X-Men: Black
Fire
By
Paradox
BOOK
I
Six
Cole looked out the window of the Blackbird’s cockpit, watching the
scenery below him whip by at an alarming rate. He had flown in planes before,
of course, but the X-Men’s transport ship was nothing short of astounding.
The only thing that could have equaled it was something that Black fire had
made. When he looked back towards the front of the ship, he saw Kitty working
the controls of the plane with expert care. He marveled at the way she was
able to operate such a technologically advanced craft with such ease. Obviously,
there was much more to this girl than just her outward beauty.
With a silent growl, he mentally slapped himself. They were on an important
mission with the lives of the X-Men at stake, and he was busy undressing
Kitty with his eyes. With a muttered curse in an ancient language, he spun
and stood from his seat, heading to the back of the plane where he might
be able to achieve some solitude. When Ash saw him moving away, he opened
his mouth to say something, and then closed it, thinking better of it. Cole
silently thanked his friend and moved into a tight, darkened area in the
cargo area of the plane. Sitting down cross-legged, he closed his eyes and
opened his mind to all around him. Fortunately, he was flying high in the
air, which was one of the elements he had full control of. The bad part was
he was surrounded by technology, and it was dampening his connection with
the natural world.
Yet Cole was a mage with power unlike any had seen. He had long ago learned
to deal with the possibilities of working magick among technology. The metal
and plastic did little to hamper the flight his mind took into the spirit
realm. He could feel himself lifting into the air, passing through the hull
of the ship, and hanging freely in the air. Looking down, he saw the Blackbird
beneath him, steadily moving through the air. It would only be an hour or
so before they reached Chicago, and he had preparations to make.
With a thought, he appeared on the streets of Chicago. It was exactly as
he remembered it, bustling with activity. Everywhere he looked, people were
quickly moving about, yet none seeing him. After a quick survey of his
surroundings, Cole nodded with approval at his location. He commenced searching
for anything that might resemble the medallion Dracula spoke of. Shortly
after he began, and having a few failures, Cole decided to save his energies
and wait to talk with Priest. Cole nodded at his decision and willed himself
back into his physical body. The instant his astral form joined his physical
one, a throbbing headache ensued. Cole groaned and pressed a hand to his
forehead, trying to rub the pain
away.
“Headache?”
Cole looked up to see Ash crouched next to him, a cigarette dangling from
his mouth. “Yeah, can I get one of those?”
The vampire responded by drawing out a pack and offering the mage one of
the cigarettes. “What where you doing?”
Cole lit the cigarette and inhaled deeply. “Just doing a little astral
reconnaissance.”
Ash nodded in approval. “Good idea. Let’s get back up front before
Vlad decides to start hitting your girl there.”
Cole stood up and scowled at the vampire. “She is
not my girl.”
Ash only chuckled. “Yeah, sure.” He turned and headed up to the
cockpit. Cole followed, glaring at his friend’s
back.
“We’ll be landing in a few minutes,” Kitty reported, “You
might want to strap in”
The two young men dropped into their seats and fastened their crash harnesses
moments before the plane shuddered as its wheels touched the ground. Throttling
back, the plane slowed to a stop. “Okay,” she said, looking at
Dracula, “We’re about ten minutes north of Chicago, do you have
any idea where to start looking?”
The vampire lord considered for a moment. “I believe we should start
at a club called
Excalibur.”
Kitty blinked, speechless for a moment. “Um, Excalibur as in my old
team?”
Dracula shook his head. “No, young Pryde, I refer to a night club in
the heart of Chicago. It is a frequent vampire haunt.”
Ash unbuckled his crash webbing and stood up, heading for the hatch of the
ship. “That’s because it’s Elysium, and neutral ground for
us. Don’t tell me you lost the thing there.”
Dracula stood and idly brushed away some specks of dirt from his cloak.
“No, of course not. I am simply saying that it would be wise to ask
our brethren if they may know who has taken it.”
Ash looked at Dracula like he was a moron. “You think that by going
into Elysium, where Priest will be no doubt, and asking every vampire there
if they happen to know who might have stolen a medallion of great power,
you’ll be able to find it?”
“I have my ways,” Dracula said with a smile.
Cole looked at Kitty and sighed. “This is going to be a long
night.”
* * * *
Ash patted the man’s shoulder as he walked by. “How’s it going
Tony?”
Cole continued after him, nodding at Tony as he did so. “Been a while
Tony.”
“Good to see you Cole.”
When Kitty went to follow, the bouncer dropped his arms and placed a meaty
hand on her shoulder. “And just where do you think you’re
going?”
A dozen ways to either get around the man or drop him to the ground, flowed
into Kitty’s mind. Yet, showing off her mutant abilities and starting
a brawl were not on the top of her things to do list. “I’m just
going in with my friends,” she said innocently.
“I don’t know you,” Tony said, his hand never leaving her
shoulder, “So you don't get in.”
“Let her in Tony,” Ash said from the doorway, “She’s
with us.”
Tony looked over his shoulder at Ash. “She ain’t Kindred
Ash.”
“Don’t care,” the vampire said, “She’s with us and
she gets in, end of discussion.”
“Priest know about her?”
“No.”
Tony grimaced. “He ain’t gonna like it Ash,” Tony warned,
“And he’s already in a pissy mood.”
Ash stalked over to the two of them, glaring at Tony. “Priest is always
in a pissy mood, now let her go before I embarrass you in front of the rest
of the Rabble.”
Reluctantly, the burly bouncer released Kitty and moved to let her by. Warily
watching the man, Kitty walked by, wiping her sweaty palms on the designer
dress Ash had insisted she wear. Under normal circumstances, Kitty would
never have even considered wearing a dress. With everything the X-Men did,
she found it much easier to operate in pants or her formfitting uniform.
Yet, for some reason, Ash and Cole had both insisted it would make a good
impression on whoever it was they were going to see. Being somewhat out of
her element, Kitty was forced to agree with them.
Looking over her shoulder, she saw a young man in highly fashionable clothes
walk passed the bouncer. The burly man did not even seem to notice him. Upon
looking closely, Kitty could see the sharp aquiline features that were favorable
to Dracula. “Is that who I think it is?” she whispered to
Cole.
The young mage looked over his shoulder to where she indicated and nodded.
“Yeah, it’s Dracula. Some vampires have the power to shift forms
so they look like someone else. Ol’ Vlad there doesn’t use them
often, but he can do it.”
“But how did he get by the bouncer?”
“Another vampire trick,” Cole explained, “They can vanish
from the mind’s eye so no one can see them. I guess he didn’t want
to bother with Tony tonight.” He smiled and followed Ash
inside.
As soon as they entered the club, Kitty was assaulted by the thudding of
gothic music. All around her, bodies writhed in time to the sounds coming
from the giant speakers. One boy slipped in beside her and began rubbing
himself suggestively against her. Kitty gasped, she hadn’t even noticed
the boy move up beside her. Cole seemed to hear her and turned, glaring at
the boy. “Back off Jack,” he growled, “She’s with
me.”
The boy raised his hands in a sign of defeat and stepped back. “No problemo
Cole, didn’t know.”
Cole merely nodded and caught up Kitty’s hand, guiding her through the
crowd. Eventually, they came to a staircase, which the four of them began
to ascend. The staircase wound about in a tight circle, taking them high
over the large dance floor. More than once, she caught several of the boys
below looking up at her with a combination of male interest and inhuman hunger.
“I don’t know why you had me wear this thing,” Kitty whispered
to Cole, “Seems like the only use for it is so every kid with raging
hormones can try and look up my skirt.”
Cole offered her a sympathetic smile. “Trust me,” he whispered
back, “You’ll be glad I insisted on it in a
minute.”
Kitty gave him a look that said “I’d better be”, and continued
the climb. When she looked back, she saw Dracula had reverted back to his
original form, his cloak flowing around him like a separate entity. Looking
back up at Ash, she noticed his long trench coat seemed to move in the same
way, as though it were another being that reflected its owner’s mood.
Kitty supposed it must be a vampire thing and continued up the
stairs.
When they had reached the second floor, Ash guided the group to a set of
double doors. Two men stood on either side of the doors, each holding an
MP-5 submachine gun. Ash stopped in front of them and said, “Is he
in?”
One of them walked over and offered his hand, which Ash took and shook in
what Kitty could only deem as friendship. “Yeah he’s in,”
the man said.
“How bad a mood is he in?”
The man considered. “I’ve seen him in better,” he finally
said, “But he’s been in worse.”
Ash nodded. “I guess that’s the best we’ll get him
at.”
The man put a hand on the young vampire’s shoulder and said, “Good
luck to you son.” His voice gave Kitty the impression of someone walking
to their doom. Just before she could ask about it, the two men burst out
laughing, slapping each other on the shoulder. “You want me to let him
know you’re here?” the man asked.
Ash shook his head with an impish grin. “Nah, let me surprise
him.”
The guard grimaced, yet could not suppress a grin. “You sure you want
to do that?”
Ash nodded and reached out, grasping the handles of the doors. He looked
back towards the rest of the group, making sure they were ready, and then
flung the doors open wide, yelling, “Look out, the Sabbat’s here,
the Sabbat’s here!”
Kitty screamed as she saw a ball of flame roar towards them. She knew she
had no time to phase out and the flames would turn her into a smoldering
husk. Reacting as though this were a common thing, Cole lifted his hand and
projected a crackling disk of energy in front of the group. The fireball
crashed into the shield and dissipated. Cole lowered his hand and, eyeing
the high-back chair behind the large oaken desk, asked, “Now is that
any way to say hello?”
“Only way I know how,” a voice from the chair said, moments before
it swiveled and revealed its occupant.
What Kitty saw was not impressive, thought it was surprising. The man looked
to be maybe a year or two older than her. His dark brown hair dropped down
behind his shoulders in a pony tail. A cigarette dangled from his mouth and
his steel gray eyes looked at them in a predatory and calculating gaze. The
only other person she had seen look at her in such a way that her heart began
to race in fear was Wolverine when he was on the verge of a berserker rage.
“What’s up Ash, you said you had some business to
handle.”
Ash nodded and walked into the room. “That I did, that I did. You got
an extra smoke?” the man in the chair reached into his duster and tossed
him a cigarette. “Thanks,” he said, lighting it. “Yeah, took
care of that and ran into Cole on the way back.”
The man nodded and stood up. Walking around the desk, he made his way over
to Cole and extended his hand. Cole took the offered hand and shook it.
“Been a long time Priest.”
The Vampire Prince of Chicago nodded and smiled. “Yeah, it sure has.
Where’ve you been hiding yourself?”
Cole shrugged. “Here and there. Just recently went to Winchester to
try and hook up with Xavier’s group.”
Priest shook his head and sighed. “Man, how many times have I said
you’d be more than welcome to come work for me?”
“I know, I know,” Cole professed, “But I wanted to explore
my options. Xavier and his team have done a lot of good for the
planet.”
“True enough,” Priest allowed. He looked over at Kitty, his eyes
raking over her. She tried to keep from squirming and failed. “And just
who is this. I sure as hell know she isn’t
Kindred.”
“Yeah,” Cole said, “Priest, I’d like you to meet Kitty
Pryde, Shadowcat of the X-Men.”
Priest’s eyebrows raised slightly. “No kidding? An X-Man in my
office, well isn’t this my lucky night.” He took her hand and lightly
kissed it. Kitty noticed that his touch was just as warm as any other
human’s. “And a lovely one at that, the dress becomes you
beautifully,” he added with a twinkle in his eye.
Kitty blushed and drew her hand back. “Um, thanks.”
Priest chuckled and gave her a wink before turning towards their other companion.
He had scarcely begun the motion when his movements became a blur. Before
Kitty could blink, Priest stood beside Dracula with a double-barreled, sawed-off
shotgun pressed against the vampire lord’s skull. “I thought I
told you to stay out of my city,” the Prince growled.
Dracula actually gulped and Kitty saw fear plain as day on his face. “If
you will permit me a moment to plead my case,
highness.”
“You have thirty seconds.” The shotgun never
wavered.
Dracula took a few precious moments to compose himself before speaking. “I
have come here in search of an item of mine that was stolen in this
city.”
Priest raised a curious eyebrow. “So this is the
second time you’ve just plain
ignored me and come into my city.” It was a statement, not a
question.
“Yes,” Dracula said, stiffening his spine, “I was journeying
through this state when I was attacked by an entire sept of werewolves. Your
connection with the shape shifters is well known, and I knew I would be safe
within the city limits. During my daytime rest, the object we seek was stolen
from me.”
“What was it?”
“The Pendant of Ra.”
For several moments, neither Priest or Dracula moved. In fact, neither of
them breathed, not that they needed to. Suddenly, Priest spun and bashed
Dracula in the face with the shotgun, sending him tumbling back. Kitty’s
mouth fell open. She had fought Dracula before with the rest of the X-Men,
and no one short of maybe Storm or Rogue had enough power to throw the vampire
lord back twenty feet the way Priest had.
The dead lord slowly stood, rubbing his chin. “A good blow,
Priest.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t feel like ripping your face in half
in front of a lady,” the Prince growled. “As is, I’m inclined
to just let you walk out here with only a few painful reminders.” He
turned and looked at Ash. “Get him out of my sight and throw him out
of the city. Kill him on sight if he comes
back.”
“No!” Kitty cried, rushing forward.
Priest instantly spun on her, his eyes blazing red, like flaming blood. Kitty
gasped and halted her flight, but not before almost colliding into the vampire.
“What did you just say?” he said slowly.
Kitty gulped and looked around, trying to find a wooden shaft that might
serve as a stake. Yet even with such a weapon and her martial arts training,
she was far from sure she could beat an opponent that could strike fear into
the infamous Count Dracula. “I, uh, said no?” she offered
dumbly.
Priest looked from her to Cole. “Cole you sure know how to pick ‘em,
pretty but dumb.”
Kitty glared at him, but Cole spoke up first, coming to her side. “Give
her a chance Priest, you’ll want to hear this.”
The vampire Prince nodded and looked at Kitty expectantly. She gulped once
and steadied her wracked nerves with a ninja calming technique. In moments,
her pulse had returned to normal and she was fairly certain her voice would
be steady. “Well, it’s like this,
uh...”
“Priest’s fine,” the vampire said with the hint of a
smile.
“...Priest, Dracula here came to the Xavier Institute and mesmerized
the whole team. Then, he said he wanted our help in finding this Pendant
of Ra. He threatened to have my friends all kill themselves if we didn’t
cooperate.” She shrugged helplessly. “I don’t want my friends
to die like that.”
Priest nodded and moved to his desk, plucking a cigarette from a box and
lighting it. “Well, I can certainly sympathize with you, Ms. Pryde.
Vlad here is a real pain in the ass when it comes to him wanting his own
way.” He sighed and finally nodded. “All right, I’ll see what
I can do to help out.”
“Thanks Priest,” Cole said.
Priest was about to respond when the intercom on his desk beeped. The Prince
pushed the speaker button and sad, “Yeah, what is
it?”
“Someone is here to see you sir.” a female voice
said.
“Who?”
“Conrad sir.”
Priest sighed, “Okay, send him in.”
No sooner had he spoken the words, the doors flew open and a man in jeans
an a black jeans jacket hurried in. His long blond hair fell partly down
his back, one lock tied into a braid in the middle of the wave of hair.
“We’ve got problems.”
Priest indicated a seat and the man took it. “What’s up? Oh,”
he said, facing the others, “You’ll have to excuse me, it seems
like I’ve got some other business.”
The man looked over at the quartet and narrowed his eyes. “Hold that
thought Priest,” he said, “You may want them to sit in on
this.”
The Prince raised an eyebrow. “Why is that?”
“Trust me.”
The vampire shrugged and indicated the rest of the group should sit. They
did so and focused their attention on the blond man. He seemed slightly nervous
about all the attention, but Kitty soon noticed it was a quivering with pleasure.
This stranger seemed to like to be in the spotlight. “I just got in
from Rush Street,” he began, “It seems that someone with really
strong arms, sharp claws, and a flame-thrower decided to have a little fun
there. There’s been a three block radius blocked off for
investigation.”
What were you doing there?” The Prince asked quietly. Kitty noticed
his expression had grown dark.
“I got into a scrap with a bunch of the Bloods and had to replenish
myself.” The man seemed to think nothing of it.
When Kitty looked back at Priest to see his reaction, she wished she
hadn’t. The vampire Prince was shaking with barely controlled rage.
His eyes blazed red, bathing a small portion of the desk in its soft glow.
Once again, she was reminded of Wolverine just before he was about to fly
into one of his lethal berserker rages. The memory made her wish the short
companion was beside her and ready to help instead of being frozen in a
mesmerized state back at the mansion. Fully ready to phase through the floor
if need be, she leaned over and whispered to Cole, “What’s so special
about Rush street?”
“Neutral ground,” Ash answered, “No hunting, fighting, or
anything there. Anyone who breaks that rule usually gets...” He looked
at Priest and smiled at what he saw. “Well, I guess you’ll get
to see yourself.”
No sooner had he said that, Priest bolted up from his chair and roared,
“Gun!” Ash drew out what
looked to Kitty to be a black flare gun. He handed the gun to Priest, who
in turn aimed the gun at the blond man’s leg. The man’s mouth fell
open and he began to blubber apologies when Priest squeezed the trigger.
The sound of the round going off was deafening. Kitty watched as the man’s
leg from mid thigh on down exploded. The man howled in pain and fell to the
ground, clutching at the smoldering appendage. When she saw the charred leg,
its flesh hanging off in strings, the tendons and muscles black and oozing
with pus, a scream rose in her throat, but she pushed it back. Being an X-Man,
she had seen some pretty bad things before and dealt with them. Yet when
the acrid smell of burnt and decaying flesh filled the room, her knees buckled
beneath her and she fell to the ground, clutching her stomach and moaning.
Cole cried out and dropped down next to her. “Are you okay?” he
asked, concern wrinkling his features.
“The smell,” she gasped.
Cole looked back up at the Prince and growled, “Dammit Priest, she’s
new to this, why didn’t you warn her?”
The vampire stood and slowly walked over to where the two of them lay on
the floor. “Sorry about that, but immediate disregard for laws necessitates
immediate punishment.” He shrugged and walked over to a small dresser,
drawing out a pair of Glock 40 pistols from it and slipping them into shoulder
rigs.
Cole glared after him and then turned
back to Kitty. “Are you
going to be okay? Do you need to throw up?”
“Just, get me some air,” she gasped, trying to stand. Cole helped
her up and guided her to a window, which he kicked open so hard the panes
spider webbed with cracks. Supporting her at the waist, he used his magickal
abilities to shift the current of the wind so a strong breeze blew through
the room. Soon, Kitty felt the nausea die away, along with the smell. When
she looked back, Kitty saw that the man had pulled himself to his feet and
stumbled off. “What the hell was in that gun?” she
asked.
“White Phosphorous,” Cole replied, “Fire has as strong effect
against vampires as the sun does.”
“Oh, I’ll have to remember that,” Kitty said, pointedly looking
at Dracula. The vampire lord merely smiled.
“All right kids,” Priest called out from the doorway, “We
have a problem in this city and it needs to be fixed, now. Let’s get
moving.”
“Hey,” Kitty interjected, raising to her full height, “What
about the pendant and my friends?”
Priest sighed and leaned against the doorjamb. “Tell you what, you help
me out with this little problem I have and I’ll help you out any way
I can, deal?”
Kitty looked at Cole for advice. “It’s the best you’ll get
from him,” he admitted.
“All right, it’s a deal. Just one
thing.”
“What’s that,” Priest said, crossing his arms over his
chest.
“Does anyone mind if I get out of this dress first?”
Ash grinned wide. “Just give me a second to get my camcorder and you
can do that right here.”
When Cole punched Ash in the face, Kitty actually laughed for the first time
that night.