X-Men: Eternal Flight (Book Three) ON HOLD

Or

Blood dribbled down his chin like a steady current of water. The puddle building beneath his feet was slick and clotted with sweat and ashes.

"Tell me where the other mutants are!"

Blue, scathing eyes lifted from the floor and bore into dark brown ones. A cough sputtered as he choked on his words. "Never....tell..."

Another blow caused him to grunt and yelp in pain. Blisters, old and new, stung at his bare back, feathers falling to the floor in red splattered tufts.

"It's been three days, can you honestly stand this any longer? The pain itching and clawing at your flesh. Blood leaving your body fast enough to not be able to regain it's original levels. Do you feel dizzy, faint? I know how your body works, I know every blood passage, every nerve ending, every action your brain commands it to do. Muscle memory, thought process, senses, everything."

"Go....to-hell,"

Warren winced as dark red rivulets pooled around his shoulders as the whip was snapped again. His usually prominent muscles were deflated, his skin clammy and pale. His wings helplessly dragged on the floor, barely anything left but muscle and bone with few remaining feathers.

"Darkrye, leave us. I think it's time to put a little motivation in this fool."

The mutant that was holding the whip left the room, slamming the metal door behind him. Pale sunlight flashed across the cold floor as it broke through the clouds, which were barely seen through a barred window from above.

"You've got nothing left to lose my friend, nothing," Robert paced himself in front of Warren, casually skipping over loose white feathers and small blood stains. "Yet you try to resist me. Your love is dead, sitting in a cold grave outside. Your friends are all in hiding, completely unknowing of your whereabouts. You are chained, I have found your weakness, and I have you completely trapped. Why don't you disclose the very valuable information that I need and I might let you live?"

Warren's eyes had drifted to the floor with barely enough energy to get angry at the cruel man's words. The sting of the truth had mingled with the wounds on his body, sucking the very essence of the desire to live from his flesh.

"I have nothing," he choked out. "But I would never betray my friends....my....family."

Robert pompously sniffed at the statement. "You are weak. I thought I had a promising compromise to give you. Now I truly know you can't rely on anyone."

He looked up from the floor, his puzzled expression growing more inquisitive. "Why do you resist? Your...family, is gone," his voice soon turned to a higher pitched mock. "Whithered away like daisies in the winter. You don't realize that the whole world will be behind me in destroying the mutants."

"What?" Warren's head shifted from the floor, his eyes fearful.

Robert's eyes flashed. "I didn't tell you of my plan? My my, I might as well. You can't go anywhere." Warren's head drifted back to the floor, his eyes closing from weary exhaustion. "Russia, one of America's greatest rivals, has decided to grant me...something you could call a loan. That little machine your love destroyed not too long ago was a prototype, a rough draft if you must. The new one, that my wife helped me create, is much better. More advanced. The technology we combined was a gift from some of the greatest minds in the world. They all fled from government eyes, secretly working with me in an underground palace. One of my dear friends, who was developing the electronic aspects of it, shortly died in an explosion on an island I had sent him to. Gerard was a brilliant man, one of my greatest allies."

Warren barely flinched at the name. Somehow, the news was of no surprise to him.

"The ironic thing was, however, that he was also a mutant. He could control people while they dreamt. Once he had a hold or a, wisp, of their conscience, he manipulated them. All though it's too unfortunate my daughter overcame his power. But, my project continued on. Would you like me to tell you how it works?"