Shattered Bonds [Book Three]

Chapter 10: Prepare for the Worst

        Raven had been busy.

        She saw what the news tried to sell. Half of it was hard to believe, while the other half only fueled the fire she had inside to eradicate her fellow mutants. Not to mention what she saw of Christiana in the news and papers. Raven knew she meant well, but she was still as blind as Charles.

        There was no peace, not everywhere. That's why Raven did what she did, why she kept fighting back.

        Now, it's landed her with a young blue mutant who went by the name of Nightcrawler. Endowed with the ability to disapparate and transport himself and others, he nearly reminds her of Azazel. That, plus his tail is similar to his, pointed like a devil's tail. If he were red instead of blue, she might think he could be his son.

        She rescued him from a private club, built and run on caging mutants to fight each other for sick sport. With his powers, they were able to make it to a hideout she'd known for years: a place where mutants went to form new identities, registering themselves without the hassle of dealing with humans and their screening processes.

        There came a loud buzzing noise as they were granted passage inside, the gate unlocking itself for a brief moment. Raven pushed it open and made her way down the steps, deeper into the underground hideout. The room was dark, lit sparingly with yellow and green lights. Nightcrawler followed behind her, the gate closing behind them with a clang of metal.

        "Wait here," Raven called back to him as they reached the bottom of the steps, eyeing the mutant standing guard for intruders before she made her way to the end of the room. Behind a makeshift desk stood a tall, bald mutant with pale skin and glaring yellow eyes. His name was Caliban, and he was gifted with the power to locate mutants with little to no external aid.

        "Always good to see your face," he spoke as he looked over the documents on his desk. Raven stopped in front of the desk, waiting for him to look up at her as he commented, "Even if it's not yours."

        Raven didn't have time for the pleasantries. Instead, she threw a wad of cash onto the desk for Caliban to see. "Papers and passage for one."

        "Uh-huh." Caliban picked up the money, weighing it in his hand. He looked back up at Raven, offering a reluctant look. He turned around at once, knowing what she wanted. "And where's the gentleman going, if I may ask?"

        "Don't know, don't care. I just save his life, what he does with it is up to him." Behind her, the young blue mutant was already being called to have his photograph taken for his identification card.

        Caliban clicked his tongue, still turned with his back to her. "Mystique, the mercenary."

        "Don't call me that."

        "No matter how much you pretend to be someone else, Caliban knows who you are." Carefully, he thumbed through his papers, readying the file. "If there's anything worth knowing about mutants, Caliban knows it. . . Mystique."

        Raven was already getting irritated. She looked off to the side where two mutants sat with their hands together, eyes closed in concentration. She recognized them, having seen them many times. She nodded to them, though Caliban couldn't see it. "Why don't you ask your psychics what'll happen to you if you keep pushing me?"

        "What'll happen?" The voice came from behind her, so Raven turned to see who it came from. It was a woman, another mutant because no humans were permitted to be there. She only looked like a human, unphased by any physical mutation that Raven could see. She sat in a chair, her long dark hair pulled back, comfortable in her purple suit.