Trapped in a Bottle
Chapter Ten
Enjoy
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There was chaos for about half a minute before Wolverine's orders were understood and everyone stood still, the darkness washing over them like easy prey. The high strung emotions of the situation didn't help matters however before anyone could get too hasty a low hum ran through the floor of the mansion and the generators kicked on.
"Right," said Logan the instant the lights came back on "Suit up."
Suiting up took the team much longer than it would have otherwise, however emotional states had to be taken into consideration. Everyone was reacting to the prospect that they'd be going out into the town that they'd known for years, the town that was currently in upheaval at the impending bill of mutant rights.
Some were much calmer than others. Gambit had been through war before, real war fought on the street, war that left a head count, and war that had no victor. His mind was easy going, processing each thought as it came.
Suit up, prepare to stop the fight in town, protect Rogue if needed, assess the condition, and decide on future action…
Whatever everyone expected town to look like, it certainly wasn't what met their eyes. When their SUV's pulled into the center of the conflict some expected there to be a ghost town setting, people hiding with fear being nearly palpable. Others were envisioning a scene from an action movie, two forces moving against each other in panic and adrenaline.
No one expected this.
The center of town was in pure animalistic anarchy. Buildings were quickly showing signs of vandalism, and the trail of brotherhood deeds was lighted by fire and warped street lamps. People were screaming, sobbing, and throwing themselves in whichever direction they thought might be safe.
Logan paused, a quick order on his lips. For just a moment he was back in the middle of any number of wars, watching the same scene over and over again. "Better hurry, Chuck," he murmured to himself. He didn't know if even his adamantium skeleton had enough vitality for the war that this scene was hinting at.
"Three teams!" Scott shouted, surprising a fair few of the students who were expecting Logan to delegate orders. "We need to form three teams and come at the Brotherhood from different sides."
A few moments later, as Gambit and his team left the crumbling structure of the Police Headquarters behind them and continued down Main Street, he caught sight of Pyro's bright mane of hair and let himself take in a deep breath. He knew the destruction of town needed to be stopped, but he did have a small qualm against taking down a former comrade.
While the Acolytes had never been quite so tight that they trusted each other with their lives, there was a certain amount of camaraderie that formed when you bled alongside someone.
Rogue's gloved hand rested on his side a moment, her concerned gaze coming into his line of sight. As if reading his mind softly she said "Ah'll get close to him and drain 'im, he'll be out before he can think to have to fight."
Remy nodded once, his gaze leaving her, perhaps, too understanding emerald eyes. He glanced back at Jean, who was in their group along with Kurt, and waited for her sign that Scott had given the go ahead command. It came just a moment later, and then all at once they were launching themselves into the fight.
Theirs was the only four man team; however Kurt was delegated to a role of running interference. He needed to grab members of the Brotherhood and put them in different positions to throw of their fight, and he needed to do it without giving the Brotherhood enough time to harm him.
Remy ducked a round of speedy punches and kicks from Quicksilver and spun quickly as Pietro tried to run around the side of him and avoid a counter attack. Extending his Bo staff at the same time as he turned Gambit managed to land a hit on Quicksilver's abdomen, winding him enough to slow him enough that Gambit was able to land a few hits of his own.
Rogue gave a wordless war cry as she launched into a hand to hand round of combat with Pyro, keeping his hands too busy to ignite his flames. Jean was tossing rubble into the center of the mix, as Scott and his team erupted on the other side, fighting to get to the middle where Scarlet Witch was located, alongside Wolverine and his team.
Gambit spared an eye at his comrades before looking quickly around them. First lesson was always assessing your surroundings. There were still people in the area, fifty yards off, but they were still there. The majority of them were seemed to be reporters, and now being a new team member of the X-Men he worried about their faces getting caught up with this drama. The media could spin the fight either way, they could show them trying to stop it—or they could show them as part of it.
"Pyro, mon ami!" Remy shouted above the din. "Long time no see, no?"
Pyro's semi-maniacal laughter barked out across the fight. "Aye, mate," he said, running from a shot of debris from Jean and watching as Rogue got distracted into a fight with Blob. "When ya' said you was leaving I never fickled a thought that ya' was taking up with the X-Men! How very…legal of you."
Quicksilver was too much of an immature fighter for his own good, he was too interested in the words being exchanged by his adversary and comrade to focus on what Gambit was throwing his way. Of course, this worked quite well in Remy's favor and the next moment he sent an unconscious, but not too badly hurt, Pietro to the ground.
"Found out dey got a pretty good t'ing going on up dere," Gambit said, breathe heaving. His tone was light, with a snide edge to it; his best angle was to convince John of some sort of alternative.
The two came closer together, Remy slightly relieved that it seemed like his former teammate wasn't going to attack him quite yet.
John looked over his shoulder briefly, throwing a superfluous grin at Remy "This wouldn't be about no sheila now would it?"
Gambit felt his grin turn just a slight bit sincere at the edges. "Well, dem ladies, dey just come to Remy don't dey?"
John laughed, but Remy saw a chance to proceed further.
"Dat Professor not quite as around the bend as y' t'ink," John gave him a humoring look, and Gambit hurried to continue, hoping he didn't sound too much like a talking bill board. He wasn't there to be a recruiter, just a grudging peacekeeper.
"He's at de capitol now, working out plans to stop all o' this."
"Yeah?" said John. "That's jolly and all but all I'm hearin' is you got yourself a gal, mate."
As John laughed Remy tried not to feel too despaired, he was occupying John from fighting, and that was worth something.
"Dey got de whole package up there," Remy continued as he waved a half gloved hand in the air "Open to all mutants, and there's more freedom then Remy ever got with ol' magsy."
John seemed to tire of Remy's line. Truth be told it did sound more like an infomercial than a convincing halt of arms. However John's mind wasn't drawing back to the flames of battle quite yet.
"How's Colossus?"
"Y' t'ink he came to the X-Men?" asked Remy raising a brow.
"Ah, no fooling now, mate," replied John, his grin fading "I know he did, he told me as much."
"Wasn't trying t'fool," Remy said "Piotr gone to find his petite soeur."
"No shit?" said John, laughing "Well that's grand, does feel a bit barmy though, seeings how the teams not a team anymore."
"Remy and y' can be a team any time," said Gambit, forcing an uneasy chuckle. The battle around them wasn't doing much to help his confidence in his new role of do-gooder. "Just come on up t' the maison."
"Ah," said John waving a hand "Wanda be a sheila that's much more fun to hang around."
Both their eyes were drawn to the center of the battle where, surprisingly, Rogue was shouting up to the Scarlet Witch.
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"Ah'm sayin' ya' got to stop this!" shouted Rogue up into the air, the wind whipping about her fiercely. It took her a moment to concentrate, the energy crackling through the air making her dizzy.
"Didn't you see what they were doing?" demanded the enraged girl floating above all their heads "Killing off mutants like an extermination!"
Rogue knew that she couldn't tell Wanda that her rage was unjust, because she felt it burning through her body just the same as the rest of them did.
A couple dozen feet above the ground the Scarlet Witch grimaced and a few low words snuck out of her mouth before she realized it. "My father was right."
"The Professor's in DC!" Rogue shouted up "He's gonna' make them stop!"
"No one can stop them!" cried out Scarlet Witch, energy erupted from her and Rogue hastily jumped to the side to avoid a bolt of hex. Wanda choked back a couple sobs "Just like these powers, we're all cursed to live a hell on Earth!"
Rogue's eyes widened. Battle raged on around her, she could hear Scott's distinctive commands, and hear Logan's growl, but just for a quick moment her eyes sought out something else. She looked behind her, taking her eyes off the distraught mutant above her, and found Gambit.
He was standing alongside Pyro, the two of them a direct contradiction to the conflict waging around them. Gambit's mouth was set in a grim line, and he looked right back at her. His eyes were bright. Rogue knew what he thought.
He didn't think they'd be able to stop them.
Rogue thrust herself closer to The Scarlet Witch, fighting against the pain that the air caused her she stood directly underneath Wanda and called up through the air, her voice ripping through her throat.
"The Professor can do anything, Wanda," Rogue shouted through the wind, unbeknownst to the girls a hasty reporter strained to train his camera on the actions, catching the conflict on film. "Ah know it sounds corny, believe me but you gotta' believe me, after what Ah've been through with him, Ah know he can do this."
"Ah couldn't touch a person, another damn human," Rogue continued in earnest, her throat was already protesting "Now, Ah can hold it for a few minutes, and it's all because of him! He's good people, Wanda, good people!"
The wind lessened and Wanda really did look down at Rogue, descending a few feet downwards. Her face was pained, and as Rogue noticed that most of the Brotherhood had been subdued she noticed Scarlet Witch's own pained face. This conflict was affecting everyone, not just the 'good guys.'
"Trust him!"
Wanda's feet touched down to the ground softly. The conflict drained away from the two of them, noise diminishing into the background. "Can he really stop this?" she asked.
Rogue felt a shiver run down her spine. In a split second revelation she realized that the X-Men weren't the only ones who felt scared and alone in the world of humans.
"Ah promise," said Rogue, conviction dripping from every word. They stared at each other a few moments longer, their eyes boring into one another's, trying to test each other's validity.
Suddenly the sound was back around them, and they were faced with battle again. The town was chaos, the state was chaos, and probably the whole damn country was chaos, but they needed just a few minutes where their minds weren't in chaos.
A deep rumble over took the ground all of a sudden, and a few people rocked on shaky legs. From behind the conflict Rogue watched the down town street become filled by a dark grey blob of color, a blob that was steadily advancing towards them.
"Alright!" shouted Logan, he called everyone's attention, and everyone gave it to him too. There were more than just a few looking to be reassured by an authority figure.
"You have a few decisions to make and fast," he addressed the Brotherhood. "Shit's hit the fan, it's there, we're at the point none of us wanted to be at, so you got to ask: What are you going to do, huh?"
They eyed one another uneasily, and Wanda stepped towards Logan, Lance quick behind her. "What the hell do you think we can do?" demanded Wanda.
Logan didn't take attitude easily. "You can stand here, and face the god damned US Military," he spat, gesturing to the blob that was coming up the street, now identifiable as a military convoy, and to the adjacent street where another was moving to meet it. "Or you can make a choice, and finally act more like adults than morons."
Everyone shared a horrified look at the military advancements, and Lance demanded "What the hell's the choice? Our house got burned down, what have we got?"
"You can come with us," Logan said, stabbing a finger into the air, his claws catching the failing daylight.
"What?" demanded several voices, on both sides.
Pyro took a step forward, his face oddly serious. Remy watched him with slight trepidation; one never knew exactly what the usually maniacal aussie was going to do. John looked back over his shoulder at Gambit, his eyes narrowed shrewdly. He studied the man for a moment and then swaggered up to stand next to Wanda.
"Sounds like a key adventure, aye?"
Lance glared at Pyro, and over his shoulder Quicksilver glared at Gambit, rubbing a bruised collar bone. Wanda spared Pyro a glance, the edge of her firmly set mouth softening some.
"What's the catch?" asked Lance "I tried that once remember? Have to follow all your rules?"
"Of course you're going to follow the rules," said Logan "Every damned one. But we can provide what you need right now—shelter and security."
They looked amongst themselves, trying to decide with looks, not wanting to speak openly and be vulnerable. The noise of the quickly approaching convoys urging them along, and not leaving much room for negotiation.
"Damn it," swore Lance, looking behind him at Blob and Toad, his eyes swept back to the X-Men, his gaze lingering on Kitty.
"We'll do it," said Wanda decisively, a couple of her brethren looking at this with semi shocked and betrayed expressions "But we don't have to like it."
Rogue let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and felt a tension in her shoulder blades alleviate itself. She wasn't sure living with the Brotherhood under their roof was necessarily the best thing that could happen, but she sure as hell understood its necessity.
"Hurry, children," said Beast, clapping a hand on Logan's shoulder "Load into the vehicles, we have to leave. Now."
They did. All of them followed Beast's instructions, even the Brotherhood, without a single word.
That day was a day for mutant history, and it wasn't a day for petty mutant disagreements. There was true strife in the world, erupting across the nation since before daybreak. They'd have to put aside more than just their beliefs to be able to live their lives in freedom.
They'd have to learn life lessons to survive. They'd have to learn lessons that could only be learned under the most distressing of circumstances. Duress would label them as unique, and their next choices would label mutants for the nation, and set an example that would echo across the globe.
They still could call themselves 'X-Men' and 'Brotherhood,' but they'd have to learn to finally be 'Mutant' first and foremost.
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That night everyone was found, predictably, in the underground half of the mansion, holed up and prepared for a veritable siege. The top half of the mansion was closed and on lock down, but Wolverine had ordered that everyone was going to be living underneath the mansion until they had some word on the Mutant Bill.
When the X-Men had returned back to the mansion with the Brotherhood in tow, the younger students had had an eruption of curiosity and rebuke for the rest of the X-Men. After awhile things had settled, students had scattered to their own activities, and Remy had sought out John, and drug him into a corner so that they might have a more private conversation.
After a few moments of comfortable silence, occasionally punctured by the crackling of a new flame creation, Gambit opened his mouth, steeled himself with his usual confidence and then let his drawl form the words that were on his mind.
"These X-Men, they be good company to keep, y' know?" he said "Even on a long term basis, yeah?"
John gave him a grin "Sounds like you're trying to sell be a mix of bad prawns, mate."
Gambit ran a hand through his hair, he wasn't a man to be nervous, but ever since facing John in the battle he had been bothered by the fact that they were no longer on the same side. "Gambit just tryin' t' say that Piotr like it here, Gambit do too, so you, mon ami, probably would aussi."
A lot of people didn't give John enough credit, when the man wanted to be completely honest about something he was. "I understand what yer sayin' mate, but I like how things have been going. Wanda enjoys the crazy, you know?"
Remy nodded, smiling wryly "Gambit knows all 'bout making choices for de femmes."
John laughed, sending a dancing flame in the form of Rogue up and around Gambit.
"Wanda'd like it here too," Gambit said. "Not havin' t'smell toad's stink no mo.'"
John flipped his lighter shut, his eyes still reflecting light even after the flame extinguished "Colossus like it here?"
Gambit took a moment to grin, and eyed the end of the hallway they were in. "Gambit sure Colossus'd like anywhere the kitten was."
John's eyes rose to his wickedly colored hair line and he barked out a chuckle "Piotr find himself a sheila has he?"
Gambit nodded "Shadowcat."
"How bloody interesting."
Gambit cleared his throat, trying to aim for a more serious tone "Gambit just wanted t' say dat these X-Men aint what we thought they were, no? They a lot more…honest. If y' ever need anyt'ing dey help y'."
John pushed himself off the way, hissing slightly as the cold metal left his back. "Colossus is a survivor, and he'll be fine anywhere he is, anywhere he can be himself, you, mate, are a hunter, and you'll be fine anywhere you can find some challenges, but me? I'm a wee bit different. I'm a wanderer, I need places to wander."
"Alright," said Gambit letting out a grand sigh and smirking at his former teammate. He pushed of the wall beside John and pretended to dust himself off. "Guess we best get back, no?"
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"Kitty!" the half shout came as a surprise to Katherine Pryde. She was on her way out of the Danger Room, rumpled and sweaty in her uniform she wasn't looking to talk to anyone until she'd had a nice long, hot shower. She turned, however, and donned her usual smile, only to be startled.
"L—Lance?" she stuttered out. She wouldn't say that she had necessarily been avoiding the Brotherhood member, but the inference wouldn't be far off the mark.
"Hey, Kitty," he said when he drew up next to her. He stood with his hands on his hips, looking down at his feet for a minute.
"What's up, Lance?" Kitty asked quickly.
"Well," he said, and then paused. He furrowed his brow as if he were trying to figure something out. "Look, I was just wondering something."
"What?" asked Kitty. She looked covertly around her, trying to assess whether they were being observed by anyone in particular. They weren't. Most of the other's that had been in DR with her were already on their way to the showers.
"John told me about you and the Russian guy," he said finally, still not necessarily meeting her eyes.
"Piotr," said Kitty, her voice going that much sterner "His name in Piotr."
"Yeah," replied Lance "Him."
"What about him?" she demanded back, she was far too tired for the conversation she thought was going to take place.
"I don't mean to argue or anything," said Lance quickly, back pedaling. "But I just wanted to tell you something, and then I swear there's nothing else I need to say."
"Then what do you need to, like, say?" asked Kitty, her anger faded quickly, she was really too worn out to hold onto it for long, but it was replaced by confusion.
"I guess I just wanted to say that I always thought we'd end up getting back together," Lance said finally "I don't really mean anything by it, but I wanted to tell you that, because…I always thought it was true."
"Oh, Lance," murmured Kitty, moving forward and laying a hand on his arm. "I don't think we would have."
"Why?"
"We were totally different people back then," Kitty said, slowly. "We were used to different things then, and wanted different things, but its different today; we're all grown up, Lance. We've graduated, and we have real responsibilities now."
"How does that change anything?" half whispered Lance, his soft eyes the same as Kitty remembered.
"Lance," Kitty said, trying not to be too forceful "Think about all the things that have happened since we were in Illinois, and then ask yourself if you haven't, like, changed. I'm an X-Man now, and I feel that responsibility."
Lance knew her words were more or less correct, but didn't seem ready to admit that.
Kitty stared right at him. "I believe that what the instructors tell us is true. I know that I have to be prepared for to take on the responsibilities that are going to come. I know I am a mutant."
"I know," murmured Lance. Kitty continued.
"I want to, like, be the person that the Professor thinks we can be. I swear I'll do it."
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Thanks for reading, please review and let me know if there's anything you'd like to see in the story.
-AnimeSiren