “But don’t break your word, or I’ll be calling in some serious favors.” He turned and faced the two young people. “Let’s get out of here, I hate the stench of Blue Bloods.” He walked towards the front door, his coat sweeping behind him in an odd, modern parody of Dracula’s old fashioned cloak. With a shrug, Cole took Kitty’s hand and led her outside.

As soon as they were on the grounds, Kitty tore herself from Cole’s grasp and glared at him. “What are we doing? We need to go back in there and rescue my friends,” she yelled.

Cole put up a calming hand. “Kitty, relax for a moment. For right now, the X-Men are safe. Dracula is one guy who will keep his word. With the threat of Priest over his head, it’s the best guarantee you can get.”

Kitty shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair. “Okay, first off, who are you?” She pointed at Ash.

The two young men exchanged glances and smiled. “Sorry about that,” Ash said, stepping forward, “The name’s Ash, I’m a good friend of Cole’s.”

“Are you a vampire?”

“Yeah.”

“So how did you get into the mansion without being invited?”

Ash looked at Cole for a moment before the two broke out laughing. Kitty put her hands on her hips and glared at them. “What is so funny?”

Ash choked back his giggles and broke forth with a few more before finally getting them under control. “Well,” he gasped, “Only old fogies like Dracula have to ask permission. They built it up in their minds a long time ago that you can’t go into someone’s home without asking. To them, not being invited is like putting up a mental brick wall that’s as real to them as anything.” He spread his arms wide. “Us modern vamps don’t need to worry about things like that.”

Kitty cocked an eyebrow. “Holy symbols?”

“Nope.”

“Holy water?”

“Uh, uh.”

“Coffins?”

“Good in a pinch, but unnecessary.”

“Stakes, sunlight, decapitation?”

Ash’s expression grew serious. “Now those things can do some damage. Cutting off our head is a pretty good way to kill us. Sun can too, but some of us are tough enough to withstand it for a while. A stake only puts us into a sort of suspended animation. Take it out and we’re back and kickin’ mad.”

Kitty looked over at Cole. “Did you know about this?”

Cole shrugged. “Yeah, but he’s one of my best friends, so I have an excuse.”

Kitty shook her head and looked up at the stars. “I think I’m more confused than ever. Why don’t we go use Cerebro and see if we can pinpoint this medallion Dracula was talking about.”

“Good idea,” Ash said, starting back into the mansion.

Kitty and Cole watched him go. When he was out of hearing range, the mutant leaned over and whispered, “Um, should I be worried about him sucking my blood?”

“Nah,” Cole said with a smile, “He knows that if he tried to feed from someone I called a friend, I’d kill him.”

“Really?”

Cole looked into her eyes and in that instant, Kitty knew he was telling the truth. 

                                                            * * * *

 “Okay, so we know that it’s not on any other continent. It’s got to be in the United States. Any ideas as to where we should start looking.”

Cole leaned over Kitty’s shoulder, looking at the digitized map on Cerebro’s computer screen. “Well I’m not too sure.” He looked over his shoulder at the man standing just behind them. “Just where did you lose the thing?”

“In Chicago,” Dracula said nonchalantly.

“What?”

The three turned to see Ash standing with his mouth agape. “You were in Chicago and didn’t tell us. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Dracula’s eyes glowed red, like two small pools of blood. “I am the lord of the night, Outlander, I need tell no one my whereabouts.”

Ash walked up to Dracula and looked him squarely in the eye. “Priest is prince of the city. It was your obligation to introduce yourself to him.”

“I introduce myself to no one I do not wish to.”

Ash glared at him so hard Kitty thought he would burst a brain vessel. Finally, the younger vampire backed down, moving off into a corner to sulk. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his coat and lit one. Kitty opened her mouth to tell him not to smoke in the mansion, but Cole quickly put a finger on her lips. “Pissing him off right now by telling him he can’t smoke is not a smart thing to do right now.”

“What do you mean,” Kitty asked quietly, “What would he do?”

“Tear your heart out and eat it.”

Kitty gulped, her face paling. “Ouch.” She turned back and typed in the coordinates for Chicago, trying to pinpoint any unusual energy source. “So, have there always been vampires in Chicago?”

“Yeah,” Cole said, “For as long as I can remember.”

That made her shudder. Kitty had been born and raised in Chicago. Knowing now that, among mutants, vampires lived possibly right next door to her was not a comforting thought. “Okay, I can’t seem to find anything that might resemble this amulet of yours, Dracula.”

The undead lord sighed. “Very well, then I will have to accompany you.”

Kitty spun in her chair. “You will not! What happens if you leave and the X-Men get attacked. It’s been known to happen and they can’t defend themselves when they’re comatose.”

Again, Dracula sighed. “Young Pryde, I can assure you, no one will cause harm to the X-Men while we are gone. I have several of my progeny on the grounds as we speak. They will be able to sufficiently watch over your friends.”

“Uh, excuse me,” Ash interrupted, raising a finger, “But by progeny, you didn’t happen to mean those six vampires you had hanging around outside, did you?”

The vampire lord spun, glaring at the younger vampire. “What have you done to my children?”

Ash only shrugged smiled. “I was hungry. Moving that fast, I used up a lot of, ahem, energy.”

Dracula was nothing more than a blur. One moment, he was standing by Kitty and Cole, the next, he had Ash collared and slammed into a wall. “You dare kill my childer!” he roared.

Ash’s eyes narrowed and then glowed red. “Vlad, you have two seconds to let go before I see just how fast I can rip your heart out of your chest. They tried to stop me after I told them who I was. If you haven’t forgotten, I am still Archon.”

The two glared at each other for a long time and for a moment, Kitty thought she would need to grab Cole and phase the two of them from the room before something started that would rival World War II. Finally, Dracula relaxed and placed Ash back on the floor. “Your luck holds, Outlander, for I do not have time to deal with the likes of you.”

“Excuses, excuses,” Ash said, moving over to Kitty and Cole. “That guy never learns,” he muttered.

“I thought Priest told him to stay out of his city, not to mention the country,” Cole said.

Ash shrugged. “He did, but I suppose ol’ Count Dracula feels he doesn’t need to listen to anyone but himself.”

“Priest’s gonna be pissed.”

“Priest’s always pissed.”

Cole laughed at that and nodded. “Yeah, he usually is. Okay, so what do you have Kitty?”

The young woman typed up a sequence and looked at the map. “From the looks of things, we should head into downtown and figure out things from there.”

“Sounds good,” Cole said, looking back at Ash, “Did you drive here?”

“No, walked.”

The mage looked back at Kitty. “Do you happen to have transportation?”

Kitty nodded and stood up, heading off into the house. “Yeah, we can use the Blackbird. I just hope I remember how to fly the thing.”

Ash and Cole started after her when Dracula took a single step in their direction. Ash stopped and glared at him. “Just where do you think you’re going?” he demanded.

“I am coming with you,” he said plainly, as though addressing a foolish child.

“Like hell,” Ash growled.

Dracula regarded the younger vampire with an air of what Kitty could only describe as a scolding adult. “You have no say as to where I go Outlander.”

“I’m Archon, Blue Blood,” Ash shot back, “That says I do. You were banned from the city. The definition of being banned is that you never return under any circumstances.”

“It is my property I am retrieving, therefore it is my right to accompany you.”

Cole stepped up beside Ash. “The last time you were in Chicago, you nearly caused a war between the clans. There is no way we’re going to let you do that again.”

Dracula actually sighed. “What can I offer you to prove that I mean no ill intentions.”

“Your head,” Ash bit out. Dracula threw the young vampire a glare.

“I need your personal assurance that you will nothing to try and disrupt the clans while we are in Chicago.” The vampire lord regarded Cole. “As is, Priest will probably be hunting for you the minute we enter the city.”

For a moment, Kitty thought she saw the dead lord’s already deathly white pallor go one shade whiter, but then it was gone. “I have nothing to fear from that fool,” he said confidently.

When Kitty looked over at Ash, she saw that he had noticed the trace of fear as well. He smiled and turned, “Yeah right. Kitty if you would kindly direct us to the plane, we need to get the hell outta Dodge.”

She nodded and headed off to the hangar, the three supernatural allies in tow.