Story: For Mature Audiences (all chapters)

[Author's notes: Takes place prior to X-Men #10-11

Feedback: Certainly. I'm dealing with a part of the X-universe that I'm not entirely familiar with.

]

Chapter 1

"Storm, baby!" Mojo shrieked, spreading his arms wide. "You're looking great! Can I get you something? An espresso maybe?"

Storm just folded her arms and looked at him coldly. He seemed unchanged, except for the massive pair of sunglasses on his face.

"Spiral, honey, help her find her seat."

She was rudely pushed down into the chair behind her when she felt several hands on her shoulders and arms. And they all belonged to the one person responsible from abducting her in midair and teleporting her to this godforsaken place - Mojo's pet sorceress Spiral. Storm craned her head up to look at her. "You can get your hands off me now," she said, her voice as wintry as the arctic winds she was capable of summoning.

Normally capable, anyway. Spiral could be blamed for that too, it seemed.

Spiral just smiled back at her as she let go of Storm. "You must be tired," she replied. "Most people don't react well to my teleportation spell."

"If I were most people, your deranged employer wouldn't have had you bring me here."

"She's gotcha there, Spiral," Mojo pointed out. "But that's neither here nor there. Storm, I'm going to make you an offer that - "

"Death of an X-Man, Part Seven, Mojo?" Storm asked sardonically. "Isn't that script getting a little tired, even for you?"

"I agree one hundred percent," he said, raising a finger in the air. "Actually, I've got a new project,

something I whipped up myself in my lonely writer's garret - well, okay, so I stole it from your American airwaves. But all the changes are mine!"

"Marvelous," Storm murmured. "What humiliation then? Professional wrestling? Turning letters on Wheel of Fortune, perhaps?"

"Stormy, baby," Mojo said smoothly, "you're selling yourself way too short. Spiral tells me you're a woman of depth and class, and I believe her. If I just wanted someone to turn letters, I'd have abducted Jubilee."

"Your 'compliment' is not appreciated."

"Aw, come on! Life here doesn't have to be so bad, Storm! One thing I can promise you," he said, his lips pulling back and baring a wide grin. "No one here cares about Forge withdrawing his marriage proposal. So no more unwanted sympathy or prying questions, right?"

That succeeded in breaking through her stoic exterior. She stared at him, dumbfounded. "How did you - "

"Oh, please, Spiral told me everything. She's been watching you X-Men all week! I mean, it's not like I told Spiral, 'Bring me Storm!' I just said I wanted an X-Man. She recommended you, and after watching that little soap opera between you, Forge, Bishop, and Mystique, I had to agree! You, my dear, know your drama!"

Storm looked up at Spiral again, her gaze wrathful. "It's not enough that you bring me here and use magic to stop me from using my powers? You've been violating my privacy all week as well, you loathsome spider?"

Spiral scowled. "Don't blame me if Forge decided he liked the other one better," she retorted.

"That is NOT why he left," Storm shot back, rising to her feet. She didn't have her powers, but her fist clenched, and part of her wanted to throw Spiral to the floor and throttle her!

"Ladies, ladies!" Mojo said, machines moving his bulk forward as he put a hand on Storm's shoulder. "This is great stuff I'm seeing, but save it for the cameras!"

Storm's skin crawled, even though Mojo wasn't actually touching her skin. Feeling his hand there was enough, and her anger shifted back toward Mojo. "Are you going to tell me what you expect me to do for your cameras, or are you just going to kill me and get it over with?" she asked Mojo.

"Storm, you've got me all wrong! I'm not going to kill you! Well, unless the ratings are lousy, but I'm an optimist at heart," Mojo told her. "You're going to be a star. You're going to knock them dead!"

"I can think of people I'd like to do that too," Storm replied, staring pointedly at his hand, still clutching her shoulder.

He got the message, letting go. "This role is so perfect for you," he said, unruffled by her attitude.

She sighed. "What is it?"

"Picture this," he said, waving his arm through the air. "You're a supermodel. But you're retired, and your accountant runs off with all your money! Just about the only thing you have left is a rundown private detective agency - "

"Wait a minute," Storm said, stopping him. "This sounds awfully familiar."

"I told you I swiped it from your home world."

"But you can't possibly want me to star in your own version of Moonlighting," she said, bewildered.

"See, there you go, diminishing your own talents again," he said, shaking his head.

"No," Storm told him. "I mean - isn't it a little subtle for your audience? No explosions? No excessive body counts?"

"Hey, it's a private detective agency! There's bound to be plenty of murders!"

"You do realize that the woman in that show doesn't die at the end, right?"

He looked puzzled. "Are you under the impression that I WANT you to die? Baby, if you're dead, I ain't got no show! I think this could run for years!"

Storm was stunned. He wanted her for her - acting skills?

Worse yet, she'd heard enough about the show to know that the two leads eventually developed a romantic relationship. Who knew what kind of hideous creature Mojo had cast opposite her?

"And best of all," Mojo went on, "Spiral here is going to be your costar!"

Spiral's eyes grew wide. "WHAT!"

"I'll call it - Moonlightning! And Storm, you can MAKE lightning, so it's a pun. Perfect!"

The X-Men couldn't save her fast enough.
The swords were in her hands so quickly, swords that simply could not have all been on her body a moment ago, it could have been magic. In fact, it probably was magic. Spiral threw her defenseless target down onto the floor and stabbed, stabbed over and over until she let loose a bloody cry of frustration.

"You know, you're not going to be able to memorize that script if you keep hacking it to pieces," Storm observed sourly.

Spiral shot her a look. "I shouldn't HAVE to in the first place! Years of service for what? So I can be marked for death on a show with YOU?"

"He told you you were in no danger. Unlike, say, ME."

"And you expect me to take him at his WORD? He could change his mind any time! He could realize tomorrow what a stupid idea this is! Nobody's going to be watching!"

"Then why is he doing it?" Storm asked.

"Don't you know?" Spiral said, disgusted. "He's an auteur. He thinks he can get by on the bare minimum of physical violence because of his writing."

Storm folded her arms. "I realize you're angry with your employer, but you know he's probably listening. Watching, too."

"No, he isn't. Magic," Storm said indifferently.

"At any rate," Storm went on, "the fact remains that whether or not Mojo changes his mind about your future, mine is in little doubt. Until the X-Men arrive, I have more incentive than you for this show to succeed. Mojo certainly won't allow ME to live. For now, I have little option except to begin reading my script." She held up her own thick sheaf of papers. Unlike Spiral's, it wasn't filled with holes.

"You seem remarkably calm about this," Spiral grumbled.

"You WERE watching me," Storm retorted. "You shouldn't be surprised. Besides, the likeliest scenario is that the X-Men will be here shortly."

Spiral chuckled.

"You doubt them?"

"Oh, I don't doubt that the X-Men know how to make things happen. But I don't think they'll be looking for you yet. Maybe ever." Spiral's mood shifted, as her anger was replaced by a spiteful pleasure in knowing what Storm didn't, and the satisfaction that comes from a job well done.

Storm froze. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Spiral smiled. "What was happening back on Earth when you arrived here in Mojoverse, vomiting from the effects of my teleportation spell? It made you quite vulnerable to my next spell, by the way. A useful side effect from my perspective."

Storm swallowed her anger, wary of what Spiral was bursting to tell her. "A rogue Sentinel. No one knew where it had come from, but it was creating havoc off Long Island. My team was sent to deal with it while Cyclops' team and Ghost Rider were taking care of a Brood outbreak." She stopped. "You're not saying - "

"That they're dead? No, they're just fine. The Sentinel was scrapped. It's at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean now. Very bad for the environment," Spiral sighed.

"I was above the clouds so the Sentinel couldn't see me," Storm went on, ignoring her. "Neither could the other X-Men though, and that was when you surprised me."

"Not before you dropped that lightning bolt on the Sentinel's head," Spiral said admiringly. "I was impressed. If you'd managed to destroy it right there, you would have seriously compromised my plans."

"What plans? You still captured me."

"Yes, but I needed the Sentinel to fake your death."

"Fake my - you did what? YOU were the one responsible for the Sentinel?"

Spiral laughed. "That composure of yours hasn't been the same since you got here, has it? Oh, don't worry, no lives were lost. Except yours - officially."

"You faked my DEATH?"

"The Sentinel fired into the clouds after your light show nearly shorted it out. The X-Men saw your body fall from the sky, your chest blown apart. Iceman caught you in midair, but you 'died' in his arms. Then the Sentinel shattered the ice out from under Iceman's feet, and your body fell into the ocean, where it was later buried by the wreckage of the Sentinel, destroyed thanks to the heroic efforts of the grief-stricken X-Men." Spiral paused. "I must admit, I picked up a flair for the melodrama from Mojo."

Storm moved towards Spiral, almost shaking with rage. "You cause my teammates that kind of pain, and then you make light of it!"

"Hey, you want to get into a fistfight, that's fine with me," Spiral shot back, putting her swords away. "Although I do believe I have you outnumbered." She raised her six fists before her like a turn-of-the-century boxer, grinning.

"My body - something you crafted in your 'shoppe', I assume?" Storm asked, not coming closer. Hand-to-hand combat with the multi-armed Spiral wasn't going to get her anywhere, not when she needed information.

"Something better. Something that could breathe a few last words to Iceman in your own voice before your death," Spiral replied. Her grin seemed positively wicked. "I thought the irony of my plan was particularly inspired. I hired someone to act out your death scene."

"SomeONE? Who?" Then Storm realized. The irony wasn't in Mojo's minion hiring an actor, but rather in the identity of the most likely candidate to 'play' her. "Mystique," she said.

"Guess they didn't make you team leader for nothing."

"It doesn't make sense," Storm blurted.

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you fell for that crap she was giving Forge, did you?" Spiral sneered. "She's not insane - well, actually she probably is, but she's certainly not delusional. She WANTS something from Forge, and with you dead, she can exploit his grief to get it. You X-Men can be such suckers, I swear."

"Forge," Storm whispered. Now, more than ever, she had to get back to the X-Men, had to warn him!

"Don't blow a gasket," Spiral said, waving a couple hands. "I don't know what she wants, but I don't think it involves killing him. So try to forget about it, because you can't do anything about it. Certainly not without your powers. Speaking of which," Spiral added, "it's time I explained how it's going to work between us."

"Excuse me?" Storm asked. Her loathing of this heartless creature was now complete.

"The spell," Spiral explained, as if she were dealing with a five-year-old. "The one that prevents you from summoning your powers. I decide when and how you get to use them again. You want to listen, or you want to worry about your precious would-be fiancée?"

Storm drew herself up and gave Spiral a icy glare. "Go on," she said.

"First of all, it's more of a damping field than anything else. If you can get more than a hundred yards away from me, you get your powers back. Before you get TOO excited," Spiral said quickly, "all I need to do is catch up with you, and the spell takes effect once more. Which, for a teleporter, isn't so difficult."

"Not if you're unconscious," Storm pointed out.

"True," Spiral admitted. "Which is why I placed a marker on your, for lack of a better word, aura. Think of it as a scent that someone with the right nose can track. And I have that nose. Of course, you could always KILL me, not that I think you could."

"X-Men do not - "

"Kill, yeah, I know. I was observing when you gave Bishop the speech in New York. Still," Spiral said, "it'll be interesting to see how far you're willing to go when the show tanks, and your powers might be the only thing that'll keep you alive." Spiral's good mood suddenly vanished. "Not that I'm looking forward to cancellation either."

"You can teleport anywhere in the galaxy. Why should you be afraid?"

"I'm not afraid!" Spiral snarled.

Storm blinked. "The lady doth protest too much," she murmured.

"Yeah, well, let's just say that Mojo knows my scent just like I know yours," Spiral said, "and I'm not the only one who can teleport."

"So - " Storm paused as yet another unpleasant thought struck her. "One hundred yards? Does that mean you're going to be hovering over me constantly?"

"We'll be sharing living arrangements, actually," Spiral said. Her expression suggested she wasn't any happier about it than Storm. "This is a lot nicer than what you'd be staying in normally, because I have to live here too. I made sure it was spacious too. I don't want to have to listen to a woman become hysterical because of an attack of claustrophobia."

Something else Spiral presumed to know. "I can function perfectly well in close quarters," Storm said, irritated. "It only surfaces in the most extreme cases."

"So you wouldn't mind sharing a bedroom?"

Storm's expression was all the answer needed. "Yeah, I wouldn't enjoy that either," Spiral added.

There was a knock at the door, and both women looked at each other. "You're the prisoner," Spiral said.

Storm picked up her script again. "I'm busy."

Spiral muttered something vile as she went to answer the door.

One of Mojo's troops was there with a large crate. "From Mojo himself," he told Spiral, shoving it past her before leaving again.

"What is it?" Storm asked.

"Probably the method of our destruction," Spiral grumbled as she opened the top. Looking inside at the contents, Spiral snarled wordlessly.

Curious, Storm came over and looked inside. It contained stacks of scripts. On top was a note saying, "Very important you memorize your lines in thirty-six hours. I made you seventy-five extra copies in case you lose your script. Break a leg!"

Storm surprised herself, and Spiral, by chuckling as she reached in, took one, and offered it to the sorceress.

"What's so funny?" Spiral asked.

"As you said, the method of our destruction," Storm replied coolly. "We'll have to memorize these together."

Spiral grunted. "Remind me to burn these extras when we're finished," she said, grabbing the script. "Ready to become 'Sandra Moon'?"

"I've tackled much worse, 'Devon Light'. And believe me, this show could be much worse."

"How?"

"In the original version of this show, the two main characters eventually become lovers."

Spiral stared at her. "Tell me you're kidding."

"No, I'm quite serious."

"What makes you think that's not going to happen in MOJO'S version?"

" . . . But we're both women."

"And your point is?"

Storm was aghast. Maybe early cancellation wasn't so bad after all.

To be continued . . .

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I always knew I might be mobbed by Spineless Ones some day," Storm said three weeks later. "I just never thought they'd ask for my autograph."

"Face it, you're hotter than hot cakes, Stormy!" Mojo said. "Hotter than a fifteen-dollar laser! The ratings on Moonlightning are going through the roof!"

The success of Mojo's work had defied expectations in the past. There was the time he accidentally filmed his own face, for example. Moonlighting was no different, even though by Earth standards, what he was trying to accomplish was nothing out of the ordinary. Which only further underlined how completely different the two worlds were.

Spineless Ones watched TV. And did little else. They demanded TV. They demanded it in great quantities, especially their favorite shows. Consequently the highest-rated shows were also the most frequently aired. Hours of footage for some programs were churned out in a single Mojoverse day, then fed to the masses the following day. Mojo, like the Hollywood shlock producers he sometimes appeared to be emulating, was best-known and best-loved for his depictions of gratuitous violence, unnecessary explosions, and buckets of blood.

Moonlighting was none of these things.

True enough, nearly every episode they'd filmed had an action scene for a climax. It WAS a private detective agency, as Mojo had originally pointed out. They dealt with murderers, thieves, and swindlers on a daily basis. The fights themselves, however, were tame by Mojoverse standards. There were no high explosives, no lasers, no heat-seeking missiles. The worst they'd encountered was a horde of robots armed with machine guns. The robots would have been more fearsome if they hadn't been three feet tall. And made of an especially conductive type of metal that had allowed Storm to take them out with a single bolt of lightning.

For Storm, that was the strangest part of all. For all his assurances, she'd assumed that there would be a bitter fight to the death at the end of every episode until he finally "got" her. That was her past experience with Mojoverse. Here, though, Mojo didn't seem to be trying his hardest to have her killed. The action sequences hadn't been walks in the park either, but Storm had never really felt like she was in grave danger. These were challenges she was meant to win.

Especially when Spiral was working with you, rather than against you. True, Spiral generally used a regular handgun loaded with regular bullets, but when you included the fact that she used six at once, she became a small army all by herself. And of course, there was the magic Spiral employed to make her life more convenient.

Not that the two characters were trying to make each OTHER'S lives more convenient. "Sandra" and "Devon" were written as partners and rivals. Devon took delight in trying to get under Sandra's skin. Sandra went out of her way to show Devon it wasn't bothering her. When work didn't get in the way, both women seemed happiest infuriating each other.

Which described Storm's relationship with Spiral perfectly.

Regardless of how Storm felt about all of this, the fact remained that the show had captured the hearts of a jaded population. Subtlety, Mojo had declared, was the new "it" thing. Within reason, of course. What was subtlety if a few people didn't die along the way?

At least these weren't real people dying, like the slaves Storm was all too aware of. She'd forced Mojo on the first day on the set to accept that she wouldn't inflict any serious harm on living beings. Still, she thought about the other shows being produced, and she thought about ways to not only escape, but also shut Mojo's entire corrupt empire down.

And at least Mojo wasn't working them into exhaustion. Taking another page from Earth, Mojo was airing a single hour of footage every three days. At first the audience had resented him for it. Later, as they became hooked, they discovered that the agony of anticipation made the actual episode all the sweeter.

In short, they were starting to resemble American audiences.

"They love the action! They love the drama! They love the - my comedy!" Mojo crowed. "And everyone's favorite topic is the sexual tension!"

"Excuse me?" Storm asked.

"What?" Spiral asked at the exact same moment.

"The sexual tension," Mojo repeated. "They're already asking when you two are going to, what do humans say, 'jump each other's bones'?"

"WHAT sexual tension?" Spiral asked. "All we do is drive each other crazy!"

"Maybe you should watch more television," Mojo suggested. "That's always how it starts."

With a sinking feeling, Storm knew he wasn't far off. Still, she'd had a very simple solution ready for this moment. "I don't think that would be a good idea," she said.

"Why not? Sex sells!"

"Are you aware why Moonlighting isn't aired in America any longer?"

Mojo looked curiously at her. "No, why?"

"Because when the two leads eventually became lovers," Storm explained, "the sexual tension was gone, and people stopped watching." She'd never actually watched the show, but it was so famous an example of a program killing its own appeal that even she knew about it.

"Hm," he said. "Here I thought it had something to do with one of the characters jumping over some kind of ocean predator. You know, that DOES make a lot more sense. Let 'em wait! Let 'em suffer! They'll be dying for it! It'll make a great final episode some day!"

Which was why Storm needed to leave before then.

"There's something else," she told him.

"Oh?"

"I want to - renegotiate my contract."

Mojo grinned. "You don't have a contract."

"I won't work another day if you don't agree to something."

"You won't breathe another day if you don't work."

"You really think you can kill me off NOW? End the show just when it's taking off? All that 'sexual tension' remaining unfulfilled?" Storm smiled grimly. "You NEED me alive."

Mojo looked at Spiral, who just shrugged. "Well," he said. "This is a first."

"You've had actors make those demands before," Spiral pointed out.

"Yes, and I hacked off their limbs for asking them, as I recall. Okay, Storm, I'll 'bite'," he said, showing off vicious, pointed rows of teeth. "What do you want?"

"I want you to put a moratorium on killing slaves for ALL of your shows, not just ours," Storm said.

"Wha-wha-WHAAAT!"

"No more killing," Storm said. "Not while I'm on the air. You've adapted on Moonlighting. Why not elsewhere?"

"X-Men," he sighed. "Knew this was coming. How about a counteroffer?"

"As in what?"

"We had a rebellion here a couple months before you came," he said casually. "As you might have guessed, it failed. Care to see who some of the prisoners are?"

He pressed a button on his console, revealing two pictures on the monitor. Storm gasped.

"Hey, look at that! It's your old teammates, Longshot and Dazzler!" he said, gesturing to the image of the two mutants, each chained and muzzled in cages barely big enough for their bodies. He pushed a second button, and the form of Lila Cheney appeared on another screen. "And I'm sure you recognize your old pal? Dontcha LOVE reunion episodes?"

"What! How did you - let them go this instant!"

"How did I let them go? Do they look gone to you?" he asked innocently.

"You KNOW what I meant!"

"And you must know why I'm showing you this?"

Storm's stomach sank. "You're blackmailing me."

"No, I'm bartering with you. Think of them as being under lifetime contract. Try not to think about how short those contracts could be," Mojo replied. "Now imagine me releasing them from their contracts - IF you agree to modify yours?"

"How?"

"No sulking in your trailer because occasionally a few people die every day on the sets of other shows. I don't see why it bothers you so much. I didn't see YOU leading any rebellions with Longshot."

Storm didn't like being asked to choose between standing by idly as innocents died, and having three friends die if she didn't do something about it. The shot to her pride didn't help.

Eventually, however, her shoulders slumped. If Longshot lived, was released - "You must return them to my home dimension," Storm said suddenly. "Give them their futures back, not just their lives. Do that, and - I will follow your directions."

"Stormy, doll! I was always going to do that!" he said sweetly. "Spiral, be a dear? Get Major Domo on the line and let him know Longshot and his friends are going to hire themselves out to the competition. And then maybe you and Storm can go over your lines?"

"Joy," Spiral said, sounding less than thrilled.

Storm knew she felt worse.
"Come with me," Spiral told her.

"Where?"

"Always so suspicious."

"Should I not be so?"

Spiral frowned. "We're coworkers, for lack of a better word. If nothing else, in Mojoverse I've learned to value professionalism highly. You could do the same."

"Coworkers implies we're on the same level. But you can do as you wish, and I cannot," Storm reminded her.

"See, this is why we're doing this. Because I don't want you to be snippy with me for the next few weeks. Well, snippier than usual," Spiral retorted.

"You still haven't said what we're doing."

"I could just teleport us. Do you want the hangover that comes with it?"

Storm rose from her seat stiffly, like a queen greeting an unwanted guest. "Let us go then."

As they walked briskly through Mojo's fortress, Storm shot her an angry look. "Whatever bribe you've cooked up, you can forget it."

"Bribe?"

"You've obviously just come from sending Longshot and the others to who-knows-where. Don't think I believe your boss - "

"Our boss, o untrusting one."

"When he says he sent them back to my dimension," Storm finished through gritted teeth.

"They haven't gone yet," Spiral replied. "Major Domo is handling it. I'm taking you to watch."

Storm looked startled. "What?"

"Well, I considered showing you video footage of their departure, but you would have just accused me of staging a recreation with actors. I trust you can tell the real Dazzler from a fake from ten yards away?"

"Yes," Storm admitted.

"Good. Remember, if you attempt to contact them before they go, I have permission to run my sword through your heart," Spiral said coldly. "They will NOT be permitted to bring news of your presence here back to the X-Men."

It was supposed to be a threat, but instead Spiral convinced Storm that her friends were really being sent where Mojo had promised. And she didn't know what to think.

"Why are you doing this, Mojo? You know I'll be back."

Storm froze. That was Longshot's voice!

"Be quiet. No sudden movements," Spiral warned her as she slowed down. "It's too dark in here, so they won't be able to see you."

Moving forward again, Storm turned a corner, only to have her progress arrested by a pair of arms across her chest. Spiral glared at her, fingering the hilt of a sheathed sword with a third hand, before looking away.

Storm followed her gaze and saw the monstrous bulk of Mojo. Nearby was one of his toadies, Major Domo, standing at a panel. In front of them - a sight that made sudden tears spring to Storm's eyes - were three familiar figures, those of Longshot, Dazzler, and Lila Cheney. It wasn't at all the same as seeing them imprisoned in cages on a video screen, and their faces made her homesick in such a way that she almost felt like she really had been teleported there.

"Of course you'll be back. That's why I'm letting you go," Mojo replied blithely. "I know it doesn't cost me anything. Your pitiful rebellions never succeed. I'm thinking of making it into a series, actually! Sort of a takeoff on The Prisoner. How does the role of Number Six sound?"

"You think everything will always work out just the way you planned it, Mojo," Longshot retorted, "and that's going to be your downfall."

Mojo picked at his teeth idly. "But everything DOES work out the way I want it to. I mean, we call it Mojoverse for a reason. Look, this makes for great drama - in fact, I'll make it the first five minutes of our new collaborative effort."

"Don't bother, Longshot," Dazzler told him as he opened his mouth. "You're just giving him material to work with."

Mojo shrugged. "I'm a visionary, what can I say? I turn crap into gold. Now, as for you, Major Domo is still blocking your teleportation powers, Lila. Once you're back on Earth, the block shuts off, and you can go to your friends and do what you like."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? Lead the X-Men back here and into some sort of trap for your audience?" Longshot shot back. "When we return, you won't have any footage, because you'll never see it coming."

"A visionary sees all," Mojo said. "Which is probably why 'visionary' stars with v-i-s-i-o-n."

Major Domo finished working at the panel, and a sudden portal opened up near the three prisoners.

"Oh, and speaking of the X-Men, be sure to offer them my condolences," Mojo added.

Dazzler stopped as they turned to leave. "What?"

"That's right, you couldn't have known. I was considering having the X-Men star in my very own version of the Wizard of Oz, but then I found out the one called Storm died in action, so I decided they wouldn't be any fun for the time being."

"You lie!" Lila burst out, her eyes wide with dismay.

"Okay, I lie. But I wouldn't suggest wearing bright colors when you drop by the mansion," he said, chuckling.

Lila lunged forward, but Dazzler stopped her. "It's okay, Lila, I'm sure she's fine," she reassured her.

"Of course she's fine," Lila muttered, but the look both women were giving Mojo belied her words.

Storm watched all of this from the shadows, and her heart broke. "No," she whispered. She started to raise a hand.

"Don't make me kill you!" Spiral hissed. "And who do you think will die next?"

Before Storm could answer, Longshot led Dazzler and Lila through the portal, and they vanished into space.

"Always leave 'em laughing, that's what I say! Or sobbing - it's the same difference! Real, honest emotions!" Mojo said cheerfully. "But I wouldn't envy them their visit to the X-Men, wondering if I was telling the truth or not."

"What truth?" Storm snarled from where she stood. "You're perpetuating a lie!"

Mojo turned and smiled at her. "Television is truth AND lies, Storm. Here in Mojoverse, there's no difference between the two. So," he said, shifting gears, "how about we head over to the set and shoot the next episode? Now that my newest star got the contract she wanted?"

Storm turned on her heel and walked away without a word. Through her anger, she was aware of two things.

One - she didn't need Spiral to get out of here. She just needed that panel, and the coordinates to Earth.

Two - if Longshot wasn't there to lead the next rebellion, then she would be. And she'd win.
Not long ago, Storm's life meant something. Even if humans despised her kind, Storm knew in her heart that her work as an X-Men had saved many lives over the years. Her choice had brought her great fulfillment.

Now she was an actress. And how trite and empty her life seemed now.

Storm stared out the window of the "detective agency" and sighed. The script called upon her to be "pensive" at the moment; her character was comparing her new life to her old one of being a supermodel. She was supposed to realize by the end of the episode how alive being a detective made her feel. Undoubtedly the audience would interpret that to mean being a detective with Devon was what made her feel alive. The Spineless Ones continued to read things into the relationship that wasn't there.

So she "acted" pensive by actually being it. Once she'd made a difference. Now she made television. The one could never possibly measure up to the other. What was the point of making the show succeed in order to save her life, if her life was so singularly shallow now?

And then of course, she thought as she turned halfway to look behind her, there was her roommate.

Spiral had claimed that she took Storm to see her friends leave Mojoverse in order to make their quarters slightly less uncomfortable. Even if that were so, Storm found herself unable to suppress the growing dissatisfaction with her life, and she took it out on Spiral. Which made their repartee all the more caustic on the set, as Spiral was determined to give as good as she got. Storm supposed it was good that her captor/cohabitant was so difficult. Otherwise she might grow used to her surroundings, when really she needed to be focused on figuring out how to get her powers back permanently. Right now she was right where she'd started when she was abducted. Spiral only let her use her powers on the set, and then just for the purpose of the story. If Storm did something out of line, Spiral could shut her right down again. Plus Mojo continued to direct the series himself, so the set was constantly crawling with armed men off-camera.

And what a set it was! Mojo did nothing small, so rather than simply build an office, he'd also built the building in which it was housed. Storm was not just looking out the window. She was looking five stories down.

While Spiral, behind her, sat with her feet on the desk, twirling pencils in three different hands while a fourth clutched a coffee mug. The last two hands worked at a typewriter, something Storm had not used in years but which Mojo had added for "atmosphere".

Storm sighed as she looked outside once more. No matter how grudgingly she accepted her role on the show, Spiral was still an important woman in Mojo's hierarchy and had little to fear from cancellation. How Storm could look at her as anything more than her personal prison guard, the one person more responsible than anyone - save perhaps Mojo himself - for her predicament. Living under lock and key, reading empty lines for a repellent species, fighting battles she was supposed to win with only a modicum of effort . . .

Dodging flaming wrecks.

Her eyes widened as she looked up and saw what appeared to be some kind of massive military vehicle descending in flames from the sky at an excessive speed. And it was speeding toward her window.

Her only thought before moving was, "This isn't in the script!"

Then she had Spiral in her arms as she flew out the office door, into the hallway, and out a window at the other end of the building, rising into the air.

"What the - what the fuck are you doing!" Spiral screamed, surprised.

There was a large explosion behind them as the machine plowed into their "set" and ripped it to pieces like it was made of paper-mache. In less than a minute, while Storm hovered in midair, still clutching Spiral, the building collapsed into a sea of dust and rubble. The vehicle had passed completely through it, and had plowed into the ground - or rather, the floor - below them.

"Oh," Spiral finally said as they watched.

Flying back down, taking a brief moment to revel in a rare opportunity to soar, Storm set Spiral down before landing next to her. Mojo was in an uproar. "Did you get that? DID YOU GET THAT! That was stupendous!"

"Does he see everything that goes wrong as something going exactly as planned?" Storm asked.

"What?" Spiral asked, distracted. "Uh, yeah, you could say that. Except Mojo would say it didn't go wrong in the first place."

"Ladies!" Mojo cried out, moving towards them. His eyes were alight with a kind of insane glee. "We're going to need a new script! Heck, two new scripts! It's going to be a two-parter, and THAT was the cliffhanger ending! And you survived, so THAT'S a bonus. It'll make shooting Part Two SO much easier! You see this?" he asked, pointing at his delighted face. "This is the face of an artistic genius!"

"You always did have your priorities straight, Mojo," Storm replied. "What happened?"

"Near as I can figure, it came from the next set over. The walls separating the sets are made of Mojonium," Mojo explained, "but they're not impenetrable. I guess you fling a forty-ton hunk of flaming metal at almost anything, and you'll have a big hole when you're done. Wow! They can stop asking for a big explosion scene from our show now! Hey you! Don't clean that debris up! It's going to be the set for Part Two!" He hurried back to the set.

"I suppose no more shooting today," Storm said.

Spiral turned on her. "Why did you do that!" she demanded.

"Do what?"

"Carry me out of there!"

Storm rolled her eyes. "My apologies. I should have let you teleport yourself out. You're a grown woman and - "

"No!" Spiral said, furious. "I never saw or heard it coming. Why the hell didn't you leave me!"

" . . . You're kidding. You're asking me why I saved you?"

"Don't give me that 'X-Men save lives' crap," Spiral retorted. "That was your ticket out of there! All you had to was fly out of there. By the time I would have noticed what you were doing and why, I'd be a pancake. It was a gift tied up in a pretty little bow. Let Spiral die, keep your conscience clean, get your powers back permanently, escape!" Spiral was confused, and she didn't like being confused, which only made her angry. "Why not?"

"I'm sorry, next time I'll let you die."

"That's not what I meant!"

"It was just instinct, all right?" Storm said testily. "I help people in danger. I suppose if I'd had TIME to think about it - "

"You'd have left me."

Storm didn't answer at first. Why HAD she acted as she did? "I don't know," she finally said. "Probably I'd have saved you anyway."

Spiral looked flabbergasted.

Storm walked away before Spiral could continue berating her for her actions. But why had she saved the very person she'd been thinking about in such unflattering terms not two seconds before?

Why?

Spiral continued to stand there, watching Storm leave. Her features slowly relaxed.

And she smiled.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected," she murmured before pursuing Storm. Couldn't let her get beyond fifty yards, of course.

"And don't put out those fires!" Mojo bawled. "Keep 'em burning until I finish the script!"

To be continued . . .

Chapter 3

For Mature Audiences (3)

BY Allaine

Takes place prior to X-Men #10-11

Feedback: Certainly. I'm dealing with a part of the X-universe that I'm not entirely familiar with.

Rating: PG-13

Chapter 3

Mojo hadn't called them back for shooting in three days, which was probably for the best. Neither woman would have been able to act properly. After three boring days spent largely alone together, Storm and Spiral should have been close to behaving like two cats in a sack. But the incident on stage had created an awkward tension in the atmosphere. Storm wanted to forget what happened entirely, but it wasn't going to happen. She'd become Spiral's savior as well as her prisoner. Spiral, meanwhile, was not in a talkative mood. She just gave Storm speculative glances, suspicious grunts, and Cheshire Cat grins. It was unsettling.

The fourth day, when a new, double-length script for their brand-new two-parter was delivered to their quarters, Spiral sighed and tossed her copy aside. "I say we talk about this," she said. "I can't concentrate like this. The possibilities are just too intriguing."

Storm blinked. "Like what? What possibilities?"

"I keep wondering why you want me alive."

Storm groaned.

"What do you have in store for me?" Spiral asked thoughtfully. "Whatever you think you're going to do to me, it's not going to - "

"Oh, for heaven's sake," Storm said, her hands over her face. "Is that what you've been obsessing over for the past three days?"

"As if you haven't been fixated on me?"

"Fixated?" Storm leaned forward. "I'd be happier if we'd never met."

Spiral grunted, which Storm naturally interpreted as agreement.

"That being said," Storm said slowly, "the fact remains that for all your needling questions, your refusal to respect my privacy, and your position as my captor . . . you have been fairer to me than I would have imagined."

Spiral stared at her. "Excuse me?"

"Almost anyone else in this place, I suspect, would have been ten times worse."

"I suppose I need to play catch-up now," Spiral grumbled.

"In any event, while I highly doubt your continued commitment to the success of this television series has anything to do with you wanting me to live," Storm added, "it is true that your efforts have shielded me from physical harm. So - I find myself unable to wish harm upon you in turn."

Spiral was surprised. "Really? THAT'S why you saved me?"

Storm nodded. "Not that I had time to think about it, but I do not think it was merely instinct."

"I'm disappointed."

Not the reaction Storm had been expecting. "You're what?"

"I thought this was the start of some clever manipulative ruse you'd cooked up," Spiral explained. "You're too much like your character on the air. You're a straight-arrow hero and all-around nice person. For a minute there I thought you were more devious than that. Or, even better, more . . . well, it doesn't matter now. You're just another hero. Too bad."

Storm rolled her eyes. "Sorry I haven't begun sinking to your level yet."

Spiral frowned and twiddled her thumbs - four of them, anyway. Then she brightened. "On the other hand, this COULD be part two of your clever manipulative scheme - an attempt to deceive me as to your true intentions. You could be showing a hidden taste for dishonesty as well as plotting.

"Think whatever makes you happy," Storm muttered.

"Well, since that's still a possibility, I'll tell you something too - I suppose I've learned to respect you enough over these weeks that I'd rather not see you terminated because too few Spineless Ones saw you the same way."

Storm was even more astonished than Spiral had been. "I did not think you could have ever felt that way."

"Well, don't get mushy on me," Spiral said. "Just because I respect you doesn't mean we're friends."

"That is something I most certainly wouldn't dream of."

"Although," Spiral mused, "I really don't ask friendship of my lovers."

"Keep it in the script, Spiral," Storm warned her.

Spiral just gave her another of those sly smiles and opened her script.

"I've had the most brilliant idea," Mojo began.

Both women winced. "You've decided to let me get back to my old job?" Spiral asked hopefully.

"You're a celebrity now, Spiral," Mojo reminded her. "Your life has changed forever. You won't be able to just walk into a supermarket without drawing attention, you know!"

Storm didn't bother to point out the other six reasons Spiral would draw attention anywhere.

"We're still the top-rated show in Mojoverse," Mojo went on, "but we have to maintain our position. And the one thing the audience keeps clamoring for is - "

"I thought we'd gone through this already," Storm said, exasperated. "If you give them what they want, they'll watch it and then never come back!"

"I'm just giving 'em a taste!" Mojo shot back, grinning. "They'll want it twice as much:

"So we're what, kissing? Going all the way?" Spiral asked.

"Oh, of course not! I'm still saving the big sex scene for the final episode, may that day never come!"

His stars agreed with him.

"BUT," he added, "until now the attraction your characters feel for each other has been in the minds of the audience. We haven't given them any sign that they're right. Well, now we are. Everyone'll be talking about it! From now on, you're BOTH going to have feelings for each other, but you'll be too afraid to admit it!"

"Oh, boy," Storm thought.

"WHY would we be attracted to each other?" Spiral asked. "We've never expressed any such interest on-camera before."

Mojo grinned predatorily, and Storm realized Spiral had stepped into some sort of trap. "That's where you come in," he said. "The two of you are going to have to come up with your own reasons for wanting each other. So I want you two to go back to your rooms, and don't come back out until you know why you're attracted to each other."

"But we're NOT!" Storm exploded.

"You're actresses! It's a hypothetical! IF you were attracted to Spiral, it would be BECAUSE . . . " He gestured with his hands. "Fill in the blanks. Since you've basically been playing yourselves this entire time - don't bother to deny it, Spiral, you're the same person on-camera as you are off it - all you need to do is find it in yourselves, and the rest will come naturally!"

Storm rubbed her temple. "But we're not going to act on these feelings, right?"

"Isn't that what I said? Sex on the last episode! Then we won't have to worry about jumping the whale!"

"Shark."

"Whatever."

"Mojo," Storm said with great finality, "is a pervert."

"Not really," Spiral replied as she sat down casually. "I don't think words like that really apply to him. I mean, trust me - he's not interested in watching humans having sex. Neither are most Spineless Ones. They find your species repellent. Human sexual behavior is generally viewed as a source of physical comedy."

"If we're so repellent to the Spineless Ones," Storm retorted, "then why are our ratings so high? It is nearly impossible to enjoy our series without having an emotional attachment to our characters. And certainly they wouldn't be detecting sexual tension that isn't even there!"

Spiral smiled coyly at that, but said nothing.

"What?" Storm asked, by now being highly sensitive to Spiral's body language.

"Oh, nothing," Spiral said. "Just that they're not entirely deluded. I mean, I'd be surprised we're not 'getting it on' on and OFFstage too."

Storm stared at her. "Excuse me?"

"What, beyond the fact that we've been sharing living quarters all this time?" Spiral asked slyly.

"You know perfectly well that was not my decision! Or yours, for that matter!"

"I suppose not. But our audience doesn't know that, Storm. What they know is that I occupy a special place in Mojo's organization, and that you do not live with the rest of the cannon fodder we refer to as 'actors'."

"I would prefer not to be reminded of that," Storm said coldly.

"Sorry," Spiral said, but her tone said she didn't care. "But the Spineless Ones probably think we're lovers, and that only fans speculation about our relationship on the show. And really, Storm - is it that crazy an idea? I mean, when Mojo told us to come up with reasons we might be attracted to each other, unlike some people I didn't obsess over how unfair Mojo was," she added sarcastically. "I started thinking about it."

"Always a good soldier," Storm shot back.

Spiral shrugged. When she did so, she did it with all six arms, and it was odd to see her entire upper body moving. "Human relationships are about the physical, the mental, and the emotional," she went on. "Those are the reasons people are attracted to one another. Physical, well, that's easy. You're a beautiful woman, Storm. Your hair and skin color complement each other perfectly. Your physique is excellent. I'd even be willing to overlook the fact that you've got just the four limbs," Spiral added, grinning wickedly.

She wasn't the first villain, or the first villainess for that matter, to tell Storm she was beautiful. Usually they were very clinical about it, as if they were evaluating a piece of meat or a purchase at the art gallery. Spiral was the first one to say it with lust in her voice, however.

"You're intelligent," Spiral went on casually. "I can talk to you about things OTHER than what Mojo aired last night. And as for our personalities, well, I wouldn't exactly say that we bonded easily, but they do say opposites attract, don't they? And I haven't dismissed the notion that you saving me was only the first step in an elaborate web you're hoping to ensnare me with. Spiders are usually on the other end of the web. The new experience is almost - thrilling. It lets me imagine all the other things you've kept hidden from me."

"You're actually serious!" Storm burst out.

Spiral chuckled. "Let's just say that I'm an actress who found her motivation. So what about you, Storm? Am I completely repulsive to you?"

"Utterly," Storm snapped.

"Ouch," Spiral said, putting a hand (or two) over her heart. "And after I flattered you outrageously. Come on, Storm, you might as well try to enjoy it. It won't end with our characters confessing their feelings to the audience, then suffering in silence, you know."

"There might not be a final episode for a long time," Storm said weakly.

"Mojo's been watching soap operas, Storm. He's been getting ideas. Tell me if this sounds at all plausible. First we admit our feelings to ourselves. Then one of us confesses to the other. The other is shocked and doesn't know what to say," Spiral said, sounding pleased with herself. "Then the other admits she feels the same way, probably after a tense, life-threatening moment, just when the one has given up hope that her feelings will EVER be reciprocated. Then they share a kiss. Then they pull back and agree it would interfere in their working relationship, and it can never happen again. Then there's another kiss. Another. Oops, sorry, but we must remain strong. Then there's some alcohol and some jazz music, and one of us runs to the other's apartment and we have passionate sex." She folded her arms below her breasts. "All spread out over several weeks of episodes. Now, what do you think are the odds of Mojo writing THAT?"

Storm frowned and looked down. The possibility of having to act out romantic scenes with Spiral for Mojo's twisted "vision" was quite strong indeed. Not that she had anything against the material itself - she was a modern woman from a civilized America, and she had no qualms about being affectionate with another woman if it was merely acting out a scene. Her problem had always been with her partner. How could she possibly pretend to be in love with Spiral?

Still, she acknowledged as she looked back at her permanent shadow, Spiral had never been enthusiastic about the idea herself, and she was able to get into character for this. Surely she wasn't going to let Spiral scare her?

"Come on," Spiral said. She clasped two hands behind her head, arched her back so that her breasts were pushed forward over her still-folded arms, and put the remaining two hands on her hips. "I dare you to tell me I'm ugly."

"You're not," Storm admitted. "The additional limbs take getting used to, but you have a body most men - "

"And most lesbians," Spiral added.

"Would be attracted to," Storm went on, ignoring her. "And it's true, opposites can attract. I suppose 'Sandra' has, by now, learned to appreciate 'Devon' for the spontaneity she's brought into her life. Devon makes her feel alive."

"What about me?"

"You could be accused of many things, but never of being boring. Irritating, but not boring."

Spiral grinned. "And the sparks keep flying."

"What do you mean, we're shooting a new ending?" Storm asked warily.

"Sorry, last-minute script change," Mojo said, himself all smiles and cheer. He handed both actresses a couple blue pages, then straightened his director's beret. "I'll give you ladies a few minutes to learn your lines, accept what's about to happen, and then action!"

"Wait, what do you mean 'accept what's about to happen'?" Storm demanded, but all she got was Mojo's retreating back.

"Kissy-kissy time, roomie," Spiral said. She held up one of her pages.

Storm grimaced. "Any way I could convince you to let me fly out of here?"

"Aw, come on, won't you enjoy this just a little?"

"My being attracted to men is a bit of a stumbling block, Spiral."

"I'm attracted to men too, but I'm not going to let that force me to be miserable during this shot," Spiral said. "Especially if Mojo decides he wants a take two."

Storm looked at her script addition. This was no chaste kiss on the cheek. This required Storm to show passion with her acting. Storm still didn't think she could manage that when it was Spiral kissing her.

"Oh, look," Spiral sighed. "If you want I can cast a little spell on you. You'll be physically attracted to me for a few minutes, and then it fades."

"I don't think so," Storm said. "You've cast enough spells on me already." Before Spiral could make any other 'suggestions', she headed off to the set to be alone for a minute.

Just as Storm was beginning to feel like she could do this, Spiral arrived. "Mm," she said. "Let's get this started." And she trailed a hand up Storm's arm.

Storm jerked it away. "What's gotten into you? The scene hasn't started yet!" she hissed.

Spiral smiled lazily. "Oh, I cast the spell on myself instead. Might as well get the maximum thrill from this, right?" The look she gave Storm was positively scandalous.

Storm stiffened. She was incorrigible! She was determined to enjoy the kiss AND her discomfiture at the same time! Well, Storm wasn't about to let THAT happen. If Spiral thought Storm would be so uncomfortable during this scene that they'd have to shoot it over and over . . . "Oh, very well," she growled. "This spell - it lasts only a little while?"

"You'll do it?" Spiral chuckled. "Why Storm, I just knew you had secrets! Yes, it'll hardly last long enough for a second kiss even."

Storm folded her arms. "Then do me," she muttered. An instant later she resisted the urge to smack her forehead. Best not giving ideas to the woman with the magically-induced lust!

"It'll take a minute to kick in," Spiral said as she danced a step or two backwards, waving her arms hypnotically. "No need to worry about ignoring your lines entirely and throwing yourself on me right away."

Before she could retort, Storm saw spots as a sudden flash of light hit her in the eyes. "Careful!"

"Sorry," the unrepentant sorceress said.

"Action!"

"Thanks again for tonight, Devon," Storm said, reading her lines from memory. "I realize we've said - things recently that could have made the evening uncomfortable, but - "

She was unable to continue as Spiral, in what could only be described as a blatant improvisation, grabbed her with all six arms, turned her about, and kissed her forcefully on the lips. Two arms slid down and pinned Storm's arms to her sides, while two more rested on her hips as the hands met behind her.

Storm's eyes widened with surprise. "Mmmph!"

Spiral pulled back briefly. "You talk too much, Sandra," she said before Storm could speak, and then renewed the kiss.

Instinctively Storm wanted to repel the advances, but Spiral's arms made defense or retreat virtually impossible. And besides, 'Sandra' wouldn't WANT to retreat. She would reciprocate. If Storm didn't return the kiss, Mojo would make them shoot it again and again and AGAIN. And Spiral would love every second of it!

So Storm got into character and kissed Spiral back, even allowing her probing tongue to slide between her lips. Slowly, she let herself enjoy the moment.

She'd never been kissed this way by a woman before. It wasn't altogether surprising - women, by nature of their bodies, were bound to feel softer, smoother. What was surprising was how good it felt. "The spell works," she thought absently. Spiral's hands began sliding up and down her back, and that felt good too, confirming the spell was effective.

The two women were about the same height, and as Spiral pulled her even tighter, their breasts rubbed against each other. Storm would have expected this to be uncomfortable, but instead it was a pleasurable, even soothing experience. "Might as well enjoy it," Storm thought, silently acknowledging the truth to Spiral's words earlier, and she started using her tongue more insistently. She could tell from the way Spiral's body trembled that the sorceress liked that.

"You want to quit it? I said 'Cut' ten seconds ago."

Storm and Spiral suddenly pulled away from each other, startled by the voice of Mojo. Storm stared at her as if she'd never seen her before. Spiral looked back defiantly.

"Ever heard of a script, Spiral?" Mojo's voice asked over the speakers.

"I was ad-libbing. Tell me you won't use the footage."

Mojo didn't respond, and Spiral laughed.

"This can never happen again," Storm said, the magic flooding away as she felt her attraction and - gods, arousal - subside.

"You can stop reading your lines," Spiral replied. "The scene's over."

"I meant it," Storm shot back. "Never."

"There'll be more scenes like this."

"Perhaps, but not with your spells, Spiral," Storm said. "I almost let myself get carried away a moment ago."

Spiral just snickered. "What spell?"

"What - the spell you cast on me! And you! You nearly blinded me with it!"

"What, that? That was just a flash. I can't actually MAKE you be attracted to me. Don't you think Mojo would have ordered me to cast such a spell on you from the beginning if I could have?" Spiral shook her head pityingly. "I told you I was going to enjoy myself. Typical X-Man - you just needed the excuse to do the same."

Storm gaped at her.

Spiral just grinned. "I guess now we know why you were so terrified of this scene. Your subconscious knew it would happen. Who knows? Maybe it's why you saved me. I told you there was another, better reason than wanting to manipulate me. You just wanted me for yourself." She laughed again as she headed for the door.

Suddenly infuriated by the smug, scheming witch, Storm grabbed a rotary phone from 'her' desk and swung it, braining Spiral over the head with it. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell forward onto her face.

Storm was sure Mojo called something to her at that point, but she didn't notice. All she wanted to do was get more than one hundred yards from there. Although one hundred miles from the woman who had turned her world completely upside-down would be better.

But she couldn't fly down, obviously, and if she just placidly waited for the elevator, she doubted she'd get away. Damn Mojo for building a skyscraper for a set! A monstrosity that was ten times as tall as the one destroyed by a prop from the next set over!

That did give her an idea, however. She ran for the elevator doors and, with some effort, ripped them open. Her adrenaline kicked in as she heard noises outside. They sounded hostile.

She really hoped the elevator shaft went deeper than one hundred yards.

To be continued . . .

Chapter 4

This takes place during the events of X-Men #7-9 (2nd series). One important alteration - in the comics, Mojo allowed Dazzler to escape with Meek so she could unintentionally lure the X-Men into a trap. He did in fact cast them in his own production of The Wizard of Oz.

Also, a small confession. I've never watched Moonlighting. So if any fans out there are wondering why I didn't include more references to various characters or episodes, there you go.

For Mature Audiences (4)

Name: Allaine

Chapter 4

"Storm! Baby doll! Sweet cakes!" Mojo cried out. "Come on, you know you're my favorite actress, the one I can't live without!"

"That's what I'm counting on," Storm growled as she smashed Major Domo's head into the panel once more. He passed out, unconscious, leaving Storm alone with Mojo - and the portal back home. "When the masses finally figure out that they're never going to get new episodes of Moonlightning, your ratings are going to plunge through the floor. You shouldn't tease your audience if you can't deliver!"

"Come on," Mojo wheedled. "I've already got a new project lined up for you!"

"Forget it!"

"It's your costar, right? Spiral can be a handful - six even! I'll get you another X-Man. Wouldn't you like that? I was thinking of a show for Colossus - Remington Steel! You'd get top billing, of course . . ."

"Sorry," Storm said. "There's more to life than television, Mojo."

"What kind of actress are you?" he asked, shocked.

"I'm not an actress! I am an X-Man!" Storm shot back, and she brought her arm down.

Another lightning bolt struck the roof of Mojo's fortress, smashing a hole in the ceiling above them. Rain started pouring in.

"Time for you to 'jump the whale', Mojo," Storm said witheringly before running for the portal.

"No!"

There was a crack, and Storm vanished. Leaving Mojo there, with water dripping on his head.

"What the fuck was that all about?"

Slowly he turned around. Spiral was standing there, rubbing the back of her head. Her other arms hung limply. "Excuse me? What did you do!"

"How should I know? In case your cameras didn't catch it, she brained me over the head with something! Probably one of those stupid manual typewriters - and try not to talk so loudly."

Mojo slithered toward her so that he soared over her. She looked upward, wincing as she did so.

"Spiral, my top-rated program just lost half its cast," he said. "I'll have to - cancel it!" he sobbed. "And it looks like YOU'RE at the heart of it all."

"Um, you did say I'd survive the cancellation, right?"

One of his big hands wrapped itself around her chest. "I'd worry about surviving the cliffhanger, Spiral!"

It was Cyclops who suggested that they go to Mojoverse in force. "If Spiral still has some kind of control over your powers," he reasoned, "then we need to find a way to undo it. Otherwise she could come waltzing into a tense situation, and suddenly you're powerless again. Maybe even back on the big screen, capering about for the Spineless Ones' pleasure."

Storm's first, irrational response was to say that what she'd done as an actress was a good deal more difficult and respectable than "capering". She shook her head instead. Another few days in the real flesh-and-blood world and she'd be back to her old self. "If she comes back, I'll handle it," she said only.

"Still," Professor Xavier suggested as he wheeled up from behind, "you may wish to remain at the mansion for a week or so. Mojo wouldn't dare to send Spiral in here unless he was desperate enough."

"He'll get desperate enough when the audience demands more episodes," Scott pointed out.

"And when he does, we'll be ready for Spiral," Xavier replied.

Storm just wanted to get away from the discussion. She wanted to get away from the NAME.

"I knew you were alive," Jean told her a few minutes later. "I just didn't believe it. I should have. I heard your voice. I should have fought for it more . . ." She looked away. Xavier looked pained across the room. Whether it was because of some debate while she was gone as to Jean's suspicions, or because she "sensed" Storm but Xavier didn't, she couldn't say. She wasn't a telepath.

Dazzler took her aside when Storm tried to slip out. She knew how much they'd grieved for her - she'd missed them equally - but this was becoming stifling. "You're the reason Mojo sent us home, aren't you," she said. It wasn't a question.

"I - tried to stop certain practices going on there," Storm admitted. "He used you to buy my compliance. People died because of that, and I'd rather Longshot didn't know."

"He can guess, same as me, Ororo," Dazzler said, "and we don't blame you. Trying to make things right in Mojoverse is like trying to walk through molasses. You never seem to get anywhere. No failed rebel leader is going to judge you, Storm." She looked around. "And if you want to be alone, you go right ahead. You were never alone over THERE."

"No, never," Storm said. She thought of undulating arms and fled.

"Miss?"

Storm turned her head and paused. She supposed the Professor wanted her at the mansion still, but it had been over a week since her return. Mojo had either found something new for his Spineless Ones to watch - or he was holed up in his fortress, wary of pitchforks and torches. "Yes?"

"Care to enjoy a matinee?" the small man said outside the movie theater. "It's free today for a lady such as yourself."

She smiled in spite of herself. "I'm flattered."

"Anything for the star of Moonlightning."

Her smile vanished. Think of the Devil, and . . . "I'm not going in there," she said coldly.

Before she knew it, she was in a darkened room and her head was reeling.

"I apologize, Miss Storm," the man said, "but my name is Meek, and Mojo will have my guild card if I don't relay the message. I had to teleport you in here - a very short distance, your headache should disappear quickly."

Storm slowly looked around and discovered she was in fact inside what appeared to be a movie theater. "What's the message?" she asked.

Meek pointed a complicated-looking device at the big screen, and an image appeared on it. It was Mojo, in all his fat, yellow, diseased-looking glory. "Stormy, baby!" he crowed.

"Go away, Mojo," she said.

"He cannot hear you," Meek said. "This is a recording. Mojo loves any opportunity to be in front of a camera."

"He wouldn't if HIS life was endangered by low ratings and exploding props," she muttered.

"You know, Storm, you did me a bad turn last week," Mojo said. "I realize contract renegotiations can be contentious and all, but you left me with very little in the can. The audience, they're - well, they're not happy. You're disappointing your fans!"

Storm was unmoved.

"Well," he said brightly, "I improvised. I filmed one more episode, and that bought me a few more days before the audience becomes emotional. Emotional in a bad way, that is. It was a humdinger of a show, though. The ending, though . . . I'm gambling with my network here. I went with a two-parter, BUT I need you for the second part. If the fans are left wondering how it ends, well, I quiver to think!"

"Why doesn't he get himself another actress?" Storm asked, exasperated.

"I think you underestimate your cult of personality," Meek said. "You may as well ask why he can't recast Spiral!"

"So she's all right," Storm said.

"I - wouldn't say that," Meek replied, taking the image off PAUSE.

"Anyway, I know you always admired your costar's work, Storm," Mojo continued, "so I have for you the final minute of the latest episode. Some of Spiral's best, I think. The realism just leaps off the screen!"

Mojo's face disappeared, and Storm almost had to rub her eyes to believe what she was seeing.

Spiral was spread-eagled on a table, her six arms tied down on either side so that she almost resembled a six-armed Vitruvian Man. She faced upwards, looking up at two half-moon blades, swinging back and forth in a curving arc. The blades were descending very slowly as well. The ceiling was high. Storm estimated the blades would begin slicing through her arms in six hours or so.

"You'll forgive the clichéd dungeon decor," Mojo's voice said off-camera. "But the villain is a very clichéd man. He kidnapped you to lure Devon in, and now he has you both. And if you don't get out of your cell in time, Devon is going to be - well, she'll have six fewer ways to annoy you, let's say. But you can't get out of your cell . . . if you're not ON THE SET!"

"I just want to say here that I'm impressed. You made him mad. Not many actors can do that," Meek murmured.

"Six hours," Mojo growled. "This episode is filmed in real time, if you like. If you're not saving Devon in six hours, 'Sandra' - "

"Turn it off," Storm said. "Mojo is a master at staging. This is staged."

"I hope you're right," Meek said.

"Thank you."

"But you're not. I'll be here for the next six hours if you want to go back." He sat down and took a bucket of popcorn from the floor.

Storm stared at him. "He really thinks I'll return because I think SPIRAL is in danger?"

"It's only for one episode," he said, his mouth full of popcorn.

"Really," she said.

"Yes. The final episode." He waggled his eyebrows.

"So I suppose he expects me to swoop in, save Spiral, and then have sex with her?" Storm asked sardonically.

"Beats me. He doesn't let me see the script. Still, it WOULD be a great ending," Meek admitted. "I saw the kiss. I can't wait for actual sex. All those arms - "

Before he could go on imagining the last episode, Storm knocked him out. Then she went looking for a pay phone.

"Mojo, sir?" one of his minions said. "Storm has arrived."

"I am SO the man," Mojo sighed happily.

"She appears to have brought all of the X-Men with her."

"Or not."

"Best case scenario, Mojo's ratings fall so far that Mojoverse becomes Something-Else-verse," Hank murmured as he stitched up the cuts across her underarms. "Worst case, Mojo finds a way to keep the audience's eyes on him, but he's way too busy to worry about either of you, and you can avoid - " He coughed.

"Having sex in front of millions?" Storm asked dryly.

"Erm, yes," he said.

"I still can't believe those blades were real," Spiral said. "That would have really started to hurt after a while."

"Having your arms cut off goes well beyond 'hurting', Spiral," Storm replied.

"Well, I don't call it the 'Body Shoppe' for nothing."

"Yes, well, you'll have to settle for old-fashioned Earth medicine, Spiral," Beast told her. "Try not to go waving your swords around or casting complicated spells for a few days."

"Like teleporting?" Spiral asked.

"Like that."

"Don't worry, I've got space for you," Storm told her. "We'll be sharing my rooms. You're probably too much for any of the other X-Men to take. I wouldn't want to deal with any hysterical teammates because of an attack of annoying people."

"Annoying! Look, Ms. Stick-Up-Her-ASS - "

Beast quickly made himself scarce.

"Anyway," Storm added, "it's not too spacious. I'd like to disabuse you of this notion that I'm so claustrophobic I can barely function."

"Whatever," Spiral said. "Just wait until these arms are healed, and I'm out of here. There are plenty of people willing to pay for someone like me. I imagine you'd like me one hundred and one yards away as soon as possible?"

Storm just smiled slyly.

"What?" Spiral asked.

"Nothing. Just that we'll be sharing a bed." Storm chuckled.

Spiral stared at her.

Storm's smile slipped. "Do you know what I realized the other day, Spiral? I realized that I didn't ask you to cast a 'spell' on me because I wanted to enjoy that scene. I did it because I was afraid I would enjoy it on my own. Maybe I didn't save you just because I'm a nice girl. And I keep my emotions in check because of my powers. That doesn't mean I have a - stick up my ass."

"So, this sharing a bed . . . " Spiral said after a few moments.

Storm clasped her hands behind herself. "I guess I'm just looking for an excuse."

Spiral looked suddenly delighted. "You'll be gentle with me?" She raised her arms. "I'm injured."

"I had imagined such things could be done with six arms," Storm said. "For a minute there I thought you were more durable. I'm disappointed."

Spiral muttered a few words under her breath, snapped five fingers, and stomped her right foot. Her stitches popped out and clattered onto the floor. Her arms looked as good as new.

"Consider yourself reappointed," Spiral said.

Storm grabbed an arm and pulled her forward. "You talk too much."

Spiral knew what was coming. She remembered the script. And Storm was a professional.

Not to mention, as Storm's lips pressed against hers, damned good at her job.

The End.