Hellfire in New York

Hellfire in New York

Chapter 5: The Wolfsbane Gambit

It was early in the morning in Westchester County, and Rahne Sinclaire took a deep breath of clean air as she jogged across the grounds of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. She enjoyed these moments of solitude; they gave her time to think. Right now, she was thinking about Sam Guthrie, the young man she loved. Sam and Rahne had been drawn together from the first. Not only had they arrived at Xavier's at the same time - some four years ago now - but they also shared a deep Christian faith. In this respect, they both had felt alone at the school until they had begun to pray and to read the Bible together in the evenings.

It had only been eighteen months or so before the two of them realised that their feelings had grown beyond mere Christian fellowship into something more intense and personal. They had been blissfully happy, but now their feelings and their faith were coming into conflict. Both believed that physical love outside marriage was wrong, but at the same time, their healthy young bodies were urging them to express their desire for each other. Worse, all around them their friends were enjoying full and happy physical relationships, which the all-knowing Professor Xavier chose to discreetly ignore.

There was no-one Rahne could turn to who would understand her dilemma. Professor Xavier respected all religions, but professed none. Cyclops, Havok and Polaris followed his lead. Beast and Wolverine were out-and-out atheists, as was Alison. Kitty was a Jew by birth, but her family didn't practise their faith. Bobby's and Marie's parents had been churchgoers, but for social rather than religious reasons, and neither of the young people bothered with that pretence now. Peter was Russian Orthodox, while Kurt, Sean and Roberto were Papists - one step down from Satanists, in Rahne's view! Shiro was a Zen Buddhist, a practice Rahne didn't understand, and her closest friend Dani was an unabashed pagan. Rahne had tried to talk to Dani about her problem, but halfway through the conversation, the Native American girl had simply hugged her hard and said, "For cryin' out loud, sweetie! Just take him to bed! Sam's a wonderful, gentle guy. You'll be great together. It's what your body is for, Rahne, honey!"

Another young woman might have been able to ask her mother, but Rahne couldn't. Her pious, narrow-minded parents, who crofted on Muir Island off the Scottish coast, had feared and hated their shape-shifting daughter. Rather than be shunned by the insular community, her father had tried to smother his daughter one night, but Rahne had escaped in her wolf form, roaming the island until found by its Lady.

Luckily for Wolfsbane, that was Lady Moira McTaggart, or Dr McTaggart, as she preferred to be called. A colleague of Xavier's in Mutant research, Moira had lost no time in sending Rahne to the Professor. Xavier's telepathic abilities, and those of Jean Grey, had quickly healed her traumatised mind, while the loving friendship of the other young Mutants had helped Rahne accept herself. But she had held onto her faith - a simpler, gentler version of her parents' fierce Calvinism, but just as stern in its moral requirements.

Rahne suddenly realised that there was one person both she and Sam could talk to. The four English wizards would be coming to Xavier's soon for refresher training. Both she and Sam had become very close to one of them, Ron Weasley. Ron was perceptive, gentle and as straight as a die. He'd listen and not judge, and perhaps just talking about it to someone else would help them resolve the issue.

That decided, Rahne reached a small, wooden structure in a quiet corner of the grounds. Everyone called it 'Rahne's Hut' - the door was designed in such a way that she could open and close it in her wolf form. Time to stop thinking for a while! Rahne went into the hut and stripped naked, then shifted to wolf, left the hut and began to run. She needed this time of freedom to play and to exercise her animal self. True, her X-Man uniform was made of adaptive polymer that allowed her freedom of movement in any form, but she also needed to feel the wind on her fur sometimes, and to roll in the grass. Banshee and Wolverine had built the hut to protect her fiercely guarded modesty when she changed. She couldn't run through the school as a wolf - she'd frighten too many of the younger children.

Wolfsbane revelled in the scents of the morning, a sensation she was denied in her human form, so she was as angry as she was surprised at the jarring new notes that appeared when she reached a stand of trees: machine oil, metal, man-scent, the whiff of masked fear, and something else, something unfamiliar. It was a heavy, powerful reek, thick with malice and dark lust. Wolfsbane stopped and stood at gaze, then a figure stepped out of the trees, raised a weapon, and fired at her. But she was already moving, jinking gracefully as she charged down on the intruder, and so the plastic net missed her. Wolfsbane sprang. Her powerful jaws closed on the man's arm, and he howled in pain as the young she-wolf bore him to the ground.

Then a weight came on her back, and the horrible, alien stench nearly choked her. A guttural voice spoke in her ear, "Got you! Ah, but you're a beauty, and brave too! Such whelps you'll bear me!"

Fighting revulsion, Wolfsbane shifted to her semi-human form, and twisted in the grip that held her, using a jiu-jitsu move to throw her captor off. He was a tall, rangy man who moved like an animal himself. His yellow eyes were fixed on her hungrily as he started towards her again. Rahne was smaller than he, but possibly as strong - not that it mattered, as she used three or four very dirty tricks learned from Logan to put him down fast.

But, by this time, other enemies surrounded her. Some of them, she saw, wore the blue uniforms of Hellfire Club mercenaries, but others seemed to be dressed in a variety of robes. The mercenaries carried their usual assortment of stun projectors, small arms and net-throwers; the robed ones carried wands. Wizards? Rahne was astonished. Then a heavy blow landed on the back of her head and she fell. Rolling over, she stared muzzily up at her attacker, seeing a tall, dark-haired man in blue. On his chest was a badge of a white castle - the White Rook! Donald Pierce grinned down at her, advising, "If I were you, Wolfsbane, I'd stay put. You're no match for me, and if I damage you, your husband-to-be over there will be disappointed."

At that moment, there was a sudden roar, and a the figure of a young man trailing a column of smoke and flame shot over Rahne to crash into Pierce and carry him back into the trees. Simultaneously, the form of Sunfire streaked overhead, pausing to drop the black silhouette that was Sunspot among the mercenaries, before hurling a red-orange firebolt into the wizards.

Wolfsbane struggled to her feet. In this form, she healed as rapidly as Wolverine. Her concussion was already gone by the time she noticed Rogue at her side. The tall Southern girl said tersely, "It's you they're after, sugah. Get back to the mansion. We'll cover you!"

Wolfsbane wanted to fight, but she wouldn't question Rogue's authority. As she started back to the house, she saw Colossus and Ariel coming up. Then there was a whoosh, and Cannonball dropped to the ground at her side. "Let's go!" he said.

Behind them, the cyborg White Rook came storming out of the woods, only to find himself face to face with the armoured form of Colossus. Pierce swung a mighty blow to the younger man's midsection. Colossus grunted, but didn't move, then threw a punch of his own. Pierce blocked with his bionic arm, before launching a counter-punch. It quickly became clear that this was a battle of attrition. Cyborg and Mutant were evenly matched as to strength; it would take a great many blows from Pierce to put Colossus down, and though a single successful strike from Peter would knock the Rook out, he first had to get past the man's superb defence.

Then Peter heard a 'voice' in his head. Not the familiar one of Xavier, but the mental tones of the White Queen!

Colossus, he's most vulnerable where his bionic limbs join his human torso! Peter had a mental image of the White Rook, certain areas of his form outlined in red. There was no time for Colossus to debate whether or not to trust Emma Frost. Instead, he slipped Pierce's next blow, and drove rigid fingers into the point just by the right shoulder that the image had shown him. The cyborg yowled in agony and staggered back. Peter followed up, kicking him just above the hip on the left to disable the other side. The White Rook collapsed.

Colossus looked around to see where else he could help, then abruptly sank into the ground up to his waist. A tall wizard strode up to him, stopping just beyond his reach to drawl, "Well, lookee, here! Looks like yer all hog-tied nice and purty, Tin Man. Lessee if you really got a heart!"

Then he went down to his knees. Ariel emerged from behind him, and swung the heavy branch once again. The blow landed with a resounding crack and remarkable venom, considering the attacker's size, and the wizard slumped unconscious. Ariel dropped the branch and darted over to her boyfriend, grabbing his outstretched hand before using her phasing ability to allow him to step up out of the solid earth.

Rahne and Sam were making tracks toward the mansion when Sam suddenly pitched forward and didn't move. Wolfsbane spun to see a thin witch aiming a wand at her. Then Rogue was there, grabbing the witch's wand hand in her ungloved one. The woman keeled over without a sound. Rogue picked up the wand and dashed towards Wolfsbane, yelling, "Go!" Wolfsbane ran. Rogue muttered, "This is gettin' to be a habit! I'll be goin' to Hogwarts for real before long." She bent over Cannonball and said clearly, "Ennervate!"

Sam's eyes opened, he rolled over, glanced around, then grabbed Rogue and pulled her down hard. She fell on top of him as a voice yelled, "Avada Kedavra!" A bolt of green light shot over her head and struck a tree, the leaves of which immediately turned black and shrivelled. Rogue rolled off Cannonball and pointed her wand, barking, "Crucio!" A wizard screamed and doubled over to fall in a trembling heap.

"Geez!" muttered Cannonball. "That was harsh!"

"Sonuvabitch threw a Killing Curse at me!" growled Rogue. "What was I gonna do - blow him a kiss? Wrong time of the month to piss me off, bub!" she yelled at her erstwhile opponent.

Not for the first time, Cannonball reflected that Rogue's absorption of Wolverine's powers on one occasion had left its mark!

Wolfsbane had not got far before she was tackled to the ground once again. The vile scent was all around her while a heavy hand pinned her by the back of the neck, pushing her face into the grass. The guttural voice spoke again, "Oh no, you'll not wriggle out of this, pretty one! You're mine, now and forever!" Then there was a thud and a grunt, and the weight came off her.

She sprang to her feet, ready to fight, but found her attacker distracted by a short, stocky figure in a checked shirt and jeans - Wolverine! The Canadian spoke without looking at her. "Got it covered, darlin'. Amscray!"

The intruder snarled at Wolverine, "Do you know who I am?"

Logan shrugged, "Just another werewolf, far as I can tell by your stink."

"Not a werewolf, the werewolf!" The man drew himself up. "I am Fenrir Greyback! Now, stand aside!"

"Blow it out yer ass, pal!" growled Logan. "That little girl is one o' my kids. You want her, you gotta go through me!"

"So be it." Fenrir launched himself at his smaller foe, only to be thrown back by a pair of devastating blows. He roared, and charged again, and the fight was on in earnest.

At the edge of the trees, two tall men were watching the battle unfold. One was a muscular figure in a red Hellfire Club uniform. His name was Cole, and he was a former Recon Marine who commanded the mercenary unit here today. The other was a slender, balding, scholarly-looking wizard in sombre robes. His name was Caradoc Grimslade, and he led the wizard contingent. The two men watched as Colossus, Ariel, Rogue, Sunfire, Cannonball and Sunspot wreaked havoc on their mixed force. They saw their objective escaping as Fenrir was trapped in a bitter, brutal fight with Wolverine, whose particular sense of honour prevented him from using his deadly claws on an enemy in human form.

For a while, the battle could have gone either way, but then two airborne figures swooped into the action. Banshee's ultrasonic scream and the magnetic powers of Polaris rapidly shifted the balance toward the defenders.

Cole turned to Grimslade. "I warned you about this. We better get out of here before the rest of the X-Men turn up!"

Grimslade raised an eyebrow and spoke in a cultured, Bostonian accent, "You mean these are not all of them?"

Cole shook his head. "Nah. Fewer than half of them, just the ones that were nearest. The others are on their way - look!" He pointed out across the grounds to a crowd of small figures who were pelting toward the battle. "We either go now, or we get our asses wiped." He raised a pair of binoculars and scanned the mansion, then stiffened and swore before calling out, "Mr. Pierce!"

The White Rook was staggering off the battlefield, evidently in a good deal of pain, but managing to carry the witch who'd been overcome by Rogue's powers. "What is it, Cole?"

"Sir, has the White Queen contacted you?"

"Emma? No, why?"

"Because she's in the mansion, watching the fight. If she's not talking to you, then I have to assume she's directing the enemy. Sir, she knows all our tactics. If she's working with the X-Men, we are seriously compromised!"

"Shit," said Pierce wearily, "Let's go home, Cole. We're beaten."

Grimslade stepped forward, put his wand to his throat, and invoked an apmplification spell. "Sonorous!" Then he bellowed, "DISENGAGE! EVERYONE BACK TO THE TRUCK. NOW!" As both mercenaries and wizards obeyed, he turned to Cole and spoke in his normal voice, "Mr. Cole, you and I need to talk. I owe you an apology, sir."

Fenrir leaped back from Wolverine. "It seems we must finish our discussion another time! I have marked your scent, Mutant! Tell me your name - I like to know whose heart I will be eating!"

"They call me Wolverine, bub," the Canadian replied coolly. "And I've marked your scent, too. Don't cross me again, Greyback, or you might not live to regret it!"

The X-Men pursued the attackers back to a large truck, parked just within the grounds. Before they could wonder how it had gotten past the perimeter detectors, the last mercenary climbed in, and the tall wizard in the driver's seat said loudly, "The Hellfire Club!" The truck shimmered and vanished.

"Clever!" remarked Rogue. "They must've made the whole darn truck into a Portkey! That's how they got in past the detectors."

"Well, don't that beat all!" said Sam. "Let's get back to the house. I wanna make sure Rahne's OK."

Wolfsbane had reached the mansion. As she approached a side door, it swung open to reveal the slender figure of Emma Frost, who held out Rahne's bathrobe and said, "Here, slip this on so you can change back. You can go get your sweats later."

Rahne pulled on the robe, thanking the woman shyly, and feeling ashamed of her distrust of the former White Queen. Emma's eyes went distant for a moment, and then she said, "It's pretty much over out there. You better run along and get in the shower, Rahne - I know you'll want one after that...thing...pawed you that way."

Rahne took off, but Emma remained where she was, watching as the X-men made their way back to the house. Cyclops and Rogue approached her immediately, and Scott Summers put out a hand. "Dr. Frost, I owe you an apology; we all do, I think. We haven't treated you as well as we should have, and we haven't trusted you. I'm sure you can understand why. But today, if you hadn't warned us about the intruders, we might have lost Wolfsbane. You've gone a long way toward convincing me that you're sincere."

Emma smiled, but her eyes were sad. "But not all the way, Cyclops? What about you, Rogue?"

Marie looked her in the eye. "I'll be the first to admit I find it hard to trust you. I'll also be the first to admit that you were a big help today. Let's just say you're on parole as far as I'm concerned, OK?"

"That's fair." Emma conceded. "Normally, I wouldn't have intervened. I've no right to expect you to trust me, but the Professor is in the Cerebro chamber, so I had to act. I'm just grateful that you all believed me.

"And for the record," she went on, "I didn't just do it to spite the Hellfire Club. I do want to earn your trust, and I want to do it honestly, if I can."

"Then I have another step for you." Said the voice of Charles Xavier. The Professor had come up behind Emma, and now she turned to face him. Xavier's eyes held the slightly weary look they always had after a session with the Mutant-detecting super-computer, but he spoke firmly, "You have recovered enough from your ordeal. It's time you and I had a talk, Dr. Frost. This attack has only made matters more imperative. I need to know as soon as possible exactly what has happened within the Hellfire Club and who is involved."

Just then, a figure standing slightly behind Xavier stepped forward. She was a tall, stately woman, full-figured and regal, with long, black hair. Her face was certainly beautiful, but not entirely human, and her eyes were those of an eagle, steady and golden-brown. She placed a long, elegant hand on Xavier's shoulder and bent to speak to him in a husky voice with an odd, lilting accent, "Not just now, Charles. First, you must rest and eat a little, my beloved. I think Dr Frost would also like time to collect her thoughts."

Xavier placed a hand over the woman's. "You're right, as always, Lilandra." he replied. "Dr Frost, come to my study in an hour's time, if you please."

Emma nodded and turned to leave, but someone caught her arm, and she found herself looking up into the eyes of Peter Rasputin. He came straight to the point, speaking slowly in his bass rumble, "Dr. Frost, I can't answer for anyone else here, but back there you helped me put the White Rook out of action a lot quicker than I could've done otherwise. I'm not about to make any judgments, that's Marie's department, but for myself, I owe you one. So, if there's anything I can do for you, just name it."

She smiled hesitantly. "There's just one thing, Peter, and I think you'll find it easy. Just...just be kind to me, please?"

He smiled back. "That I can do!"

Emma nodded her thanks, then went on her way, thinking, Yes, he'll be kind - they all will. But they won't trust me until Xavier says so. And Rogue never will until Harry Potter says so. Emma Frost knew in her heart that she was no longer the White Queen. That cold, domineering, ambitious woman had been a lie she had devised to protect herself from the pain of her past. But Harry Potter had exposed her for the sham she was. Because of him, she had lost Sebastian and the Hellfire Club to Selene, and she had been humiliated and tortured. Yet all she felt towards Harry was a great debt of gratitude because, for the first time in years, Emma Frost could feel her heart beating, warm and alive, and because now when she needed to, she could finally cry.

*****

Selene lounged on her throne and looked down with smouldering eyes at the four figures standing by the foot of the dais. The White Rook's face still bore the marks of the pain Colossus had caused him. Caradoc Grimslade and Ralph Cole stood, to Selene's surprise, shoulder to shoulder. Fenrir Greyback stood a little apart from the other three, and returned Selene's look with something very like contempt.

Selene herself was not alone. Bellatrix sat at her feet as always, glowering down at Fenrir, while Rookwood leaned indolently against the high back of the throne. Three steps down the dais stood the tall figure of Sebastian Shaw - the Black King. At the back of the hall, Peter Pettigrew lurked in the shadows, watching and listening. For this interview, Selene had decided to make a show of power, so there were two other figures, standing behind and to either side of her throne, like bodyguards.

One stood about eight feet tall. Its lower limbs and head were those of a gigantic goat, while its chest and arms were human. Great, bat-like wings were folded on its back, wings it occasionally opened and flapped, sending a gust of foul stench across the hall. It was an Abyss Goat, one of the more powerful types of demons Selene was now able to summon.

The other figure was taller - ten feet at least - and entirely humanoid. Its outer shell of super-hard alloy gleamed softly in the torchlight as it stood still as a statue. Whoever had built it had supplied it with a stern, impassive and unmoving face out of which red eye-cells scanned the hall. This was a Sentinel anti-Mutant robot, created by the White Rook specifically to battle the X-Men or the Brotherhood of Mutants.

"Donald," Selene said in a soft, sad tone the acoustics of the hall carried clearly to her audience, "my loyal White Rook, I'm so disappointed in you. I thought that whatever else happened, you I could rely on. But now, look! You go racing off on some hare-brained adventure without asking me, and you get hurt!" Selene threw up her hands. "I don't know whether to nurse you or to punish you. What were you thinking, Donald?"

The millionaire inventor and cybernetic juggernaut looked down at his feet, shuffling them like a schoolboy. "I'm sorry, Selene. I should have told you, but Greyback here was set to go regardless, and taking Grimslade with him, so Cole and I thought we'd better lend a hand. We didn't - I didn't - think they had a clue as to what they'd be up against at that mansion, so we took some of our people along for back up. There wasn't time to reach you - you were in the Temple. I'm sorry."

"How noble!" replied Selene sarcastically, her tone making Pierce flinch. "It had nothing to do, of course, with paying back the X-Men for all the times they've humiliated you?"

Pierce looked up at her with real hurt in his eyes. The White Rook had been one of Selene's more successful seductions, she thought; he was completely in love with her. Selene sighed. The fight with Colossus, and her apparent anger with him, had caused her Rook quite enough pain. It was a delicate balance, and if she overdid things, his passion could turn to hatred.

She smiled down at Donald Pierce. "Very well, I forgive you, this time." She turned to the wizard and the mercenary. "You two, I'll let Sebastian deal with!"

Shaw nodded, and looked soberly at the two men. "Grimslade, I've nothing much to say to you. You had no idea of what you were getting yourself and your people into. Still," he added heavily, "if you hadn't stubbornly ignored our warnings, you might have been prepared. I know it rubs you wrong to listen to us Muggles, but now several of your people are in the hospital here because of it. Dammit, man, we told you the X-Men were dangerous! We told you as well that they know about wizards so you were never going to surprise them."

Bellatrix leaned forward, interrupting Shaw to snarl at Grimslade, "Those Mutants helped our enemies defeat the best our Dark Lord could muster! I told you that, too, Caradoc. You might have listened to me, if not to Sebastian here!"

Grimslade held up a hand. "I beg your pardon, ma'am," he said to Bellatrix, "but those were British wizards the X-Men fought. I was brought up to believe that your wizards were a decadent bunch who spent all their time playing Quidditch and either hiding from Muggles or breeding with them!

"Obviously, I was wrong, and I'll be the first to admit it. And Lt. Cole," he turned to the mercenary commander, "I owe you an apology, too. My people tend to look down on yours - 'mere Muggles', they say. It seems we've underestimated you. We won't do that again."

"About the rest, Mr. Shaw, I was told that orders from the Inner Circle, or from Mrs. Lestrange, Mr. Rookwood, Mr. Pettigrew or Mr. Greyback were to be treated as orders from Her Majesty, there. So, when we were ordered by Mr. Greyback to seize the girl, we obeyed."

Cole broke in at this point. "When I found out about it, I informed the White Rook, who told me the mission must have been authorized, so we went along as back up. I take full responsibility for my men."

"Of course you do," replied the Black King, "which is why you are confined to quarters for forty-eight hours, as is Mr. Grimslade. In future, authorization comes from the Black Queen or myself!"

"Which brings me to you, Fenrir." Selene glared at the werewolf, who returned her gaze unflinchingly. Her control over this one was tenuous at best; he had resisted her seductive wiles, and was only held here through fear for his life and her promise that soon he would be free to hunt and ravage as he chose.

He spoke before she could, "I don't answer to you, woman! I want the girl, and I'll have her! She's young, healthy, a virgin, and she can control her change. When I breed from her, our offspring will have that talent, and werewolves will be free - free of the Moon, free to hunt when and where we please! Out of Wolfsbane by Fenrir - a pedigree to make the world tremble!"

"You can't go back to the mansion," the White Rook pointed out deflatingly, "or you won't come back alive." He turned to Shaw, remarking, "This idiot got into it with Wolverine!"

Shaw shook his head. "Then he's lucky to be here now!"

"I don't understand," said Rookwood, "I've read your files. I'd have thought that Sunfire or Iceman would have been more dangerous. This Wolverine seems to have little in the way of real power."

The Black King turned and looked up at the tall wizard. "You're judging by the wrong yardstick, Augustus. True, judged on raw power, Wolverine is one of the weakest of the X-Men, but in ferocity, he's absolutely the most dangerous. I'd recommend you ask some of his former opponents, but you'd have to dig most of them up, first!"

"Enough!" snarled Fenrir. "I'll do as I please! You can help me and live, or hinder me and die!"

Selene said nothing, did nothing, but Fenrir suddenly collapsed to the floor, howling in agony. Bellatrix recognised the effects of a Cruciatus Curse. Selene had cast it both non-verbally and wandless! I must get her to teach me that, Bellatrix thought, before I kill her.

Fenrir stopped howling, glared fiercely at Selene, and tensed to spring. Then Pettigrew's silver hand came down on his neck, and he couldn't move as the deadly metal sent more pain shrilling along his nerves.

Selene smiled. "Thank you, Peter darling. Now you and Augustus take him down to the dungeons. A week there will teach him manners, I think!

"Caradoc, Cole, I expect you to obey Sebastian's orders. Donald..." her tone became tender, "....Come with me, my sweet. I have a wonderful remedy for your pain, and you must apologise to me properly."

Selene rose from her throne, dismissing her two non-human guards with a gesture. The demon folded its wings about itself and vanished; the robot turned and left through a hidden door. The Black Queen gently took the White Rook's arm and led him toward her private quarters.

Shaw watched them go and sighed, then turned as Bellatrix came up beside him, asking, "What is it, Sebastian?"

He shrugged. "I told Selene what Cole said about Emma being with the X-Men, but she didn't seem bothered. Sometimes I can't figure her out!"

Bellatrix laughed. "Of course not, dear! She's a woman, and you're only a man! But as for Frost, so what if she tells Xavier everything? All he will do is summon Harry Potter to his side, which is just what we want!

"The Hell-Gate opens wider every day. Soon, the Named Demons can be summoned. By then, it will be too late; Potter and the X-Men will fall! But for now," she slipped her arms around his neck, "if Selene is occupied with Donald, why should we not indulge ourselves?"

They kissed greedily, then Bellatrix moved away from Shaw, climbing back up the dais. On the top step, she turned and shed her robe with a graceful movement. "I feel like usurping the Queen's throne for a while." She posed herself provocatively on the large seat. "Come, Sebastian, there's plenty of room for two!" Dark eyes glittering, he climbed the stairs toward her.

The Sentinel stepped through the doorway, and vanished. In its place stood a slim man of medium height, with a thin, sharp face and lank, black hair. He turned and looked back at the curtain, overhearing Shaw and Bellatrix talking. He grinned to himself, his eyes - one blue, one gold - glinting with amusement. Then he turned away; the White Knight, alias Jason Wyngarde, alias Mastermind, had a message to send.