The Quartz Kidnap
A/N- Oh yes, a quick update! Bet you weren't expecting this, huh? Huh? You don't know how much I've deviated off the original draft now, but it's all for the best. Trust me- I had a re-read, and it was really quite bad. Thanks for reading (the end is nigh- give it another couple of chapters…), and reviewers, your constant support makes me happy. Let's get this show on the road.
Oh, before I forget, beep beep- be warned of strong language- beep beep. Thank you for your attention.
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The vehicle was speeding through London. Passers by watched in, mouths agape, as it screeched past them, only to scream as a blast of red light obliterated them. Staring out of the windows of the Blackbird, the X-Men surveyed the dismal scene. Jean had her hands over her mouth.
"Oh, Scott…. We need to get in there, as soon as possible. Hank, touch down. We can meet the truck around the next block."
"Jean… they don't have an organised blocks system in England…" Hank told her softly.
"Whatever the British equivalent is! Just land us and we'll get it over with. If he's running on borrowed power, this is dangerous. We don't know how long Magneto has been making him use his beam, and whilst it's very energy efficient, it still uses a lot over a relatively short period of time."
As soon as they had parked (conveniently next to Tower Bridge on the Thames), the group ran (or, as the case could be, floated) to where they had seen the van beforehand. As thought, it wasn't there, but Hank was still gripping his map.
"They should have gone west, in Buckingham Palace's direction. Logan, what do you smell anything?"
"Yeah, west. Shit, we'll have to be quick if we're gonna catch them."
"Storm, if you would, Buckingham Palace. It's in the centre of the city, lots of guards, you can't miss it."
The wind suddenly got up, and four mutants (kept reasonably steady by Jean's telekinesis) went flying into the air, and across the rooftops.
"Doesn't it remind you of Mary Poppins?" Jean shouted above the howls their transportation was causing.
"I don't care what the fuck Mary Poppins is, let's just get down!" Logan bellowed back. What had he thought before about this method of transport?
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The X-Men caught up with their quarry. Eventually. Storm did some spectacular manoeuvring and the team managed to land on top of the moving vehicle, which eventually ground to a halt, as soon as the people inside realised that they had company. Jean was exceedingly glad about it; the earlier they got the almost inevitable fight over, the quicker they could get it all over with, and return home successful this time. Then, she could worry about more important things. Also, on a more selfish note, it was draining her to keep everyone anchored- although, with Logan, it had been no problem- Magneto was, as usual, keeping him from moving. How wonderfully convenient. Meanwhile, she was searching for any kind of response from the person below them. Whilst they weren't thinking, there was definitely brain activity, so she sent down a quiet, unobtrusive thought cautiously.
Scott? This one word seemed to jumpstart his brain into action.
Jean… no, it can't be. It's impossible. Don't get your hopes up, Summers. Stop thinking and conserve the energy you have left. Listening to his thoughts nearly tore her apart- no hope left of rescue remained, just his usual 'well I could die, but I'm going to stick this out as long as I can' attitude, that he'd retained since the X-Men had been created, and quite possibly before that. As the vehicle ground to a halt, and as she watched five people pour out of the passenger compartment, a feeling she'd never really felt before swam over her- rage. Before anyone could do anything about it, she flicked a finger to one side, catching Mystique completely by surprise as she fell to the ground heavily, landing on her temple and consequently crashing into unconsciousness.
Logan watched the display, along with everyone else, and whistled in surprise, before jumping from his vantage point and attacking Toad. Although it had shocked him to see Jean lose control somewhat, it was helpful not to have Mystique around, meaning he could take all satisfaction into turning the green mutant before him into a pile of neatly diced toad cubes. Snarling, he went into the attack.
Storm found herself staring at one of the three remaining mutants. One, a teenager clad in an extremely tight fitting suit- possibly spandex, by the look of it (she definitely wasn't up with the times- or was it mutation related?), looked reasonably threatening yet not too taxing, so she took a deep breath and plunged into battle.
This left Jean with two choices- Magneto or the remaining female. She recognised the female one instantly, and feeling a grudge match coming on, she smiled sadistically, and went in for the kill. Literally.
Beast, watching the melee below, was deciding who to go and help. Jean seemed perfectly fine on her own, and was beating her opponent easily. Telekinesis over crystal creation any day. But it was the ferocity that the X-Woman was displaying that concerned him. She looked almost unhinged, giggling as she sent another chunk of quartz flying back to its creator, attacking with ferocity that Hank had never seen her display before. Obviously this was over Scott- she was fighting like a demon, obviously aiming to kill, not disable, as her fiancé had always taught them, and he could see the scared look on her adversaries' face even under the hood she was wearing.
Logan was doing well too- he and Toad weren't at all easily matched, but it seemed that he'd chosen him because he had qualms about fighting with girls who didn't attack him first. As he watched, three adamantium claws made their way swiftly through the green mutant's torso, which collapsed with a groan as soon as it was released from the Wolverine's grip.
That left Ororo. Looking over to her, she seemed to be slightly overwhelmed- the oddly dressed mutant she was facing was cornering her. The teenager's technique was slightly strange- she would touch something, wince, then hurl a before solid then liquid substance at Storm, who, as he watched, got a face full of the odd substance, and began to splutter. The girl seemed to be hurling custard- dilatants, maybe. Giving it another second to work out the girl's mutation (he supposed that it was replication of anything she touched, coming out through her pores somehow. Hmm… that would be interesting to study…), and he paused for the opportune moment before bounding to help his team mate.
Logan, having dispatched the annoyance he'd been faced with (although he hadn't bothered to dice it into cubes- he didn't have the patience, and all the blood could be a problem later, plus the time wasting element), headed straight over to the truck. Fight be damned, he had a reputation to rebuild, and if that meant rescuing Summers, then so be it. Luckily, Magneto had had the foresight not to waste resources and had closed his captive's eyes, making the whole job easier. Just as he bent down to slice one piece of wire, apparently one certain mutant realised what was happening and he found himself unable to move.
"Oh, for fuck's…. Jean, hurry up and get yourself in here!" Frustrated, he muttered a string of profanity that varied wildly from mild to downright obscene and waited for the cavalry to arrive.
Meanwhile, outside, Beast and Storm were discovering just how useful the ability to throw around the equivalent of custard could be. It dried quickly, stuck like nothing on earth, and there were large puddles of it all over the ground that once stood in had no wish to let you out. Storm couldn't hit her with a lightning bolt due to the walking boots she was wearing- rubber soled, completely out of place with the rest of her outfit, and the fact that she had a never ending supply of the stuff meant they were having problems. Trying and failing to wipe some of the substance off his face, Hank went in for one more try, and succeeded in knocking her backwards onto the ground, and Ororo effectively finished her off with a lightning bolt. The girl crumpled without so much of a scream.
"She's not dead, just out cold," Hank reassured his partner. "Let's go and help everyone else." Nodding, they turned, only to watch a large spike of quartz impale the hooded woman Jean was fighting. She joined the rest of the brotherhood on the ground, and the remaining X-Men, as one, sprinted back to the ominous black vehicle.
"Oh, god…" Jean steadied herself and was about to remove the wire that was encircling and entrapping their team leader, when an obviously amused voice rang out from behind her.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Ms Grey. I might just have him open his eyes again, and I'm sure you wouldn't want that to happen. All of Charles' darling team, dead in less than fifteen seconds. How wonderfully satisfying."
"Do yourself a favour and shut up," Jean said harshly, turning around to face him, "and it's Dr Grey, if you don't mind." With that, she gave him the same treatment as she had Mystique- Magneto's failing was that he loved to gloat, and always paused before implementing things. The rest of the team watched, once again, shocked.
"Wolverine, you take top, I'll do bottom. Be ready to catch him, and be careful." Logan found himself nodding dumbly. Anything not to infer her wrath. "Storm, go back and get the Blackbird. Hank, do something you feel is appropriate- check on the status of the Brotherhood, that'd be good. Can't have too many people here- don't want to overcrowd Scott." Leaving everyone else to it, she turned to Logan again.
Storm headed straight out, inclined her head in goodbye and was swept up by the wind, and Hank clambered out of the vehicle to see whether the intriguing girl he'd been fighting had woken up yet. She had, and as he approached, she spider scrambled back, wincing as she replicated her surroundings.
"I'm not here to hurt you," he said reassuringly, reading the expression on her face. The teenager stayed silent, looking as petrified as she had beforehand. Instead of communication, she quickly drew her hands off the tarmac, grimaced as the substance pushed its way painfully out of her palms, and from a pouch on her hip withdrew a pair of gloves- the same material as the rest of her outfit. Pulling them on almost gratefully, she stood up, but collapsed as her weight was too much for her, and passed out. Hank, deciding on the spur of the moment that the poor child would need help, picked her up carefully and tried to make sure that her head didn't touch his uniform as Logan somehow floated out of the back of the lorry. Jean jumped to the ground behind him, manoeuvring the uncomfortable looking Wolverine to the floor carefully, and they waited.
Two minutes later, the familiar sound of the X-Jet landing, as well as the artificial wind created by the engine swept over them, and the black shadow landed neatly inside the grounds of Buckingham Palace. Or, at least what was left of it. Stepping over the small amount of fence that was left, the group advanced towards the jet and watched up the gangplank. Laying his charge gingerly on a seat, Hank took the co-pilot's seat as Jean advanced to the back of the passenger area and had Logan drape her worst for wear fiancée over the makeshift medical station.
"Now, leave me to it," Jean told him decisively, and giving a mock salute, he strode back to his usual seat, only to find a senseless intruder flopped in it. Sighing, he took the nearest available space with a seatbelt, and barely had time to sit down before the jet lifted into the air.
"Who's she?" He asked Hank gruffly.
"Someone who I believed needed help- who was too young to be gallivanting about with Magneto and should still be in full time education, so I'm going to take her back to the Professor, and he can assist her from there."
"What is it with you people and waifs and strays?" Logan retorted. "Did you ever think we don't want to be saved?"
"Well, if you want to leave now, do so, but it's a long drop, and I seem to remember certain Wolverines not liking heights," Hank replied smugly, and Logan had to admit, he'd been caught out.
Behind them, Jean was standing over the prostrate form of their team leader, trying to take in the full extent of the damage. By all accounts, he really should have been dead, but thankfully, there was still some life inside him- he was still breathing, although lightly, at least- although she'd felt the need to make use of an oxygen mask. Doing a quick brain scan again, it seemed he was going to be out for quite some time, but there didn't seem to be more damage to his cranium than there had been beforehand- everything was behaving as normally as it did for him (that would be everything but the part of his brain that controlled his mutation). Grimacing, she looked him up and down again before carefully removing his uniform jacket and reaching across for a large bottle of antiseptic. Come to think of it, it was a good thing he wasn't awake- this was going to sting.