A/N: All right, more X-Men goodness. This time around, we get a little more insight as to what's going on with John and the Organization. I need to mention right now that the italicized stuff at the beginning of this chapter is a dream that John is having. I was going to originally italicize the memory sequence in the first story, but in the end I decided against that, for many reasons.
Disclaimer: I don't own it.
Chapter 2 – Dreams and Plans
Smoke filled the night sky, as several helicopters flew overhead. "Yes, sir. We are entering the city now." As one of the pilots spoke into his radio, the helicopters flew past the Statue of Liberty, which was engulfed in flames. Beyond that, the entire city of New York was burning. Flames shot out of various buildings, many of which were crumbling into dust and ash.
"We have the target spotted. He's in Times Square."
"Roger that." As the orders were confirmed, the helicopters headed into the city, searching for their target. As the helo's entered the city, the destruction became more obvious. Bodies littered the roads, burned beyond recognition. "My God." It was all anyone could say about the sight. After a few minutes, the flames and smoke became more intense, and it became much harder to see. As the helicopters descended into the city, it became harder for them to maneuver in the concrete canyons. The choppers ended up having to split apart to make their way safely to their destination.
As the group of helicopters approached Times Square, the fire picked up. It wasn't long before shouts and screams were heard through the radio, and explosions were heard outside the chopper. "Dammit, we're under attack!"
"By what?"
"I don't know. I can't see ANYTHING for the flames... AAAAAAAAAAAH!" Another explosion silenced the radio once more. By now, the area surrounding the helicopter was clearing away as it entered the large Times Square area. By now the smoke was so thick they couldn't hardly see out their windows. After a few seconds of worry, however, their vision cleared. Unfortunately for them, it was just in time for them to see a large ball of flame flying straight for them. The pilot didn't even have a chance to react before the entire thing was engulfed in flame, sending it careening down and crashing in a heap in the middle of the street.
Standing near where the helicopter had crashed was John Kerogi. As the fire swirled around him, he stood there, his head down and his eyes closed. In his right hand was a blood stained sword, and his left, a ball of fire was slowly dissipating. John looked slightly different from his normal appearance. His hair was standing almost straight up and colored a red/orange. His skin was almost a ghostly white color, and underneath his long jacket was what appeared to be some sort of body armor, rather than street clothes.
The fires surrounding John began to fall away, revealing around him several burned and destroyed bodies. One of the bodies was laying next to a burned wheelchair. As the fires continued to burn, John raised his head and opened his eyes, revealing a strong glow coming from within them.
John sat up in his bed, his body covered in a cold sweat, and his breathing fairly heavy. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and ran a hand through his hair. He realized quickly that he probably wasn't going to get back to sleep, so he decided instead to get dressed. He fumbled around slightly in the dark, as his mind wasn't quite awake yet, but after a few minutes, he was dressed. John grabbed his sunglasses off the dresser and left his room.
The nightmare John had experienced had left him with an upset stomach, so he made his was down the hall into the bathroom. After spending a few minutes in there calming himself down, he exited and decided to head downstairs. Before he got too far, however, the elevator bell dinged and Professor Xavier rolled out. John nodded at him and approached. "What's wrong?"
The professor's face looked like he'd been awoken roughly, and when he looked at John, he had to answer the question. "Your nightmare. You were broadcasting it."
"I... what?" John's mind was racing now. All of a sudden a realization had come to him, and he didn't like it one bit. "I've had dreams like that occasionally for the past three years or so, though none since I arrived here until tonight. I always thought it was recurring nightmares as well, but now I'm not so sure."
"What do you think they are?"
"I don't know. Visions of the future maybe, one someone else wants." John looked at his hands, as if they held all the answers he needed. "I always thought that someone else was financing the Organization. I never had any proof, but even with all the missions and things we've done, there's no way they could afford everything on what is known."
"So you think someone else is controlling the General?"
"It's always been a possibility. And given what I saw earlier tonight..." He paused and looked at the Professor. "Earlier tonight I sensed something disturbing. There's a mutant here in Bayville. One I've never sensed before. I barely got a read on him before his mental defenses kicked in and I lost him."
"And you think that this mutant is connected to your past." It was a question that the Professor was asking, but it sounded like a statement.
"It's possible, though I don't know yet how." John paused for a second. "It's mid-morning in central Europe, right?"
"Should be, yes. Why?"
"I need your help."
"Of course, John. But with what?"
"Cerebro." Charles looked at John somewhat shocked. Of course John knew what Cerebro was, but nobody other than the Professor had ever asked or attempted to use it. Sensing the Professor's anxiety, John waved his hand. "I want you to use it, but I can guide you to the destination."
"What are you going to do?" It was a valid question, since John's enemies were all in Europe.
"I need to make a phone call that can't be traced." John pointed to his head as he spoke. "I just need you to open the connection. I can handle everything else."
Xavier sighed. He knew that John was aware of what he was asking, but he wasn't sure if John could pull it off. That said, his curiosity got the better of him and he agreed. "All right. Let's see if we can do it." And with that, the two headed for the third basement.
As the two walked down this metallic hallway, the professor had to speak his mind. "You are a powerful telepath, why do you need my help?"
"Two reasons. First, I don't think it'd be right to ask to use Cerebro by myself. Second, what I have planned neither one of us could pull off alone."
"You're going to be speaking to an enemy of yours." It was a logical conclusion, and one that was true.
"I'm going to speak to someone within the Organization, yes. But I hope it's not an enemy. He wasn't last time I spoke to him, at least." The professor then realized what he was going to do.
"That is a risky move, you know."
"It's worth the risk." The reply was immediate. John was well aware of what Charles' response would be. "Besides, if I'm right, it's not going to make much difference anyway."
By now, they'd reached the room Cerebro was housed in. The scanner picked up Xavier's retina and scanned it, allowing them access to the room. John decided he needed to lay out his plan in full detail. "I plan on taking my friends from the Organization, those that I can find easily enough anyway, and bringing them into my mind. However, in order to do so, I have to open it up, and I won't be able to keep others out."
"That's why you want me to be with you, to act as your gatekeeper."
"Yes, that and I'll be dead to the outside world while I do this. I'll need you to tell me if or when someone is coming for my friends." The professor started to speak but John held up a hand. "I agree that if it's possible, it'd be better for you to remain anonymous for now, but depending on the situation, it may not be possible." Charles nodded his confirmation and placed Cerebro's helmet on his head. John, for his part, stood back and waited as the machine activated.
Suddenly the room around John and Charles disappeared, replaced with several thousand small white dots floating around, along with echoes of people's voices. After a few seconds, many of the dots moved around and disappeared, as Charles had focused in on a specific area. "The town you're looking for is Deuchendorf. It's in the northeast part of Germany, near the mountains." More movement followed John's statement, and the white balls spread out a bit more, becoming less in number as well as the Professor focused in on the area John had indicated.
After a few more seconds, the professor sighed. "There's nothing here. I can't find any mutants in this town, or anywhere in the vicinity."
"I was afraid of that. The Organization has the ability to cloak its base when it's not broadcasting. It can, in effect, hide from psychics like you or me." John looked around at the current situation. "Can you change the view?"
"To what?"
"A physical representation of the town. I can get us to the base, but I'm not sure what I'm looking at right now." After almost a minute, the area around them changed into the center of a small town. The town was blurred, an effect of being a mental projection rather than the real thing. John pointed out a direction, and the professor led them that way, almost as if they were floating. In fact, as they past people, John realized that it was almost as if they were ghosts. They could see people in almost real time, going about their morning routines, but they couldn't interact with them, at least not physically.
"There's a path to the east, it'll lead into the mountains. Follow it to it's end." They did so, and eventually came to a dead end. At this dead end, the area in front of them was even more blurred than the rest.
"What is this place?"
"Like I said, they are able to shield themselves from psychic intrusions. Thankfully, I know how to get beyond the barrier. John held out his hands and the distortion in front of them began to move and shift. It took over a minute, but eventually, the distortion shifted into a doorway. "All right, we're in."
They entered the base, and now Charles could sense all of the mutants and humans who were inside. "My God, all of these people are hunting us?"
John sighed, his expression one of sadness and regret. "Yes, although most of them aren't aware of it." He looked around, then back to the professor. "Third floor dorms." With that Charles led them up the steps, through the various soldiers and collared mutants walking around. " As you saw in my memories, the collars control mutants by limiting their ability to use their powers. They can cut off your ability at any time using those collars. You can still see they are mutants, obviously, but right now most of them are completely powerless."
They made their way the rest of the way up to the third floor uneventfully. They paused at the start of the long hallway leading to the dorms. John was silent for a minute, before speaking up. "Good, they're all still here. Halfway down, room 318." Charles led them down this hallway, and paused before the door. John stood there for a minute, before talking to the professor once again. "All right, my turn now. I need the two in this room and the one across the hall in 319." With that, John closed his eyes, and the area around them dissolved.
When the blurred scenery became more solid once again, John was standing in the middle of a black abyss-like room. In front of him were two men, behind him was a single female. "Vat happened? Where are we?" The bald, scarred man was the first to react to his new settings.
"I would have thought you'd recognize this place easily by now, Friedrick." John's voice immediately got the attention of all three of the others in the area.
"John? It's really you?" Natalia walked up to him and hugged him, nearly knocking him over in her excitement. "Da, I'm not dreaming!"
"No, you're not. It's good to see you again. All of you." Natalia finally released John, and he stepped away in thought. "I am sorry that I haven't been able to get in contact with you before now, and I'm also sorry that you are still here. I wanted you three to know that I do intend to keep my promise to set all of you free."
"Of course, we don't doubt that, John." Karl spoke up, finally over his shock at seeing his longtime friend. "But, you aren't here just to remind us of that promise, are you?"
"He's right, John. Its far too dangerous to contact us this way, even for you." Friedrick trailed off as he finished his statement. "Someone else is here, someone hidden."
"Yes, there is. The equipment I'm using to contact you is owned by someone else. It is that person who is hidden. He is controlling the connection, though for now he wishes to remain anonymous." John then turned his attention to Karl. "As for why I'm here, you're right, I do have other reasons. I need your help."
"What can we do? We're slaves to General Raines." Natalia spoke up.
"Yes, you are, that's why you can help. I need all the information you can get on him, the Knights, and the Organization. I specifically want financial records, though the records of his experiments and missions would definitely be an asset."
"You intend to go public?" Karl was curious now.
"Only as far as getting him convicted of crimes against humanity. If it's at all possible, we'll leave the existence of mutants out of it."
"So why financial?" Natalia was aware she'd be the one searching for this data, though she wondered why it was important.
"Even with the secret contracted killings and the not so secret support of the UN, there is a lot more money being spent within these walls than is available."
"He's getting funding from an unknown source." Unsurprising to John, Friedrick was putting it together first.
"Yes, and I think it may go all the way back to when I was kidnapped." John paused and sighed before elaborating on his point. "I always assumed that my kidnapping was random, that I was just unlucky in that regard. Unfortunately, the events of the last week or so, specifically the last day, have forced me to reconsider this idea."
"You think someone has a destiny in mind for you? Why?" Natalia was a little scared at his statement.
"Earlier this evening, I sensed a mutant that I didn't recognize. I only got a brief sense of him, not enough to identify him but enough to know that he's powerful. He has mental barriers that are good enough to keep him completely invisible to me, and to the man who's helping me." He paused again, debating on whether to mention the other reason. "There's also the images I've been seeing sometimes when I'm asleep. Images of entire cities burning, massive amounts of bodies. And every one of them has me right in the middle of it."
All three of his companions gasped at his revelation. "So you think that someone wants you to destroy the world? What would that accomplish?" Karl was the least concerned and confused. He'd known John longer than anyone else in their group, and he knew what John was capable of.
"I have no idea. It would help if I could identify the person who's responsible." John shrugged his shoulders. "I'm almost out of time. Please find out what you can about the General, and about me. I get the feeling something big is about to happen. If that is the case, we'll probably be meeting in person again sooner rather than later."
"We'll do what we can, John. Be safe." Natalia hugged her friend once again. After that the three men shook hands.
"I will, Nattie, don't worry about me. Take care of her, you two. Good bye." And with that, the room dissolved again, this time, when John's vision cleared, he was back in Cerebro's room with Charles.
"You still intend to take on the Organization?"
"Sooner or later, I won't have a choice. And if things keep going the way they appear to be, it's probably going to be sooner."
The two men left the room as they spoke to each other. "John, you know that we can't help you if you go after them."
"I don't intend to go after them, Professor." John seemed to be staring at a spot on the far end of the hallway. "If General Raines is tied to the mutant I sensed earlier, then he already knows where I am. It is only a matter of time before he sends someone here after me."
"He wouldn't be that reckless. You know that better than anyone."
"He won't come himself, no. But he will send his... slaves in to take care of things for him." John paused for a second after this statement. Charles realized that he was thinking about something.
"What is it?"
"I sensed something when we were first focusing in on the base. Someone very powerful is in Germany. He had someone with him, another mutant. That other mutant, the younger one, something was familiar about him, but I can't place what."
"I'm sorry, John, but I don't know what to tell you about that." The professor yawned, politely covering his mouth. "I'm afraid that I need to get some more sleep. If you don't that's fine, but please try not to wake up the rest of the mansion."
"I won't, sir. Rest well." The professor had entered the elevator and was unable to respond to John's comment before the doors closed. Charles was right, however. John wasn't going to be going back to sleep. He had too many things on his mind now to get any rest. He smirked slightly, as he'd found an isolated place on the grounds that would be perfect for thinking and he made is way there.
A/N: Another one down. I would like to mention that I called this story "Brotherhood" for a reason. They will appear next chapter, once school starts up again. I decided that since John is my main character, most of the other characters will be introduced to my stories through him. This is why they haven't yet appeared.
As always, I do appreciate reviews and comments.