The X-Project

Garrison relates the news about Arcade to the team.



Garrison's explanation about the state of the women competing in the roller derby league gained legitimacy when the X-Men were cleared to enter the match location, but did so through a gauntlet of bikers who guarded the entrances. The main event wasn't for another half an hour, and the main crowds were still waiting outside, anticipating the match. They were surprised to see banks of cameras around the raised and banked track, and what looked like professional security around the perimeter of it. It was obvious someone with money was involved in the event. The locker room was similarly under guard, and they were hustled into it and the door locked behind them. The concrete square only held a bank of lockers, a counter with a pair of sinks and a mirror, and a tiny bathroom in the corner.

After a few moments, the door opened again, and the guards let Garrison past before locking the door again. The Canadian was a far cry from his normal appearance, with his suit and badge traded for a set of Secret Empire leathers, fake tattoos, and his beard shaved in such a way to show off the thick scars on his throat.

"Welcome to the fifth ring of biker hell." He said, taking a deep breath. "We're inside. Callisto's got them all convinced we're legit for now, and a couple of our 'supporters' are talking about seeing some of you skating in New York. So you can focus on the match for now."

Jean felt a bit like a hooker in her own outfit: red hot pants, fishnets with red and black striped socks over them, a lowcut black tanktop with an exploding bomb across the front, the prerequisite knee pads, elbow pads, helmet, and her face painted with "war paint" with a broad jagged mask of bright red paint across her eyes.

"Can you give us an idea of who we're up against? Strengths, weaknesses, powers." The dossiers were fairly broad and it was easier to hear it aloud.

"Rumours mostly. You guys get the Groovin'ile Dolliquents in the semis. From what I've heard, Jersey Sore is their pivot; super strength. There's a feral and some kind of energy manipulator. The stories keep changing with every person that I talk to. But that's not the worst news." He took a breath. "The person bankrolling this little match is Arcade; Jacob Lowenstein. The place is wired up and his running a high rollers, high stakes gambling book on the matches. And he knows 'the Long Harm of the Law' are X-Men."

Tabitha scowled, whether from hearing about Arcade or the fact that the zipper of her costume corset was stuck in the fishnet undershirt, she wouldn't say. "Does this mean we get to take him down too?" She sounded entirely too cheerful about that prospect.

"I'd like that," Monet said. "I'd really like that." And she'd like it even more if she could take him down with multiple broken bones. "And is he going to try anything hinky? He's not our number one fan or anything."

“As much as I’d love to take him out myself,” Paige injected, arms crossed. Her short fingernails scratched at the Velcro of her elbowpads, nerves and irritation. “You have to know that from the very beginning it would be skewed in his favour.”

"I think we've gotten far enough in our training that we'll be able to hold our own on the rink Kane." Bobby added. "But if that sideshow freak shows his colors around here, you know that we're ready to take him down along with his wanna be roller dolls."

"Arcade?" Jan made a face. "He's the guy who totally ruined my 18th birthday." OK, so it had been a bit more complicated than that, but still. Arcade wasn't at all blameless for her rotten birthday as well as the misery her Las Vegas companions had suffered as well. "I don't think anyone standing here is exactly a member of his fan club."

Angel leaned forward, trying not to look like she was concerned that she was flashing the entire room with her low cut shirt. She liked a bit of cleavage but what she was wearing was ridiculous. "Okay, so, obviously we have a hate on for this guy but, Garrison, if he knows who we are and he's the one with the money for this gig, why's he letting us waltz in here so easily? Couldn't he have, you know, just made sure we didn't even make it through the front doors?"

"He doesn't care who's competing, and it doesn't matter to him whether or not the bikers get arrested." Kane said, trying to fit Arcade's place in all of this. "There's lots of money riding on these matches, so as long as we don't try and shut things down before the final match is done, it's not in his interest to out us. Also-" Kane shifted uncomfortably. "He made a bet with us. If we win, one of his flunkies who is acting as the go-between for him and the bikers is willing to testify in exchange for immunity. That means we can legitimately take pretty much every biker chapter head into custody on RICO charges as a starter, and see what else we can pin on them along the way. It'll set biker organized crime back a decade."

Yvette had been quiet through most of the exchange, concentrating on making sure her skates were securely tied as she listened to the others. Now she spoke up in her soft voice: "Arcade can be trusted, at least as far as the bet goes. It would not be the first time he has made the deal with the X-Men."

"And if we lose...and don't die...does he get something for winning the bet?" Jean said. She saw his actions in the past as often contradictory. Was it truly merely for the prospect of money? What did he get out of the deal for giving one of his men up, to be seen in a better light by law enforcement?

Surely the X-Men and people associated with them's own past spoke to the likelihood of the odds being more in their favor.

"If we lose, Arcade will make sure that the biker gangs know who the Long Harm of the Law actually are." Kane said quietly.