Ok, this is my first step into an entirely new world for me. Done Harry Potter and Doctor Who, but I've never tried Xmen before. This little plot idea has been attacking me relentlessly since I saw the third movie, so I had to write it. I only know what is shown in the movies, and odd bits from the cartoons, so if it is in anyway innaccurate to the comics or anything sorry about that!
Reviews make my day, so please review! And I don't mind critisms, as long as they are constructive, I am just trying to be a better writer after all.
Hope you enjoy the story :)
Six months had passed. Six long months. Most of the time had been spent playing chess in the park, quite a lot in forests, hiding from the world, gradually building up power.
The cure they had called it. A permanent cure. It seemed nature had outdone science once again.
Eric Lensherr sat in what remained of his mutant outpost with a self-satisfied smile on his face. He was better known to the world as Magneto, but recently he had been going by Eric more often. He let the four cars drop to the ground with a low chuckle. With the return of his powers he would start going by Magneto once again.
In the months that had passed, he had turned this place – once a campsite for mutant outlaws – into a training ground. Alongside the four cars he had had Pyro steal, were a more traditional set of weights, some iron bars (the huge industrial kind used in the construction of skyscrapers) and various other metallic goodies, all for the stretching and improvement of his newly awakened powers.
"Callisto!" he called, not rising from the makeshift seat he was sat in, slouched backwards like he was sat on a throne, not two logs precariously brought together to make some sort of chair, "I do believe their so-called cure has worn off entirely. Are you able to locate an old friend for me?"
Xavier's school for the gifted felt empty. With the loss of first Scott, then the Professor and Jean, the teaching staff had been reduced by half. And it wasn't exactly like Logan was up to much teaching. With Kurt back in Germany for the foreseeable future, that left Storm in a very difficult position. She had been entrusted to run the school, and she didn't feel she was doing the Professor justice.
"I just don't know what to do, Hank!" she said, tearing at her hair as she paced round the office, "Even with the general acceptance of Mutants nowadays, I still get more and more kids coming because they feel safe here. It's what the Professor would have wanted, and I'm more than happy to take them on, I just don't have the staff!"
"You shouldn't worry so much, a solution will present itself," Hank said, smoothing his blue fur as he tried to think of one.
"None of these kids are being taught anything – I can only be so many places at once, and Logan is as unhelpful as ever," Storm continued fretting.
"What about some of the older kids?" Hank asked, "Bobby and Peter, Rogue."
"Bobby and Kitty have been taking some of the younger kids lessons, teaching them basics in math, science, but they're barely out of childhood themselves, it's expecting too much of them."
"What about Warren? A young man from such an accomplished family must have at least a college education."
"He's not overly confident about standing in front of a bunch of kids, but he helps where he can, but that's two people, Hank, three when Logan pulls the cigar out of his mouth and mucks in with the rest of us."
"Perhaps you should think about advertising," a new voice said from the doorway.
A woman with black hair dressed in smart clothes, holding a small handbag stood in the entrance to the office. She smiled at Storm and Hank before inviting herself in.
"I'm sorry, have we met?" Storm asked, looking at the newcomer with a mix of suspicion and interest.
"Many times," she said, "though I must admit never usually in this form."
She smiled and her eyes flickered yellow for a moment.
"Mystique!" Storm said, instantly on guard, "What are you doing here."
"Let's just say I had an epiphany," Mystique settled herself into a chair, "Six months ago I took a bullet intended for Magneto. I would have willingly given my life for him and didn't hesitate in putting myself between him and his attacker. Unfortunately I didn't get shot with a normal bullet. It would have been a lot less painful if I had."
She looked down at her fingers, admiring her nails for a moment in attempt to hide a flicker of pain that crossed her face.
"I was shot with one of the miraculous 'cure' bullets, and soon reverted back to a normal human. My loyalty and friendship to Magneto, the sacrifice I had made for him suddenly meant nothing. He left me on the truck where I was shot, simply telling me I was now one of them, the enemy. He didn't even give me a cloak to cover myself. Naturally, I wasn't about to come running back to him. I even told the government where his base was. The secret one in the forest?"
Storm nodded to show she remembered.
"I helped the government stop him, because I realised that day that he really was crazy. His hatred for the human race overrode any friendship we shared instantly."
"Why are you telling us this?" Storm asked.
"Because," Mystique paused, "I don't know if you know yet, but the cure is not so permanent."
She suddenly switched back to the appearance Storm knew so well. Blue scaled skin, bright red hair and glowing yellow eyes contrasted against white teeth, revealed in a grin of malice.
"It's only a temporary fix, Magneto will get his power back," she said.
"Once he realises, he'll come looking for you," Storm said.
"And you think I'll go back to him? After he betrayed me? I am not a lovesick girl," Mystique protested, "I want to help you stop him, should he get any ideas."
She switched back to looking like her human self.
"In the meantime, I know computers – do you have a vacancy for an IT teacher?"
Pyro swaggered up to Xavier's mansion and watched from outside the gates. Mystique was here, Callisto had been quite adamant about it. The X-men must have captured her, and held her against her will. It was Pyro's job to investigate.
He walked in with no hesitation. No one was likely to question his presence, except perhaps Bobby and his stupid girlfriend. Rogue the coward who gave up her powers. Pyro wondered if she had realised they would come back yet.
"Pyro!" Callisto appeared at his side from nowhere, "Change of plan. Magneto wants prisoners. If the X-men think they can capture one of us, we'll take two of them."
"Why don't we just storm the place and get Mystique out?" Pyro demanded.
"Two of us, against all of them?" Callisto said, "Grow a brain!"
"I could take them!" Pyro said, flaring up one of his hands.
"No!" Callisto said, "Not all of them. Maybe those two," she said with a grin, nodding towards Bobby and Rogue, who were so absorbed in each other they hadn't even noticed the two strangers stood at the gate.
"Bobby and Rogue?" Pyro said, raising an eyebrow, "No problem."
"Then let's go!" Callisto said, zipping away at lightening speed.
"You know," Bobby said, turning to Rogue, holding her hands in his, "You didn't have to do this, I would have stayed with you no matter what, but, I'm glad you did."
"Me too," Rogue said, enjoying the feeling of his skin on hers.
She licked her lips with her tongue, biting at them nervously as he lowered his head to kiss her. She had been kissing him for the better part of six months, but she still got a little nervous sometimes, worrying that she might start to hurt him again.
"Sorry to spoil the moment!" a familiar voice said from behind her.
"John!" she said as she was grabbed round the waist by Pyro, ex-student turned Magneto's crony.
Callisto took Bobby, punching him hard in the face. He was out cold before he had even realised someone was there.
"Bobby!" Rogue shrieked as he fell to the floor in a heap.
"Too easy," she said, picking him up, "You got her?"
"Yep," Pyro said, holding Rogue despite her desperate struggling. He took something out of his pocket and held it over her face. After a moment she was out cold like her boyfriend. Pyro smiled to himself and nodded to Callisto.
"Let's go then."
Magneto was meditating to himself, sat on his seat in the centre of the clearing. In his mind he could almost hear a relaxing piece of classical music, and with his eyes closed he could almost see Charles sat in front of him, deliberating his next move in the game of chess they were playing.
"Nice place," an unfamiliar female voice said, and the image of Charles faded and the music stopped abruptly.
Magneto opened his eyes to see a skinny girl stood before him, leaning casually against a tree. Her hair was long, brown and somewhat straggly, her eyes a startling shade of green. She was wearing a pair of baggy dungarees over a small, tight fitting t-shirt. The shoes poking out of the bottom of her trousers were big walking boots, the laces untied. Her skin was tan, her face dotted with freckles and she wore bangles on her wrists and a necklace with a strange symbol around her neck. She looked almost like a conventional teenager, but there was something not quite right about her.
"And who might you be?" Magneto asked.
"You can call me Jack," she said, folding her arms across her chest.
"Jack? What sort of a name is that for a young lady?" Magneto asked with a smile.
"I never said it was my name, I just said you could call me that," Jack said.
Magneto emitted another low chuckle and sat up a little straighter to get a better look at her.
"And what are you doing here?" he asked.
"Just walking," she said, "You live here?"
"Not exactly," Magneto said, "I come here to relax."
"Well, the countryside is pretty relaxing," Jack said, "But what's with all the dead cars?"
"That's for me to know, my dear," Magneto said, tapping the side of his nose.
He was just about to stand up when Pyro and Callisto suddenly appeared, with Bobby and Rogue unconscious in their arms. Pyro dumped Rogue on the floor before stepping between Magneto and Jack, like the protective bodyguard he believed himself to be.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"No need for the hostility pretty boy," Jack answered.
Pyro lit both his hands and held them out threateningly, but she didn't seem at all perturbed.
"Cool trick," she said.
"Oh yeah? This one's even better," Pyro said, shooting the flames out towards her like a flamethrower.
Jack held out her hand in front of her and the flames stopped short more than a metre from her body, battering against some sort of invisible shield.
"I said no need for the hostility," she yelled above the noise of the fire, "Sheesh, I was just talking to Gramps here, no need to grill me!"
"His name isn't Gramps," Pyro said, offended at such insolence for his mentor. Magneto merely chuckled again, thoroughly amused by the girl's antics.
"What is his name then?" she asked.
"You can call me Magneto," Magneto said. Jack laughed.
"What sort of parents would name their kid Magneto?" she said, holding back another burst of laughter.
"I never said it was my name, I just said you could call me that," Magneto said with a wry smile, "Callisto, Pyro, meet Jack. I think she's going to be a fine addition to the team."
