A/N: For those who might get confused, "Bozo" and "Bozo the blue furball" refer to Hank. They are some of Wolverine's nicknames I devised myself.
Chapter 4: Bad News
(Wolverine)
Wolverine was so stressed out and cranky waiting in the recreation room with half of its occupants under Magneto's spell. His friends were dying below the floor under his feet and he couldn't do anything to help them. His nerves were shot and he was tired and he really needed a cigar ASAP. Bozo the blue furball was standing in the doorway, his mane matted with sweat and blood. The stench alone was enough to make Wolverine go nuts with cigar cravings. Bozo finally cleared his throat, breaking the dead silence of the room.
"I understand that you're all anxious to see your friends, but please let me get through my report about their conditions. I'll try to answer any questions you may have. Now, uh, Wolverine. You were with them. Did they present any warning signs prior to their arrival here?" Hank asked.
"No. They all just…collapsed. Some were having some type of seizure, and some were bleeding, but they all seemed to be fine while we were fighting beforehand." he said.
"Alright. Whatever is wrong with them, it doesn't seem to have any kind of pattern. The infection is targeting the patient's mutation for some, but not others." Hank said.
"What exactly is wrong with them?" Scott asked.
Hank looked over another sheet of paper. "The gold-eyes mutant-"
"His name's Sparky, motherfucker!" someone in back interrupted.
Furball paused, slightly shaking his head in annoyance before continuing. "Sparky was bleeding from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. He was having moderate-to-severe muscle spasms, and is currently in a continuous hallucinogenic state. The two red-skinned girls-"
"Rose and Ivy!"
"Stop interrupting the guy!" someone else scolded.
"They're both going through some sort of mutation flare. Thorns are sprouting through every inch of skin, and their blood is turning to sap. We'll need to put them through continuous blood transfusions to keep them alive…Bobby's temperature is plummeting. Now, he can survive extremely frigid conditions, and his temperature is dropping at a rate of five degrees every hour. We don't know how low of a drop his body can sustain, so we'll need to observe him for signs of hypothermia…" Hank paused to take a breath. "Rogue is currently experiencing random nose bleeds, and is in a coma…Pete had to be put into a medically induced coma due to violent outbursts of self-induced pain. He would…he would claw at his arms and neck, claiming he was not in his own skin…Kitty had to be put on a respirator. She is awake, but cannot communicate verbally due to the tube…Now, Pyro, his case is the opposite of Bobby's. His temperature is increasing, but at a slower rate of only three degrees every hour. He's also had some sudden fever spikes where we've had to place ice packs on him, or submerge him in ice water. There has been one instance where he melted the ice in the tub, and caused the water to boil, but we managed through it…And now, I regret to inform you that one of your own, Magneto, has passed away due to complications. She was a red head, very pale skin." Hank said. The room grew quiet, aside from the quiet sobs and groans of despair.
"Is there anything we can do for them?" Storm asked.
"Well, until we know what exactly was done to them, all we can do is try to make them comfortable. I'm sorry." Hanks said.
"When can we see them, Mr. McCoy?" Siryn asked.
'Shit, that's right. Tin Man's her boyfriend. Christ, the poor kid.' he thought, feeling the urge for a cigar creep up on him like a ninja. Not that a ninja could sneak up on the Wolverine, Hell no.
"Well, I suppose I could allow a few of you to see your friends. However, at the slightest turn of events, you're all to leave immediately." Hank said. Wolverine couldn't take it anymore and stepped outside, giving in to his monstrous craving with a ghost of a smile.
As he puffed on the cigar, savoring it, Xavier walked out and approached him. It's been weeks, but it still kinda creeped him out whenever he saw the guy walking around.
"I see you still smoke those." Xavier said.
"Yeah." he said, removing the cigar from his mouth.
"I wanted to tell you this before, but I never had an opportunity to do so. Logan, I'm very impressed with how you've been handling things these past couple weeks." Xavier said.
"What, you mean the damn apocalypse? 'Cause yeah, I'm doing great. I've been smoking these like crazy. And when I'm not, I'm either fighting some damn hybrid super soldiers, or I'm giving pep talks. I'm standing here going bonkers with grief, and all I can do is smoke. I hope you're pretty fucking impressed with me. I failed to stop Magneto's army after you…" he suddenly cut off, realizing he was practically yelling. "Scott was gone. You were gone. I was pretty much put in charge of this place. As much as I hated humanity for making a mutant cure, I knew we had to protect them from Magneto. You would've wanted it…but I…I killed Jean. Stabbed her in the gut. And now it turns out the cure doesn't even work! So sure, be proud of me!" he said, feeling tears well up in his eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose, discretely wiping them away.
"I know how hard things have been for you, Logan. And I don't blame you for anything that has happened. You picked up where I left off. You succeeded where I failed. That's why I'm proud of you. And not only that, you took up teaching, which must have been scary enough." Xavier said. There was a short pause before the two started laughing; softly at first, then louder and harder until their sides ached.
The two returned to the room full of mutants. Wolverine noticed some groups had splintered off into different rooms. The elevator opened and Magneto emerged, cape flapping behind him as he took quick, large strides toward Xavier.
"Charles, we need to speak in private." the ex-enemy-number-one spoke; pitch low enough as to not be overheard by those nearby, except Wolverine, of course. He watched as the two entered a room, where several students were ushered out seconds later. Wolverine stalked into the kitchen, removing a bottle from his hidden supply of beer, and drained the aforementioned bottle in ten seconds. He turned around and saw Magneto and the professor heading towards the elevator.
His ears perked up as he heard several concerned murmurs come from the rec room. He wandered over and froze when his eyes met the TV.
"Scott! Storm! Get in here!" he yelled, eyes glued to the screen. The room became suffocation-inducing full again as the splintered-off-groups joined the teachers that arrived.
"Damn! I thought this was over!" one of Magneto's yelled.
"This'll never be over!" someone else whined. Similar outbursts echoed through the room.
X-Men and Brotherhood alike shivered as chills crept up their spines.
