Chapter 1: A Rare Occurrence
It was a rare occurrence; a fierce electrical storm with high winds that could almost knock one over if they weren't paying attention. It was a miserable night, to a soul in their right mind was out in it; there was only a crazed, fanatical mutant maniac whose powers feed off the electricity like a dying plant did water. Once he had his fill, he did not just go home, no, he went about destroying everything in sight and laughing hysterically like the mad man he was. So of course, this behavior could not be condoned and this lunatic had to be stopped before innocent people were hurt. No, there weren't any people out in that storm, especially at two am in a sleepy suburb in New Jersey, but this electricity eating fool had to go out in search of them. The police were no match for him, of course; a few local officers were called to his last known location and proceeded to use their tasers on him; three guesses what the end result was. Yes, it only added to his growing store of power; rapidly growing, in fact, for even the air was becoming electrically charged. Someone needed to stop him.
"O' course it has t' be us," a sleepy-eyed Gambit grumbled as he slumped in his seat aboard the Blackbird. "Da east coast be crawlin' wit' superheroes, but it gotta be us. I'd like ta see dat emprisonne-ramper (wall-crawling) Spidy up at 2am chasin' down some personne déséquilibrée. (Lunatic) Mais we all know he be tucked in a web somewhere, visions of horseflies dancin' in his head."
"Can it, Gumbo," Wolverine growled from his own seat. "Ya think the rest of us are happy with havin' ta get up at this hour? Let's just take this sucker down as soon as possible, and then you can get back to yer beauty sleep."
Gambit was about to throw in another comment but he caught the very green eyes of his southern darling and saw her subtle headshake, silently asking him not to escalate things with a cranky Wolverine. Sending her a charming smile, the Cajun X-Man acquiesced and proceeded to silently flirt with her until the X-Men's jet touched down.
"Alright, people," Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, field leader of the X-Men stood up from his seat in the cockpit once they had landed and addressed his team. "You've already been briefed on this mutant and we know our objective; to take him down without injury to any innocent bystanders."
"Or ourselves neither, hein?" Gambit quipped.
"Yes, Remy," Scott said patiently. "Look after yourselves and each other out there. We need to subdue this mutant quickly but try not to be too forceful; if he sees us as a threat, he may get hostile."
"Because he ain't hostile now," Wolverine muttered, crossing his arms across his chest and picking up a silent game of verbal tag with Gambit aimed at annoying their leader. "Those ain't bolts of electricity he throwin', Cajun, they're rainbows and gumdrops."
"He just tryin' t' spread a lil' love around," Gambit nodded, delighted to see his Rogue stifle a smirk.
"Alright you two," the telepathic voice of Jean Grey echoed in their minds as she stood beside her field leader and husband. "This is serious now; we can all joke about it later when this is all finished."
"Y'all can joke about it when it's finished," Rogue stood from her seat. "Ah'll be catchin' up on mah beauty sleep."
"Chere," Gambit was beside her in a flash. "It be impossible f'r you t' get anymore belle den y' are now."
"Can we all focus now?" Cyclops said. "There is a dangerous mutant out there rampaging through the streets that requires our attention."
"Of course, fearless leader," the Hank McCoy aka the Beast, came bounding out of the cockpit in all his blue, furry glory and stood beside Jean. "I think our dear Gambit was merely attempting to reassure our resident southern belle that not much about her appearance that needs improving. Beauty such as hers needs no improvement."
"You tryin' t' horn in on my girl?" Gambit asked the Beast with mock irritation.
"Battlin' a mutant maniac at 2am in a small New Jersey neighborhood durin' a storm like this?" Rogue looked over at Gambit. "Ya sure know how t' show a girl a good time, swamp rat."
"We do have fun dates, don't we, chere?"
"Ahem!"
"Don't get yer panties in a twist, Cyke," Wolverine grunted as he headed toward the hatch. "We're goin'."
XXX
He wasn't one of the strongest mutants they had ever fought, he was slow, sloppy and made a few rash moves but the electrical storm was feeding his powers and as soon as they thought they had worn him down, the electrical currents coursing through the air recharged him. They were just grateful that it had not begun to rain; if it did there would be a high chance of electrocution. Soon, their concern grew as black clouds, heavy with rain began to move in and the X-Men regrouped a few yards away from the mutant, to try and figure out a way to subdue him quickly.
"Jean," Scott looked over at his wife, a bit winded. "Can you just shut his mind down long enough to get him into the jet?"
"No," Jean shook her head. "There's something about his powers that blocks me from entering his mind. And I'm sure this storm has something to do with it as well."
"Ah can knock 'im out, Cyclops," Rogue spoke up. "Just distract him long enough for me ta sneak up on him. Ah'll just take a little bit, just enough ta take 'im down."
Cyclops thought for less than a minute before shaking his head: "No, Rogue, I don't think that's such a good idea. We don't know what you'll find in there. That guy's unbalanced and I don't want to take the risk that you won't be able to handle what's in his head. If you can't, we'll have a whole new situation on our hands."
"Ah can take it, don't worry about me," Rogue insisted, a bit irritated.
"No, we'll do it the old-fashioned way. I'm not going to risk anyone."
They formed a quick plan of attack but Rogue was still angry, they didn't trust her to be able to control it, they didn't think she could. Not one of them had backed her up. Now they were going to do this the hard way when all she had to do was tap the man. She was still angry, but she went along. Gambit was relieved; he hated seeing her use her the powers she hated, he hated seeing what happened to her afterward, the condition it left her in and he was afraid that one day, they, or rather he, would lose her completely should the transfer ever be permanent. It could destroy her mind of change her completely and he loved her too much to lose her. He knew she was sulking, he recognized that petulant pout on her face but he was relieved all the same. Perhaps, he thought, he could be the shoulder she cried on later. Any excuse to be near her would do. What has love done t' you, LeBeau? He shook his head and kept one eye on his stubborn darling.
It all went according to plan, at first, and then everything went horribly wrong. They hadn't thought he could get anymore erratic, they were wrong. He began using the electrical currents in the air to attack them, keeping them from getting close enough to him and dispelling as energy that Cyclops, Gambit or Jean threw at him. Severely winded, they once more regrouped.
"Where's Rogue?" Gambit looked about when he noticed that Rogue had not returned to their huddle.
"Scott!" Jean said, after scanning for her. "She's right behind him!"
Unable to call to her lest they draw the enemy's attention to her, they could only watch as their teammate came up behind the man and grabbed his bare arm with a gloveless hand. She began to drain his energy, yes, but with the storm replenishing him, it was a futile attempt. After a moment she broke away but now she had ammunition with which to fight him. She contacted Jean as she slammed him with his own power, telling her to go for him while he was occupied. The mutant didn't see the X-Men sneak up behind him. He was too busy fighting this girl who had the audacity to try and steal his energy. They blasted each other but it really had no effect and the storm was now feeding Rogue as well. The others were close and with one great blast Rogue hurled as much energy as she could at him. Unfortunately, he did the same. The two opposing blasts met with explosive results, a blinding flash sent all parties hurling backward and after that great flash of light, there was only darkness.
(A/N: To my loyal readers, I am not abandoning my other stories, I promise. I just get so many ideas, I feel compelled to write them down. So, let me know what you think of this one. Loved it, hated it? Just hit the review button)