psinex@yahoo.com Running with Devils Chapter 1 by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: Sinister and the Marauders are Marvel's; Steve is mine. Please don't sue. WARNING: Sexual matters, violence, foul language and torture. Read at your own risk of being offended ... -------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere on the road between Boston and Snow Valley, Mass.: 08/30/2003: noon: -------------------------------------------------------- #Feet hurt,# the boy thought, shouldering his backpack and scanning the horizons of the wooded two-lane. He looked around, but the late-summer heat seemed to fail to affect him. A casual observer would have seen only an 11-year-old Caucasian boy, clad like most boys his age in worn jeans and a white T-shirt and sneakers, lugging a backpack. His blue eyes might have drawn some interest, as might the fine blond fuzz which passed for hair on his head. Otherwise, he was fairly normal-looking, save the slight redness around his eyes from the tears. And the metal-ringed socket at his left temple. #I can't go back,# Steven Summers - youngest child of Scott and Jean by only a few minutes behind his fraternal twin Nathan - thought sadly. He felt the neural interface jack and cursed as violently as he knew, muttering, "Damned dumb implant." #Sinister'll use me t'get at my family. I WON'T do it,# he thought, tearing up. His telepathy sprang to life unbidden, casting an illusion of his large family before him and making him cry silently. #Mom an' Dad tried t'help, an' 'Rik, Buffy, Ray an' Nate all care ... but I can't stay,# Steve thought mournfully. He sat on a rock, and turned his power inwards with a sigh. #Maybe I c'n make this dumb implant work FOR me,# Steve thought. He tried to tune into a local radio station, but gasped when a horribly familiar figure appeared in his mind. ~Steven ! What a pleasant surprise,~ Mr. Sinister grinned. ~NOOOOO !~ Steve cried. ~GET OUTTA MY HEAD !~ ~It's far too late for that,~ Sinister mocked. ~The implant cannot be removed without killing you, and even if I cannot pierce your mindshield and reprogram you at this distance, I CAN track you. Give in, little man. I can give you everything you could ever desire, and more.~ ~'Cept a real family,~ Steve pouted. ~You'd be surprised what I can do for you, even in that regard,~ Sinister countered. ~Besides, can you deny that on some level, you were hoping to contact me ...?~ ~LIAR !~ Steve pshouted, sobbing. ~Come now, Steven. After I implanted you, we became inextricably linked,~ Sinister pointed out. ~I can become like another father to you. And I promise, if I have you, I won't have to pester your family any more.~ ~You're lying,~ Steve psnapped. #But what if he means it ... ?# part of him thought hopefully. #Nate an' Ray an' Buffy an' 'Rik'd be safe ...# ~No, I mean it,~ Sinister continued. ~I only need one Summers psion to accomplish my goals - mostly, exterminating Apocalypse.~ ~Apocalypse ?~ Steve asked. ~I'll explain once you've come to me,~ Sinister sent. ~Save yourself needless frustration and pain, Steven. Join me.~ ~You promise to leave my family alone ?~ Steve sent. ~I promise,~ Sinister replied. Steve sighed, and looked up to see several armored figures standing over him. "Welcome to the club, kid," one - a man in a silvery costume with weapon parts across it and greasy-black hair - smirked. "I'm Scalphunter. This is Vertigo" - he pointed to a green-haired woman with a costume which made Steve nauseous - "Blockbuster, Scrambler and Prism." The other men nodded, smiled or grunted. "Aren't you just cute ?" Vertigo smiled, pinching Steve's cheek. The boy blushed and stood, mumbling, "C'n we just go, please ?" "Impatient now that you've signed the dotted line, huh ?" Scalphunter chuckled. "We're off." Steve clutched his stomach as they vanished in a flare of light, and looked up to see them reappear in a room with organic-looking walls. He gasped when something seized his mind, and he began to walk alone down a hallway to an imposing door. ~Come in,~ Sinister sent. The door opened, and Steve gasped to see the array of laboratory equipment which awaited. Sinister sat behind a desk, with a hologram of Steve floating in midair. "Welcome home," Sinister smiled evilly. "Just so you know, when you gave yourself to me, you signed an unbreakable contract. Whatever I do to you, you have no room to resist." "I know," Steve sniffed. He set the backpack down and looked at Sinister, shivering at the greed in his new master's eyes. "Disrobe and throw your former belongings in the incinerator," Sinister demanded. "You won't need any reminders of your old life now that you are mine." "OK," Steve sighed. He stripped quickly and dumped his clothes and backpack in a nearby hole in the wall, blushing as Sinister looked him over. "A-are you g-gonna ... rape me ?" Steve whispered. Sinister shook his head and motioned the boy to lay back on a metallic table. manacles restraining Steve's limbs. "I prefer not to get so ... closely involved with my subjects," Sinister sniffed. "Suffice it to say that you are on your own in that department. The other Marauders will probably try to use you as some sort of toy unless you learn to defend yourself quickly." Steve swallowed hard as Sinister plugged a probe into his interface jack. "Now ... I didn't have a chance to preserve the set of memories I rewrote for you the last time you visited, so I'll have to edit yours directly," Sinister mumbled as if to himself. "Actually, now that you've shown some sense, I may be merciful and leave you something of your old persona ..." He began to type on a nearby keyboard, and Steve cried out. The boy spasmed as bits and pieces of his mind splintered, flickering about into flotsam and jetsam. At the center of it all, Sinister loomed, offering a hand. ~Well ?~ the astral Sinister beckoned. ~I'm s-scared,~ the boy - #what's my name, why can't I REMEMBER ?# he thought - sent. He looked down at himself, seeing himself bared before the only salvation around him, and reached out to Sinister. The boy cried out as black fire pierced him, and he was wrapped in shadow. The pain began to subside, and he felt ... warm and safe somehow. His eyes opened, and he looked up at Sinister with a tentative smile. "M... master ?" the boy said. "What's my name ?" Sinister looked him over and said, "Perhaps ... Mindscape. Yes, that is as good a name as any." "Mindscape. Yessir," the boy nodded. He frowned, heading to the showers which Sinister directed him towards, and added, "But ... I 'member ... 'Steve,' too." "That is your birthname. In the field, you will be Mindscape," Sinister said. "I grew you in these genetic tanks, to serve me and help me conquer the world. You are the next Marauder - one of my servants. Get cleaned up, and I will introduce you to your fellow warriors." "Yes master," Steve nodded. He entered the showers and turned on the water, letting it course along himself. #I still 'member stuff,# he thought, scrubbing. #But the master seems so nice ...# Steve felt himself and blushed despite the sensation he received. #Masturbating's wrong ... isn't it ?# he thought, looking around fearfully. #But maybe not when I'm alone ...# -------------------------------------------------------- "You're kidding me." Sinister looked at Scalphunter with one of his patented "Obey Me Or Die" looks and rumbled, "He needs combat training. You know combat better than any other Marauder." "Boss, he's 11," Scalphunter muttered. "What good is an 11-year-old in the field ?" "He is MINE, Scalphunter," Sinister growled from over his desk. "I spent well over a century waiting for the right genetic mixture to produce a psion whom I could control. A psion powerful enough to exterminate Apocalypse and very possibly survive the battle ! I will NOT let such a chance slip through my fingers !" He flipped on a video display and smirked. "He's already embracing his inner darkness," Sinister said, watching Mindscape finish cleaning up. "Without his memories, he will be simple to completely shape into a weapon - even an heir - I can be proud of." "An HEIR ... ?" Scalphunter asked, arching an eyebrow. Sinister glared at him and said, "None of you have the necessary intellect to grasp my schemes. Steven does - and with proper shaping, he will be the perfect recipient of all I can give him. I may be immortal, but even I remember what it was like to have a son." "Some son," Scalphunter sniffed, watching Steve walk naked to Sinister and drop to one knee. The boy looked fearfully at Scalphunter and said, "Hi." "Hi yourself," Scalphunter said. "You are gonna wear something, right ?" Steve blushed until Sinister gave him a black pair of bikini briefs and a black Marauder uniform with the left arm and shoulder missing. "Dress quickly, and we will go meet the others," Sinister said. The boy obeyed, thinking, #Can't wait to meet 'em. Maybe they'll be nicer 'n Scalphunter ...# -------------------------------------------------------- NEXT: New "friends," new "foes," and the Marauders go up against ... PROGUEUS !!! -------------------------------------------------------- end _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com