Disclaimer: I do not own any of the X-Men: Evolution characters. They are all property of Marvel and I am using them in this story without permission. Don't sue me!! I'm not making a profit!!
A/N: Hi everyone!! First of all, let me tell you this story's original title was Botanik, and had reached eight chapters on this site, by that name. However, after seeing X-3, I was struck by like this divine inspiration, not just from the movie but a ton of sources, and now I'm re-working all the chapters, and adding more. One last thing, the original characters: Anastasia De Latierra, Okkanai Kyoumu, Shinkuu Fuhen, and Rondelle Tordre are (c) ME!! -- La Loba de Mibu.
Prison Uniforms — I couldn't find an appropriate way to incorporate full descriptions of the characters clothes, so I'll tell ya up front: Kurt's got on long baggy gray pants, and no shirt (Woo hoo!;) — think ultimate x-men; Fuhen's got a sleeveless smock, and same pants as Kurt's; and little Kyoumu is drowning in a long sleeve smock, with gray pants cut off at the knee. OKAY!! On to the story!!
Notes on Accents: I've gotten several complaints about this, some nice some not so nice. I decided demonstrate the accents in this story because I believe that it greatly affects the verisimilitude of these characters. I'm sorry to those who don't like it, but I won't change it. So here is a guide for you readers to Skim or Skip at will:
French
1—Like in the German accent, the constants 'th' often become a 'z;' but regardless of this similarity words are pronounced differently. For example: 'the' becomes 'ze' for both German and French accents, however it is pronounced 'zee' in French, and 'zeh' in German. 'That' becomes 'zat,' but it is said 'zet' in French, and 'z-ah-t' in German.
2—The consonant 'H' in French is silent, so it will often be dropped off of words like he, have, him, her, becoming 'e, 'ave, 'im, and 'er.
3—On a final note, like many French speakers, Cambrant 'hacks' the letter 'R.' There is absolutely no way to depict that in writing, so your imagination will have to do it for you.
Japanese
1—The 'L' does not exist in Japanese, so often times the Japanese pronounce it as an 'R' when speaking foreign languages.
2—The letter 'V' doesn't exist in Japanese either, so it will always change to a 'B.' Words like 'very' then become 'bery.'
3—Common consonants that change letters, or sounds: 'th' can change to 's,' or 'fu.' The letters 'si', often become 'sh.'
This is based entirely upon my observations over the past four months, on how my Japanese and French instructors, all of whom vary in fluency, speak English; as well as my limited knowledge of the French and Japanese languages.
—La Loba
WARNING: This chapter contains language, and some fairly graphic physical/verbal abuse scenes; and the story in general deals with abuse. Thus the rating PG-13. If that kind of thing offends you, or you don't like it, then don't read this story.
Bold-- telepathically communicated
Sanctum
By: La Loba de Mibu
Chapter 1: Project RAM
The quiet hum emitted from the hard drive of the institute's mainframe seemed almost deafening in the utter silence of the room. The two mutants occupying said room waited with false patience as the machine endlessly scanned the globe for a particular mutant signature. Every once and a while the mainframe's monitor would light upon a potential location before going dark and moving on once again.
The giant blue-furred Beast named Hank McCoy glanced briefly at the huge screen as it lit up once more, sighing when the computer continued its scanning. He rested his chin in his right foot and stared glumly into space, instead of paying attention to the work in front of him. Near the giant Beast, another mutant sat in his wheel chair before the large round table projecting a three dimensional map floating a foot above its surface. The terrains it displayed flashed rapidly by, in synch with the mainframe's scanning. Yet, Professor Charles Xavier paid little attention to the images before him, elbows resting on the low table, hands folded together in front of his face, and eyes closed in silent concentration. The atmosphere in the room was heavy with tension and anxiety.
It had been just over two months since the institute was robbed of one of its most precious residents, and despair was beginning to settle upon the rest of the school's occupants. The mansion had become a desolate place after such a loss. The newest youngsters, who had always seemed to be plagued by mayhem, had become quiet and despondent; while the senior X-men had all but fallen apart. Were it not for the Professor's calm reassurance, quiet faith, and unfailing determination, they would have all probably lost it by now.
Storm had poured so much time and energy into the green house that it had practically turned into a tropical jungle. Logan enjoyed thoroughly trashing the danger room at least twice a day whenever around, or riding off on his motorcycle as early as dawn and not returning until late into the night. Hank had read every book in the mansion's library twice already, and was beginning his third round. Scott had taken sulking to a new level, guilt clearly eating away at him the more time passed by. Cheering up the residents was currently consuming nearly all of Jean's time and effort, fighting desperately to keep everyone's hopes up; because if she didn't, she just might lose her own. Rogue had become thrice as antisocial, morbid, and irritable than usual, withdrawing from everyone's company and disappearing within the mansion for hours at a time. Evan poured his frustration and anxiety into his ever worsening rivalry with Pietro, anything to keep his mind off of the cold empty seat next to him at every mealtime.
But Kitty was by far handling her stress in the very worst way — she'd taken to cooking. Every morning she'd rise before the other students and begin concocting a deadly dish to add to the normal platters found on the breakfast table; in the afternoon, she courteously provided everyone with lethal after-school snacks, then graced the X-men family once more at dinner with another fatal serving. The institute's furry jester was most definitely sorely missed.
The students honestly didn't know what was worse. Knowing whom had captured their fuzzy elf, but not knowing where to find him; or knowing that they were keeping him alive, but only for experimental purposes. The Professor had been working tirelessly to find his abducted student; and although they had discovered and destroyed a number of Mutant experimentation facilities, none of them had contained their teammate. And the more time past by, the more another fear began to grow in the hearts of the X-men. Would their fuzzy elf ever be the same, after being in the clutches of his captors for so long?
"Professor! Cerebro's finally locked on to his mutant signature!" cried the Beast as the large computer screen beside him flickered to life suddenly and began buzzing urgently.
"Where is he?" asked Professor Charles Xavier rolling his wheelchair up next to the giant blue-furred mutant.
"Hmm, looks like . . . he's somewhere in the Rocky Mountains," Hank began tapping at the keys furiously until the map displayed above the round table zoomed in to the highlighted location and displayed more specific information, "It seems to be originating from an old Mountain Ranger facility. It was supposedly condemned, and has been out of use for fifteen years . . . but there was explosion just a few moments ago."
"Cerebro," the Professor ordered the machine after donning the headpiece, "Perform a deep scan of the terrain."
"My God . . ." Beast gasped softly in both horror and fury a few minutes later, as the screen revealed and extensive maze-like network of tunnels and rooms that clearly made up an underground experimentation facility; the largest they had come across by far.
Cerebro suddenly resumed its urgent buzzing as a large red 'X' marred the map of the facility; an emotionless feminine voice repeatedly announcing: Facility has been terminated. Suddenly, the familiar signature flashed briefly once more, along with four other powerful unidentified signatures. The two mutants looked at each other worriedly.
"We must reach him before the authorities arrive on the scene. The organization in charge of the facility will no doubt also send in agents to investigate the explosion. Storm, please assemble the team immediately. Hank, I'd like you to go in my stead. I will stay here and use Cerebro to track the signatures, and alert you to the presence of any non-mutants."
Beast nodded solemnly and headed towards the hangers as the Professor turned his efforts to pinpointing the location of their captured teammate as well as the other unidentified mutant signatures.
A blood curdling shriek echoed loudly in the sterilized halls of the hidden laboratory deep in the Rocky Mountain Range. The metal-plated walls amplified and bounced the awful sound throughout its maze of passages, plunging further and further underground until it finally reached the lowest level and reverberated through the walls of the holding cells. Each time the sound traveled down from the laboratory above, it resounded in the small room, gnawing at the sanity of those held prisoner within.
There were four cells in total in the parabolic room, one of which was currently empty. Truthfully, they could barely even be labeled cells, as they were more akin to cages than anything else; each shared one barred wall with the next, bordering three sides of the U-shaped room. The two end cages were the only ones that did not connect due to the short passage that divided them, stopping as it reached the doors of the cells nestled in the curve of the parabolic room. The only light that poured into the cells came from two dim fixtures in the ceiling above the passage, which flickered with every tremor that passed through the building.
Voices and loud footfalls from heavy boots could be heard approaching the metal door that sealed off the room from the rest of the laboratory. The occupant of the first cell on the right was stretched out lazily on the metal plank protruding from the wall opposite the cell door; it was supposed to serve as a bed. In an equally lazy fashion, she sat up, shifting to face the passage just outside her cell, resting an elbow on the bent knee of a long slim leg, while dangling the other over the edge of the plank. Hunter green eyes held a glint of morbid amusement as they watched the other two captives in the room quickly clamber away from each other, and the wall their cells shared. One disappeared into the shadows that steeped his cell; while the other hurriedly crawled beneath the long metal bed in his own cage. Not a moment after, the door opened with a loud groan revealing two tall uniformed figures.
"Bonsoir messieurs, come to 'ave some fun aujourd'hui?" said the female in a saucy tone as the two men stepped into the room. They nodded her way before turning to glance briefly into the cage opposite hers, missing the spitting gesture she made at their backs.
"Hmph, that's funny. I thought for sure they only took two up today," spoke the large burly guard.
Peering carefully into the darkness, and dragging his cattle prod along the bars of the empty cage, he finally stopped in front of the second cage on the left side. The burly man smirked at his buddy beside him, unlocking the cell door, and entering the also seemingly empty cage. Directing their attention toward the captive that they knew was hiding underneath, they failed to notice the gleaming pair of yellow eyes hovering in the shadows just below the ceiling of the first cage, following there every move.
"We know you're down there, mutie," said the taller and burlier of the two guards as he kneeled down before the bed and peered underneath. Spotting the pale frail looking figure quivering in the corner, he chuckled darkly and reached out his hand, "Come out and play for bit, won't ya?"
The smaller, but by no means puny, of the two stood behind his partner and glanced warily over his shoulder to the cage next door when he felt the weight of eyes on them. However, there was nothing to be found in the still and empty cell except shadows. Shaking his head at his own paranoia, he snapped his eyes back to the man in front of him when he let out a loud curse.
"Shit! Why you little animal," the burly man snarled angrily, "I'll teach you to bite me!"
Getting a good grip on the leg of small form, he roughly dragged it out into the open. The young boy cried out in fear as he was suddenly forced to face his infuriated captor; he was not prepared for the iron fist that collided into his jaw. His entire body whipped to the side with the force of the blow and he fell to the metal floor in a crumpled heap with a loud smack, the guards laughing above his stunned, twitching form.
Anxious golden eyes watched from their perch as the small boy shifted and groaned, gagging when the large guard picked him up off the floor by his throat. The luminous eyes disappeared once more before reappearing considerably closer to the cage bars; narrowing menacingly as they saw the burly man roughly push the young boy in his partner's direction. Snickering, the gangly one kicked the boy in the gut, sending him flying straight into the wall next to the cage bars. The boy tried to cry out in pain as his back hit the wall and his head connected with the metal, but the air had rushed out of his lungs. Frightened tears began welling up in his eyes as he hunch over and tried to regain his breath before the next blow.
The burly man then made a fatal mistake; pulling the boy's head back up by the hair, he looked straight into the kid's huge tearful doe eyes, colored like amethyst, and slitted like a cat. He was trapped by those mesmerizing eyes no longer than a second but that was all it took.
The guard reeled back with a terrified cry, dropping the boy in his alarmed state. The kid scampered away quickly, desperate to escape from their clutches; but he was in a cell and there really wasn't anywhere to run. He yelped in surprise when the other guard grabbed his ankle.
"What'd you do to him, you monster!!" the smaller man growled, yanking the boy back by the ankle, then used it as leverage to flip the boy onto his back, "I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget!"
The young boy wailed as he felt a sharp pain in his ankle, whimpering and crying out as the guard began pummeling him with the cattle prod mercilessly. A long spaded-tail was lashing wildly in anger, unseen in the darkness, as golden eyes calculated the opportune moment to strike. Another chilling scream echoed down into the cell block from the upper levels, and the lights flickered as a small tremor swept through the earth around them, and went out for a split second.
The guard was laughing and taunting his sobbing victim before each blow he rained down on the fragile body. The next thing he knew his head was clanging against a steel bar, and in his stunned state, he turned to meet face to face with a furious looking demon.
"Kommen Sie von ihm Sie Bastard weg!" the Nightcrawler growled fiercely in his native tongue; a tridactyl hand reaching through the bars and taking hold of the guard, yanking him off the boy with a strength unexpected from such a long lanky arm.
The boy quickly scrambled to the far side of his cage, away from the fray. He watched in horror as Nightcrawler slipped his arms through the bars, taking hold of the man who had been beating him, and began to pound his head against the metal floor. Cringing, the young boy ducked his head and wrapped his arms around his knees, unable to keep watching his friend's unusual savagery; he didn't see the guard who had dropped him stagger to his feet and reach into his back pocket.
"You damned devil!" he shouted as he pressed a button on a small rectangular device. The boy's head shot up at the exclamation, he tried to shout a warning but it was too late.
One moment Nightcrawler was about to reintroduce the slime ball in his grasp to the unforgiving metal floor, the next he was howling in agony as a piercing pain burst forth from the power suppressing collar around his neck, and burned its way down his entire spinal column, to the very tip of his spaded tail. He lost his grip on the man and dropped to the floor, a writhing mass of blue fur, frantically clawing at the collar in a futile effort to reduce the pain. He distantly heard the sounds of the guards cursing, as well as a cell door slamming open a shut twice. The angry guards were now looming above him. Excellent. His plan had succeeded.
He realized slowly through the haze of pain that the guards had asked him some sort of question when he received a sharp kick in the gut, and they loudly demanded he answer. He heard his young friend's frightened cry, and glanced at him quickly out of the corner of his golden eyes; the little fool didn't understand what he was doing and was scurrying toward him and back into the guards' presence of mind. When another kick demanded his answer again, he took his chance.
"Bewegen Sie nicht!" he replied in a loud rebellious tone, knowing that the guards could not understand German, and would think he was mocking them, "Bleiben Sie, wo Sie sind und nicht, spricht!"
The boy in the next cage froze, a horrified look creeping over his face as comprehension finally dawned. Trembling slightly, he obediently crawled away from Nightcrawler's cell, curling up next to the wall, sobbing into his knees to muffle the sound. Rocking back and forth manically, he covered his ears trying to block out his savior's cries of pain as he was brutally beaten in his stead.
For long after the guards left, Kurt lay very still on the floor of his cell. He struggled to get enough air into his lungs, coughing every now and then when the fluid in his mouth tickled the back of his throat. In his barely conscious state, the whole world seemed to be swimming around him. His body was so numb with pain he didn't think he would be ever be able to feel anything else again; that was until he became aware of a small warm presence on his forearm, moving up and down incessantly along his fur. What the hell . . . Was someone petting him?
Although the gesture usually annoyed Kurt immensely — he was a person after all, not an animal — perhaps the two pain-filled months in the unforgiving hands of his captors, had made the tender human touch much more tolerable. He struggled to open his eyes, blinking several times to clear his foggy vision. Looking down his arm, he saw a tiny pale hand gently stroking his fur. Moving his other arm very slowly, he caught the little hand in his own before looking up at its owner.
The child was tiny, with skin pale as fine porcelain, and a cherubic heart-shaped face. His huge violet eyes were hidden behind the long bangs of light honey-blonde colored hair. Sometimes Kurt found it hard to believe that the frail delicate looking creature before him was really a boy. When he felt the little hand squeeze his own, he looked up carefully at the younger boy, wary of meeting his eyes.
"Domo Arigatou, Kurt-san," he said very quietly in Japanese. Extricating his hand from Kurt's, he gave a small bow to emphasize his gratitude.
Kurt moved to sit up, about to respond to the boy, but the movement caused a sudden pounding in his head that made him groan and slump back down to the floor, his surroundings quickly fading to black.
The first thing that filtered through the darkness was another tortured scream echoing down from the lab above. Then, all the aches and pains throughout his body made themselves known one by one, and he couldn't help but groan quietly. Then next thing he was conscious of, were two differently accented voices seemingly arguing with each other.
"Awww, is ze petit chou chou going to cry now?" asked a feminine voice mockingly.
"BE QUIET!" Kurt flinched slightly, that voice was much closer to him, and painfully loud.
The French-accented voice sounded disgusted, "Puh, you are such a sniveling little brat."
"Just reabe me arone!!" the Japanese voice cracked as it shouted back to its tormentor.
Kurt realized belatedly that he must have blacked out, because the inky blackness surrounding the edges of his vision was slowly ebbing away. He blinked owlishly to clear his vision, before turning his pounding head slowly to the left and eyeing the small boy sitting close to him, on the other side of the metal bars. He was facing the cell across the hall, face visibly red even under the ridiculously long bangs that nearly covered his cheeks. His shoulders were hunched to his ears, making the much too large smock he wore slip off a pale shoulder; and although the long sleeves that pooled on the floor on either side of him completely covered his arms, his body language told Kurt that his small fists were clenched at his sides. The young boy was trembling with what could be rage, humiliation or a combination of the two. Kurt heard their cellmate scoff from across the passage separating their cages.
"Reabe you arone," the French girl mocked the younger boy's accent, "You see? Zis is what I'm talking about. You are such a worthless little snit, zat you cannot even defend yourself."
"Yamete!" his voice trembled as he shouted weakly, shaking his head in denial, his chest heaving slightly, and his lip trembling with the effort to hold back his tears.
The girl ignored his little outburst and continued, "You are always needing to be protected, or rescued. You cannot even control your own powers! Even zat 'as to be done for you. Ze only reason zey 'ave even kept you alive is because threatening you keeps Neutral in line!"
"URUSAI!" the boy yelled pathetically, covering his ears in an effort to block out the girl's scathing remarks, no longer able to keep the tears from streaming down his face.
Seeing she had already gotten under his skin, the girl sneered before going in for the kill, "Before 'e came along, you were nothing but a twitching, bawling, drooling mess, overwhelmed by your own power. Without 'im, you are nothing but a failed experiment. And you know what zey do to failed experiments — "
"Zat ist enough, Cambrant!" Kurt shouted angrily surprising the two mutants who obviously still thought that he was unconscious.
"Mind your own business, cochon allemand!" She replied angrily from where she was sitting on her bed, annoyed that her fun had been interrupted.
So distracted had they been by each other, that the prisoners did not notice the approach of footsteps until the door to the room slammed open, making everyone in the room freeze in their places.
"Hey!" a new guard shouted angrily, "Shut yer traps, or I'll shut 'em up for ya!"
Silence greeted his threat and the guard smirked. Turning back to the door, he gave the okay for two more guards to step into the room, carrying between them another mutant. Walking briskly ahead of the other two, the first guard stopped and unlocked the cell already occupied by the little boy. The other two quickly followed, dragging the visibly exhausted mutant along with them. Tossing their charge carelessly into the cell and locking it, the three turned and left, slamming the cell room door behind them.
"Niisan!!" the little boy gave a startled cry and scrambled towards the unmoving mutant that had been tossed in with him.
Cambrant grumbled something in French before lying down and turning her back on the others. Kurt grimaced as he pushed himself into a seated position, feeling lightheaded and a bit queasy. He watched anxiously as the little boy tried to rouse his companion, panic clearly evident in his cries.
"Niisan! Daijoubu desu ka? Niisan!!" he shouted as he urgently shook the mutant sprawled on his side before him.
The young man groaned, rolling himself on to his back with some effort; raising a slightly shaking arm, he placed a finger over the little boy's mouth, effectively quieting his young companion.
"Shhhh, Kyoumu," said a quiet, tired-sounding baritone, "Daijoubu. Niisan just has a very bad headache."
Opening a pair of ruby red eyes, the young man briefly examined the boy hovering over him. The first thing he noticed was a dark bruise forming on the shoulder exposed by the slipping smock. His right cheek was flushed an angry red color, and painfully swollen. He ran his fingers lightly along the inflamed skin, making Kyoumu flinch away. Brushing aside slightly wet bangs from tear-stained cheeks, Fuhen did what only he could do; he looked straight into the anguished violet eyes of his little brother, and nothing more needed to be said.
Fuhen forced himself up, and moved himself and his younger brother the short distance to the wall that was nearest Kurt's cell. Leaning back against the cool metal surfaced he sighed deeply, gathering the crying child in his arms and settling him comfortably on his lap. They murmured softly in Japanese, Fuhen shushing his brother's tearful whines with calm soothing words. After a while, Kyoumu finally calmed and dozed off, leaving the dim room in silence once more.
Kurt had sat quietly watching the whole scene, as he leaned against the bars that separated their cages. He shifted a bit to get into a more comfortable position, when he raised his head once again, golden eyes met with almond-shaped rubies.
"Nightcrawler . . . you rook rike you've been hit by a truck," Fuhen said evenly as he stoically surveyed the damage. It was always hard to tell with Nightcrawler, due to the dark fur covering his body; but he looked unusually rumpled to say the least.
Kurt tried to smirk, but it was kind of hard to do with a split lip, so he settled for raising a brow over a swollen eye, "You've seen better days yourself, Neutral."
"I've tord you, you can call me Fuhen."
"I'll start calling you Fuhen, ven you stop calling me Nightcrawler."
"Touché," Fuhen couldn't help a tired smile, but a frown soon marred his features, after a short silence, he spoke again, "Somehow, 'Thank you' . . . . just doesn't cut it."
Kurt tsked softly, looking away, "They still hurt him. If you had been here— "
Fuhen's weary voice cut him off, "If I had been here, I wouldn't have been able to get up off this floor; much ress prevent Kyoumu from being hurt. What you did was more than enough, Kurt-san."
Kurt looked back at Fuhen, but the other mutant had leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. Thinking about that remark as he studied the other boy, he realized, with some apprehension, that other boy might be in worse shape than he was. As was the usual routine, whenever Fuhen was dragged up to the upper levels of the lab, he always returned with a small insignificant looking bandage tied around his upper arm; today was no different. What was different this time, was how exhausted he was when he had been brought back.
Fuhen had been dubbed "Neutral," because he had the ability to neutralize virtually anything. The doctors had discovered that his powers could be put to work in many different ways; with a simple touch, he could shut down vital functions that kept the human body alive; he could create force fields of varying size that would neutralize all forms of attack they came in contact with; or render an opponent powerless by trapping him within a neutral zone; and of course their favorite, he could completely cancel out the abilities of any other mutant he came in contact with.
Through all manner of unspeakable experiments and testing, they had managed to unravel the mysteries of his power and pinpoint its source; his blood. Once they figured that out, it was no longer necessary to for him to be physically present for the experiments that required his useful abilities; the doctors simply drained out some of his blood. But it seemed that today, they had almost bled him dry.
Fuhen was unnaturally pale, and a light sheen of sweat covering his normally golden olive skin. Kurt could see goose bumps starting to form along the flesh of his arms, left exposed by the sleeveless white smock he wore. A visible shudder ran through the redhead's body and he unconsciously pulled his little brother closer. Waking at the movement, Kyou looked up at his brother with a pout, which quickly turned to a frown. Reaching up, he brushed back the auburn hair that had begun to matt to his elder brother's forehead.
"Niisan?" he queried anxiously as another shudder ran through the older mutant's body. Fuhen opened his eyes and looked down at the worried child in his arms.
"I'm alright. Just a rittle cold," he reassured, warm red eyes looking into violet.
Kyoumu looked doubtful for a moment, before snuggling closer to his brother hoping to keep him warm. Fuhen met Kurt's golden gaze briefly, his ruby eyes considerably duller, before he hunkered down a bit, burying his nose in soft, warm honey blonde hair; small shivers still running through his body.
A strong tremor suddenly shook the building all around them; the lights in the hall flickered wildly before finally going out. A long haunting scream, full of rage and sorrow, echoed down into the holding cells once again, accompanied by an even stronger tremor that actually jarred the floor beneath the captives' feet.
Kurt grabbed the metal bars near him to steady himself until the quake was over. Fuhen followed his example, looping one arm around the bars, his other tightening reflexively around Kyoumu's small form. The little boy's frightened wails were almost drowned out by the screams from above, and the groaning of the building around them. Across the hall, Cambrant squealed delightedly, riding the waves of the shifting floor under her feet and laughing joyfully, as if it were all some sort of game.
When the scream above died down, the shifting earth calmed at once; leaving the captives confused and disoriented, a single flickering light left the cells mostly in shadow. Kurt groaned and held back a wave of nausea as the pain throughout his body increased twofold, after having been thoroughly jarred by the tremor. Fuhen slumped against the bars, his body further exhausted by the simple task of just holding on. Little Kyoumu was still clinging to him for dear life, whimpering and sobbing in confusion and fear. Cambrant stood in the middle of her cell still giddy and giggling.
"Bravo! Encore! Encore!" she shouted gleefully, "Sounds like Botany is 'aving fun, n'est pas?"
"Vas is wrong vith you?" Kurt asked tiredly in disgust, giving Cambrant an incredulous look.
She did not answer out loud, but in the dim light, Kurt thought he saw her give him a smug look, as if she knew something he didn't. The flickering light took longer and longer to come back on after each time it went out, until eventually it extinguished for good, plunging the four mutants into an absolute darkness in the underground room.
The only thing piercing the dark silence, were Kyou's soft whimpers and Fuhen's wearily whispered comforts.
The rain had begun to fall at sun down, making the vast coniferous forest unusually dark. It was a peaceful night, or so it seemed, until a terrified scream suddenly split the silence of the night.
A young girl screamed once again, running as fast as she possibly could toward a nearby tree, hoping to climb up into the relative safety of its branches. But no sooner did she reach the base of the trunk, did a cruel hand tangle itself in the waves of her long spring bud colored hair, yanking her back savagely. She screeched in pain, then whimpered in terror as that hand brought her face to face with the man she feared most.
"I thought I told ya to stay inside, mutie!" he said as he picked her up by the scruff of her long night shirt and dragged her towards the door of their small cottage deep in the foothills of the Rockies.
"Looks like ya forgot ya last lesson already, wench. Perhaps ya need a little reminder, eh?" He dumped her on the kitchen floor, and went to the nearby closet. The girl shrieked and scrambled out of the kitchen doorway into the cottage's tiny living room.
"Hey! Get back here!" he yelled as he removed a metal bat from the closet, and ran after her. He grabbed her by the hair once more and flung her into the corner, her body connecting brutally with the wall. The tranquility of the surrounding woods was soon disturbed by the echoes painful screams and sobs.
"What did ya think ya were doing?" he swung the bat again. She sobbed in a little huddle for a few moments before she picked a dry leaf from her hair and held it up.
"Ooh, I see, ya wanted some water for that nappy hair," he smirked as her tearful eyes widened in fear, "Ya want some water? I'll give ya some water!"
He took hold of her shoulder and jerked her roughly off the floor. The girl yelped as she felt the searing pain of the joint dislocating, the sudden pain making her trip on the stairs; she was rewarded with a sharp kick to the stomach for her clumsiness. She gagged, and gasped for air, unable to find the strength to return to her feet. Disgusted, the man hauled her the rest of the way up the stairs, and dumped her in the middle of the hall. He turned his attention away from the miserable heap of a girl, and went into the bathroom.
She lay there sobbing, praying for the pain throbbing throughout her body to end soon. Perhaps this time he would go through with his constant threats, and finally put her out of her misery; nothing else mattered to her anymore but finding an end to the horrible pain.
She lay there drifting in and out of consciousness, the faded colors of the musty carpet she laid on swimming in her vision. At one point, she was almost certain she heard the sound of water running; but she couldn't focus clearly with the pounding in her head. The man returned and roughly towed her by the hair down the dirty carpeted hall and onto the cold tile floor of the bathroom. The room was thick with steam, and she sluggishly realized that its source was the small white old-fashioned porcelain tub in the corner of the room.
"Here's ya water! Ha! Ha!" he laughed cruelly as he hefted her from the floor and shoved the small girl into the tub. Her treacherous limbs would not respond to the sirens blaring in her mind, and she could only brace herself as she hit the scalding hot water. She wailed and sobbed pitifully, trying desperately to get out of the tub only to find herself being pushed back in by her tormentor.
"C'mon! C'mon! What? Isn't this what ya wanted, mutie? Here, why don't ya have some more!" the man savagely dunked her head underwater, and laughed at her feeble attempts to get free of his murderous grip. Darkness was beginning to cloud the edges of her vision; and she felt as if her lungs would burst from her chest if she didn't breathe soon. She made one final desperate struggle to escape with her last of energy before her body went limp in the water.
The man chuckled and finally let go, "Well, that's one less weed to worry 'bout."
She was fading towards that shining light at the end of the infamous tunnel, when she dimly remembered something from long ago; a promise. One she would soon break if she reached the end of said tunnel. Suddenly something just exploded within her; her last ounce of control snapping. The pain, and fear, and frustration, and the anger that had long since been endured and repressed would be held back no longer. It was the breaching of a massive damn; and she felt surging within her an immense and obstreperous power. Her eyes opened in the water, and she slowly lifted her battered form from the tub.
Halfway out of the bathroom, he heard the movement in the water and turned, "What the— "
He started saying when he saw the girl slowly lift her head, but was shocked into silence. Her eyes weren't their usual soft amber brown; they were a uniform glowing emerald green. She lifted a dripping, scalded hand in his direction.
"Why you little mutie bi— " his words were cut off as a thorned vine rapidly closed around his throat. He pulled at it instinctively only to find it tighten even more. She flicked her wrist sharply, and the vine whipped his body into the far wall of the bathroom.
Shakily stepping out of the tub, she slowly headed into the hall and down the rickety old stairs. Everywhere she stepped, all kinds of flora sprouted forth; brilliant butterflies, chummy bumble bees, and shining dragonflies appeared everywhere as if born of the old molding wooden floor boards. She reached the bottom of the staircase and turned to leave the little mountain cottage, when something suddenly bashed her at the base of her neck. She collapsed on the floor, and was roughly rolled over.
"Ya little mutie wretch!" The man stood over her with the metal bat held in a hand trembling with rage, gleaming as it was raised high, "You think you can just leave after a stunt like that?!"
Her eyes narrowed, their strange glow diffusing throughout her entire body. He looked on in shock as she shoved him off, and stood up; her hair and clothes whipping around her as if caught in a gale. Everything in the house wobbled, the cottage being shaken by a sudden terrible quaking. He stood transfixed in the girl's frightening emerald gaze. The divine animal right to survive and protect herself, instilled in all living creatures, had finally awakened; the dam was breached, and nothing would hold back the flood.
Then she screamed, this time not in terror, but in rage — bloody rage
A few alarmed cries swept though the scientists and assistants gathered in Lab M, as the building rattled around them; instruments, equipment and sensitive machinery falling, crashing, or teetering precariously as the earth heaved.
"Doctor! We must stop the memory simulation we're losing control of the subject. We don't have the facilities to contain a full manifestation of the subject's mutant abilities!" cried a very panicked assistant.
"Pipe down you coward! We almost had it that time. I am not about to back down when we are this close!" the Head Doctor exclaimed.
"Have you gone mad? M45 has been demonstrating increasingly dangerous seismic abilities. Even M42's shield is no longer strong enough to neutralize them," another upset scientist tried to reason with the Head Doctor.
"How much did we drain today?" the Head inquired briefly, ignoring the outburst.
"As much as possible without the risk of fatality," an assistant answered, after flipping through some charts.
The Head Doctor tapped his chin for a moment, "Make sure all of the blood is running through the generator, and prepare to project the M97's optical imprint once again."
"Sir, wouldn't be simpler to use the source to jolt M45's memory?" asked a newly transferred assistant.
"M97 is a much too volatile. The pathetic waste has no control over its abilities whatsoever, and loses all coherent thinking processes when its suppression collar is removed. A subject that is so easily overwhelmed by its own ability is useless to us."
"Then why keep it?" asked the same assistant confused.
"It is a matter of leverage," the Head answered coolly, before issuing his orders, "Let's run it again. Raise the frequency to the maximum level!"
Another assistant turned a knob on the control panel as far as it would go. Everyone waited, baiting their breath and hoping for success this time, as they stared out of the large glass pane that separated the observation room they were in, from a large, and seemingly empty, spherical room. Suddenly, an emerald light flashed brightly, disappearing as quickly as it came. It seemed to have come from a small bundle floating in midair at its center. It was a small teenaged girl curled into a fetal position, with dozens of wires and nodules hooked up to her. She was the source of all the haunting screams.
The lab workers watched warily as the rumble of the ground began anew, steadily increasing, the emerald light glowing brighter by the second. Abruptly, everything stopped, the glowing ceased, all the gauges plummeted, and the girl broke down into a sobbing heap, sagging amongst all the wires.
"Dammit!" the Head Doctor cursed in frustration, slamming a fist into the panel, "That's it! Four years worth of research and this worthless animal has done nothing but waste our time and money. Get me another mutant, get me another one!"
"But sir, what about the girl?" asked an unusually sympathetic assistant.
"Get rid of it. It's useless now. We do not keep failed experiments," he replied angrily, "Eliminate M45, you can throw it into the furnace for all I care."
Unbeknownst to the scientists, the girl's superior senses had enabled her to hear everything. Her thoughts spiraled out of control in shock, as she listened to the sounds of the workers packing up, chattering idly to each other; as if it were the most normal of days in some kind of office building instead of a mutant experimentation facility where she and the others had been tortured and experimented on for years. She listened as a group of assistants laughed merrily at someone's dumb joke as they gathered their materials; while some others argued about putting away some equipment.
But the shock soon wore off, and her eyebrows knitted menacingly; the callousness of the scientists supplying the last ounce of anger she needed to be pushed over the edge, and give the Doctor the results he had been yearning for. Without warning, all the gages in the control room peaked, and everyone was blinded by the emerald light. The ground shook wildly, splitting open all around them, then the entire laboratory was suddenly being engulfed by savage vegetation. The shield generator exploded, red painting the floor and walls, as a huge vine shot through the machine. The glass separating the rooms shattered and the scientists squealed in terror. Drifting towards the observing room, the girl's piercing emerald gaze settled on the Head Doctor; the narrowing of her emerald eyes was the last thing he ever saw.
Kurt didn't know how long they'd been sitting in the dark, but it could not have been more than half an hour. He looked around the room, the only one who could see clearly in the pitch blackness. Cambrant was lying on her bed once more; her back was to him, but he knew the strange girl was as wide awake as he was.
Fuhen had not moved from where he had slumped against the bars except to slide further down; his breathing was still heavy, and Kurt couldn't tell from his angle if the young man was still conscious or not. Little Kyoumu was sprawled a top his brother's unmoving form, little hands clutching at Fuhen's shirt through his own long sleeves. He had been softly singing the same song, over and over, since Fuhen had gone quiet; but his singing had a noticeably manic nature, his voice trembling slightly off key, with many long unnatural pauses.
Suddenly a loud rumble cut through the silence; soon accompanied by a steadily increasing tremor of the earth. They could hear the noises of the building and the earth around them groaning, cracking and splitting open. Almost simultaneously the four mutants gave startled cries as they felt something slowly brushing and slithering around the skin of their necks. They could feel the collars beginning to come apart, until finally they burst to pieces and fell to the shaking floor around them.
Kurt knelt down and briefly and studied the pieces that rattled on the trembling ground; they had been broken from within, small plants having sprouted within the gears until the entire device was split apart. There was a brief flash of light, and Kurt looked up to the cell in front of him to see a large indigo spark glowing at the tip of Cambrant's index finger; and an excited manic grin on her face.
"Magnifique!!" she squealed excitedly as she realized they were now free to use their powers.
She waved her arm around quickly forming a large glowing indigo ring in the air next to her; she dabbed her finger into the middle of it, creating a large indigo spark at its center. It crackled for a few moments before black and indigo, and various shades in between diffused into the ring, swirling into a vortex. Cambrant cried happily as she saw the portal form before her, promptly stepping into it and disappearing. A loud ripping sound was heard and Cambrant popped out of thin air with a flash of light, into the cage next to hers. Giggling delightedly, she went into a portal making frenzy appearing and disappearing intermittently throughout the room; traveling to and from who knew where.
"What's going on?" Fuhen groaned as the shaking earth, exploding collars and his brother's panicked cries finally woke him from whatever stupor he had succumbed to. He groped at his neck blindly in the dark, realizing that the collars had come off. Ignoring the insane girl's absurd antics, Kurt teleported over into the brothers' cell. The flash lit the room briefly, more brightly than the indigo light of the portals.
"Ve need to get out of here," Kurt replied, looking warily at the cracks forming along the ceiling of his cell, before suddenly remembering his friends could not see in the dark, "I think something's gone wrong upstairs. Look— "
Nightcrawler closed his luminous golden eyes and concentrated. Now that his collar was off, he could use his teleporting abilities again, as well as a few new talents the doctors had so graciously bestowed upon him. Taking several deep breathes, Kurt felt the warmth gather in the pit of his stomach; he still wasn't completely used to this, but it came easier every time he tried it. Finally, with a deep inhale that puffed out his chest, Kurt opened his mouth wide and released a long torrent of molten flame into the air. It spread slowly into a suspended arc, traveling at a snail's pace through the air, illuminating their crumbling surroundings. Kneeling down next to the two boys who could now see clearly in the lighted room, Kurt picked up the rattling pieces from the shaking floor, and showed them to Fuhen.
"Zis has to be Botanik's doing," he explained, as he pulled bits of green plant matter out of the devices gears.
"Kuso," Fuhen couldn't help growling a curse, as he inspected the broken collars, and looked at the trembling room around them, "What have they done to her?"
A loud ripping sound alarmed the boys, as the air before them tore open and Cambrant's head poked out right in front of their startled faces. The golden light of Kurt's flame soon faded, replaced by the indigo glow emitted from Cambrant's portal. She grinned, her dark green eyes filled with amusement at having startled the boys.
"Vous devrez partir pendant que vous pouvez toujours," she stated humorlessly in French, looking straight at Nightcrawler, grin still firmly in place. Her head was the only visible part of her body, fixed and unmoving in the room shaking around them; long tendrils of raven black hair floated around her seemingly suspended head, a small indigo vortex swirling behind it.
"Why do you say zat?" Nightcrawler asked, not really wanting to here the answer. He looked worriedly at the two brothers who had not understood her warning.
"Well, because ze upper levels are already gone. Zey are completely overgrown, there is no getting through. Ze only exit left to us— is ze unconventional one," she said in a light tone.
Nightcrawler could feel the fur on the back of his neck all the way down his spine stand on end as he thought of the implications of their escape; the groaning of the metal ceiling above them as it was split by a long wide crack, was not helping any. He glanced quickly at the brothers; Kyoumu was staring fearfully at the gap in the ceiling, while Fuhen refused to meet Kurt's gaze, staring at the floor fracturing beneath them, jaw tight and grim.
The constant tremor suddenly became violent as huge vines, sharp roots, and other savage vegetation began bursting through the metal walls of the room around them. The three boys hastily dodged the hostile plants, while Cambrant's head continued to float calmly in the center of the chaos.
"Cambrant!" Nightcrawler yelled over the cacophony around them, before he had to teleport out of the way of a deadly root, "Take Fuhen through one of your portals! I vill teleport Kyoumu out of here!"
He looked back over his shoulder at the girl hovering above his crouched form, and was immediately disquieted by the look on her face. She had become completely stoic, looking down her nose at Kurt, hunter green eyes narrow and completely disinterested.
"Now why on earth," she asked very slowly, her voice monotone, "Would I do zat?"
Nightcrawler watched in frozen horror as a bright indigo flash proceeded a zipping sound and Cambrant disappeared, closing the portal behind her. In his shock he stood still too long, losing track of his dangerous surroundings. He heard Kyoumu's voice almost as if from afar, and turned to see a surge of merciless plants heading straight toward him; he couldn't even think to teleport. From the corner of his eyes he could see a rush of movement, then his vision was blinded by a flash of white; and Nightcrawler suddenly found himself with his arms full of an overly anxious Kyoumu.
"Kurt-san! What happuned! Daijoubu?" the little boy continued questioning him rapidly, switching back and forth from English to Japanese, never looking him in the face, but checking him over to make certain he was alright.
Nightcrawler looked up from the little blonde to see his older brother a mere foot or two in front of him. He was standing rigidly, feet wide apart, his arms stretched out perpendicular to his sides, shaking and straining; his hands were curled into fists, a heavenly white light burning brightly around them, connecting directly with the small white dome surrounding the three boys. His face was hidden as his head hung low, chin almost touching the chest that was heaving with the effort of maintaining the thin glowing barrier that was keeping them all from certain death; the savage vegetation continuing to wreak havoc outside the small force field.
"Fuhen . . ." Kurt managed to choke out weakly, golden eyes wide. Wild, untamable auburn hair fell into the young man's face, obscuring it further from view; but Kurt didn't need to see his face to guess his intentions.
"Kurt-san," the soft baritone sounded much firmer than its owner could possibly feel, "Take Kyoumu and get out of here."
"Nein! Fuhen . . . Zere has to be another— "
"There isn't!" the man cut him off sharply, taking a shaky breathe, he added quietly, "Reave, now. Before it's too late. I will not forgive you if you ret Kyoumu die."
Kurt could only stare in shock for a moment before a strained laugh escaped his throat, "Somehow, 'Thank you' . . . . just doesn't cut it."
At those words, Fuhen let out a strangled sound that seemed a cross between a laugh and a sob.
"Ano . . . Niisan . . ." Kyoumu's voice was trembling as he looked from Nightcrawler to his brother, "Doushita ka? What are you saying!"
"Gomen nasai," Fuhen responded, speaking very softly in his native tongue.
"N-Niisan no baka . . . Nani . . . " Kyoumu tired to approach his brother, disturbed by his solemn tone and strange words, but Nightcrawler held him back.
"Daisuki desu, Itoshigo."
"Onegai . . . yamete, Niisan!" Kyou's eyes were watering of their own volition; and he started struggling in Kurt's grasp, suddenly very frightening by his brother's words and actions.
"Odaijini . . . Sayonara."
He gasped in understanding, trying to launch himself at his brother, fighting hopelessly to get free of Nightcrawler's grasp, sobbing and wailing in despair, "F-Fuhen-niisan!!Iya da, dame, y-yamete kudusai, hanase! Hanase kudusai! FUHEN — "
His cries were abruptly cut off as they disappeared with a sudden flash, a cloud of spoke left in their wake.
For a moment all was quiet on the lush green mountainside. Then, the building exploded.
Translation Notes: I don't know German, I've only started learning Japanese, and my French is really rusty so please excuse any mistakes in syntax or meaning.
Kommen Sie von ihm Sie Bastard weg! — Get away from him you bastard!
Bewegen Sie nicht! . . . Bleiben Sie, wo Sie sind und nicht, spricht! — Don't move! . . . Stay where you are and don't speak!
Domo Arigatou, Kurt-san — Thank you very much; -san is a suffix used to show respect. It is sometimes translated as 'Mister,' but I don't really want it to mean "Mr. Kurt," so just take it as Kyoumu and Fuhen showing their respect.
Petit chou chou — French idiom literally meaning: Little cabbage, it is used when addressing children in the same way we use the terms Honey, or Sweetheart.
Yamete! — Stop!
URUSAI! — SHUT UP!
Cochon allemand — German pig
Niisan — Big Brother; sometimes niisan can act as a suffix, such as Fuhen-niisan
Daijoubu desu ka? — Are you okay?
Daijoubu. — I'm okay.
N'est pas? — Another idiomatic phrase used at the end of a statement, transforming it into a question that asks for your opinion; roughly translates to "don't you think so?"
Vous devez partir pendant que vous pouvez toujours. — You should leave while you still can.
Gomen nasai — I am sorry
Niisan no baka . . . Nani . . . — Stupid brother . . . What . . .
Doushita ka?— What's the matter
Daisuki desu — I love you
Itoshigo — beloved or dear child; the way I understand it, it's supposed to be a pet name or endearment
Onegai . . . yamete — Please . . . stop
Odaijini — Take care of yourself
Sayonara — Goodbye or Farewell, supposed to be used when the parting is final
Iya da, dame, y-yamete kudasai, hanase!! . . . Hanase kudasai!! — No, no, s-stop please, let me go! . . . Let me go, please!
A/N: Well? What'd ya think?? Hope I didn't bore you too much. Sorry to say I'm not a fast updater. My beta's gone on vacation, therefore I edit everything myself — which means there is no one to stop me from rewriting scenes at least 150 times each! ;; . . . Well, thank you for reading and please review!!!
— La Loba