Before the Blast
A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Been busy doing other things, and by that I mean art, which is more fun than this (sorry, but it's true). But I had a burnout the other day, so I'm back to writing. Hope that makes everyone happy. And remember, I'll never abandon my stories, so this will get finished, hopefully before next year or the world ends or kittens take over the planet with their cuteness. That sort of thing. Anyway, read on!
oOo
Chapter 4: The day of the explosion
(9 AM)
Storm called everyone into the kitchen for breakfast. She didn't have to call more than once—everyone who wasn't present at the kitchen table appeared there in the next twenty seconds. Ororo smiled. Whenever food was involved, people listened to her. When it wasn't—nada.
Breakfast commenced as it always did. There were the not-so-quiet spats about who'd taken more than 3 pieces of bacon, and who'd taken more eggs than everyone else. There was the quiet morning chatter about practice sessions and hanging out and what to do after the meal. Some people didn't talk at all. They were still half-asleep. Zombies of the morning.
Jean was completely silent. She'd felt particularly bad since she'd woken up. Now, the noise from the room wasn't helping her headache and feeling of general distress. She pushed the food on her plate around for a few minutes before she got up and left. Scott left with her.
"Jean, what's the matter?" he asked as he followed her down the empty hallway.
Jean shook her head. "Nothing. I just don't feel good."
Scott sighed. "Is it about the other day?"
Jean sat down on the floor and leaned her back against the cool wall. "What?" she groaned.
"You know—that fight Logan and I had. Are you upset about that?" (1)
Jean closed her eyes and lowered her head into her hands. "God, no. I just don't feel well, that's all. It's not you, or Logan."
Scott rubbed her shoulder nervously. "So, have you forgiven me for that yet?" he asked hopefully.
"No. But why are you even still talking about that? I'm in pain—I don't care about that right now!" Scott moved closer to her while continuing to massage her shoulders and back.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he whispered. "You just sit there until you feel alright."
Jean nodded and went back to thinking about the pain. There was nothing else to do.
oOo
(11 Am)
Kitty, Kurt, and Peter were all in the Danger Room for their rematch. So far, Kitty still appeared to be winning. Peter was doing all he could not to get smashed to pieces, and Kurt was hiding behind a metal cylinder, trying to avoid some heavy laser fire. Kitty expertly dodged everything that came at her. Underneath her calm mask, she was nervous as hell. If she lost, the boys would never let her live it down. Her feminine pride was at stake here. She couldn't lose. Not now. A giant sheet of metal dropped from the ceiling. She barely had time to phase through it as it fell. She jumped aside, trying to calm herself again.
Just then, she saw Peter nearby, wrestling off a metal arm with electrodes on the end. He destroyed it and ran away to hide. Kitty couldn't help but mess with him. "What's the matter Peter? Can't stand to be schooled by a girl?" Peter sighed.
"I'm not"—
A large, snaking tentacle came out of nowhere and plucked Kitty right off the ground.
"Whoa!" she cried, struggling to wriggle free. "Peter, get up here and help me," she demanded, forgetting the contest.
Peter grinned, glad to see things were turning in his favor. "Sorry Keety," he said with a wave and a smile.
Kitty shrieked with frustration. Kurt teleported beside her and smiled.
"Kurt, get me down," she snapped.
Kurt smiled some more and shook his head. "Why don't you just phase through it?" he asked.
Kitty exhaled. "And fall on my face? I don't think so. Now, help me down."
"You're an X-man. Do it yourself," he taunted, teleporting away.
"Kurt!" she screamed after him. No use. After a while, she went back to screaming for help from Peter.
Unfortunately, it wasn't too long before he was caught as well. A circular magnet the size of a car was lowered from the ceiling. It caught Peter from behind and pulled him to it. "Ugh," he groaned, struggling to break free. In his metal state, however, there was nothing he could do.
He was raised up beside Kitty. Peter looked over at her gingerly. "Well hello Keety," he said.
Kitty was still trying to escape the tight bondage of the tentacle. She stopped for a moment and glared at him. "Some help you are."
Kurt teleported beside them both. "Hey, five more seconds, und I win," he grinned.
Kitty wanted to smack him. Only, she was dangling thirty feet off the ground, and her hands were caught somewhere near her thighs. "Grr," she said through gritted teeth.
At that moment, the metal container Kurt had been standing on opened, and a jet of green sticky goo sent him flying into the ceiling, and stuck him there for good. The timer dinged, ending the scenario.
Peter was about to ask who won, when Kitty interrupted. "Wait…what just happened?"
Peter looked down to see Logan standing in the operating deck. "He happened." Logan waved to the three of them from the other side of the glass.
"Just my little way of saying goodbye," he said into the microphone, so the three of them could hear him.
And with that, he turned and left. "Logan!" Kitty screamed after him. Nothing.
"Wait! How do we get down?" she asked, looking at the floor far below. No one had an answer.
oOo
(11:30 AM)
Logan had his backpack filled with clothes, food, money—everything he'd need for a road trip. He slung his bag over his shoulder and looked once around his room with a sigh. He needed to leave for a while. Things between him and Jean were awkward, and things between him and Scott were…strained to say the least. The Professor had been getting on him for going after Jean, and Hank had lectured him about it once or twice as well. Maybe it was time he left and let things cool down.
Serves me right, I s'pose, he thought to himself. Flirting with a nineteen year old girl probably wasn't a smart idea, considering he was over 100 years old himself. And plus Jean was taken. So that made things even more interesting.
Logan sighed again and opened the door. He slipped into the darkness of the hallway like a phantom in the night. He just wanted to leave. To be invisible.
oOo
(11:32 AM)
"Alright girls," Emma said to the Cuckoos, who were sitting in the back seats of the black limousine. They were headed for the Xavier Institute. Quietly. Gently. Unobtrusively. Emma had been planning the whole thing for a week. It was a simple plan, really. Knock everyone unconscious with a psychic wave. Emma and one of her girls would deal with the Professor. The other telepaths would focus on Jean and trying to knock her out. They'd take her back to the car and make good their escape. Before they left, Emma would wipe everyone's memory, and they'd never know what had taken Jean. Simple enough.
"We're almost there now. I need all of you to quiet your thoughts. Be calm. I don't want anyone to sense us coming. We're just passerbys. Normal people. Nothing unusual. Understand?"
The girls all nodded and closed their eyes in concentration. Emma did the same. She put up a weak mental barrier. Enough to shield her thoughts from Xavier or Jean, but not strong enough for them to sense the negative energy of the shield.
It was perfect. Emma had every detail worked out. Her plan would succeed.
oOo
(11:45 AM)
Logan was on his way to say goodbye to the Professor. He'd already said goodbye to Hank and Rogue. He'd gotten to see Jean, but he didn't dare talk to her. Surely she was still made about his fight with Scott.
As he approached the Professor, he sighed for the fifth or sixth time that day. He was so ready to leave, and yet there was never anywhere he felt more at home. This was where he belonged. With his students. With his friends. With his mentor….
He looked Xavier in the face. The professor smiled warmly and nodded a little, beckoning him closer. Why not? Logan approached his teacher and averted his eyes. He wanted to say he was sorry for causing trouble. He wanted to explain why he was leaving—again. But he couldn't find the words. The only thing he said was, "Charles"—
And then there was a bang. Not just any bang, but a bang so loud it shook the ground like an earthquake. The sound was enough to make his ears bleed. There was a tremendous shiver in the earth, and then a rush of heat, like fire. And then darkness.
When Logan awoke, he couldn't hear a thing. He could only see a haziness, like smoke hanging in the air. He felt numb. He shakily rose to his feet and stumbled around, disoriented. Where was he? Why was there fire and smoke? A scream pierced the silence.
"Professor!" The voice was Storm's. Logan ran to her and stopped beside her, just short of a large, smoking crater in the ground. That was where the professor had been. Storm was on her hands and knees, sobbing and muttering to herself. Logan gave her a small, reassuring hug. He didn't know what else to do.
Who else was alive? Where were they? What had happened. Logan was still disoriented and half-conscious. His thoughts were fuzzy.
He wandered around in the smoke, trying to see who else had survived. He tripped over something large—a piece of a statue. He recognized it as part of the angel statue from the front yard. Underneath it were boards and shingles and mounds of plaster. The mansion. The entire mansion was gone, and he was standing in its remains.
Logan stood up and took a few steps back. No, not the mansion. Not everything. It was all gone. He wanted to scream, but his voice was far away. A sudden emptiness filled his chest. "Oh god," he whispered.
He wandered off again, desperate to find anyone else who was still alive. All of his students were here. What if one of them were hurt, or worse…? What if everyone was dead?
"Jeeeaaan!" Logan snapped his head in the direction of the cry. It was Scott's voice calling out. Logan ran towards the source. Scott was standing alone in the smoke, hunched forward. "Jean!" he cried again. Logan could see he was burned. There was a large black scorch mark on the ground next to him.
"Scott, come on, we have to get out of here," Logan said, tugging at his shoulder. Scott shrugged it off.
"No! I have to find Jean!"
Logan grabbed him—more fiercely this time. "Jean's gone," he hissed. "And you'll be dead too if you stick around here." Scott turned to run, but Logan whacked him across the head with his fist. He was out cold. Logan picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. "We're getting outta here," he growled.
As he was finding his way through the smoke, Logan saw a shadowy figure. He approached it.
"Who's there?" he asked. There was a groan.
"Logan. Help."
Logan came closer. "Elf?" As he approached, he saw Kurt lying on the ground, half buried by some rubble. Logan pushed it aside and pulled Kurt to his feet.
"You ok, Kurt?" Kurt nodded weakly.
"Ja. But where's Angel? I was just vith him, und we were talking und I heard zis sound und then…" He looked around. "What happened?"
Logan began sifting through the rubble, trying to find Angel. "I don't know, kid," he replied. His voice was cold. Empty. "Some kinda explosion."
Kurt walked around in circles a few times. "Is anyone else alive?"
"Yeah. Storm. And Scott, here. And you."
"Is zat it?" Kurt couldn't keep the terror out of his voice.
"Nope," Logan groaned. "I just found Angel." Kurt rushed over to him. Angel was alive but unconscious. He was scratched up and bloody, but nothing worse.
"He'll be fine," Logan muttered. "I'm going t'go find other survivors. You stay with Angel and keep an eye on him."
Kurt shook his head. "No, I'll help you look for survivors. I can teleport around—it'll be much quicker zan vhat you're doing."
Logan growled. "Fine. I'll take Angel too, then, I suppose." And he slung Angel over his other shoulder.
He and Kurt went separate ways. Kurt teleported from place to place, looking for someone—anyone. He wanted to know that Bobby and Peter and Kitty and everyone else he cared about were still alive and in one piece. As he moved around, finding nothing, his heart sank. Eventually, Kurt sat down on a long piece of wood and cried.
oOo
When Emma awoke, she smelled smoke. And lots of it. She slowly picked herself up off the ground and surveyed her surroundings. The mansion was shrouded in a thick layer of smoke. It was all but entirely destroyed from what she could tell. There was no movement. No sound. Probably no survivors. She closed her eyes and scanned around for brain activity. She found a few scattered minds. But no Jean.
Emma went around, arousing the Cuckoos from their unconscious state. One by one, they rose. Their faces were filled with shame.
"Jean is…gone?" one of them whispered.
"Yes," Emma murmured. "But not dead, I think. And nor is the Professor. We can use that to our advantage. Girls, go find Xavier and bring him to me. Now."
The Cuckoos ran off into the haze to find the professor. Emma paced nervously. She had failed entirely. Jean had sensed the psychic blast and retaliated. She'd gone into full Phoenix mode to protect herself, and she'd taken nearly all of her home with it. Now, there was no Jean, and a half-dead professor. Maybe he would have some use, but Emma couldn't see it yet.
She sighed and closed her eyes. Just then, she sensed the girls returning. The had the professor with them, unconscious and nearly dead. "He's still alive," one of the girls said quietly.
"I know. Get him into the car. We're leaving. This"—she glanced at the smoky mess where the mansion had been—"is over."
oOo
Yay, I wrote a long chapter for once, just like I promised. So, this isn't the end, of course. There will be another chapter. A post-blast chapter, despite the name of the story. I just can't end it here. Anyway, thank you for reading.
-TheEmberRaven