This is a story about two X-Men: Iceman and Shadowcat. They must go on an adventure to save their fellow teammates but through this adventure, they learn more about themselves and each other.
This is their first chapter.
"Another Saturday. Another day wasted," Bobby stated, his face blankly staring ahead of him. He remembered a time when the mall was actually fun, but these were different times. Kitty had invited practically the whole mansion to go to the local mall for a "fun day out." Things have been quiet in the city so the X-Men thought it would be a nice way to relax, but Bobby craves the excitement. He loves how the X-Men trample all their enemies and he loves how after it's all done, the battlefield looks like a piece of art. It's a creepy way of thinking, especially after you could have died in that battlefield, but it was just … special. He didn't know how to put it, but it was like the battlefield was symbolic of the X-Men; how powerful they are, how unique he feels to be part of them. He almost wishes some kind of villain will strike, just so he can actually become Iceman again, but looks like the X-Men are too good at their job.
"How do I look?"
Bobby jumped up in surprise and immediately turned his eyes to the source of the voice, his eyes caught up with a girl in a knee length red dress. Her hand was straightening her long, brown hair, her foot tapping a steady beat as she became slightly impatient. Her eyes sparkled like a diamond as she stared back at him, awaiting his response. Bobby couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked. She wasn't the same girl he met when he was only 15.
"Beautiful," Bobby simply muttered out, his face blushing just a tiny bit. Kitty smiled a full smile to Bobby, flattered by his unusual compliment. She could remember a time when Bobby used to endlessly annoy her. She could remember how angered she was by some of Bobby's so-called pranks and immaturity. "Grow up" were the words she viciously lashed out at him when he died her hair pink. She was so furious then, but now she feels that was silly as her. She appreciated the fact that Bobby had spend most of his free time with her, even if he was annoying at the time. She never received that kind of attention before, not even from her parents. It was like Bobby actually wanted to know her, not even her best friends cared so much for her as Bobby did.
But did Bobby just compliment her? She has known him for almost four years, and although Bobby had said nice things about her, Bobby seemed different now. Before he always complimented her in a childish way, seeming like he didn't mean half of it or he just threw the compliment out there to be nice. But now, he seems sincere. He seems totally honest. He's different. Kitty almost misses the 100% immature Bobby, but now that she thinks more deeply about it, he's still the fun Bobby, but more caring and considerate. He had changed and Kitty didn't even notice it until now. Was it because they spent so much time together that the change seemed to just blend in that she didn't even notice? Or was it because she was just too blind to see it?
She didn't have much time to think about it as Angel came up with an impressive amount of boxes containing various items such as electronics and clothes.
"Looks like the rich kid bought out half the mall," Bobby joked.
But Kurt followed behind Angel and his stack was even more impressive. He was struggling to hold up the boxes as the gigantic tower of shopping bags started to shake.
"Uh oh," Kurt said, his eyes staring at the boxes. "It's going to fall!"
Luckily, Kitty was able to phase through the falling boxes without anyone noticing. Angel and Bobby, however, were not as lucky as they fell from the pressure of the boxes.
"Nice going," Bobby said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Don't be a Wolverine," Kurt retorted, throwing a box at Bobby.
Bobby was about to use his powers and freeze Kurt but Storm quickly came to settle everything.
"You guys!" Storm yelled. "You're starting a commotion, do you want people to pay attention to us?"
"Sorry," all threw of them said in unison, their eyes trying to avoid eye contact with those of Storm's. They were just thankful that it was Storm who came, not Wolverine.
And ironically, just then, Wolverine comes and shows up, with quite an angry look on his face. He was resisting the urge to slash up a store, but he decided that it will be better in the long run if the didn't.
"And what were you guys thinking?" Wolverine snarled.
"It was an accident, relax Wolverine," Jean calmly stated as she used her telepathy to read everybody's mind. The telepathic and telekinetic unit was holding hands with Scott Summers, her boyfriend who has a reputation for sometimes being too serious.
"I know what you're thinking, and Wolverine is not right," Jean quietly said to Scott, only so he can hear. "Kids will be kids, let them have some fun. We weren't much different from them a little while back, or at least I wasn't. Let loose a little."
Scott just smiled back. He didn't really agree with Jean, but she did have a point. Anyways, he really have to let loose a little if he wants keep a girl like Jean. He didn't understand it, but he doesn't know where he would be without Jean. It seems corny, but he knew that Jean made him a better person. Jean, reading his mind with her telepathy, just giggled a little. "Oh Scott," she thought. She knew he always was too serious but it's too cute when he becomes just slightly more sensitive.
"I will never understand what is wrong with you kids," Wolverine said, shaking his head. He loves the X-Men (thought he will never admit it), but sometimes they could be such a headache. People always seem to think he's the "tough" guy but he never understood it. Was it too hard to not act stupid? Anyways, if anybody could even comprehend his past, they would know there's a plethora of reasons why he never likes to open up.
"This is what happens when you guys feel like the MRD or Brotherhood has stopped," Wolverine glumly stated.
"Oh lighten up Logan," said Emma Frost, now joining the circle of X-Men. "We're at the mall, I thought you might actually do some relaxing things, but here you are, complaining once again."
"I, for one, am happy that we can relax," Rogue stated, as she too came in the circle of X-Men. "I sucked up way too many MRD memories."
"I would appreciate if the newly designed Blackbird Jet can actually be used though," Forge chimed in, "So I'm going to have to agree with Logan on this one."
And Bobby couldn't help but agree with Logan as well. Like before, he couldn't stop thinking about the thrill of defeating some MRDs or the Brotherhood. He enjoyed the adrenaline too much and there just haven't been a good way to get rid of all his excess energy other than Danger Room sessions, and those are nothing to be desired. He was about to say something when Kitty grabbed his arm and started forcing him to walk away.
"Come on!" she said cheerfully and full of excitement, "There's this new store and you have to see it!"
"On second thought... The MRD and Brotherhood can wait," Bobby thought, "I think I have just found something even more fun to do." He told Kitty a joke and the smile on her face and the sound of her laugh made him more excited and gave him more adrenaline than any battle ever could.
__________________________________________________________________________________
In a dark lair at unknown location, Mystique and an unidentified figure are having an conversation.
"I'm ready to carry out the plans," Mystique stated, talking to the figure in the shadows.
"Good, good. Did you get the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle, Brotherhood, and the MRD to join?"
"The MRD was a little stubborn, but I was … convincing. They have agreed to send us a few Sentinels for the project."
"Then start the plan right away, and don't mess up," the mysterious figure warned.
"Oh, I won't," Mystique reassured him. "The X-Men will be destroyed."
But yet, Mystique felt something wrong inside. She knows what she is doing isn't exactly remarkable, but she doesn't care. The X-Men have been getting in the way of her one true goal and she needs them out of the way, permanently. There is just one thing, and that one thing, or person, is Wolverine. "Sorry James, but I have to do this," she whispered to herself, but it didn't make herself feel better one bit.
Mystique quickly gathered up the Stepford Cuckoos of the Hellfire Club to attempt to get rid of the X-Men. She hopes that one powerful, simultaneous attack from the Cuckoos can get rid of the X-Men or at least cause enough damage to handicap them from interfering with her plans.
"Get ready, Stepford Cuckoos," said Mystique, somewhat anxious. She didn't know if she can rely on just five telepaths to be able to defeat the X-Men. According to the Hellfire Club, the Cuckoos could release the Phoenix Force from Jean, which should do the job, but Mystique was skeptical. If this doesn't work, her one goal can be destroyed.
"We are," said all five of the Stepford Cuckoos, all at the same time. The eyes of the Stepford Cuckoos turned purple as they launch a telepathic, psychic attack on the X-Men.
The Professor was talking to Wolverine at this time when he felt a sharp pain in his head.
"Charles, are you alright?" Wolverine asked, surprised by Charles's sudden movement, but all Charles could do was clutch his head in a vain effort to stop the pain.
Not a few feet off, Emma was having the same issue and she too clutched her head. She tried to use her telepathy to find the source of the attack but her head was in too much turmoil to pinpoint the source. She focused on a little more but all she could find out was that the attackers were near the mansion.
"Attackers...near...mansion," was all she can mutter out to Storm, who was now approaching Emma to find out what was going on. Emma was quickly subdued later as the psychic attack and fatigue from pinpointing the attackers overwhelmed her.
And not a few feet off from Emma, Jean was having greater issues with Scott next to her. Scott was trying to help her but he didn't know what was going on. Jean was unable to think straight, as she can only feel the pain from the attack. Inside her head, she found herself in a weird room, one that seemed from another dimension. But she could see something glowing near the room, only a few feet from her. She walked closer to it to find that it was a bird, a phoenix to be precise. Jean forced herself to suppress the Phoenix Force as the force was too destructive and powerful for her to control.
She figured that this must be the part of her mind that it was suppressed into and that the recent psychic attack had somehow allowed her to feel like she is there. Suddenly, she started to be dragged towards the Phoenix Force. She tried to fight it but she got closer and closer to the Phoenix, and she did not know what was dragging her closer towards it. Soon, she was just a few feet away. Then it was only 3. Then 1. Then combined into it, and she could feel it's power overwhelm her helpless body.
Then bam! Jean has unleashed the power of the Phoenix Force to stop the attack. The force knocked everybody unconscious, including the X-Men, Cuckoos, and Mystique. But as quickly as it has happened, it stopped, and Jean mysteriously disappeared.
After several minutes, Wolverine was the first one up with his mutant ability that allows him to have enhanced healing. He saw the destruction and also noticed that the Professor, who just one feet away from him a moment ago, has disappeared as well. He looked around and found that the whole X-Men were incapacitated, and he had no idea what just happened.
Mystique, on the other hand, quickly woke up and ran back to the secret lair while carrying all the Cuckoos. She quickly saw the other X-Men knocked out and Wolverine walking around, sniffing and working like a detective. The plan did not work as well as she would have liked, but it seemed to have at least injure the X-Men. But most of all, she was happy Wolverine was alright, even if he will be looking to kill her later.
She quickly reached the lair and told the mysterious figure everything that has happened.
"Minor complications," the figure responded. "It's interesting how Jean and the Professor disappeared. Did Emma disappear?"
"No, she's still there," Mystique replied.
"How strange..." the mysterious figure pondered for a little bit. "You do have a back-up plan right?"
"Of course," Mystique said, smiling sinisterly. She was hoping that her back up plan wouldn't go to waste.
"Very well," as the mysterious figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal himself as Sinister. "The X-Men shall fall."
A week later:
"Anything Beast?" Wolverine asked Beast. His face was full of worry, a rare sight to see. Wolverine just paced around the room while Beast was working, his head was low, and his hands moved around nervously.
"I'm afraid I do not have any information about the Professor's recent disappearance," Beast replied, "But you did mention you picked up Mystique's scent as well as five other unidentified mutants."
"Anything about Magneto?" Wolverine asked. Magneto seemed to be the best suspect.
"I was unable to find any evidence that magnetism was used, and you didn't detect his scent, so the probability that it was Magneto was slim."
"We don't know where Mystique is, so Magneto is the only person we got. I'm not going to stand here while Charles could be in trouble."
"I suppose..." Beast said, "We could pay him a visit tomorrow."
From behind the door, Kitty and Bobby heard everything.
"I can't believe Jean and the Professor disappeared," Kitty stated, her face showing an obvious expression of nervousness.
"And Emma is still unconscious," Bobby continued. "I just hope that everything will be solved soon."
"Me too," Kitty said, hugging Bobby. She felt as if she needed to just feel his embrace with the recent events going on. And it did make her feel better. His warm embrace felt nice against the cold atmosphere with the Professor gone. Bobby was surprised by his friends sudden action but her embrace felt nice too. He couldn't help but hug her back and rest his head on hers. They both felt a sudden connection, something that both of them didn't expect.
In the morning:
"X-Men!" called Wolverine, in his infamous shrill tone. "Hurry and get up! We're going to Magneto's today to get some answers on yesterday's attack."
Storm and Beast got ready quick. Scott was still next to Jean on her hospital bed in the Institute. "Everything will be all right," Scott told Jean. "We'll find a way to get you up. Don't worry, I'll be here for you." With that said, Scott got ready too, hoping that this trip can get some answers in helping Jean.
Bobby got up and ran to the bathroom in nothing but a pair of boxers on. As he ran to the bathroom he bumped into Kitty who was running to her room as she was just using the bathroom a few minutes ago.
Kitty looked up and saw Bobby with only his boxers on. "Oh, um...hey Bobby!" Kitty said nervously.
"Um, hey?" replied Bobby, somewhat confused.
"Um...I need to go!" exclaimed Kitty as she phased through Bobby.
"Girls," thought Bobby as he walked to the bathroom, "And they said boys are confusing."
"Wow," thought Kitty as she phased through the door to her room. "Bobby is gorgeous," thought Kitty as she started to get ready to go to Genosha to visit Magneto.
When they reached Genosha, they couldn't find Magneto right away.
"Guess we have to show ourselves in," Wolverine said as all of the X-Men entered the Magneto's castle.
"This place is too big. Let's separate," commanded Wolverine. "Angel, you go North. Storm go South. Beast go East. Nightcrawler, you go West. Rogue, go Northeast. Iceman, take Southeast. Shadowcat, go Northwest. I'll go Southwest. Go X-Men!"
And with that, the X-Men went their separate ways looking for Magneto. Angel flew everywhere looking for anything but found nothing. Storm had the same misfortune. Beast wounded up in Magneto's science lab and was intrigued by some of his equipment but found no Magneto. Nightcrawler teleported in every small space and crack he could find but still nothing. Rogue didn't find anything either.
As Bobby searched for any sign of Magneto, a crying girl started running down the hall with her face in her hands and tears falling to the ground. She accidentally bumped into Bobby.
"Oh sorry," the girl said. She looked up at Bobby and noticed how beautiful his face was. His eyes were a perfect shade of blue and he had the best smile the girl has ever seen. Looking at his smile even made her smile, even just a little bit.
"It's OK," Bobby said. He noticed the girl crying. He never liked when he sees someone upset and he tries his best to make them feel better. "What's wrong?"
"It's...it's nothing. It doesn't concern you," the girl said, her eyes showing helplessness.
"That's fine. Anything I can do to help?" Bobby replied. He put her head towards her shoulder and cradled it to make her feel better.
"It's just that...my boyfriend just broke up with me and I was trying to find my sister."
"It's OK," cooed Bobby. "Just calm down and relax. He isn't worth it if he broke up with someone as pretty as you."
"Thanks," the girl responded, starting to cry less, "By the way, my name is Polaris."
"My name is Bobby," Bobby replied. "And sorry for intruding on your home, I'm just looking for Magneto."
"Oh, he's in the Southwest corridor," replied Polaris. Normally she would have to attack him and attempt to take him into one of Magneto's prison cells, but she quickly decided to make an exception- just for him. They both stayed silent for a minute and gazed into each other's eyes until they finally kissed.
Kitty phased through the wall, hoping to talk to Bobby, but she noticed them kissing. Kitty, stunned, just stood there. All the memories she had with Bobby just raced through her mind but what she recalled the most was him saying that he will always be there for her. It felt as if he already broke that promise.
She didn't know what to do, she was tempted to go right up and phase Polaris through the Earth. Or better yet, Bobby. How could he do this to her? Sure, they weren't having a romantic relationship but she just felt so angry that he seems to like someone more than her. Another side of her, however, felt as if she shouldn't feel this way. Who is she to be mad at how someone run's their life? It's not like he's cheating on her, they weren't going out. But why does it feel this way? It feels like he is cheating. Kitty felt as if all those nights she spent with Bobby, all those memories were worthless. She felt as if Bobby had changed. Changed for the worse. The old Bobby wouldn't do this to her, right? Unfortunately, she didn't have time to finish her thought as Bobby and Polaris stopped kissing.
"Sorry," Bobby said as he withdrew, blushing.
"It's...it's OK," replied Polaris, also nervous about what had just happened. "I'll just go find my sister. Good luck with whatever you need from my father." Polaris turned towards Kitty direction and started walking.
Kitty, still heartbroken, phased through the ground and walked away from Bobby.
Meanwhile:
"What's your problem, Magneto?" snarled Wolverine, who had finally found Magneto in his metal room. "What did you do to Xavier?"
"My dear Wolverine, I have no idea what you are talking about," replied Magneto, truly not knowing what has happened.
"It's about Charles," Wolverine replied, getting angry. "He disappeared. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
With that said, Wolverine drew his claws and lunged at Magneto, but Magneto dodged.
"My dear Wolverine, I know nothing about this, but you cannot come here and attack me in my own home!"
Magneto retaliated by summoning metal, changing it into spikes and attacking Wolverine. Wolverine, with good reflexes, used his claws to block all the spikes. As Magneto drew up a metal wall, a thunderbolt knocked off his helmet followed by an optic blast to the head as Storm and Cyclops came to help.
"Get away!" exclaimed Magneto. He drew his helmet back to his head and as about Storm was about to summon a whirlwind from her hands, he threw a sheet of metal at her that trapped her. Cyclops shot another optic blast but Magneto blocked it with a metal wall and threw it at Cyclops, who used another optic blast to deflect it.
Wolverine came from behind and attacked Magneto using his claws, but Magneto threw him against the wall using the metal from his own skeleton.
Nightcrawler came up from above and grabbed Magneto's helmet and then teleported away with it.
"Fiend!" yelled Magneto but Beast tackled him to the ground.
Magneto managed to turn the surrounding metal to turn into claws and one of the picked up Beast, who helplessly struggled to break free.
Iceman and Shadowcat entered and Iceman used his powers to freeze Magneto. However, Magneto broke loose and fired some metal walls at Iceman, who formed an ice wall. Magneto kept firing metal walls and eventually overpowered Iceman's ice wall.
"Kitty, help! Phase me!" yelled Iceman, but Kitty just stood there. She was still angry at Bobby for kissing Polaris, and didn't exactly know what to do. She wasn't exactly known as being friendly when she was deeply angered.
The metal walls hit Iceman and he too, was trapped.
Just when Magneto was about to attack Shadowcat, Wolverine came up from behind and put him in a chokehold, with his claws perfectly visible to Magneto.
At this point, Angel and Rogue finally came in when the battle was over.
"Now, bub, tell me what you know about Charles or kiss your head good-bye," said Wolverine in an unforgiving tone.
"I honestly know nothing! Wolverine!" exclaimed Magneto, actually somewhat scared.
"I think he's telling the truth," said Storm, as she freed herself from the metal wall she was trapped in. "We looked everywhere, and still no sign of the Professor."
"And what possible motive could I have for capturing him?" said Magneto, following Storm's lead. "If I consider the X-Men that much of an enemy, I would have attempted to attack you all at once, not just kidnap Charles. He was an old friend in case you have forgotten."
"I don't trust you Magneto," Wolverine stated, "I'll let you go but if you try anything funny with the Professor or us...well, let's just say you better not."
Wolverine let Magneto go as the rest of the X-Men recovered from the recent battle.
"Wolverine," said Magneto, "If some third party had attacked Charles, I'll be happy to lend a helping hand."
"Thanks," Wolverine said, skeptical as to whether or not Magneto actually wants to help. "But no thanks. We'll be on our way now."
The X-Men returned back to the X-Jet.
"Hey, is there anything wrong?" Bobby asked Kitty. "You seem out of it in that battle."
Kitty, still upset with Bobby, bluntly and without expression replied, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You seem upset," Bobby asked, his face expressed sincere concern. Kitty was a little surprised to see it, but her anger still overtook her.
"I'm sure. It's not like I'm stupid. I can take care of myself," Kitty said, in an upset tone. She brushed past Bobby and walked on the X-Jet. Bobby could easily tell that Kitty was upset, but he didn't want to anger her more. After all, she did seem upset at him, but he didn't know why. He isn't happy if Kitty is this upset, but he hoped that everything will turn out fine.
Back in the Institute:
"Hey, Storm!" called out Forge. "You have important mail!"
"Oh?" replied Storm in wonder. "Who is it from?"
"It's um...Oh, it's your nephew, Evan!"
"Hmm, I haven't heard from him in a long time," Storm said in wonder as she opened up the letter.
Dear Auntie O,
I haven't seen you in such a long time! Sorry I haven't stayed in contact much but I've been having some problems lately. My family has been arguing a lot lately and their having major issues. It's like so hard to concentrate on my own problems with the loud, annoying noise in the background. I hope talking to you can sort things out. I hope we can meet at the toy shop on 83rd street at 11 at night. Sorry it has to be so late, but my parents will never approve a visit so I have to sneak out.
Love,
Evan
"How strange," thought Storm, "Evan isn't usually the one that can't handle problems on his own. I guess this must be serious."
At 11:
"Evan!" cried out Storm. "Where are you?!"
"Evan's not here right now," replied Quicksilver.
"Quicksilver!" Storm exclaimed. "Get away!"
"Or what?" Dominoe teased. "You're outnumbered and out of luck." Avalanche and Blob were in the background. Toad was too scared to be anywhere closer than half a mile away.
Storm quickly used her powers to create a fog. None of the Brotherhood Mutants could see each other. She started to fly out but Quicksilver caught up.
"Not so fast," Quicksilver said. "You can't go faster than me." Quicksilver then let a quick punch to Storm, knocked her to the ground.
"Get away!" yelled Storm as she tried to shoot lightning bolts at him but Quicksilver was too fast to get hit.
Quicksilver ran over to her but Storm created a cyclone surrounding her. Quicksilver couldn't get near and the shots from Dominoe can never be lucky enough to go through winds of 700mph.
"Leave this to me," Avalanche said as he created crumbled a building down and creating a rock slide coming towards Storm.
Storm flew higher into the sky extending her cyclone upwards and to dodge the rock slide and started to cast massive hail on the Brotherhood. However, Blob used his body to block all the hail from harming his teammates. Seeing this, Storm summoned powerful winds from her hands and aimed them at Blob. Blob managed to stay in place for a few seconds because of his weight, but eventually he started to get flown back along with the other Brotherhood Mutants. Storm summoned one last lightning bolt to assure that they stay down.
Storm flew back down as she saw the Brotherhood all incapacitated. The battle was quick, Storm was obviously too powerful for the Brotherhood to handle. But she wondered what was happening, she thought it might be a trap but she just defeated the Brotherhood. Could it be that this could be part of a bigger plot, bigger than the Brotherhood?
"What was the point of that?" thought Storm before she suddenly fell to the ground.
The Stepford Cuckoos emerged from the shadows along with Mystique. The Cuckoos had used their psychic powers to knock out Storm.
"Very good." Mystique said as she transformed into Storm.
Author's Note:
As you can see, the first chapter has been rewritten. The plot is still exactly the same but some major changes have been made to make the plot seem less choppier. Please read and review this chapter!