Roberto left the grounds of the Hellfire Club with a contemplative air about him. The seeds of dissent had been sewn within him, but his heart still wavered. He had a sufficient amount of hatred burning within him for the X-Men while Blackheart had given him the illusion of thinking that it was from being spurned by the X-Men that Roberto would find this newfound power. Roberto would have to hold onto his vindictive fire.. his fuel for the fire... and then he would truly belong to Blackheart. For now, the seeds of darkness simply tried to find a place to settle.. and it was in this storm of inner discomfort, that Roberto left to collect himself.

Had he really said those things? Was it true that he hated the X-Men for the way he'd been treated all this time? .. well it was true. They had wronged him, but he didn't hate them. Hate was such a strong word and, being an X-Man, Roberto had seen where hate had caused more pain in the lives of those who harbored it than it had been intended to cause. Was he wrong in wanting what he wanted? Respect? Power that demanded respect? These questions circulated through his consciousness as he sat as a small cafe, drinking tea.

"I've made my choice. No sense milling about it. I won't need to harm anyone.. if I don't have to. But I can't depend on them anymore. This one is for me."

He spoke aloud, but no one was there to hear him and it was just as well. For the time being, he wasn't really in a mood to start explaining to the general public that he wasn't out of his mind, and then it hit him---

Roberto!

Roberto jumped so suddenly he nearly sent his cup of tea sailing across the cafe into the street. People walking by stared at him but his focus wasn't on them or himself.

"Professor?"

Roberto! Contact Jean. Tell her Apocalypse has a 'Cosmic Cube,' and an alien named 'Ord from Breakworld.' Ord has somehow limited the Cube's powers, however Apocalypse is striving to harness its full power. If he acquires that power, it co..uld..

and that was it. The message vanished. For a few moments he tried to make sense of what it was that he'd just heard. Apocalypse? A Cosmic Cube? Did ANY of this make sense?.. and why was the Professor contacting HIM of all people? It all sounded urgent.

Then, from the back of his mind, he remembered something Blackheart had said... "I was planning to lead an expedition to Egypt, but I will send this club's best servants to handle those matters,"

Could it be that Blackheart knew of Apocalypse's possessing this cube? It seemed to be too big of a coincidence that the demon would have an interest in Egypt and word of Apocalypse brooding in the corners of world domination suddenly piking up.

The part that made all of this so.. conflicting, was the fact that he found himself at a crossroads. Did he honor the Professor's request? and go tell Jean? or did he take it upon himself to alert Blackheart?

"It looks like I will be taking a flight back home."

[EXIT ROBERTO - TBC - The Mansion]