************************************************************************* X-Writers is a fan-fiction group intent on furthering the plots and characters of Marvel Comic's X-Men. All characters and likenesses are owned, copyrighted and trademarked by Marvel Comics Group. No harm is intended. This is for hobby purposes and not for profit. BTW, there is 1 cuss word in this story. Parental supervision may be necessary. ************************************************************************* X-Writers Presents X-Man #13 - "Caught in the Webs" Part 3 of The Focus By Andy Banks Editor: Marysia Amazing things happen in emergency situations. People find themselves with renewed vigour and super human strength when they know that someone is in danger. Nate Grey happens to already have both renewed vigour and super human strength, which is fortunate, because he will need them very soon. Nate Grey has had few people in the past that he actually cared for. Now in the present, he has fewer still allies and even less people that he would dare call "friend". Actually, he can only think of one at the moment. To be quite specific, he can only think of how a moment ago he had a telepathic fix on her and now he doesn't. "Maaaaaaddddddddddiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee," he shouts as he runs towards Selene's complex...a wonder in itself. Most people would mistake it for any other apartment complex in Paris. From the outside, it appears as dilapidated and neglected as any other in the neighbourhood. Inside, however, where one would expect to find dark tenements lies a decadent interior lined with exotic decorations, rare artwork and exquisite sculptures. Selene has refined tastes that border on lavish. Nate isn't thinking about interior designs though. Rather, he is extremely focused on finding the one person he can call a friend, Madelyne Pryor. Recently, she left Nate without a word of explanation to find out her meaning for existence. After all, wouldn't you leave someone to find your true meaning if your memory didn't extend past a few weeks? - - - "Glorious. Simply glorious!" Belasco shouts. In Selene's main chambers, a strange thing is happening. Just a few moments ago, Madelyne accepted undeniable power. A power that does not seek to strengthen, rather than to possess. That power is known throughout the universe as The Phoenix Force. It is a force of nature feeding on the universe as its nourishment. It is a bodiless entity seeking a host, an avatar, in which it may manifest its boundless power giving it weight in the physical plane of existence. This morning it has found a suitable host. "She did it," Selene gasps, "She bypassed her own powers and has already manifested the Phoenix Force! Belasco, she is assuming power too rapidly, we may not be able to control her." "We will Selene, we will." Belasco says with a tone of disinterest as he basks in the glory of limitless power. The room fills with bright light as telekinetic energy in the form of fire crackles around Madelyne. The fires radiate light and a bearable heat. Soon, the fires are accompanied by a light wind which rapidly increases to a gale force. Objects within the room start to move and lift up off the ground. They swirl in the air around Madelyne. Strangely, both Selene and Belasco are unaffected by the winds. The Phoenix Force has been constrained for too long... it is exercising itself. "The power fills me. It was right there all along and all I had to do was reach out and take it's hand. It was right there..." Maddie says as she smiles brightly. - - - "I must stop this man from interfering with Lady Selene's plans. Twice now he has come back here looking for our guest," Maree-Jeanette thinks, "I was able to defeat him yesterday, but he'll be ready for me today. I'm going to have to surprise him quickly." She sees her opportunity to once again take Nate by surprise. She crouches behind a large dumpster and peers through the handles. Her quarry flies closer with telekinetic propulsion and she knows that he is perfectly unaware of her presence. She takes advantage of it by telekinetically moving the dumpster conveniently in his path. Nate is acting on impulse now. Even though he has only a fraction of a second to react, his response is immediate. Nate cocks his arm back and swings a right hook that would make Mike Tyson jealous. Of course, a little telekinetic energy to back it doesn't hurt. The dumpster goes sliding down the street like a childs toy hurtled away. Maree-Jeannette is impressed by the display and knows that she must strike quickly. When Nate was unleashing his telekinetic power against the dumpster, Maree-Jeannette took the opportunity to swing around behind him. Out of the corner of her eyes, she notices a small BMW. She focuses on the car and squints her eyes. Her telekinetic power does not exhibit any physical manifestation, but if it did it would make for quite a spectacle. The car shudders and whips off the ground towards Nate, rolling end over end as it picks up velocity. Maree-Jeannette, not being able to resist, lets out a loud whistle. Not a normal whistle, but the crescendo-descendo whistle that most men use as she walks by. Nate hears this curious whistle and slows down, rolling around in mid flight. By the time he turns around fully, he realizes that he's never been a car crash before, and this will be his first. Maree-Jeannette watches as the car crumples and explodes. The chassis comes crashing down to the pavement and slides for several yards. Sparks fly and the burning gasoline leaves fiery scars on the street. A slight smile glances her face as she runs down th e alleyway towards the crash. She approaches the blazing wreckage cautiously and circles around it looking for any sign of her opponent. As she nears the opposite side she sees Nate bloodied and unconscious, if not dead. She tears her ninja mask from her head and exclaims aloud, "Such a shame, monsieur... you were very handsome too." "Thank you," comes a voice from behind her. It is very difficult to surprise a ninja. Especially one who is as talented as Maree-Jeannette. Adopted by a Yakuza kingpin as a small child, she learned the way of the ninja and the deadly tricks of The Hand. Honing her telekinetic abilities alongside her already deadly martial arts made her one of the deadliest assassins in The Yakuza. Her furious fighting style earned her the nickname Siege. She has never been easy to surprise, but then again, she has never faced anyone like this. Maree-Jeannette spins quickly and falls into a crouch as she turns, reacting to the voice behind her. Ninjas use this manoeuvre make themselves a smaller target for their enemy. In this case, she catches a faceful of telekinetic uppercut. Nate follows through with the uppercut just like Toad taught him a few years ago. He could almost feel Siege's jaw give way as his fist finds it mark. Siege collapses to the ground. "Such a shame... you were pretty cute too." Nate says, "Pity you fell for the old telepathic illusion trick though." - - - "Holy shit!" Threnody says as she flinches. She holds her hands over her heart for a second and puts the other hand on her head. What would you say if one second you were sitting in your car relaxing, and the next second a man with a pale white face is peeking in your window? "Hurry Threnody, there is a great disturbance here. The Phoenix Force is here and manifesting itself as we speak. We must investigate this matter immediately. We will tend to the young man later." Sinister says. He strides down the street as Threnody closes the door to her car. She walks a few steps and quickly turns around to make sure her door is locked. She then runs to catches up with Sinister. "Phoenix Force? Umm... that's bad isn't it?" she asks timidly. "It is distressing, yes. The Force only manifests itself in psions if the psion acknowledges its existence and accepts it. The most disturbing fact is that is that it is taking place in The Black Queen's stronghold," he says. Sinister is not a man of many words and his explanation has done little but confuse Threnody. She strides along next to him and grimaces with complete bewilderment. "There he is," Threnody says as she points, "that's the guy I was telling you about." The two stop and watch from a distance as Nate throws a telekinetic punch knocking in the front doors of Selene's building. "Indeed." Sinister says while rubbing his chin. - - - Inside of Selene's apartment building, an alarm sounds. Possibly a reaction to it's front doors being completely removed from its hinges. "Maddie," Nate calls as he looks around. He scurries back and forth knocking down doors instead of opening them. He calls her name repeatedly and continues to scavenge the area. In a separate room on a different floor, Selene reacts to the alarm and runs over to her scrying glass. She sees Nate running through her house destroying things and quickly dispatches her personal army. Normally, they are butlers, maids, cooks and servants, but cross-training is one of Selene's favourites ideals. Each and every one of her employees have some sort of specialization in fighting and warfare. Some of them are mercenaries, some of them are soldiers of fortune, and some of them specialize in weapons and ordinance. Together they live, work, and train, and Selene is the leader of their militia. As Nate runs through the house, he finally starts to encounter resistance. Suddenly, Nate finds himself surrounded by an army of Selene's best troops. Some of them wield ancient weapons of war, some of them boasting the newest and most technologically advanced weapons. The rooms fills with clicks and pops as the attackers prime their guns. Nate doesn't care who they are, he only knows that they are getting in his way. Nate turns his head from side to side and realizes that he is completely surrounded. With a slight grin, Nate causes the floor to explode beneath everyone. As the large circle rumbles, everyone plunges below except for Nate who is suspended by his telekinetic gift of flight. He looks down to see everyone dazed and injured by the fall. He shifts his focus and decides to take the easy way upstairs... through the ceiling. Nate bursts through the floor of Selene's main chamber, taking everyone by surprise. Belasco and Selene quickly whip around to find Nate settling onto his feet. As Nate looks upward, he finally finds his friend. "MADDIE! What are they doing to you? What are you doing to her?" Nate says angrily towards both Selene and Belasco. "We are doing nothing to her, whelp. She is doing what she has always wanted to do, find her destiny." Belasco retorts. His eyes glow and his evil face shows that he is ready to protect Madelyne from this would-be attacker. Nate looks at Maddie again. She is consumed in psionic energy and does not even acknowledge Nate's presence. "Stay back. Madelyne has power which you could not fathom. She can easily destroy your pitiful existence with a thought." Selene boasts. "No," Nate responds, "That's where you're wrong. If you want power, I'll give you power." Nate gestures and Selene and Belasco go flying backwards and hit the wall. They fall to the ground and gather themselves. "Madelyne... kill him!" Selene shouts. "No!" shouts a voice from the doorway, "You are my creation Madelyne. You know it to be true. Now come with me and I will show you how to temper such power." As the figure emerges from the shadows, Nate feels nothing but sheer terror in his heart. Before him stands none other than Sinister. Nate's mind wanders for a moment. He thinks of how the man before him claimed to be his creator. He remembers the torment that Sinister caused by killing the only man that Nate could call family, and how Nate exacted his vengeance on him for it. Clearly he recalls holding Sinister's lifeless body and how robbed he felt by Sinister's easy death. "Sinister" Nate gasps. Sinister turns sharply, reacting to the stranger's call. He responds, "In the flesh, as it were." Sinister walks towards Madelyne and reaches his hand out. "Madelyne, come with me" he says. "Get away from her!" Nate yells. "You've already destroyed my life Sinister, you're not going to destroy hers now." "I must confess that I'm at somewhat of a loss. You apparently know me, but I do not know you." Sinister says in a calm voice. "No matter though, I shall find out exactly who are you shortly. Madelyne, you must come with me now." Madelyne gives no reaction to Sinisters words. She continues to hold her head upwards as she absorbs and adjusts to the Phoenix Force. "Psstt... Nate... kill Sinister now." says a quiet voice from outside the window. Nate turns his head quickly and looks out the window. At first he doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but after a closer look he notices a patch of dark grey fur and two piercing eyes peeking in upside-down from the top of the window. Meanwhile, Belasco shouts, "Madelyne is going nowhere Sinister. She will stay with me." "NO!" The voice rings telepathically in everyone's heads causing a major headache for everyone in the area. Madelyne is communicating, but not through spoken words. "I am Phoenix. None shall use me, nor shall any order me. I am one with the universe, I am power incarnate, and each of you will have to answer to me now." ************************************************************ To Be Continued when Maddie realizes that she isn't in control anymore. Nate also finds out some interesting things about his friends, and Adam-X returns in X-Man #14, "The Revelations" - Part 4 of The Focus. -- *Marysia* | Editor in Chief of x-writers at majordomo@ Keeper of the Labyrinth | minuteman.com http://minuteman.com/x-writers Flame and Holy Virgin | http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~hawk/xmen.html of Scotland | "Dream a little dream of me." - Ella Fitzgerald