THEATRE OF PAIN

Part III: Showtime

By Ryan Krupienski and Dino Pollard

The woman known only as Scanner slowly opens her eyes. She begins looking around, and discovers that she is restrained to machinery of some sort. In addition to her teammates, Nightcrawler, Havok, and Domino, she can tell that there are other people also restrained to this machinery. She looks down and for the first time realizes that they are in the theatre they came to when they first entered this building. Right now, she sees that they are on the balcony. Below them, she sees dozens of men and women dressed in formal clothing. They are all sitting in seats, with an odd type of machinery hooked up to them as well.

She looks to the stage and sees that the red curtains are closed. She notices some movement behind them, and a large creature of some sort steps out. He is a red-skinned behemoth of some sort with large, devil-like horns protruding from the sides of his bald head. He is dressed in blue armor of some sort complete with a crimson cape. The audience applauds as he steps out, and he bows in response.

“Thank you, ladies and gentlemen,” he says. “My name is Brimstone Love, and I would like to take this moment to welcome you to the Theatre of Pain.”

He walks over to a podium by the side of the stage, and although Scanner cannot exactly see what he is doing, she can tell that he pressed a switch of some sort. The curtains open, revealing the dozens of monitors the X-Men witnessed when they first entered.

“Now, we will turn down the house lights,” says Brimstone Love, and almost as if on cue, the lights dim. “And on with the show!”

The audience applauds, and Brimstone Love flicks another toggle switch. Scanner suddenly feels immense pain as memories are torn from her head and projected onto the monitor.

“Do you know where we’re heading?” asks Ever.

“Not a damn clue,” replies Wolverine from the pilot’s seat.

“Then how do we…?”

“Don’t question me.”

“I’m sor-”

“Not a word, kid,” orders Wolverine. “Moonstar, what’ve ya got for me?”

“I was hoping that once we got closer to the disturbance, we might be able to pinpoint the location of the others with Cerebro,” replies Moonstar. “But I’m still just getting the general area.”

“Anything on the psionic disturbance, Ev?”

“I’ve tried a few psi-scans already,” replies Ever. “But it’s almost as if something is blocking me out.”

“Keep trying,” says Wolverine. “In the meantime, see if you can pinpoint the location of the other Blackbird.”

“On it,” says Moonstar. She activates a few switches on the console and looks at the readout on the screen. “Wait… that can’t be right.”

“What?”

“The other Blackbird…” says Moonstar. “It’s on the move.”

“I can see that…” says Wolverine. “Take a look at what’s headin’ right for us.”

Moonstar and Ever both direct their attention to the windshield. They see the Blackbird flying towards them at top speed.

“Try making contact with them, Ever,” orders Wolverine. Ever closes his eyes and concentrates. Then he opens them, and looks at Wolverine.

“Those aren’t X-Men…” he says.

“Just great…” mutters Wolverine. “Brace yerselves, kids.”

“Why?” asks Ever. Wolverine offers no verbal response, just flicks some toggle switches, and activates the Blackbird’s weapons system. Sidewinder missiles lower from beneath the wings of the jet and are launched at the push of a button. They both strike the other Blackbird.

“Two direct hits,” says Wolverine. “Looks like I still got it.”

Wolverine manuevers the jet around the enemy and flies around so that he comes up behind them. There, he launches another pair of missiles which strike the Blackbird’s engine. The plane goes hurtling towards the ground and lands with a crash. Wolverine activates the Blackbird’s VTOL system and lowers the plane beside the wrecked one. He practically leaps from his seat and heads towards the hatch, with Ever and Moonstar following.

“I’m picking up four distinct thought patterns,” says Ever.

“Wonderful,” says Moonstar.

The four Norns emerge from the downed craft and begin to approach the X-Men. One of them, the lizard-like Norn, leaps forward towards Wolverine. He sidesteps the attack and slams his linked hands against her back. She falls, but gets back to her feet. Once she does, Wolverine aims low and tackles her. He drives a balled-up fist against the side of her face. So far, he has avoided using his claws unless absolutely necessary. Without his healing factor to heal the wounds, he is unsure how much blood he may lose if he extracts the claws.

The impact of a psionic arrow from Moonstar takes out the lizard Norn completely. Wolverine turns to see the snake-like woman called Stacy come towards him. He prepares for her attack and takes a swing with his fist. She avoids it, and she thrusts her hand forward and it connects with the bare skin of his neck. His entire body freezes up and he falls limp.

“What did you do?” demands Moonstar.

“Pheromone control,” replies Stacy. “Wanna see what else I can do?”

{No, I think we’ve seen enough,} comes the telepathic voice of Ever through the heads of the Norns. He concentrates and a powerful psionic burst erupts from his body which disables the Norns. The collars around their necks also begin to short circuit. Stacy and the cat-like Norn, Felicity, slowly begin to recover. Felicity looks at her teammate and points to the X-Men.

“What are you waiting for?” asks Felicity. “Kill them!”

“Nuh-uh,” says Stacy. She points to the collar around her neck. “Our collars are damaged, now’s our chance to run for it.”

“After everything the Theatre has done for you, you would betray them?” says Felicity.

“In a heartbeat,” replies Stacy.

“Traitor!” exclaims Felicity. She leaps at Stacy with her claws bared. Stacy jumps back as Felicity comes flying towards her. Felicity swipes with one set of claws, and Stacy barely avoids her swipe. She then grabs the Norn’s arm and uses her control over pheromones to give Felicity such a strong rush of adrenaline that it sends the feline woman into a comatose state.

“Why’d you just betray your friends?” asks Moonstar as she helps the recovered Wolverine to his feet.

“Because I just want my own life,” replies Stacy. “So just lay off.”

She begins to walk past the X-Men, but the gloved hand of Wolverine grabs her shoulder. She shoots him an angry glare when she turns to face him.

“Our people are stuck in that place,” he says.

“Tell it to someone who cares.”

“I don’t have time for this bullshit,” says Wolverine. “You can get us in there an’ you can help us save our teammates.”

“You can all go to hell for all I care,” says Stacy. “I’m done with the Theatre, you hear?”

“Maybe so,” says Wolverine as Stacy starts to walk away. “But speakin’ as a former prisoner myself, I can tell ya right now that there’s nothing in life that’s sweeter than payback. Wouldn’t you like to give back some of the shit you’ve taken?”

Stacy stops for a moment and looks down at the ground. She slowly turns back to the X-Men and walks past them.

“Follow me,” she says.

Brimstone Love feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns his head to see Charion standing behind him, his face wrought with worry.

“I am in the middle of a show,” says Brimstone Love.

“I see that, and forgive the intrusion,” says Charion. “But there is a situation outside.”

“What situation?” asks Brimstone.

“Another team of X-Men have arrived, and they defeated the Norns,” replies Charion.

Meanwhile, above the two captors on the balcony, the woman known as Scanner struggles slightly. Her mutant ability allows her to control her own bio-electric rhythm. Right now, she is attempting to scramble that rhythm in order to disrupt the machines which hold her captive. She can feel the strain as her body begins to succeed in the task. She grits her teeth in pain as she begins to short-circuit the machine, until her body finally seperates from it.

Below her, the monitor which sits before Brimstone Love tells him that one of the machines has gone dead.

“Something is not right…” he says.

“Ya got that right, bub.”

The door to the theater opens and Wolverine, Ever, Moonstar, and Stacy stand in the opening. Moonstar pulls back with her psionic bow and fires a stream of psionic arrows at the machines on the balcony. The machines are damaged, and deactivate, freeing the captives. Ever lets loose with a psionic attack that takes Charion down. It also causes further disruption in the machines, and both the audience and the captives awaken from their slumber. Upon seeing the commotion, the audience begins to flee from the theater. Ever is about to stop them with another psionic attack when he hears the voice of Wolverine.

“Let ’em go,” he says. “We should be fine as long as we got Red Bull over here.”

“You do not stand a chance,” says Brimstone Love.

“If I only had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that phrase…” mutters Moonstar.

Brimstone Love aims his outstretched palm towards the ground. Cracks begin to form in the floor, and scalding-hot steam emits from it. The steam is soon followed as liquid-hot magma erupts.

“This is not what I signed up for!” exclaims Ever, narrowly avoiding an eruption.

“Welcome to the big leagues,” says Wolverine.

Brimstone Love chuckles as a bright light appears from his body and temporarily blinds the three X-Men as well as the former Norn. Before he can make another move, he is attacked from above by a plasma blast. Havok stands at the edge of the balcony with his hands glowing. He and Domino both leap from the balcony and land on the ground below. Appearing by their side in a flash of light and smoke is Nightcrawler.

“Guten tag, Logan,” says Nightcrawler. “You look like shit.”

“Nice to see you too, Kurt,” says Wolverine. “My eyes gettin’ old or are we missin’ someone?”

“Scanner,” replies Domino. “She’s helping the other captives. As for this asshole, I’m all for wasting him.”

“I’ll second that,” says Havok.

“Got something better in mind,” says Stacy. She reaches out with her fingers and makes contact with Ever’s skin. Using her control over pheromones, she boosts his adrenaline. With a huge rush, Ever unleashes a massive psionic strike on Brimstone Love. The attack is so powerful that it causes the head of the Theatre of Pain to fall back in shock. He sees the X-Men begin to surround him.

“Parting is such sweet sorrow,” he says with a grin. “So I shall say goodnight, ’till it be ‘morrow.”

With those words, he vanishes in a flash of light.

“This isn’t over,” says Stacy. “If I can get to the mainframe, I can destroy the Theatre for good. You should all get out of here, though. I’m not sure how much time it’ll take before the Theatre explodes.”

“I’ll go with you,” says Nightcrawler. “If need be, I can teleport us out in time.”

Earlier, amidst the sea of fleeing audience members. Two of them in particular stand out.

“You don’t want to see the outcome?” asks the pale, dark-haired woman.

“No,” replies the larger man. He has long black hair pulled into a ponytail. “Now is not the time to contend with the X-Men, Tessa.”

“Of course, Sebastian,” replies Tessa.

The VTOL systems on the Blackbird lift the jet into the air. Wolverine keeps the plane hovering in mid-air for a few moments, watching below. The Theatre of Pain seems to appear out of nowhere, and then explosions begin to rock the building down to its foundation.

“Where are they?” asks Scanner.

“Here,” replies Wolverine an instant before a flash of light and smoke signals the arrival of Nightcrawler with Stacy by his side.

“You okay, Elf?” asks Wolverine.

“Never better,” mutters Nightcrawler before practically collapsing.

“He’s exhausted,” says Havok. “Can’t say I blame him, either.”

“Strap him into one of the seats,” orders Wolverine. “Domino, take the controls.”

Domino assumes control over the jet from the co-pilot’s seat while Wolverine stands from his seat and walks over to Stacy.

“You did good down there,” he says. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, sure,” she says.

“You want us to drop you off somewhere?” he asks. Stacy looks up at him in confusion.

“Do you honestly think I’ve got somewhere to go?” she asks. Logan scratches the back of his neck, then looks around the Blackbird at the other X-Men. His eyes stop on Scanner in particular, and then drift to Ever, and he recalls their pasts.

“Come with us, then,” says Wolverine. “We could always use an extra hand. An’ you can handle yourself good under pressure.”

“You want me to join you?”

“Why not?”

Stacy considers his words for a moment.

“Alright pops, I’m in,” she says.

“Just got one more question, then,” he says.

“What’s that?”

“What in the flamin’ hell is your name?”

“Oh,” she says. “Ecstacy.”