PALE REIGN OVER GESHEM - CHAPTER 16 by Abyss DISCLAIMER: Many concepts used herein are the property of Marvel and used without permission, for no profit. Ideas that are the creation of the author may not be used without permission. Special Thanx to Kelly for proofing, Hawk for archiving, and everyone else who wrote so far, especially Wendy, who I havn't heard from in a while... Comments, critiques, suggestions appreciated. Spoilers on request. Still think everyone should see Dragonheart, but see The Rock first. -Abyss ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "YOU. You're...me...can you hear it? Can you hear it calling me?" The Hunter had been more than a little shocked to find the third Scott Summers in the care of the thieves. She had been even more surprised to find him a raving madman. But if her reaction was shock, it could not begin to compare to that of the other two doppelgangers. The one she thought of as Cyclops was stunned. He kept staring at the new arrival's face like it was a dream, or a nightmare. The Prelate had seen the man before, but by his own account it had been a confusing time. Now was no different. The man had stumbled over to Cyclops and grabbed his shirtfront in both hands. Lustre had tried to stop him but he had brushed her hand aside and all but assaulted the other. "You must hear it...it's calling me...tell me you hear it..." He was growing almost frantic. "Tell me you hear it too...TELL ME! " Cyclops stumbled back. Lady Lustre hurried over and passed her hand before Scott Summers' wide eyes. A trance seemed to fall over him and he stumbled back, releasing Cyclops. Lady Lustre led him to a chair. The Hunter noted a look of contempt on the Prelate's face. Stephanie looked to the Gambler, her question plain. He settled into a chair and spoke. "Cat found him running from Pasty-Face's bandits few days ago. They must'ah wanted him somthin'' fierce, 'cause they damn near emptied the castle o' red-eyes hunting him. We brought him here. He was scared but more'less a'right, just kinda...distracted...but then he woke up one mornin', talkin' crazy bout being called to somethin'. He damned near walked out the front door 'fore we caught him. Milady thinks there be magic involved, so she been tryin' to figure it out, maybe see what connection he got ta the late Lord Summerisle. He never went crazy like this b'fore now, tho'." The Hunter thought a moment. Then she looked at Lady Lustre. "Were you able to find anything?" Lustre barely looked up from where she held Scott Summers' face in both hands, her eyes intently staring into his. "Something is casting a geas into his mind. It has been getting more powerful since he arrived...but what it is, I cannot say." The Gambler looked from one Scott Summers to the next. "I gotta tell ya, you all ain't the same, I'd be a fool t'say that, but the resemblance... Howcum he ain't got a fancy headpiece? Someone not let him inta the club?" * * * Prelate Summers was wondering the same thing. He had seen this man once before. It had been dark, and the Prelate had been pain-crazed and confused. His memories were of a scared mirror image that had fought, and then run like hell. But not of a madman... Sanity aside, the man seemed even more alien to him that Cyclops. *No visor, apparently no powers...how could that be?* The visor was so much a part of him, as were his powers. In a world where to be powerless was to be less than dirt, this man would be dead, yet some part of the Prelate echoed with...envy. * * * The Hunter had warned Cyclops that there might be a third version of himself pulled in by the Mage's spell, but the sight of him was at once shocking and depressing. The man was free of the curse that was his optic blasts, except for when Jean restrained them through their rapport... Thoughts of his wife purged his musings about the doppelganger from his mind. "If he is mad, he's of no use to us, whatever the reason. We need to..." Pounding footsteps interrupted him. The Gambler and Lustre were on their feet instantly. The door swung open and a slim blond boy of maybe fifteen years hurried in. "Gambler...Gambler..." He was out of breath, and he had to stop for a moment. The Gambler grabbed the boy by the shoulders. "What, Alex? What's happenin'? Cyclops had only a moment to note the boy seemed familiar, and then his message was all too apparent. Screams...the clash of arms...the Thieves Guild was being invaded. * * * The Gambler's face was a mask of fury. "Looks like the Pale Man decided to crash de party." He turned to Lustre, who was at his side as soon as the first sounds of the struggle reached them. "You know what to do, love." She looked at him with a passion that was as fierce as it was sincere. "I'll save our fortune, lover. You just stay in one piece." She kissed him only briefly, and Cyclops felt another brief ache for Jean. She ran from the room without a backwards glance, shouting names and orders as she went. The Gambler turned to the others, grin still in place. "Well, my friends, it appears we can't storm the castle just yet. We gotta be dealin' with this little problem first. Y'want the help from the thieves, y'gota be helpin us first." Cyclops and the Prelate looked to the Hunter. She reached to her belt and drew forth two long knives. "Let's get to it then. I hate keeping the Mage waiting." The Gambler grinned even wider. Prelate Summers smiled as well. Cyclops's face remained stony, but not one of the three had any humour showing. The Gambler turned to the boy, Alex. "Kid, y'stay here, and keep the madman," he indicated Scott Summers sitting in the chair staring off into space, "from goin''' nowhere, y'got it?" The boy's face flushed. "I owe them, Gambler, for my father..." "And y'owe me for the fact y'still breathin', kid. Now shut up and stay put." The boy didn't reply, but his fury was clear. Cyclops was suddenly sure that on his own world he knew this child, but the identity escaped him, and there was no further time to figure it out. The anger and the name reminded him of his own brother, but the boy was definitely someone else, someone he knew... Katherine was suddenly at his side. She held a wicked looking battle-axe towards him. "Here, you didn't bring your own." Cyclops shook his head. "I don't need it." The young thief turned to the Prelate, who similarly shook his head. Cyclops wondered if it was because he disliked edged weapons designed to kill, or because his own were more effective. The Gambler charged out into the hall. Smoke was snaking across the ceiling, and the shouts and screams were louder. As they passed through hallways, more thieves joined them. All were armed. Some looked curiously at the strangers but they followed their leader, and that was good enough. The Gambler was shouting orders, sending men and women to this area and that. Cyclops heard him order some to secure various 'shipments.' *He's more of a leader here, but he's still a thief at heart.* Cyclops found that oddly comforting. Then there was no more time for comfort. They passed a long hallway that split in two. One way ended in flames -- the other was filled with sounds of fighting and dying. Following the Gambler and Katherine, Cyclops, Prelate Summers and Stephanie, the Mage's Hunter, leapt into the first battle in the final war for the Land of Geshem. END CHAPTER 16