The Second Key

"So I finally got allowed into the big girl's club, I wonder if I'm going to go further into the inner sanctum of Harry Potter," Chloe offered as she walked towards Harry and Gwen with a knowing smile and wink.

Harry smiled at her. "Play your cards right and you might have your turn."

Chloe smiled, she intended to do that and even more. The blonde without the headband made her way into the chambers.

"Friends of Humanity….are being their usual charming self," Chloe remarked as she shook her head as her eyes fixed onto Harry and Gwen. "The good news is that I'm going to see what I can do about to expose their crusade."

"Mutants, humans, we're all people who deserve a fair shake," Harry said as they made their way down from one level towards the sitting room.

"Right, some of us are good, some of us are dicks, that's just the way things are," Chloe remarked as she placed her hand on her cheek. "I didn't want to believe racism could be this prolific in the 21st century."

"Sadly, some people fear what is different from them," Gwen sighed as the trio kept walking down the hallway.

"So how's your work at the lab?" Harry asked her.

Gwen's face contorted into a slight ghost of a smile and she proceeded to let him in on what he wanted to know. "Well so far things are going pretty well, at least there has not been any more mysterious scientific projects that blew up in my face."

"Nine times out of ten that could kill someone," Chloe said in a completely serious voice. "It's just as well that you get super powers off of it."

"Well, I'm still working out the kinks, although Harry, thank you for making sure that I didn't go insane from the sensations," Gwen commented as she leaned forward and kissed him.

"So how was your associate at the school?" Harry asked them. "You know, Doctor Fine."

"Well….I know you don't trust him and he does seem to have come out of nowhere," Chloe remarked to him and an eyebrow raised as Harry waved his hand and motioned for her to continue. "So, I was curious with what he did, I mean he says he's done a lot of things, wrote books, given college level lectures, and debated on several of the problems of the world."

"But did he really?" Harry asked.

Chloe decided to smile widely as she dropped the bombshell on him. "Actually, he's pretty much everything that he says he is. I couldn't believe it any more than you did, but it's the truth. The guy's done everything that he said he has."

Harry placed a hand on his hip and wondered about this. There were times where he doubted even the official facts.

"He does have a hobby where he collects model cities in bottles or so the grapevine states, but….I don't think that's anything to be too alarmed by," Chloe concluded.

Harry's eyes narrowed as he ran over the scenario in his mind combing it for something suspicious.

"Maybe not," he said as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Harry felt that there was a few times where it seemed the questions kept getting changed. His green eyes flashed with amusement as he thought about everything that transpired.

"Gwen!" Kitty called her from the next room.

Gwen saw that her clothes was in disarray, so there was no question what her and Harry were doing before she got here. The blonde's grin got even wider as she placed a hand on her hip and kept thinking about everything that could have happened and then having it done to her.

While she was here, she intended to score herself a piece of Harry as well.

"Hey, Kitty, long time, no see," Gwen told her with a wide smile across her face.

Kara, Jean, Rogue, and Rachel all filtered in with Wanda as well. Harry and Chloe hung back with each other.

"Are you sure about going up against the Friends of Humanity this heavily?" Harry asked Chloe and the blonde's mouth curled into a smile.

"Yes, Harry, I'm sure, that I'm sure," she told him and there was so much conviction present in her eyes that it was amazing. Their eyes met each other. "Would you sit down and let the Friends of Humanity stomp you over?"

Harry shook his head.

"That's different but…you know there are indirect ways to hurt the Friends of Humanity," Harry remarked as he stepped towards her. "And you figure that if enough pressure gets put on that school by lobbyists, the Torch will shut down due to lack of funding."

Chloe had not really considered that.

"Which means, someone else should fund it, that way the administration at the school can't have any pull over it," Harry informed her and Chloe's arms folded over each other.

"So are you offering?" Chloe asked to him. "What's this going to cost me?"

"Nothing for now, just make sure that mutants get a fair stance, although if some of us do something stupid, we should get called out on in but it should be a balanced stance," Harry said to her.

"Lois got so many death threats for her last article that compared The Friends of Humanity to the KKK," Chloe said to him and there was a smile that crossed her face. "And she didn't even sugarcoat it."

"Jameson doesn't back down, he'll go toe to toe with Creed," Harry told her and Chloe smiled. "So, are you looking forward to the Dazzler concert?"

"Yeah, Harry, I really am," Chloe admitted, trying not to seem like she was too excited. "Although I wonder….there's been rumors that there's someone who is trying to get the concert canceled."

"Why?" Harry asked her looking for an explanation.

"Well, there was an equipment malfunction at the last concert and a couple of the backup dancers were burned," Chloe told him with a grimace. "They were okay, but what if it's a fan next time?"

Harry had to agree about that, what if it was a fan?

"I don't believe in something like that being a coincidence,' Harry told her.

"You wouldn't….but I kind of agree with you," Chloe replied as she leaned against the wall.

"A hater or an obsessed stalker who got turned down hard?"

They turned around and saw Kitty standing there.

"Bedazzled is going to be the best show on Earth, I can't wait to see it,' Kitty said to them with a wide smile crossing her face.

"I'm glad to see that your excited," Harry told her and the group made their way towards the sitting room where they were going to hang out for a night and watch a movie.

They entered the room and Kara was sitting on the couch. Harry took a seat next to Kara and Kitty sat down on the other side of Harry. Jean and Rachel were on the chairs on the left and Rogue and Wanda were in the chairs on the right. Amara walked in to join them, along with M'gann and Megan and more chairs manifested for them.

"Magic's a really wonderful thing, isn't it?" Gwen asked Chloe.

Amara sat down, she got news back from home that her father was ill but she decided not to think about that too much. After all, her father was someone who was made of an iron will and would not back down from anything, so he would beat this illness. She had no reason to think that it was too serious.

"Is the movie about to start?" Amara asked.

"Yeah, you didn't miss anything," Harry told her and she smiled.

"Great," Amara said in a joyful voice.

Wanda was glad to be here among friends and she thought that these were the simple pleasures that most people took for granted. Yet, she cherished them after her time in the asylum.

"So, how's Peter doing?" Harry asked Gwen.

"He's going after some guy named Herman," Gwen told him.

"What kind of criminal is called Herman?" Kara asked her curiously.

"I don't know, that's what Peter's told me," Gwen remarked as she shrugged her shoulders.

Chloe smiled. She figured out the Spider-Man thing a long time ago but….that was going to be Peter's business and not her's.

The movie started and the group relaxed, eating popcorn merrily.

"Harry, there's a call, someone is here to see you, it's urgent."

Lily's voice called him and Harry excused himself.

Jean sensed that there was something happening now and she followed Harry as well, with Rogue, Rachel, Wanda, Kara, and Kitty trailing behind them as well.

"Where Harry Potter goes, several women follow," Chloe commented and Gwen smiled. "Not that I blame them."

Harry walked his way to see what was happening and who was going to come calling with him at the Stronghold.

A young woman stood outside the corridors of the office and awaited for the person that she was going to meet to come and meet her. She crossed her arms and proceeded to tap the fingers of her right hand nervously along her left forearm.

She was a fairly tall woman, there was an oriental caste to her face with purple hair framing it and she had alluring purple eyes as well. Her lips were plump and quite kissable, and tanned skin. She had a nice chest that was wrapped in a tight black t-shirt that showed her toned stomach. A pair of tight leather pants wrapped around her supple ass and she shifted herself as she flickered her eyes forward. The young woman waited patiently for him to arrive.

Her name was Elizabeth Braddock. The twenty year old British Woman swayed herself back and forth as she placed her hands on her hips. She was part of a British team of super heroes that had since broken up, pretty much a UK equivalent of the X-Men.

Right now, she was waiting for the young man that had made waves around the world and she bit down on her lip as time ticked by.

'Well, he doesn't seem to be one to leave a woman waiting,' she commented as she watched. She was the pinnacle of female perfection and she heard rumors, whispers of what he was like and how he was the dream of many women.

She noticed that his school was made of nothing but females, which was interesting. Then again, Betsy figured out that he liked what he liked.

"Miss Braddock I presume?"

The young British mutant turned to face him, her eyes blinking as she got a look at him, traveling up and down his body, using her eyes to give visual stimulation as her heart pattered within her chest. The woman's smile widened as she took a few seconds to really appreciate what he had to offer. There was one thought that popped into her mind.

'Absolutely gorgeous,' she thought to herself as her smile widen but she cleared her throat and her eyes focused on him as she turned towards him, doing her best to not get lost in his eyes.

"Sorry, just got lost in my thoughts for a moment, yes, Mr. Potter, I'm her," she remarked as she placed her hand onto his in a business like manner and shook it.

"Please, Harry," Harry told her as he leaned forward and gave a kiss to her hand.

She felt flushed but managed to recover pretty quickly as her heart continued to flutter within her chest.

"Yes….then I insist that you call me Betsy," she told him as she continued to struggle with not getting lost in those green eyes and never coming out of them.

There was a moment where she paused and looked over her shoulder, leading Harry into the other direction. He decided that introductions would be in order as he proceeded to lead everyone into the office era.

"This is Wanda Maximoff, Kitty Pryde, Kara Potter, Jean Grey, and Rachel Grey," Harry stated to Rachel as he pointed out the five girls that followed him all the way there.

Betsy smiled, she figured that someone like this young man would have an entourage. "A pleasure to meet you all."

Hands were shaken all around as she cleared her throat and now Kara was the one to jump in.

"So….what's on your mind?" Kara asked her and Betsy was quick to jump in with the thought.

Betsy's smile widened over her face.

The group sat down and Betsy took the seat across from Harry. The rest of the girls took a few seats.

Betsy drew in a deep breath and prepared to tell her tale of how she got here.

"It was three nights ago….there was a suspicious figure that was sneaking around," Betsy explained and Harry raised an eyebrow. This was not something that was completely out there, so he continued to listen to her explanation. "This figure, suspicious that he might have been, I thought he was just some common thief at first. I was running the museum overseas after my parents died and after my brother had his accident."

Harry nodded to indicated that he understood and lifted his hand, telling her to continue.

"He had red hair, dressed in a trenchcoat, and he had playing cards which he super charged and used to blow the doors open," Betsy commented to them and there was a second where Jean gasped in recognition.

"Gambit," Jean breathed and Rogue's eyes narrowed.

"I wonder what he's after," Rogue mused as she frowned.

Wanda's eyes narrowed until they were nearly slits as she thought about it but Harry reached under the desk and gripped her hand in a warning manner. She relaxed a tiny bit but she was still keeping her eyes narrowed. "It's my father, he's the one that's after something."

"So this Gambit….who is he with?" Betsy asked in a curious tone.

"Have you ever heard a mutant called Magneto?" Jean asked her and the redhead slid back as she pushed her hair out of her face so she could properly look Betsy in the eye.

"Yes, I've heard of him," Betsy said to her as she drummed her fingers on the table and there was a second where she wondered.

Harry was wondering what Gambit and perhaps by extension Magneto could be after. He knew that before he joined the Acolytes, Gambit was a thief, he was someone who worked for whoever shoved the most money underneath his nose. His green eyes narrowed a tiny bit as he mulled it over.

"Is there anything of value in that museum?" Harry asked her.

Betsy's nose wrinkled as she tried to think about it. The woman placed her hands on the desk and smiled. "No, nothing of true value, a lot of junk, but I don't think there's anything that could be of great value to anyone other than insane collectors."

"Hmm," Harry remarked.

"What do you mean, hmm?" Kitty asked.

Harry decided to elaborate on what he meant by the sudden "hmm." "Well, there are many times where there's junk out there, but one man's trash is another man's treasure."

"And the objects that seem to be the least valuable are really the most valuable," Kitty confirmed with a swift nod and Harry smiled back at her.

"Now you've got the picture," Harry said with a smile but there was another blipping that came over the equipment at the Stronghold.

He reached off to the side and picked up the communicator and Storm's image popped up.

"Hey, Ororo, what do you need?" Harry asked Ororo.

"We have a problem, it appears that an old enemy of ours has resurfaced," Ororo commented.

"Would this have to do with Gambit's sudden desire to steal something from a museum?" Harry asked her.

Ororo's head nodded as she gave a smile, at least half of one. "Yes…it might be….it's him, it's Mesmero."

Harry recalled the last time Mesmero was there, he put several of his girls under his thrall and they narrowly escaped.

'And when there's Mesmero, there's Sinister,' Harry thought and there was no question about it, there things were going to get intense.

"So, is there something going on that I should know about?" Betsy asked him.

"Plenty, but we'll explain on the way," Harry told her and he turned towards her. "So, how's your hand to hand?"

Betsy smiled. "I think I'm competent enough."

Harry nodded, they were going to need all hands on deck, because he feared that the Marauders could be involved in this. He reached over and grabbed the communicator. "Zinda, get the plane ready, we're taking a trip."

"Well this is a match made in the fiery pits of hell," Harry commented in a dead pan tone of voice.

It was the X-Men in the form of Nightcrawler, Iceman, Storm, and Beast. Harry noticed that there was one member of the team that was conspicuous with his absence but there was no use to speaking of him. Charles Xavier had joined the group as well.

"So, I guess this is a collaborative effort between all of us," Magneto commented and Wanda's eyes flickered towards him.

Harry placed his hand on her shoulder, warningly and Wanda's eyes watched her father, she tried not to back down but there was a few seconds where she kept her eyes locked onto the figure ahead.

He would sooner have Wanda blast him but there was enough chaotic energy that he could feel in the air for his liking, so there was no use in complicating things.

"We're going to have to work together, as I believe your dream is," Magneto said as he turned to Xavier. "Be warned this is only temporary."

Harry hoped that this would not turn into a pissing contest between the X-Men and the Acolytes and his girls all looked nervous that would happen as well.

'Well, let's hope things don't get too bad,' Kara thought to them.

'Who are we kidding, things could get pretty bad,' Jean projected as she nervously bit down on her lip as she stood on her heels. Her eyes surveyed the situation and each instant of the dire situation was getting worse.

There was no question about this, this could go from bad to worse in no time flat. Jean's expression flickered rather prominent and frustration could be seen dancing through her eyes.

"So, what was Gambit after exactly?" Harry asked.

"He says he doesn't remember," Domino told as she stood rigid, ready to attack.

"It makes sense, the last time Mesmero showed up, we had nothing but blank spots in our mind," Jean recalled, it was not her finest hour.

"Yeah, but this time, we're ready for them," Rogue commented as she cracked her knuckles and knew that when she got her hands on him he was going to suffer pain.

"Yeah….but we've got be careful, all it takes is one snap of the fingers and bamf….gone," Kurt stated as he snapped his fingers for emphasis.

"Yes but…." Harry started and Betsy's eyes followed everything nervously.

Harry and Kara caught sight of that and used their super hearing to pick up on sounds. He saw Gambit.

'Jean, read his mind, see if you can find any subconscious memories that Mesmero repressed,' he thought to her and Jean's mouth curled into a smile.

'Right,' Jean thought to him as she shifted herself through Gambit's mind.

It was a minefield that she tried not to trip herself up on. The redhead was trying to get through his head and there was a few seconds where she paused.

'Anything?' Rachel prompted hopefully.

'Just a second,' Jean said as she focused her thoughts. 'There's something about a box…that he broke.'

'What's it look like?' Harry projected through to her and Jean frowned as she kept shifting through his mind and her heart kept pumping even more as thoughts swirled through her head. The green eyed wizard was watching her.

'It looks like a real piece of junk,' Jean concluded as she saw it.

'Symbols were the same as the last time, this same symbol,' Harry thought as he closed his eyes.

Before he did not recognize what the symbol said and now he did. Kara was the one who also picked up on it.

'It means, Apocalypse,' Kara thought to him.

'That's what Gwen found too….but who is Apocalypse?' Harry thought as he wondered about this.

There were myths that were out there and he could not even begin to figure out the truth from the fantasy. His eyes flickered with a thought as he turned around.

"I believe we have a problem," Beast offered as he tried to calibrate the energy scanner and it started to blink to life.

Harry and his group edged forward.

There was a giant green spider that appeared in the middle of the street and faced the X-Men, the Acolytes, and the Team.

'So Jean, can you get a thought pattern on this one?' Harry asked her.

Jean smiled as she prepared to try her best but there was something about the buzzing thoughts that made it far harder than she thought before. She did have one think that resounded through her mind as she tapped the side of her head.

'Well it's angry….very angry,' Jean told them as she caught a few snatches of primitive thoughts.

"Acolytes, get in position, this beast may be the key to bring the first one back!" Magneto exclaimed as he magnetized several cars and started to hurl them towards the creature.

There was something that was unsettling about what Harry had to go against but he could not quite pinpoint what it was. Regardless of the fact, there were thoughts that flickered through his mind as his green eyes continued to swim with frustration as his thoughts grew even stronger. There was a sense that they were missing one crucial puzzle piece that would solve this problem.

He needed to figure out a way to take that thing down and fast. He coordinated his team over as they circled around each other.

'I'm not sure if sending a hex bolt at that thing is the best idea right now, Wanda,' Harry projected the thought through her mind.

Wanda nodded, giving the unstable nature of her powers, blasting a mystical artifact like that could cause reality to explode into a thousand of microscopic pieces.

Betsy flipped herself in the air and conjured several psychic daggers as she caused them to rotate as she propelled them towards it which caused the creature to back off.

"Not too bad," Harry remarked and Betsy raised an eyebrow.

"Guess, I'm going to step up my game," she fired back as she tried to take it down.

Jean joined forces with her and knocked it backwards.

The attack was stepping up a little bit but they were a long way from winning this battle by far.

Harry prepared himself for the battle as the Acolytes, the X-Men, and his team surrounded the Guardian. Magento's eyes glowed as the Master of Magnetism stated one thing and one thing alone as he folded his arms and leaned forward, his neck arched towards the side.

"Do not allow him to get past," Magneto ordered as he lifted his hands and sent several pieces of metal flying at it.

The guardian was not going to be caged.

"We have to find a way to destroy it," Beast said urgently as he was knocked a few steps back and nearly landed on his back.

His legs kicked and squirmed as he tried to push himself back to a standing position but he was not going to go down, at least not easily. The mutant's eyes closed shut as he drew in one breath and drew out another, his chest fairly pounded from the battle but never the least he was up.

Storm was back into position as she brought the wind down and caused a storm to kick up.

"Maybe we could freeze it in place?" Iceman suggested but Pyro turned around towards him and his eyes watched him.

"Are you daft man? It will destroy us all!" Pyro bellowed as he sent a blast of fire towards his enemy but it was dodged.

There were a few explosion swings from the Guardian causing Pryo to grit his teeth and dodge the attacks. His heart hammered within his chest as he tried to get out of the way of the attacks.

"Head's up!" Betsy warned them as she hurled herself into the air and cracked into the enemy with precise intensity.

"I think I've got this one," Harry informed her and she smiled wildly.

"Keep it up, closer, closer," Betsy said and the two of them joined forces with a tandem assault.

Nightcrawler saw several civilians scrambling around. Immediately, the mutant grabbed them and teleported them out of the way.

There were a few more screams but it was Harry who was trying to keep his super hearing sharp and make sure he could find everyone. He needed to figure out a way to defeat this guardian, for it was going to unleash the fury that was Apocalypse.

'I'm open for suggestions,' Harry thought to the other girls, as Wanda had to use other methods of attack given that hitting a dangerous mystical guardian with a hex bolt was not going to be exactly what the doctor ordered.

'Yeah, wish I had one,' Kitty remarked.

Ororo once again tried to use her powers but it seemed like nothing affected him at all.

"I'm going to contain it, you should try and blast it with everything you have!" Magneto called as he raised his hands and brought forth several large chunks of metal that wrapped around the beast and tried to hold it there.

Magneto's powers were doing their job in holding the creature there, as despite his best attempts, it was not about to break out any time soon. He saw the X-Men walk over to the side, as the group was moving in, as was Harry's team.

"Blast it now!" Magneto grunted as his hands started to shake, he was not too sure if he could hold this thing much longer.

On cue, the creature burst out of the cage but Harry and Kara in tandem launched a barrage of heat vision at it. Somehow, their powers were able to damage it slightly and Jean's eyes bugged as she realized what was happening.

"HAVE SOME OF THIS!"

Rogue swung her fist back and with a huge impact, connected into the face of the creature and she hurt her fist just a tiny bit but she was pretty sure that in her efforts, she hurt it more. The Southern Belle skidded back.

Kitty popped from a car that had been thrown at the attacker and tried to reach towards the source of green light pulsing towards it.

She yelped as it was protected and it slightly did some damage to her had but the brunette's face crossed with a smile. Now she was convinced, now she was convinced.

'It's in there, that's the thing, we've got to take that out,' Kitty projected to them and there was determination that flooded through her eyes as she shut out the frustration.

The determination filtered through her eyes and popped down through the rest of the group. The brunette's eyes flowed with the greatest desire and she kept her determination flowing through them.

Jean locked onto the creature and tried to pick up on its thought patterns but it was fairly erratic and there was just a lot about it that did not make much sense at all. Her eyes watered as she coughed a slight bit but never the less, she kept herself pushing back with the attack.

'Just about got it,' Jean thought as she screwed her eyes shut and her heart raced a million miles a minute, as she tried to slide it back.

The redhead was this close to getting it done, if she could only….she was almost there. Her mind was this close to becoming undone and her eyes flickered.

Xavier wondered if they were going to bring this enemy down although the entire team was bring the fire down upon the enemy. Shot after shot but there was no progress in wearing it down. The Professor of the Xavier Institute kept watching as he kept trying to pinpoint an attack.

"I brought you out of the box, I'm going to put you back into the box," Gambit commented as he super charged the playing cards and flung them at the enemy.

There was a solid boom as they landed.

"And I've got this one!" Betsy yelled as she jumped up and engaged the enemy.

'Wait,' Harry thought, he suddenly picked up another thought. The moment might be lost in a second, actually it was lost, it was out of the box.

"No, there's no time to wait, I've got this one, don't worry, it's cool," Iceman commented with a wide grin, as he blasted his enemy with a jet of ice.

"And now for the finishing touches," Pyro remarked as he gritted his teeth together and prepared himself for the attack. His eyes continued to glow as he reared his hand back but Harry blocked him.

He could not block Magneto from performing the attack and he flung the large bus down upon it. The bus was electro-magnetized, the pull caused the guardian to disappear and the energy around it faded into a crackling crunch.

"We've done it," Magneto concluded as he dropped down to one knee and felt the pressure leaving his body.

"Have we?" Harry asked them and there was a few seconds where everyone paused and no one seemed to know what he meant.

Pyro decided to cut to the chase. "What are you, bloody taking the piss out of me? That thing disappeared!"

Jean was not completely convinced and she picked up a few mental traces of it. She turned to the group, a somber expression etched in her eyes and she drew in the breath that she had been holding in.

Time stood still as Jean informed them what she had to say and the news was not good to say the least.

"That thing was not the key, that was guarding the key, and now we've all released the key," Jean remarked as hopelessness flooded through her body, the redhead was looking over the rest of the group but no one said anything.

Pyro broke in and stated the situation as only he could. "Well, I'll be buggered."

"Mesmero knew what needed to be done, he tricked us, again," Harry concluded as he sighed deeply.

Harry could not state that fact more than enough, they were about ready to accomplish what they thought was a great victory but in the end, there was nothing other than the disappointed stenche of failure.

There was one man who was smiling today and that was the sadistic individual, the sinister individual, known as Nathaniel Essex. The man's chalk white skin and glowing red eyes, along with fangs were prominent as he faced a door.

"You remember our deal."

"Yes, I remember it, there is but one key left and you will be released," Essex commented to the person on the other side of the door, as Mesmero and Mystique stood on either side of him, along with the members of the Marauders who were eagerly anticipating the new world that was going to come to pass.

"You've done well, Sinister, but you've not completely released me," the man on the other side of the door said in a dark tone of voice.

"Evolution will reign supreme," Sinister offered with a smug smile and a slight sneer.

"As for the X-Men, they will be eliminated, just like that," the individual on the other end commented and Sinister remarked. "Now what of the Star Child?"

"I don't know what you're speaking of," Sinister said in a tone that indicated that he was going to need to choose his next few words wisely. The Great One did not tolerate failure.

"Do not speak as if you do not know what I speak of," the voice thundered as despite the fact the force behind it was not unleashed, Sinister felt a sudden chill go over his body. His eyes flooded with agony.

"He's….he'll be of no threat of you, oh amazing one," Sinister offered as he bowed a tiny bit but there was some skepticism in his voice. He had gone up against the one known as Harry Potter before and he did not relish the opportunity to do so again for he narrowly escaped with his life.

"You seem unconvinced of this," The voice thundered from the other end of the doorway as he tried to rattled himself out. "I do not tolerate failure, especially from one such as yourself."

"Of course not, of course not," Sinister said as he adjusted his stance but wondered if he was putting his own head in the custom fit noose.

"I think our scientist friend wishes to give more confidence to the fact that you can defeat the Star Child, great one," Mesmero stated as he leaned upon the staff. "But you should know that I'm the most faithful of your followers and will do anything to see you achieve your great aims."

Sinister curled his hands together and was not too happy with this claim because he knew that this one was false. There was a few seconds where the Scientist cast a twisted expression to Mesmero in the background. If he could only have a few seconds, he would make the man know the true meaning of the term horror. If he could only have a few seconds, he would make the man pay with unmistakable suffering that could not be described by any means, whether they be mortal or otherwise.

If only he could do such a thing.

Mystique meanwhile wondered what she got herself into.

"You remember our deal," the shapeshifter reminded them.

"Dear Raven, you can trust me," Sinister said with a wide grin across his face as the woman took half of a step back.

Mystique thought about it, three children, two of them had been poisoned by lies and the third….he turned out to be a disgrace that she could not even stomach. He was a weak example of what happens when genetics do not prevail. Then again, given who his father was, perhaps genetics prevailed properly.

"Yes, I trust you, to an extent," Mystique remarked, wondering what she got herself into now. The woman was not going to have the best of times, in fact, she was going to have some of the worst of times as she crossed her arms over her chest.

She wondered if that trust would fail for a reason, like it had failed with so many others.

Yet, two keys were down, with one more to go.

"I may have to stick around for the long haul."

Betsy looked around the Stronghold with a smile but she had a feeling that she had only scratched the surface with the initial tour. Harry stood next to her, a wide smile crossing his face as he looked towards the woman who was standing there next to him.

"Well, I can't speak for everyone, but personally I'd love to have you here," Harry said as he closed the gap slightly between the two of them.

She did not step back; rather she stepped forward so she was nearly nose to nose with him. The two looked into each others eyes and felt the sensations of the other nearly boil over as they continued to stared into each others eyes.

"You can speak for us, because we agree," Jean offered as she turned up with the rest of the group.

Kitty, Wanda, Kara, and Rachel followed her, and there were several others that would be roaming around at any point in time in the Mansion.

"Thanks…I always wanted to see the United States and more of it," Betsy commented as she placed her hands on Harry's hips and continued to stare into his eyes, as she slid back a tiny bit, so she could sit on his desk, the leather of her pants wrapped enticingly around her sexy legs.

"I'm sure I could show you the sights," Harry said to her as he looked into her eyes. "Kitty, you want to show her to one of the rooms?"

"Sure, Harry," Kitty commented in a bright tone and Betsy took the hint as she followed the brunette out the door. The brunette's eyes were flooded over with an amazing amount of passion and a knowing smile crossed her face.

"Hey, Harry," Chloe said happily as she turned up. "Can I see you for a little bit?"

"Sure, Chloe," Harry offered as Chloe looked at him, she was a bit nervous as she was going to take a plunge with something that she had never thought she was going to do.

Yet, with Harry, it seemed like it was going to be the most natural thing in the world. The blonde was excited.

The two of them made their way out into the hallway and the blonde watched Harry.

"So, what did you need?" Harry asked and Chloe smiled.

"You, I need you," Chloe breathed as she grabbed Harry around the waist and kissed him hard on the mouth.

She decided to throw all caution to the wind, because quite frankly, what was the worst that was going to happen. The blonde's tongue worked into Harry's mouth and Harry returned the kiss with intense motions. Their tongues wrapped around each other as Harry continued to kiss her deeply and Chloe was hoisted up.

The blonde's eyes flooded over as Harry roamed his hands over her nubile body, and he literally pushed her back through the wall as if it was water, until they reached Harry's bedroom.

Chloe breathed heavily as Harry pushed her back onto the bed, naturally it would be the softest one in the house, as the blonde's expression widened as Harry worked her hands around her body and continued to kiss her.

"So, this is what you wanted?" Harry asked Chloe as he pushed the woman back on the bed and she bit her lip, nodding in an exited manner.

"Yes, this is what I wanted," Chloe panted hungrily as she closed her eyes and a smile crossed her face as Harry planted a kiss on the side of her head. The blonde's expression got wide eyed as Harry continued to kiss on the side of her neck. She was feeling the pleasure erupt through her loins and wetness appear around her thighs.

Gwen appeared in the room, it was about time that Chloe decided to give into herself and take a piece of Harry. She was going to be an observer for now, although with the rampant hormones that flooded through her own body, it would only be time before Gwen stepped in and got herself a piece of Harry.

Meanwhile she sat down on the chair and enjoyed the show.