CHAPTER 2
Mazes and Monsters
Part 3.
"This sucks!" exclaimed a figure in red-blue spandex suit, hanging upside down from the ceiling of the nameless cave.
Flash Thompson was not in a good mood to say the least. In fact, never felt so miserable. What did he do that his life was screwed up so badly?
He hated these caverns. He hated Morlocks - couldn't the old fart give them the mission to save a kingdom full of hot chicks in chainmail bikinis? First and foremost, he hated his team.
His team? What an awful joke! Captain America, Iron Man and Thor – now that's a team. But Exiles? Miner on steroids, creepy alien samurai with the ears of Spock, and his bald mutant buddy, straight from Area 51. Timebroker must have scrapped the bottom of the barrel.
Sure, Russian Amazon was a hot piece of tail, but what's in it for him? Flash highly doubted he'll win any dates with her. Not after Timebroker's show. Flash saw Crimson Dynamo in action, and it wasn't encouraging at all. On the contrary, it was screaming "look, but not touch". And what was she thinking, threatening to cause a cave-in? Flash had heard that all Russians are crazy, but this stunt of hers was in the same league with skydiving without parachute.
Goth girl was even worse. She couldn't last five minutes without comparing him to Spider-Man. Must be hell of a crush if she can't stop talking about this guy!
He couldn't say much about so-called hospitality of Morlocks. The dinner menu consisted of mushrooms and the meat which taste he couldn't recognize. Flash hoped that the meat belonged to sewer alligators or something as harmless, that their hosts weren't cannibals.
Shortly after the dinner he was practically dragged to the large cavern full of broken machinery. It looked like an attempt of the extremely rich Star Wars fan to recreate the insides of Jawa Sandcrawler. Captain Spider, Mr. Rockman-Give-Me-Back-My-Kingdom-Or-Else and a half dozen of Morlock weightlifters given the task to sort out the dusty remains of robots.
Couldn't Goldilocks sort that junk all by herself? What's the point of babbling about women rights? They expect us to treat them as equals, until it's time to do heavy lifting, he thought cynically.
But the worst part of the day was when they finished sorting and cleaning. Dynamo and her assistant, a weird cross between biker and Wyatt Earp, started to assemble robots, ignoring everything else. Pointy-eared swordsman told Flash, " your assistance is no longer needeth " and sent him away, without so much of a thank you.
A team, my butt! I'd bet the last quarter that Timebroker is laughing his head off at our expense!
He repeated loudly, "This sucks!"
"Are you talking to yourself, Spider? It's not healthy".
Flash nearly fell, but regained his composure when he saw that it was just a Nightblade.
"Climb down, Spider, we need to talk".
Captain Spider landed next to Jason.
"What do you want?" asked Captain Spider in his most unfriendly tone.
"Oh, very simple, Spider. I’m sure you'd like it. I want you to attack me".
Flash wanted to correct Jason "it's CAPTAIN Spider", but the unusual request caught him off guard.
"Um... you want me to do WHAT?"
Nightblade repeated patiently, "I want you to attack me. You lack the proper training, and I don't have time to play drill sergeant, but I can show you how to avoid the most common mistakes".
Let's show Ape-Man that he is not dealing with an amateur here! A little payback won't hurt, right?
Flash drew his arm back and swung hard. His fist was immediately blocked by Nightblade's palm. For a moment they were in standstill, then Jason's hand disappeared. Captain Spider lost the balance and tripped; Jason kicked the legs out of him and pinned him down with a knee. Flash tried to get up, but his hands were painfully twisted behind his back.
"Ouch!"
"You are strong and agile, why you were caught?" not waiting for Flash to answer, Nightblade explained, "You were thinking too slow and allowed your own strength to be used against you. Trust you body to do the thinking for you".
He stood up, releasing Flash, and commanded, "Again. This time try to do the real damage. Do your best. Don't worry, I'll heal".
"Is this the way you want it, Blue? Fine for me, it means the gloves are off!" Captain Spider said, slamming a fist into his palm.
He leapt up to the cave wall. Then he jumped off the wall to the stone column, then to the large stalactite, then to the ceiling. Nightblade waited with arms crossed, unimpressed by his opponent's wall-crawling abilities. Captain Spider kept jumping, until he saw the right moment for the attack, and lunged at Jason like a red-blue cheetah...
Nightblade faded from view before Flash could land a punch.
"Hey! The hell!"
Spider-sense started tingling, but its warning couldn't save him from the strong punch in the gut and a following kick to the head. Flash landed on his back, seeing stars.
Jason's camouflage faded. He looked down at the Captain Spider, who was summoning energy to stand up and attack again, despite the pain and the spinning head.
"You must think how to defeat your enemy, not to impress him. Your demonstration was unnecessary. Fighting is like poker. Don't show your hand too early".
"You turned invisible! It's not fair!" said Flash as he staggered back to his feet.
Nightblade frowned, "Fair? You think your enemies are going to warn you? That's the point of training – to get ready for everything! And I wasn't completely invisible. If you paid more attention, you'd see the waver in the air every time I moved".
"But..."
"But nothing. Try again".
Third attack ended with his arm grabbed in a vice-like hold.
"Goddammit, you almost broke my arm!"
"I didn't. Your arm is still intact, Spider. So quit your whining and try again".
Whining? I'll show you whining!
After six unsuccessful attempts – and more lectures from Sensei Howlett - Flash asked wearily, "Does it have to be so painful?"
Blue bastard just bared his fangs, "Pain is a good teacher. Try again".
* * *
"Callisto, warrior queen of the Morlocks," she was woken up by the hateful voice of Mole Man. "Have you slept well?" Callisto scoffed at how ridiculous he looked in a purple mantle of a ruler.
She answered sweetly, "Of course I did. Your hospitality is so charming, and this apartment is worthy of a queen. Why don't you join me for breakfast?"
Mole Man tried a different approach, "I came to tell you that I've made a decision. You are the waste of time, Callisto. It's not worthy to spend months, maybe years of my life researching why you are immune to the serum. After all, the immunity can't protect you from the execution".
"Who do you want to impress by executing me, little man? Moloids? Or the men and women you brainwashed? You thing they'd appreciate the spectacle?"
"I think I know the man who will be impressed. Your furry boyfriend. I left an invitation for him, so now I expect special guests".
"Son of the..."
Mole Man continued, ignoring the curses, "The question now is, how he is planning to do it? Alone, like a knight in the dragon's lair? Or he brings more lambs for the slaughter?"
"Jason will kill you," her voice was strained.
"Jason Howlett? Kill ME? If that’s what you believe, then you are dumber than I thought," Mole Man bared yellowish teeth. "But you don’t believe in miracles, do you, Callisto? So save your false bravery for later, you'll need it".
Mole Man left.
Callisto clenched her fists, holding back the sobs. She wasn’t going to give mad dwarf the satisfaction of seeing her broken.
He called Jason Howlett my boyfriend. If only it was true.
* * *
Seeing Hulkling on daily basis and accepting Super-Skrull-in-training as Karolina's fiancée dulled her xenophobia dramatically. Faces of Morlocks weren't bothering her at all. But the talk with Jason Howlett made Nico Minoru feel uneasy.
When Doctor Strange wanted to test Nico's magic, it was easy to admit how limited was her knowledge of mystical arts. Her paltry skills couldn't possibly impress the Sorcerer Supreme. But Nightblade’s questioning… now it was humiliating.
Yes, she can teleport the others; and no, the spell can't work if she'd never seen the place before. Yes, her invisibility spell can hide a small team; and no, it's impossible to do the same with the whole army of Morlocks. Yes, the Staff of One contained the endless library of spells; and no, it can't cast the same spell twice. Doc Strange and his old-fashioned ideas about of education made her useless in the upcoming battle.
Nico was sure that there's more she can offer to Nightblade than just being a foot soldier with a magical staff. She just needs time to figure something out...
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Lorelei was one of their guides , she was also a real honest-to-god mermaid. Strange that she was hiding in the underground tunnels, not in the depths of the Pacific. Banner’s undeclared war against Atlanteans was a failure from the start. King Namor had beaten him, fair and square.
"I just sorta spaced out for a moment," said Nico. "What did you just ask?"
"Dzemal told me that you are a team of superheroes. That’s true?"
"Sort of".
"And what you are doing for the team? Are you a priestess?"
"Actually, I am a witch," seeing the sad expression on the mermaid’s face, Nico added, "I hope you are not the religious type".
"Religious, me? No! I lived in District X. I don’t care what the book says. If the God exists, he is either blind or just doesn't care".
"Then what’s bothering you?"
"Nico, aren't you a bit young for this?"
That was a loaded question. Was she too young to learn that her parents were a part of the secret society of supervillains; to run away with a stolen magical staff; to confront superheroes and defeat Old Gods? Was she too young to travel through time?
Finally Nico answered, "You haven't seen the youngest member of my old team". Memories of Molly Hayes, self-proclaimed "Princess Powerful", slightly improved her mood. Then Nico’s thoughts switched to the little adventure she had in the night club when she was still a Runaway.
That’s it! Nico had her answer.
"I'm sorry, Lorelei. I must see Nightblade. It's urgent".
* * *
The stadium-shaped cavern was filled to its capacity and then some. It was the largest crowd of Morlocks Darwin had ever seen.
Darwin understood that a s a mutant disfigured by his powers since birth, he could end up as a Morlock. Could the life in Subterrania be better that the one he led? Darwin had no idea; he wasn’t much into what-if scenarios.
Nightblade stepped in the centre of the cavern and raised his arms in a gesture of attention.
"Brothers, we waited enough, our day had come! No more hiding! It's time to free our people from slavery and to end Mole Man's reign! Let him think that he holds all the cards; because now he'd have to face six heroes from parallel universes," He gestured towards the Exiles. "Mole Man doesn't know them, he can’t have a strategy against them, and that's what gives us so needed advantage! We can beat Mole Man – and we’ll beat him!!"
A wave of cheers erupted from around the area.
"Crimson Dynamo! Razorback! You are in charge of the Operation Gungan".
Russian superheroine greeted him with a flawless salute. Mutant wearing a boar mask just nodded.
"Rockman! Use the drilling machine to make a passage for the army!"
He bowed his head slightly, acknowledging Jason’s words.
"Sister Grimm?"
Nico stepped forward.
"When the time is right - cast your spell. You have my blessing".
Spell? It wasn’t a part of a plan! Darwin didn’t want to rely on magic. It’s too unstable.
"Raza Longknife! Darwin! I've changed my mind about the Operation Needle. Raza stays with the army, Darwin is coming with me".
It's been a long time since I was a part of a rescue operation. For the sake of all these Morlocks, I need much more luck than I had on Krakoa.
Nightblade addressed all the Morlocks, "Today we will return all the lands that belonged to us before Mole Man turned them into his domain! We'll get revenge for all the people he abducted and enslaved! We’ll do everything that is possible to return Callisto! Are you with me?"
The crowd of Morlocks roaded.
"Then let’s go! For freedom! For our kingdom! For revenge!"
More shouting, whistles and cheers.
Darwin increased the hearing range before the meeting, and that’s why he heard two voices while standing in the middle of the crowd.
"What do you think about our chances, Lena?" It was Dave Landers, the mechanic, talking to Crimson Dynamo.
" If you don’t want the answer, then why ask a question! Just cross your fingers and pray," answered Crimson Dynamo.
"I thought you are Atheist".
" I am. But do you know the anecdote about Niels Bohr and lucky horseshoe?"
Landers quoted, "They say it helps even if you don’t believe it?"
Darwin wasn't superstitious. He was a man of science, But considering all the holes in the plan, it was as good time as any to start praying.
He wondered briefly if Landers has a spare horseshoes he can borrow.
To be continued…
CHAPTER 4
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