CHAPTER 77- THE INVISIBILITY RUSE AND BANSHEE'S PAYBACK
The cavern walls shook as Juggernaut roared back to his feet. Lightning scars still burned across his chest where Storm had struck him, smoke curling from the cracks in his armor. His eyes glowed red through the slits of his helmet.
"You Xavier brats think you've won? I'll CRUSH every last one of you. I'll make him feel the pain through YOU!"
He charged. The ground split beneath each stomp.
Thunderbird threw himself forward, arms wide. The impact blasted him backward like a ragdoll into the wall. He crumpled, coughing blood, but forced himself upright with a grin. "That all you got, big man?"
Juggernaut didn't even answer-his fist swung toward Nightcrawler. Kurt BAMFed aside, but too late; the shockwave caught him mid-leap. He landed hard, dazed, shadows wrapping his broken stance.
Thunderbird squinted. Something strange... Kurt's leg half-faded into the darkness, vanishing into black like it wasn't there.
"Kurt-look at yourself!"
Nightcrawler blinked, startled, and stepped deeper into the shadowed corner. His body disappeared completely, only his yellow eyes gleaming like ghost-lanterns. He gasped. "Mein Gott... I vanish!" He squeezed his eyes shut-now even those lights winked out.
The two locked eyes, their minds snapping to the same idea.
Thunderbird grabbed the image inducer off Kurt's belt, thumbed the switch. His form rippled-suddenly Professor Charles Xavier sat in the cavern, hands folded, eyes hard.
"Cain Marko." Thunderbird's voice rumbled with scorn. "You've always been a coward. Still hiding behind your strength."
Juggernaut's head snapped around.
"CHARLES!" Spittle flew from his lips. "You think you can lecture me? I'll tear you in half!"
He charged, blind with rage, fists up for the kill.
Out of the shadows, Nightcrawler leapt, claws scraping the slits of Juggernaut's eyes. The giant roared, stumbling back, hands clawing at his helmet. Kurt BAMFed away just as Juggernaut's fingers clutched air.
And Thunderbird was waiting. His fist connected with Juggernaut's jaw with a crack like a cannon. The giant reeled upward, off his feet.
"NOW!"
Sunfire blasted from above, white-hot fire punching Juggernaut down.
Colossus was there, his steel arms like pistons. He slammed Juggernaut across the chamber with a blow that made the floor quake.
Logan caught him as he staggered, crouched low, fists clenched. He smirked, teeth flashing. "My turn."
The punch landed flush, his knuckles splitting on Juggernaut's steel jaw. The monster staggered, spinning toward Storm.
Logan's growl cut through the cavern. "Get your revenge, 'Ro."
Storm stepped forward, her eyes white as lightning, hair whipping in the rising wind. The cavern filled with the howl of a hurricane. Debris flew. The storm slammed into
Juggernaut, lifting the unstoppable giant screaming into the air.
"Begone from this land!" she thundered.
The hurricane tore him from the keep and hurled him into the Atlantic. His bellow faded until only the storm remained.
The cavern fell silent but for the rasp of the X-Men catching their breath.
The storm's echo still rattled the stones when a slow clap cut through the silence.
"Well done, cousins. Quite the show."
Black Tom stood at the far end of the chamber, leaning lazy on his shillelagh, smirk curling under the torchlight. His coat was torn, his lip bleeding, but his eyes burned sharp as ever.
Banshee stepped forward, chest heaving, fists balled tight. "TOM. I should've finished this years ago."
Tom's laugh was dry, bitter. "Years ago, Sean? You never had the guts. Always the good lad, the dutiful one. But me? I never needed Xavier whisperin' in me head to know what I wanted."
Banshee's fists shook. "You betrayed family. You brought monsters into Cassidy Keep. For what? Gold? Power?"
"For the chance to see you broken." Tom tapped his chest with the shillelagh. "And I'll tell you, cousin-it's been a sweet sight."
Sean's face hardened. His voice cut low, dangerous. "Then take this sight with you."
His fist lashed out, cracking across Tom's jaw.
Tom staggered, spat blood-and laughed. "Ah, there's the spirit. At last."
Another punch. Sean's knuckles split, blood spattering. "That one's for team's blood." A third. Tom reeled back, eyes glazed. "That one's for the castle."
A fourth sent him to one knee. Sean loomed over him, breath ragged. "And this one's for me."
The final blow snapped Tom's head to the side. He hit the stone, coughing, still smiling through the pain.
"Good fight, cousin," he rasped, half-chuckling. "But you don't see the bigger game, do you?"
Sean froze. The others leaned closer. Tom wiped his mouth, smearing the blood.
"Eric the Red. He's the one who set me on this path. He's the one you should be fearing. Not me. Not Cain."
Banshee's eyes narrowed. "You're lyin'."
Tom laughed harder, hollow and mean.
"Believe what you like. You'll learn soon enough."
His hand slipped behind him, pressing against the wall. A faint click.
"Slán leat, Sean."
The floor beneath him shuddered, a trapdoor snapping open. Before anyone could move, Tom dropped backward into the abyss, his laugh echoing as the stone slammed shut.
Banshee lunged, palms smacking against the stone. Too late. His voice broke in the chamber. "TOM!"
Logan lit a cigar with bloodied fingers, smoke curling from his lips. "He'll keep. But this Eric..." His eyes narrowed. "That's the snake we need to cut down."
The team stood silent, the torches flickering
over bruised faces. Tom was gone. Juggernaut gone. But a darker shadow lingered over them now.
The stone chamber smelled of ozone and sweat, smoke drifting in the aftermath of battle. Juggernaut was gone, Tom vanished, but the air still buzzed with tension.
Storm lowered herself slowly, her chest rising and falling like a tide after the hurricane. Logan glanced her way-she wasn't trembling anymore. The claustrophobic panic had burned off, replaced by that storm goddess steel.
Nightcrawler crawled along the wall, sniffing at seams until his sharp eyes found the outline of a hidden door. "Over here," he called, tail twitching.
Colossus strode forward, his massive hands finding the handle. One yank and the iron groaned free. The door opened with a sigh of damp air, revealing a narrow corridor lined with lanterns. Faint voices carried from the other side-trembling, desperate voices.
"Help us... please, someone help..."
They rushed down the corridor.
At the end was another chamber, cages stacked against the wall. Eamon O'Donnell's kin, pale and frightened, huddled together. Small shapes scurried at their feet-the little people, the leprechauns who had risked their lives to warn Banshee before. Their wide eyes lit up at the sight of the X-Men.
"Sean!" Eamon's voice cracked with relief as he pulled himself forward against the bars.
Banshee tore them open with raw strength, his sonic power rattling the locks until they split. He caught Eamon in his arms, the two men gripping each other hard.
"I thought... I thought he'd kill ye all," Eamon whispered.
"Not today, cousin. Not today."
The leprechauns poured out, cheering in high-pitched voices, tugging at the X-Men's boots, thanking them over and over. Colossus knelt, smiling softly as one climbed up his arm, stroking the gleaming steel with awe.
Storm bent low to reassure the children, her voice soft thunder: "You are safe now. No harm will touch you here."
Logan leaned against the doorway, one claw extended just enough to slice the end off his cigar. He took a long drag, eyes half-lidded but sharp. "Safe for now. But you heard what Tom said. Eric the Red. That name ain't goin' away."
Banshee's fists clenched, his face shadowed with anger and sorrow. "Tom's too deep in the dark to be saved. But Eric... he's the one pullin' the strings. He's the one I'll have me reckoning with."
The team gathered close, bruised, battered, but united.
Above them, Cassidy Keep stood scarred by battle, wind whistling through the broken stone. The war here was done. But the words Black Tom left behind hung like a curse.
Eric the Red.
The true game was only beginning.