Seven Signs; Dancing With The Devil

A.N/ First and foremost, I'd like to apologise for the MASSIVE delay in updating this story. This is due to a butt-load of bad occuring in RL.
Secondly, a huge thanks to May Wilson for being the first to review this story (or indeed ANY of my work).
Thirdly, I feel the need to begin this story, in grand Marvel tradition, with a roll-call. I apolologise to any readers who find them annoying. Please rest assured, I'm annoyed by them in fanfic just as much as the next guy but, in this case it seems necessary.
Fourth, this version of X-Force will have more in common with Generation X than it's comic-book counterpart. If you
are unfamiliar with either team, I recommend looking them up here: http://marvel.wikia.com/Main_Page

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X-Force

Billy Williams / Wiccan
Junior Team Leader
Reality Manipulation
Flight

Tommy Williams / Speed
Super-human Speed
Hyper-kinetic Combustion

Laura Kinney / Talon
Regenerative Healing Factor
Super-humanly Acute Senses
Bone Claws

Josh Foley / Elixir
Bio-manipulation

Santo Vacarro / Rockslide
Super-human Strength
'Rock Explosion'

Julian Keller / Hellion
Telekinesis

Sooraya Qadir / Dust
Sand Form

Amara Aquila / Magma
Geokinesis
Pyrokinesis
Magma Manipulation/Form

May Parker / Spider-girl
Super-human Speed, Strength and Agility
Precognitive Danger Sense
Web-shooting
Wall-crawling

Ashlyn Thomas / Leopard
Super-human Speed, Strength and Agility
Super-humanly Acute Senses

George Bailey / Deviate
Psionic Empath

Sasha Bailey / Airwave
Wind Control
Frequency Manipulation

Teachers

Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler
Team Leader
Teleportation
Shadow Blending

Wanda Maximoff-Wagner / Scarlet Witch
Reality Manipulation

Paige Guthrie / Husk
Transitional Omni-morph Husking

Warren Worthington III / Archangel
Regenerative Healing Factor
Healing Blood
Projectile Organic Steel 'Feathers'
Winged Flight

Lorna Dane / Polaris
Magnetic Field Manipulation

Other Notable Residents of the School

Talia Josephine 'T.J' Wagner
Latent Mutant

Valeria Meghan Richards
Force Field Projection

Franklin Richards
Reality Manipulation
Telepathy

Guest Starring

Mary Jane 'M.J' Watson-Parker

Steve Rogers / Captain America
Avengers Chairman / Field Leader
Expert Martial Artist

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Chapter One_

FATHER, K.I.A!

She dreaded answering the door on nights like this.

Whenever the Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes, were called to assemble, Mary Jane would sit in her living-room,
telephone clutched in one hand and a ridiculously strong cup of coffee in the other. Always wondering if the next call
or knock at the door would herald the death of her husband - Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man.

Tonight, like oh so many nights in the past, the call had come in, the fabled battle-cry had rung out and Peter had
leapt to his duty. It was nights like this one, that had M.J hating Captain America, leader of the Avengers, and hating even more her husband's memory of Ben Parker.
"Why the hell couldn't he have chosen different words of wisdom? AAaaarrgh, 'great power = great responsibility' my tight ass!" Muttered M.J beneath her breath, "Please God, let him come home safely."
"Mom? What are you still doing up? Isn't Dad home yet?" A soft, yet strong voice asked from behind her. M.J turned and smiled to her now fifteen-year old daughter. May Parker looked a lot like her father, only prettier, though she had inherited her mother's ruby-red hair. The old sweats-clad young girl was clutching a steaming mug of hot chocolate
between her hands and a tatty old tarantula stuffed-toy dangled tenuously by a leg from between her fingers. Both were
a sure sign to Mary Jane that May was just as worried as she was. M.J gestured for her daughter to join her on the couch
and the teen did so, swinging her fuzzy-slipper clad feet up under herself.
"Why don't we put the t.v on? There's sure to be a story about whatever Dad's doing." This seemed like a really good
idea to May, who couldn't bear not knowing what was happening to her father or who he and his team-mates were up
against. In her imagination, her father stood alone, surrounded by enemies such as Kang, Count Nefaria, Loki, Magneto..
heck even the Red Skull, with his fellow Avengers lying scattered and broken across the battle-field.
No-one in the Parker household liked to talk about it, but it was a well known fact that sometimes the Avengers lost,
sometimes Avengers died. May could name them all, those fallen heroes: first was Simon Williams - the Wonder Man, only seven days after his wedding to the Scarlet Witch, then Hellcat, Doctor Druid.. the list went on until the most
recent, Janet Van-Dyne-the Wasp fell during the most recent Skrull nastiness.
"Mom? Should we put the news on?" From the distant look on Mary Jane's face, it was clear to May that her mother was having the same thoughts she was. It was probably worse for M.J., after all, her mother knew the other Avengers as
well, had even briefly lived at the Avengers Mansion whilst Spider-man tried desperately to locate their kidnapped
daughter. Many of the people fighting along-side Peter, M.J. considered her friends.
"No Sweetie, they'll be streaming it live if they can, and I hate watching it all from here and not being able to
help at all. It makes me feel so useless."
KNOCK! KNOCK!
The sound of the heavy brass knocker on their front door, prevented any further conversation.
"Stay here." M.J ordered her daughter, whilst slipping her 9-mil out of her purse. Peter didn't approve, but M.J
would give her soul to Mephisto before she'd stop trying to protect her family. Moving into the hallway at the
front of their small but comfortable home, Mary Jane pulled the hammer back on her pistol and flipped the safety
off, ready to fight to the death to protect May. Easing up carefully to the front-door, gun in a two-handed grip
and pointed down to the ground, Mary Jane looked through the peep-hole to the visitor outside.
"No. No, no, no, NNNOOOOOOOO!" M.J's anguished scream sounded to both May and their visitor as though she were being
tortured. May ran out the living-room as the sound of splintering wood signaled the entrance of their visitor. At the sight of him, May sank to her knees with tears already forming in her eyes. Like her mother before her, she knew
there could be only one reason for a ravaged Captain America to call at their door at 3:25am.

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Well, that's the first chapter finally completed. Now, before the backlash of flames begin, I just wan to say that
Spider-man, Wasp and Wonder Man rank in my top ten favourite superheroes of all time, but it's necessary for the
relationships between other characters in Seven Signs that they be dead. Leopard, Deviate and Airwave are of course
OC's and I know we didn't see any of the other characters in this chapter. Hold your horses, if I put it all in one
chapter I'd be working on a single update forever. Please rate and review, see you next time.
_Haunted