A day had passed, as the lot of them sat in the lounge, bored out of their minds. They hadn't tried anything like yesterday's stuns, even though the three older people we're gone on some mission. Marceline turned to Lisel, only to see the same look of boredom.
"Ughh, let's do something instead of just sitting here." Lisel moaned, stretching her arms out on the black couch. Raven twisted her face, digging into her pocket and pulling out a deck of cards.
"Well, we can play a card game?" She sent a smile to all of them, watching as Alex stood up and began to walk towards the pinball machine. Moments later, Darwin followed, giving a shrug to the blonde headed girl.
Sean bit his lower lip, turning to look at Marceline (which he made a point to do every 10 seconds), "I'm game…if we make bets." A sly smirk came to his face, causing the females of the group to roll their eyes.
"Like what, Cassidy?" Marceline asked, raising an eyebrow only to get a smile in return.
"Why only the fairest of bets ever." He looked around at the others wildly, and then finally spoke in a whisper, "A kiss."
"Nope." Lisel shook her head, "I'm not kissing your freckle face."
Sean rolled his eyes, "Finnne, you think of something then."
Marceline bit her lower lip, digging into her bag and pulling out a box of Oreos from yesterday,
"Hey! They said there was no more left!" The ginger to her left busted out, a pout on his face.
"Yeah, well, apparently there is." A sinister laugh came from the young girls vocal cords, causing Lisel to turn slowly to her.
"You didn't…"
"I have a problem, Lil. A very serious problem."
The dark haired girl sighed once, "Whatever, just deal the cards so we can get this over with."
"I still like my idea better."
"No, Sean." Raven and Hank said in unison, causing the both of them to blush madly.
As Marceline began to deal out their first game, a group of agents came to the newly fixed window.
"Whoa, I didn't know the circus was in town." One of them started, turning to angel, "Hey, come on, honey, give us a little uh action," He said, making what seemed to be wings with his stubby arms. When he didn't get a response he turned to Hank, "No, come on, let's see the foot,"
Hank pressed his lips together, stood up, and pressed the curtain button.
Marceline watched as the two rude men disappeared behind the thick yellow curtain, still uttering obscenities.
"There just guys, being stupid," Raven sighed, turning to Angel.
"Guys being stupid I can handle, I've handled them my whole life. But I'd much rather have a bunch of guys staring at me with my clothes off, then the way these stare at me."
Raven tried to give her a small smile, but ended up completely averting her gaze, "At us."
Angel quickly turned her head, back, a hurtful look on her face.
Sean molded his lips together, staring around at the group. His eyes finally stopped on Marceline, who was too busy messing with a few stray bolts of electricity to notice him.
"Careful sweetheart wouldn't want to blow anything up." As he said this, a loud thump came from the window, causing them all to turn.
"Wasn't me," The red head turned, letting the sparks go and standing up.
"What was that?" Darwin asked, looking around. Thump. Thump. "I dunno, but something doesn't feel right." He stated, walk towards the window, Alex soon behind him. The thin man pressed the button once more as the rest of the group got to their feet. There appeared to be nothing, but Lisel's defensive state was not deterred. She sniffed the air a couple times, smelling what seemed to be the promising scent of another mutant.
Sean narrowed his eyes, trying to make out anything, suddenly becoming aware of the presence of a hand clenched onto the sleeve of the shoulder. He turned to see Marceline, the fabric of his shirt tightly wrapped into her hand.
Looking up at the night sky, the group sees what seemed to be two men floating in front of the moon.
"What is that?" Darwin asked a worried look on his face.
A scream pierces through the air as an agent lands in front of them. The lot of them jumps back, causing Marceline to trip in the couch. Sean pressed his lips together, not taking his eyes off from his surroundings as he holds out his hand for her to take. Pushing it off, she sets herself up, peering over at the man's body as more of them start to fall. Lisel quickly grabs the curious ginger, pulling her back to the comfort and safety of her arms. As they keep falling, the group retreats to the far corner, a couple of agents with guns appear.
"Get back! Get back, do not leave that room!" As he speaks, the other fires the gun at what seems to be the cause of all the deaths. A fury of red smoke pops in and out quickly, only letting them catch the eye of the mutant for a second before he disappears again, only to appear once more and cut the throat of another agent. He gets to the agent with the gun, making quick work of him, and causing the bullets to shatter the new glass in the window. Most of them duck behind the turned couch, hands over their head. Darwin takes charge, and holds out his hands protectively as a whirlwind of air and water rips through Cerebro, completely destroying it. Hank's turns away, not wanting to watch one of his prized inventions get torn to bits.
"Stay here my ass!" Darwin shouted, watching as the remaining agents are slashed one by one by the mutant. "Let's go!" He motions for them to follow, heading towards the door.
They managed to make it to the hallway, before shouting agents cut them off. Suddenly they feel the heat of an explosion hitting their face. Turning around, they all run back to the lounge only to find the same killing and destruction.
Marceline, finally having enough, looks around her for a piece of metal. If something wasn't done soon, they would all be dead by the hands of these mutants. She could fight, or at least injure them enough before dying herself. She felt a trembling hand grab hers, locking their fingers with hers. She turned to its owner, seeing Sean with a fearful look in his eyes as he pulled her back behind him. As the last of the agents die, the two mutants step into the room, a look of kill in their eyes.
A couple shots could be heard from outside the door as an agent spoke, "Alright! You want the mutants? They're right through that door, just let us normal people go! We're no thre-" And then he was cut off by a crack of a spine.
The group huddle together, as a tall statured man walks in, on his head is a helmet made of pure metal. Marceline's grip on Sean's hand tightens as he come closer to them.
"Where's the telepath?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not here," A thick Russian accent escaped from the red mutants lips.
"Too bad. Well at least I can take this silly thing off," He scoffs, removing the hood to reveal a think hairline, and even thinner brown hair. "Good evening. My name's Sebastian Shaw and I am not here to hurt you."
"Freeze!" A lone agent shouted, point a gun at Shaw.
"Azazael," He called to the red mutant, before watching him disappear, cut the man's throat, and then reappear in the same spot. He turned back to the group, "My friends, there's a revolution coming. When mankind discovers who we are, what we can do, each of us will face a choice. Be enslaved," He shot a look to Darwin, "Or rise up to rule. Choose freely, but know that if you are not with us, then by definition, you are against us. So, you can stay, fight for the people who hate and fear you, or you can join me and live like kings…and queens."
Angel's eye's closed, a small sigh escaping her lips. She reopened them to a hand stretched in front of them. Her mind raced as the pros and cons ran through her head. Sure, she'd be put against her new friends, but to actually be feared and hated was something she wasn't going for. Nevertheless, she took the hand, placing her own in it as he led her out.
"Angel…" Raven started a hurt look in her eyes.
"Are you kidding me?" Sean asked a disgusted look on his face.
"Come on. We don't belong here." Angel stated, turning to look at them, "And that's nothing to be ashamed of."
Marceline shook her head once, not knowing what to say. Lisel pressed her lips together, shortly following Angel. The ginger's face literally dropped as she watched her best friend leave her side to take another.
"Lil." Was all she said, tears welding in her eyes.
"Come on, Marcie. We've got to go,"
Marceline turned to the rest of them, going from hurtful faces, to disbelief. She turned to Lisel, stepping out in front of Sean. "No."
The dark headed girl laughed lightly," Marcie, don't be stupid, you know as well as I do you're hopeless without me, now come on."
"I said no."
"Marceline Jane, if you don't get your ass-"
"Go suck it Lisel. I don't need you to survive; I have friends that will actually acknowledge my opinion."
Never in her life had Lisel seen Marceline lash out like that, she took a few steps back, then pressed her lips together, "Fine."
The three walked to where the other two mutants were, carefully stepping around the glass.
"We have to do something," Raven spoke quietly, pursing her lips together.
Darwin's face hardened as he turned to Alex, pushing his shoulder. "Stop, I'm coming with you," He stated before leaving the group and following after, sending Alex another look.
Shaw looked him over, "Good choice. So tell me about your mutation."
"Well I adapt to survive. So I guess I'm coming with you."
Alex made his way in front of the remaining four, watching as Darwin joined the ranks alongside Lisel.
"Alex!" Darwin yelled.
"Get out!" Alex followed, feeling the people behind him shift behind the wall. He began to spin his body, the same rings of energy flowing around him. As he shoots them towards Shaw, a smug smirk is placed on his face, but soon is wiped off as Shaw consumes the band.
"Protecting your fellow mutants? That's a noble gesture. Feels good." Shaw said bluntly, turning to block Darwin's punch. He quickly grabbed the man by the cheeks, "Adapt to this," He whispers, placing the energy into Darwin's mouth. They all stood in horror as Darwin's body began to try and adapt to the power. With a blink of an eye, they were all gone. Nevertheless, it finally gave in, and he was reduced to nothing but ash. Alex's eyes widened, watching his new friend die before his very own eyes.
A look of horror was on everyone's faces, not really knowing what to do next. Marceline was the first to move, as she walked over to the ashes that once held Darwin. Pressing her lips together, she turned to her fellow mutants. "We need to stop them."
Not a word had been spoken between any of them as daylight broke, showing the rubble of the compound. As they sat motionless against the cold concrete of the bench outside, their minds wondered. Had she really been that dependent on Lisel, to make her think she'd be hopeless without her? Marceline huffed, turning to the red headed boy to her left, noticing a grim look on her usually grinning face.
"Hey," He simply muttered, turning to look at her through the thick lens of sunglasses, "It'll be alright. I promise," He sighed as she didn't say anything, "Look, Marceline. You don't need someone to tell you what to do, or to make you do things. That's what moms are for." He gave her a soft smiled, "And trust me, if you're anything like me, you don't want your mom here."
This made the ginger laughed wholeheartedly, a small smile appearing on her face. "You're right, Sean. You know, she may have been all that I had left, but she kept pushing me down. Telling me what I did was wrong." As she thought about it, she was glad Lisel was gone. Now she could be free, and choose to be Marceline, not the 'Marcie' the other girl wanted her to be. Sure, a small part yearned for her best friend back, but majority of it felt free.
"You wanna know something?" He peered in closer, taking advantage of this moment, "You still owe me a box or Oreos. Or, we can always exchange it for something else. Say…uh, a kiss." He was now smirking, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
Marceline's smiled faded into a frown, punching the boy in his shoulder. She shook her head, watching as blue car rushed in front of them. Moments later, Charles and Erik had stepped out, worry and panic on their faces.
"Raven!" Charles called as the blonde stood up, giving her old friend a hug. "We've made arrangements for you to be taken home immediately."
"I'm not going home," Sean simply stated
"What?"
"He's not going back to prison," He nudged to Alex, "And she has no home," He pointed at Marceline (Who had made a point to distance herself from him).
"He killed Darwin," Alex added, a sting of pain hitting him.
"All the more reason for you to leave. This is over," Charles continued, a firm look on his face. How could he sit there, and say it's over when he knew as well as the others this was just the beginning.
"Darwin's dead," Raven managed to get out, facing Charles. "And we can't even bury him."
The five of them all turned away, feeling the pain of death seeping through them.
"We can avenge him," Erik stated, hands on his hips. Marceline looked up at the man, a look of curiosity on her face. The rest had done the same, before Charles walked over to him, pulling him off to the side. It was true; avenging him would bring great satisfaction. Moments later, Charles turned back the group.
"We'll have to train. All of us. Yes?"
They all nodded, a sense of hope rushing through their bodies.
"Well we can't stay here," Hank announced, "Even if they reopened the department it still isn't safe." He looked down, the hope sinking from his face, "We've got nowhere to go."
Charles bit his lower lip, contemplating something, "Yes we do."