Dragon's Claws #21

"In tragic life, God wot,
No villain need be! Passions spin the plot:
We are betrayed by what is false within."
- George Meredith, 'Modern Love'

Kaine lay on his bunk as he recovered from the injuries he'd suffered in his first bout in the Arena. He was certain he'd put on a good enough show for the aliens and if he'd got it right, the Dragon's Claws were on their way as well. He'd purposely defied instructions and worn the medallion, even though he knew it was a risk. Aside from it being discovered, the problem with wearing it was that it provided a direct contact between him and his boss and he'd gotten so much grief over wearing it, but he knew that was going to happen.

For the longest time that was all he knew, go out there and do this and do that. He knew the other couldn't do half of these things himself, because too many people were watching for him, but that was the way it went. He enjoyed playing his little games, but he knew how dedicated he was and if he could be down here, then he would be here doing it himself. Didn't stop him from having a go though, and there were moments he wished he'd never stolen this medallion from the British Museum archives. Not even Kate knew it had been recovered, found on an archeological dig in Wales seventy years ago. Well, not the first time it had happened, but they'd changed history ever so slightly, and seeing as how what should have been there was behind the Barrier, in theory at least, it had been easy enough to recover. If Kate hadn't been busy working on holding the timeline together, she might have noticed, but it played in to their hands.

However, the team was on there way now. He'd been told that and so the plan was working, but there had been something in his voice, something that concerned him and he knew it was all to do with the outstanding issue. However, this needed to be dealt with first and he looked over to where Fury was, the old man watching him.

"I help you?" he asked.

"Just wondering," Fury said. "Wondering what you're up to."

"Me?" Kaine said. "Oh, I'm waiting for the next round, wondering how secure this place really is. How many people are in here, anyway?"

"About a thousand or so, give or take," Fury replied. "Mostly heroes, some villains, though those are the ones those who aren't working with the Martians. Martians are using them, but they're a cowardly lot and every day they can stay alive is a bonus to them. Problem is, everyone they knew's pretty much turned against them, so if they've picked a side, they better make sure it wins."

"Otherwise they'll be hunted by everyone when it's all over," said Kaine. "Who's fighting at the moment?"

"Doc Samson and the Rhino," said Fury. "It's going to go on for a while."

"I'll bet," said Kaine. "You can feel the blows down here."

"Yup," said Fury. "Kaine?"

"Yeah?"

"Whatever you're up to, if it goes wrong, kill yourself and end it quick. There have been escape attempts before and they all suffered tortuous deaths. I heard the bravest of heroes scream and cry at what they did."

"Trust me," said Kaine, "if I were up to something, and if it did go tits up, I'd give them an ending they'd never forget." Fury said nothing, but got up and went to watch the match, leaving Kaine alone with his thoughts.

The Quinjet landed in the Australian outback, blowing dust, dirt and sand away as it touched down. This was where the Australian segment of the Resistance was based and it sufficed well enough for them. The underground complex that the X-Men had taken from the Reavers, before the Reavers eventually took it back, made for an excellent command and control style layout. There wasn't as much here as there had once been, thanks to a sentinel invasion, but there was enough to make do with what they needed.

"Where is everyone?" asked Jessica as they stepped out of the Quinjet. "What happened to your people?"

"They scattered after the assault on the Arena failed," Cable said. "We were all being hunted and I barely had enough time to bodyslide myself out. My resources are limited as well these days, which is why I couldn't bodyslide us all here. I explained that."

"You did," said Sam. "It was lucky you could get Forge to us to sort the Quinjet."

"When I realised you were going to use the tesseract generator, I figured we needed a better plan," Cable said, not mentioning the fact that if they used that to get in, they could use it to get out as well and he didn't want that. "It made sense."

"It did," said Jessica. "We're usually a bit more on top of our game than this."

"I know what it's like," Cable replied. "You've lost Pen Dragon, your home turned on you but the world still turns."

"Yes," said Jack. "So what's the plan?"

"Sydney is where the Arena is based," said Cable. "The city was devastated in the first wave, and it's a good place to have the thing - quite close to the States, but not too close. The Australian outback seems to remind the aliens of home, or Mars at any rate and there are quite a few bases and training camps out there." He closed his eyes. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry," he said as he hit Jessica with a combined telepathic and telekinetic shot, sending her to the floor as the Martians came out of the various buildings.

"What the hell is this?" shouted Roberto, as the Claws gathered, back to back. There were alien ships in the sky and a Tripod emerged on the horizon.

"I had no choice," Cable replied. "They promised me…" However the rest of his explanation was lost as the team went to work, Elena's psionics ripping through them as Roberto took out the Tripod with a powerful burst of plasma, Jack and Sam working on a more direct and personal form of combat.

"Stop them," a Martian Overseer commanded, not to his people, but to Cable, and a tear drifted down his cheek as Nathan did as he was commanded and he took them all out in the same way he had taken out Jessica. He had hoped they'd see reason, but they'd been determined to fight to the death. That wasn't what the aliens had planned for them. They fell, Roberto's look of hatred burning in to Cable's soul, but he'd had no choice.

"Is that all you have?" asked Elena, blood coming from her nose and ears, but she was still there. "Let's see how powerful you are." Cable prepared himself, thinking he should have realised that she'd have been less susceptible to the attack, but before they could do anything one of the aliens smashed her across the back of the head and she fell to the floor.

"Excellent," the Overseer said. "You have done well."

"I want her back," said Cable. "Give her to me now."

"Not yet," said the Overseer. "You have yet to deliver all of it. We know you have knowledge of their so-called Arsenal. We want it's location, and if we cannot prise the information to get in to the complex, we will destroy it." Cable nodded, his teeth clenched tightly together. He couldn't allow his child to be taken by the aliens, or Domino to be used as a breeder for their alien offspring. He would get them both back, and he hoped that this plan worked. Bluff and double-bluff and counter-bluff. He didn't want to think of the consequences of this should he fail…

~Jessica.~

There was a voice and Jessica knew something was wrong. Her body felt heavy and she was barely able to focus.

~No, don't open your eyes, Jessica,~ the voice in her head whispered. ~Not yet.~

~Cable, you treacherous bastard,~ she answered, becoming more clear in her mind and remembering the ambush and how the former X-Man had sold them out. ~You're a dead man, Summers. I'll find a way, I swear it.~

~You've no reason to trust me, I know, but hear me out. The aliens have Domino and she's pregnant with our child. They used me to get to you.~ He could feel the derision at that in her mind.

~Used you? Seemed pretty willing to me.~

~They have my wife and child, I'd sell out the entire Xavier alumnus for them,~ Cable admitted. ~But it's a gambit. Whatever Etorian Kaine wants, it involves you in the Arena. I've got you in, what happens next is up to you.~

Jessica was amazed at what he was saying. ~They want me dead. They'll dissect me the same way SX wanted to dissect me so they can make sure my powers can't be used against them.~ Cable knew she was genuinely scared because they weren't going to be gentle with what they did to her, which was why he had found an alternative.

~They did want that, but I've given them everything SX found out about you. They're going to put you in the Arena, but they're not going to have you fight the aliens obviously. Yet.~

~Yet?~

~If you survive, you'll be used as a test subject for their antidote to your powers. They'll throw in aliens for you to kill, if you can.~

~If I survive? What kind of plan is this?~

~The only kind where we all get what we want. I know getting Domino back is a slim hope, but it's the only way. Whether you trust me or not, this is the only way I could see of getting it done. To make sure they believe me, I'm going to give them the rest of what they want.~

Jessica's fury at what Cable had done was limitless and she understood why Logan and Cable had such a longstanding rivalry, for while they both had the same ideals, their methodology was different. Cable used people and Jessica would never forgive this betrayal. ~The Arsenal.~

~Yes.~ It was so matter-of-fact, that Cable knew the next time he saw her, she was going to do everything she could to kill him.

~I hope to God that when they're done with you, they throw you in the Arena~ she said. ~Whatever your reasons are, they're nowhere near good enough.~

~I've done all I can to protect you,~ Cable said. ~Do what you've got to do, because that's what I've done.~ She felt his presence fade in her mind and she opened her eyes, but she had no idea where she was.

She could move, but every piece of equipment she'd brought with her had been stripped away. No PPG, no body armour, in fact she was almost naked, stripped down to her underwear, but there were some clothes laid out and she put them on for modesty. The pants were a size too small and the jacket a size too large, but it covered up her enough. She wasn't one of the super-heroines that thought exposing as much flesh as possible was enticing or distracting to their mostly male opponents. Her Spider-Woman costume had been very conservative in appearance and while the jacket covered up her bra, it still left enough exposed for people to realise what it was. It was a mild discomfort, but she made a mental promise to find a top as soon as she could. The corridor with bunk beds in was pretty much deserted, but outside there was a low level of voices out there and she stepped out of the room to see people gathered, men and women, heroes and villains alike and she gave an involuntary shiver as she felt the cold, depressing atmosphere within the place.

This was where they waited to die, to be thrown in to the Arena as little more than performing animals for the amusement of their captors. They fought and killed one another, sometimes foes, sometimes friends. For most of the heroes, who didn't believe in killing, it was another way of dehumanising them. For the villains, it was letting their baser instincts run wild, but as she looked around the ragged and dispirited people, she also saw something else. People in here had a kinship, the former status they had of 'them and us' had been put aside while they were down here. They took each other for companionship, for friendship, even for love, just as long as they weren't alone. The aliens had battered their spirits, but they hadn't been able to strip them of their core humanity, and they could never do that, because they just didn't get it and a shiver of hope echoed down her spine.

"You see it too," said Elena, coming across to her. "I sensed it in your mind."

"They've not been broken," whispered Jessica. "They do what they have to do, knowing it might be the last thing they ever do, but they keep going."

"They just need a chance to fight properly," said a voice and Jessica turned.

"Etorian Kaine." He was with Jack and Sam. "Where's Bobby?"

"They're putting him through the trials," said Jack. "To see how he ranks in the fighting structure."

"He should be fine," said Kaine. "He's got more than enough raw power. Then again, that could be said of a lot of people in here."

"Why not try and break out?" said Jessica. "What's stopping a united effort?"

"Try it," said Kaine. "Try climbing the walls." Jessica looked at him and gingerly touched the wall. There was a sense of friction as the walls were not smooth and it allowed her skin to adapt to the wall, sticking in the microscopic irregularities but as she tried to climb, she found she wasn't sticking to the wall as she should have been. "They can't cancel out our powers, but they've managed to keep that a very low level," he said. "What they use is the precursor to what they managed in Genosha. They had a prototype that they'd adapted to neutralise all powers, but they needed a lot of power to make it work and this place already takes up a lot of power. What they were hoping was that if they could make it happen and expand it to cover all of Genosha…"

"They could use it here." Sam said. "And we blew it up."

"So you did," said Kaine. "I'm fairly sure that cause a serious set back in their plans." Jessica nodded to Elena and the telepath used what little power she had to mindlink them all and give them some privacy as they discussed what they needed to, for there were questions that needed to be answered.

"Are you Pen Dragon?" said Jessica and Kaine shook his head.

"Nope," he said. "I'm not Pen Dragon, but I know all about him, and you, and Kate, and the rest. I also know that you are the Pen Dragon now, my Lady." Jessica was taken aback by this, the echoes of her dream coming back to her.

"My lady?"

"You're an heir to the legacy of Arthur," said Kaine. "You command the powers of Caliburn. Adam Crown is the King, but you are as much the rightful heir as he is and at the very least you deserve the title." There was a twinkle in his eye that she thought she recognised from Pen Dragon, but he said he wasn't him. Then again Pen Dragon had said he wasn't Pete Wisdom, so was this déjà vu?

"Elena?" she said and Elena shook her head.

"My powers maybe diminished," she said, "but he has no psionic shields that prevent me from sensing the truth. He isn't Pen Dragon, nor is he a walk in spirit as suggested by Sam. However he knows something about him."

"There are other things to do than discuss a dead man," said Kaine. "However, my plan to bring you here has worked, because I will need your help if we're to pull this off."

"What is that?"

"To tear the Arena down around the Martian's ears and unleash over a thousand superhumans waiting for a chance for revenge."

"You speak as if you have a plan?" said Sam and Kaine nodded.

"I've been instructed to defer to your judgement, but this is what I have in mind," he explained to them the plan he had in mind.

After their meeting the team needed time to reflect on what had been said and Kaine had a match scheduled and he left them to it. They had their own trials to perform as well and Jessica decided that the team should act as though nothing had changed yet, and perform the trials and prepare for the matches they would be assigned. The plan would take a lot to pull off, but if Kaine was right it would make things interesting and it would take some time to set up. What he hadn't said was who was giving him his orders, but it was obvious he was working for someone out there, someone with a great deal of position and knowledge and for what it was, Jessica suspected that it was someone working for the Green. Obviously they had changed things with their adventure in the past, and the Green had been watching, aware of the aliens and of what was going on. The fact there was a reverence towards her from Kaine, despite the mischievousness of his attitude when he mentioned it, contributed to this. She'd even spoken with Nick Fury and it was as if seeing her and the others there had reawakened something in him as well, as if there were something about her presence that altered things. Had the revelation of her true heritage changed her so much? She was just one woman, but the Claws seemed to respond to her with more faith than they had done to Pen Dragon, and she seemed to inspire it in others as well.

Still, there was much to consider, as well as the fate of Cable. Soon the aliens would have access to the Arsenal and there was nothing they could do about that. The first order of business was survival, and they'd deal with the traitor later on. As she rested before her own trials she knew that there was still hope, and that was good enough for her.

Things were going to change.