Dazzler’s mind raced as fast as their stolen vehicle cruised down the freeway, a thousand conspiracy theories churning her thoughts. She rubbed her temples, feeling a headache setting in.
“What did Frost say?” Sage asked, glancing at her from the driver’s seat.
“She’s located a shipment of MGH in a warehouse in New Jersey. We have to find it before it disappears.”
“She knows who’s distributing it?” Polaris said from the back seat.
Dazzler nodded. “Rick Rosenthorpe, VP of Sanderson Holdings is involved. It’s their warehouse.”
“And?” Rachel asked, her voice low with intent, or perhaps accusation. “Tell them who else is involved.” Dazzler glanced into the rearview mirror at Rachel’s reflection. She rubbed her temple again, noticing the headache was gone.
“You were inside my head?” Dazzler asked, feeling a shiver run down her arms.
Rachel didn’t answer. Dazzler glared at her, angry she’d let her guard down.
“Who else is involved?” Polaris pushed, looking between the two.
“Someone Dazzler knows very well,” Rachel said.
Dazzler gave a short sharp laugh. “That’s where you’re wrong, Grey. I don’t know my father well at all.”
“Your father is involved with Rosenthorpe?” Polaris asked.
“No,” Dazzler said. “He just represented him once.”
“But Frost thinks he’s helping Rosenthorpe now?” Sage asked.
“Frost doesn’t know anything,” Dazzler said. “Let’s not forget my father is missing, just like your fathers are. Missing does not mean guilt. If anything, I’d say it’s the opposite.”
“Guess we’ll soon find out,” Rachel said quietly.
Dazzler glanced briefly at Rachel again, then turned to look out the passenger window. Anything to remove herself as much as possible from these mutants. She wasn’t sure what to think or who to trust now.
It worried her immensely that Magneto walked into a bar and was never seen again. He was there to meet with someone, she was sure of it, which meant he must’ve been betrayed by someone he trusted. And if he couldn’t trust his allies, then who could she trust? S.H.I.E.L.D. was clearly withholding information from her and she didn’t like that one bit. And Frost? She had been sharing information, but Dazzler didn’t like the accusation she made against her father or herself, and their history with Rosenthorpe. How was she supposed to remember someone she’d met when she was thirteen? And plenty of people saw her gigs. She couldn’t possibly recognize everyone in the crowd with the stage lights in her eyes.
She didn’t like the warning Frost had given her either. Was she feigning concern? Or was she taunting her? Something bothered Dazzler about her visit to the school, and the strange feeling she’d had in that underground hallway, wondering what was behind those metal doors. The way Frost had looked at her. Could she trust the woman who would be in the perfect place to betray Magneto and Scott? She suddenly wondered whether Frost had any history with Mystique. Could she be helping her exact revenge on Dazzler and Magneto? What could Frost gain from the betrayal? More power over the school?
And what of these mutant teammates of hers that she barely knew? Sage had a mysterious history and an alliance with Frost, and she seemed eager to steer the team in certain directions. Was Sage leading her into a trap at Frost’s command? When she’d left the motel room to get the food, had she been the one to set up the roadblock?
Rachel seemed to hate Frost. What if she was somehow trying to undermine the White Queen, to weaken her by helping someone take Magneto and Cyclops away? Would Rachel, and Logan for that matter, team up with whoever was behind this to get back at Frost and Cyclops for whatever the reason was she hated them? Was it because of the Phoenix incident and what Cyclops did? Frost took Cyclops’s side and supported him afterward, when not many did. After all, Cyclops had killed the beloved Professor Xavier and alienated himself from much of the mutant community. Logan in particular despised Scott. And Rachel’s allegiance was to Logan’s school.
With Rachel’s mind skills, could she have known that bus was coming for Reid? Did she purposely send Reid into its path? Did she want to kill him before he could tell them what they wanted to know? Was Rachel playing them?
And what of Polaris? Her powers conveniently acted up when they were chasing Reid, allowing him to get away. She said her relationship with her father was complicated. What did that mean? Their gifts were very similar, which meant she would know his weaknesses. Could she have betrayed her father for some reason? Or maybe she was she working with her father. Was he behind this? Perhaps they were working to undermine Frost. Magneto’s relationship with both Frost and Cyclops had been strained after the Phoenix incident. Despite their differences over the years, Charles Xavier had been Magneto’s friend, and he’d been murdered by the Phoenix-influenced Cyclops.
Or could Magneto just want the MGH for himself? Was that why he rescued Dazzler from Mystique? Simply to wrest control of the MGH for himself and take over Mystique’s empire. Mystique, who had once been Magneto’s ally…
A memory flashed inside her mind, of Polaris exiting the bathroom of that café in Vancouver and sliding her phone into her coat pocket. Had she been calling Logan to report in? Or had she been calling Magneto? Or warning Reid?
There were too many questions. Too many people in play.
Dazzler looked into the back seat to see Polaris’s vibrant green eyes studying her… and if Dazzler wasn’t mistaken, those eyes were a little threatening.
“What are you going to do if your father’s involved?” Polaris asked her.
“What are you going to do if yours is?” Dazzler shot back.
“Excuse me?” Polaris’s brow furrowed.
“My father’s a human. He wouldn’t have the power to make people disappear. Your father would.”
“Your father is a judge,” Rachel countered. “I’d say he’d have the connections.”
“And so would yours.” Dazzler turned around in her seat. “He’d have the connections, and he’d have the enemies, given the Phoenix incident and the little mutant uprising he tried to make happen afterward.”
“Yeah, weren’t you a part of that?” Rachel shot back.
Dazzler paused. She had been staying at the school when Scott had grown bitter and mistrustful of humans, and no longer believed an alliance between mutants and humans was possible.
“I was around because your father gave me somewhere to stay,” Dazzler said, “but I was in a dark place at the time.”
“Yeah? So was Cyclops,” Rachel said.
“So, you’re defending him now?” Dazzler challenged.
Rachel looked away, out the window.
“I thought you were here to repay a debt to our fathers,” Polaris said to Dazzler. “So, why are you questioning their motives?”
“I was repaying a debt, but even Frost warned me that this could be a setup planned by someone working with Mystique, or someone wanting control of the MGH, or someone just wanting to take me or the Xavier school down. And, right now, I’m thinking it’s a mutant. Who else could make Magneto and Cyclops disappear? Unless, of course, their disappearance was voluntary… because they’re the ones behind this.”
“They wouldn’t do that.” Polaris’s whole face was screwed up now. “Finding out who is behind this is the whole point of us being here.”
“Magneto and Cyclops are strong. Either a mutant took them down, or Magneto or Cyclops themselves are behind this, and they’re trying to stop us from getting close to the evidence.” Dazzler’s mind quickly waded through the possibilities, wondering who could want to hurt them. Cyclops had many foes after the Phoenix incident, and Magneto had gained many enemies over the years, especially from his younger, more extremist days. A sudden thought struck her. She looked back at Polaris. “Who are your siblings?” she asked her.
“What?” Polaris asked, confused by the turn in conversation.
“I know some of Magneto’s children but not necessarily all of them,” Dazzler said. “You said you’re ashamed of some of your siblings. Is Magneto, too? Could they be behind this?” Dazzler’s mind flew with conspiracy theories that set her pulse racing with despair.
“This has nothing to do with–” Polaris began.
“It has everything to do with it!” Dazzler cut her off. “Who are you ashamed of?”
“Dazzler,” Sage cautioned.
“What?” Dazzler snapped. “Everyone can throw accusations at my father, but I can’t throw accusations back? If Magneto and Cyclops are innocent, then someone betrayed them, and if someone betrayed them, that someone will betray us, too. Look at that roadblock back there! Someone knew we were going to take that route back to the X-Jet.” She looked back at Polaris. “In the café you made a call. Who to?”
“Stop trying to turn this back on us,” Rachel said.
“It’s convenient, don’t you think, that her powers kept acting up and enabling Reid to get away,” Dazzler said.
“That wasn’t on purpose!” Polaris said, anger flushing up her cheeks now. “You can’t think I’m behind this?”
“If not you, then who? Who would betray your father?” Dazzler pushed. “Who are these siblings that you’re ashamed of? Someone made your father disappear. Could it be them?”
Polaris’s eyes simmered with green fire as she considered the accusation.
“Well?” Dazzler shouted, unable to contain her frustration and anger. “Give me a name!”
“You want to know who I’m ashamed of?” Polaris yelled back, as the car began to vibrate with her anger. “The Witch! That’s who.”
“The Witch?” Dazzler asked, confused, as the car shook violently around her.
“Polaris!” Sage warned. Rachel placed a hand on Polaris’s arm.
“Yes, the Witch!” Polaris yelled at Dazzler, eyes blazing green fire now. “The one who brought M-Day upon all of us!”
“S-she’s your sister?” Dazzler said in shock as the car’s windows rattled and she held on to the car’s dashboard amidst the vibration.
“My half-sister!” Polaris said. “Are you happy?”
“Polaris!” Sage yelled again, her biceps bulging as she struggled to control the car. It shook and swerved left and right. Rachel, eyes whitened, quickly clasped Polaris’s shoulder to calm her.
“The Scarlet Witch is your sister?” Dazzler asked, her voice soft with sympathy now.
The vibration of the vehicle eased off as Polaris calmed, thanks to Rachel’s help.
“Yes,” Polaris said, tears staining her eyes. “It was my sister who tried to kill us all. Are you happy now?”
A wave of shame washed over Dazzler from her outburst, followed by a wave of sympathy. “Could she be behind this?” she asked, softly.
Polaris stared at her a moment, then turned her eyes out the window. “With her, anything is possible.”
“You happy now?” Rachel said, venomously to Dazzler.
“No. Are you?” Dazzler said, mind turning over again, studying the resentment burning in the telepath’s eyes. “You seem to hate your father and you hate Frost. Why are you sitting there so quietly?”
“Who can get a word in with you having a paranoid break in front of us?” she said.
Dazzler snapped and reached for her, light energy surging through her body, but Sage swiftly shot out a hand and pushed her back into her seat.
“You’re one to talk!” Dazzler spat at Rachel. “Isn’t your mother famous for her mental breaks?”
Rachel lunged forward now, reaching for her, but again, Sage thrust a muscular arm out and pushed her back, and Polaris joined in too, pulling Rachel back into her seat.
“Enough!” Sage barked, shooting them each a hard glance. “All of you!” She turned back around and motioned up ahead. “We’re approaching the border. Don’t draw attention!”
Through the windshield, Dazzler saw the lines of cars, red brake lights flashing on and off, as they lined up for the crossing. She shot Rachel another glare, then adjusted herself back in her seat, and caught her breath.
Unable to trust S.H.I.E.L.D. and unable to trust her mutant team, Dazzler found herself in the exact position she expected to be. She couldn’t trust anyone, human or mutant. Both sides were involved, she felt it in her bones.
The only way to ensure she didn’t disappear like the others was to only trust herself. If her walls had been up before, they were now reinforced with steel.