Chapter 17- Genosha

Atlantic Ocean- Near the Bermuda Triangle, 2008- March- 20 (Early Evening)

Exodus-                   

Mystique and the kids were asleep and lay unmoving as the knight carried them toward their destination. Yet Exodus was not alone in the still dark morning of the new day.

“So this Nathaniel person has a healing power or something?” Copycat asked him for the third time.

“No, he isn’t one of us, he is a magic user. And the answer will not change when you ask me a fourth time. And his name is Nath’aniel.” The light manipulator told her.

“I am just finding it hard to believe a hard ass like Magneto trusts someone who isn’t a mutant.” The albino woman stated, before adding. “And you’re the one that asked me to distract you from Genosha’s defenses.”

The mystery of the Bermuda Triangle wasn’t because of aliens or some ancient device, but was rather the Black Queen of Genosha using her telepathic powers to distract, discourage, and misdirect sailors and pilots away from her home and domain.

"I asked you to distract me, not to rag on the same topic over and over again," Exodus complained before shaking his head and adjusting his course after he realized that he had drifted again. Then he asked. “How’s your man?”

He could feel her move to touch the man in the red suit's wrist for his pulse. He could do this because of the light constructs holding her and the others in the air, after a moment she answered. "Pulse is back and he is breathing, but this is taking longer than it normally does. Mystique must have really done some damage when she shot him in the head.”

Hearing that the knight muttered. “It is natural for a mother to protect their child.”

Then he blinked twice before closing his eyes, as he suddenly saw things he knew were not there. This again was the work of the Black Queen, she was trying to alter his course, because this far out she wouldn’t be paying attention to them. ‘I need to get closer so she will actually pay some attention to my thoughts.’ He reminded himself.

“Did you know Destiny well?” Copycat asked him.

"I met her for the first time only yesterday. In the end, Mystique was right, she was strong enough to fight and be of use to us." Exodus admitted, and wasn't proud enough to ignore his mistake.

“How does someone that can see the future, not dodge the shot that kills them?” The albino woman softly muses.

“I am guessing that she saw a future worse than her own death.” Exodus guessed.

“Like what?” She then asked. Yet the knight couldn't answer, because he didn't hear her, instead, he heard a battle raging around him, as the telepathic illusions worsened. A moment passed, and the other shape-shifter repeated herself. “Like what future could be worse than dying?”

This time he heard her, and answered. “Like a future where the fighting continued and everyone you loved is shot and killed, and you are not strong enough to stop it.” The illusions lessened, just ahead of hot searing pain stabbed into his mind.

Not expecting it, he lost his concentration, and all of the light constructs that he had been maintaining winked out of existence. Copycat's screams not only alerted the knight to what he did, but also awoke the sleeping teens and Mystique.

Not trusting the ambient light of the partly cloudy early morning, Exodus reached for the two flash bangs he had clipped to his belt, before they left the Keys. One he pulled the pin and threw it at the now falling mutants. The other he pulled the pin and aimed it in the general direction of Genosha.

When the first one went off, Exodus quickly used the bright light to capture and hold the people who were falling. Only one wasn't caught in this effort, and that was the boy, Nightcrawler, who teleported up higher into the air and in the end landed atop the new construct.

While the other one he turned and fired as a massive lance toward his island destination. A part of him really hoped that he didn't hit and kill anyone with this massive blast, but honestly, he was annoyed with the raging headache that he now had.

He then willed the new cage towards him, and as he did Exodus felt a mind speak to his.

“Who, oh, Exodus, sorry I was sleeping... Here I adjusted my illusions, they will guide you in instead of drive you away.” A motherly voice said straight into his mind.

After that, the pressure on his mind lessened and he saw a row of lights that led him somewhere. The knight knew that they weren't real lights, as he felt nothing ahead of him, but he at least got the woman's attention, and now he could fly the rest of the way without a problem.

“What the hell was that?!” Mystique shouted at him after checking on not only the teens, but also the state of the crate that held Destiny’s body.

The knight thought about their patron, and then answered her matter-of-factly. “The Black Queen upgraded the island’s defenses. I think for a lesser mind, it would have knocked them out or killed them, but to me, it felt light a sudden stab into my brain. I wasn't prepared for it, and I dropped all of you. But now she is awake and guiding me in."

With nothing to really complain about, the blue-skinned woman crossed her arms, and sat down the best she could while being held by his light. Then they all flew in silence for fifteen minutes, when the boy sitting atop the light construct pointed and said. “Land ahead.”

“I think it’s supposed to be ‘Land ahoy’, brother.” Rogue corrected.

“Oui (yes).” Murmur agreed.

The knight could tell that the kids were trying to distract their feelings with humor, and only Murmur of the three of them could even look at the crate that held their mother’s remains. Not that the blue shapeshifter caught on to that. As Mystique said, trying to correct them. “You’re, no... we’re not pirates.”

‘She is still stuck in her anger.’ He thought, but didn't try to point that out to her when heard the white-skinned shapeshifter speak.

“Well there was that one time that Magneto and I stole an oil tanker, so we kind of are.” Copycat pointed out to the other shapeshifter. “God, did I make bank on ransoming that thing back to Raxxon Oil.”

Then they were lowering towards the docks that were built off of the island. Standing on them, was a group of about a half dozen mutants waiting for them. Exodus only recognized two of them, Selene the Black Queen of the island, and her supply officer, Toad. Who was sitting crouched atop one of the crates next to the crowd. The other two mutant men and women were complete strangers to the knight.

The Black Queen was a pale woman, who could easily pass as a regular human in the world, but instead chose to rule her small island nation in secret. The woman was currently wearing a simple black nightdress. Her long black hair, hung well passed her buttocks, oddly refused to move when the wind picked up. The only make-up she currently wore was her trademark black lipstick.

He could tell the moment that Selene recognized that the crate that he was carrying held a body, when she covered her eyes before wiping away the beginning tears that appeared in them.

Exodus let the light construct land before he even attempted to. Of course, Nightcrawler was so eager to meet more mutants, that he teleported ahead of the rest of his family, and was introducing himself to the group before the construct even touched the wood of the dock.

While still in the air, the knight frowned at the broken and wrecked boat that was sitting on the beach. From the looks of it, the craft had been split into two, and recently. ‘What was able to get here to do that?’ he wondered, but remained silent as he lowered himself to hover behind the end of the dock.

The Black Queen offered her condolences as he did. “I am so sorry for your loss, Mystique. From the way you and she acted, you two could have been sisters.”

"Thank you, for the kind words." The blue-skinned woman muttered. The knight wondered if the two women were continuing their conversation mentally already.

But he was proven wrong, when Selene asked. “Who killed her?”

“I know little, Exodus knows more, but he calls himself Cable. He was a cyborg, and he had very advanced tech, and he clearly has a backer.” Mystique answered, but then asked. “Can my kids stay here for a time? Me and Exodus need to go get an airplane."

“Of course.” The Black Queen nodded as she answered the shapeshifter’s request. Then she turned to a rather tall and muscular black-furred mutant beside her. “Monster would you and a couple of the others help guide these newcomers to the Pit, I am sure that they could use a warm meal given what they have gone through."

The knight raised his eyebrows when the man saluted her with a third arm he had been hiding behind his back, before hearing him say in a rather deep tone, saying. “Si, senora.” The man then pointed to two of the other female mutants hanging out near the back, one seemed to be on fire, and the other was covered in patches of ice. Then the three-armed man asked their teens. "Would you like some roast pork? It very fresh.”

For their credit, the three teens looked to Mystique, who nodded, before agreeing. Then the six mutants left, leaving Selene with Toad and a younger man with white horns growing out of the top of his head.

They all waited till the kids were well out of earshot, before the Black Queen asked. "Is he dead too?" It took them a moment to realize that she was talking about the merc with a mouth.

“No, his name is Deadpool, and he is a regenerator. He would be with us already, but he pissed me off so I shot him in the head.” Mystique admitted.

Selene nodded and took a breath before speaking again. "Well with that cleared up, let's get down to business. Just so we are clear, I am aware of your group's recent troubles, and as much as I would like to. I cannot take the risk and let the Brotherhood live here, there is just too much attention on you and Magneto at this point and…"

Exodus cut her off, saying. “It’s fine, we have already found a new base, one that the rest of the world will have trouble finding." He then recalled his lord’s suggestion about mind readers, and tried to think about other things besides their new base.

Still, the Black Queen must have read something because she asked. "Where is this 'Preserve' exactly?"

“Antarctica.” The knight admitted.

“Thus why we need to steal a plane.” Mystique butted in.

Selene covered her mouth before muttering. “Oh, you were serious. I thought you just wanted to vent your anger at someone. From all of the images I feel off of you.” She then chuckled a little, before looking at Exodus and gave him a warning. “Do be careful down there, the plants and animals are poisonous for even our kind.”

This stunned him and the two shapeshifters, but he recovered first asking. “You know of the place where I speak?”

“Oh, yes, they call it the Savages Lands now, because of that poison that I was talking about, but I recall when the world still called the place that others called the Great Preserve. I am a lot older than I look you know. And no don’t ask me my age, that is quite rude.” As the Black Queen answered him she rubbed the side of her face and stared off, as if she were thinking about better times.

‘I wonder if she knows about the war between the mages and Atlantis as well.’ Exodus thought openly, wondering if she would respond to his thoughts.

“Exodus does, what is she talking about?! What poison?” Mystique shouted at him. Copycat was nodding in agreement, as if he had also somehow kept something from her as well.

The knight floated away from the angry mother, and readied some light shields should he need them, as he explained. "I don't know what she is talking about, but we have so far only eaten preserved food, so maybe it has something to do with the land itself."

"Besides the poison isn't fatal dear, although it does murder your social life," Selene added.

“What does it do?” Copycat asked before the blue woman could.

The black queen rubbed her chin as if she needed to recall it, before answering. "It slows your ability to think, all the while increasing hormones in your body. Think of it like a roid-rage in bacteria form. I thought I might be immune to it, so I risked it back in the day, but nope even I was affected. Took me a year to pass it through my body and be free of its effects.’

“But your flying knight is right, if you bring in food from outside you should be fine. So stock up, while you’re looting and pillaging. Do you have a target for your plane theft?”

Mystique nodded, before saying. “A drug cartel has a base in the Caribbean. It has both a personal dock and a long road, that they use for an airstrip. There should only be twenty to thirty men protecting it, between me, Cat, and Exodus we should be able to handle it fine."

Selene rubbed her chin in thought as the blue woman laid out her plan, before muttering. “Mmm, ‘his own dock’ you say… You might be able to handle my boat problem while you’re at it.”

“I had noticed that your speed boat had been destroyed. Did someone attack you?” Exodus asked.

"Not quite attack darling, more of a drunken brawl. And I taught him not to break my things, but still, he owes me a boat." The black queen waved off the question, before looking at the skinny green-skinned mutant that so far hadn't added anything to the discussion. "Toad, be a dear and fetch Cain for me. Tell him, he has an opportunity to pay off his debt to me."

The small green-skinned man nodded, before leaping a good four meters into the air. Once there then he shot out his tongue, latching it onto the lamp post at the beginning of the dock, which he used to slingshot himself inland of the island.

"Cain, the only mutant named Cain that I know is Charles' brother, and his powers weren't that impressive," Mystique commented.

Selene smiled, before saying. “Let’s just say, he got an upgrade… How did you plan to get to wherever this cartel base is?” The blue woman just pointed her thumb at him over her shoulder. “You do seem to be getting better at handling your creations there Exodus. Taking lessons from Pyro?”

“No. But I was always open to lessons from skilled instructors.” Was all the knight was willing to say. As he did his best to not think about their patron, and the few suggestions that the mage had given him.

Then there was a long silence, while they waited for this 'Cain' to get to them. After a time, Exodus could feel some of the lights flicker, and shortly after he could hear that the flickers were timed with the thumping of the island itself.

“Earthquake?” Mystique asked. Meanwhile Copycat moved some of their things, ensuring that nothing fell on top of her still-unconscious ex-husband.

Then the knight saw him. It was closer to a small mountain than a man. Almost three meters tall, his chest was as big as a twenty-gallon drum, with arms and legs thicker than most tree trunks. With every step he took, he shook the island to its core and broke the surface concrete with the weight of his body. He had to stop at the edge of the dock, as even this giant of a man wasn’t sure if it would hold his weight. However, he was now illuminated by the lamppost so they could fully take the man in.

“I am not you errand boy, Selene. Not anymore.” The large man bellowed at them, as they examined him.

He was dressed in an odd suit of armor. With red painted metal covering his shoulders and head. While his chest, legs, and feet were covered in, what was like some kind of treated red leather. Oddly enough though, he also had a metal band wrapped around his fingers just passed the first knuckle.

“No, but you owe me a boat, so unless you want me to take your debt in the form of life essence, you’re going with them to a cartel base. While they steal the plane, Toad and Broxx can steal their boat.” When the Black Queen threatened him, her right hand and eyes surged with an odd purple energy.

Cain rubbed the top of his round helmet, before saying. “Cartel huh? Ok, here is the deal, I’ll be the bait, but I get to keep the drugs and money… and we split the booze, I don't drink lite beer.”

The knight and the shapeshifter shared a look, before he said. “Deal.”