Chris threw the singer a cashcard worth 1000 USD. "For expences," he said, "I'll need to test you before I take you on for good. I need to know what you can do, and how tough you are before I can know how to use your talents. Meet me inside and I'll see if I can borrow one of the sparring areas for testing people."
Unsure what else to do, Chris entered the Merc base and immediately noticed four "training areas" around the place. One was for a cage match, one was a boxing ring, one was a sparring mat, and one looked like something out of a TV villain's lair. It had spikes coming out of the walls, flamethrowers in the floor, ceiling, and floor that fired at random times, and the floor was covered in broken glass and random lengths of razor wire. [i]If anyone in here's going to be tough enough to take on Xavier's people head-to-head,[/i] he thought, [i]They'll be the ones in the madman's cage.[/i]
He walked over to it and saw two guys clawing and biting at each other, occasionally throwing the other into the wall or a jet of flame. [i]Definitely tough enough,[/i] he thought when he had seen them stand back up from it the third time, and walked over to the spectators who looked like they were waiting their turn. "Excuse me, but I'm looking to hire some people to help me get back my mother, who was kidnapped." he said to the first guy that noticed him.
"Well, you've come to the right place. We can take on anyone you throw at us, up to and including the US armed forces. And that's not just a boast. Several of us have done just that. So, who's got her? Honduran rebels? Al Qaeda? The Yakuza?"
"Actually," Chris said, "It's the X-men."
The man looked at Chris for a second, then started laughing. "You're joking, right? No one would go up against those guys unless they're either insane, desperate, or have a score to settle."
"Do any of you guys fit into any of those categories?"
"Well, Deadpool would, but he got hired up by some US general he use to work with, so no. There are too many easy jobs out there for us to take on the X-men."
"Well, in that case, thanks for your time. I'll go see if anyone else fits the bill."
"Yeah, you do that." the brawler said. "Come back when you just need us to take a Sidewinder to the face. Some of us would actually survive that."
As Chris walked away, he heard the guy mutter something about "nutjob" to his buddies. [i]Well, at least I know what kind of person to look for, now.[/i]
Chris walked up to one of the computer terminals at the bar and copied the files of everyone who fit the profile onto his smartphone. "Hey, do you mind if I borrow the cage later?" he said to the bartender, who was apparently also the manager, "I'm going to need to audition a few people."
"Sure, it's $20 an hour, Genoshan dollars. Just come back when you've got some folks together, and I'll open it for you."
Chris nodded and started flipping through the files he had just downloaded. [i]Hey, here's something,[/i] he thought, [i]a telekinetic that wants to test himself against Phoenix one day. And I just saw him outside.[/i]
Chris got up and quickly walked towards the door, hoping the man hadn't left yet.