Chapter 10: An Unprecedented Situation
(Angel)
His blood ran cold when that one scream erupted from the med lab and struck his eardrum through the floor. His coworkers sprinted out of the room and were halfway down the hall when his legs started to work. By the time he got to the med bay, whatshisname…uh, Sparky, was sliding up the wall, screaming in fear.
"Get them out of here!" Wolverine yelled.
He helped Storm and the doctor usher the students out, and as he shut the door, Sparky was pinned to the ceiling, struggling against an invisible foe. Angel slipped on a pair of gloves and fluttered up to the ceiling as Nightcrawler teleported beside Sparky, clinging to the tiles with ease.
He and Nightcrawler shared a look, which was interrupted as Sparky's struggles quieted and he stilled. The electrokinetic fell into Angel's arms and he glided back to the floor.
"What do you suppose happened?" Storm asked, a little shaken. He gently placed Sparky in the bed and Hank gave him a once-over, checking the basics.
"Whatever Hugh injected into him made him have some sort of psychic fit." Hank said.
"That was one hell of a psychic fit." Cyclops said. Angel noticed movement coming from one of the beds. He knew it was impossible; that mutant was dead. He glanced at those around him and realized that they noticed the movement, too. Hank backed away curiously as the three deceased Brotherhood members returned from the grave and sat up in their beds.
"What da-" Gambit started, but the red head at the farthest bed, waving a hand. A file cabinet and a centrifuge clattered noisily to the ground. Sparky bolted up, eyes wide.
"Oh fuck!" he exclaimed, backing into a corner. The red-skinned girls got out of their beds and Sparky reacted by shooting a bolt of lightning, which the telekinetic deflected into Wolverine, who was thrown into the door forcefully enough to dent it severely. The patients who were still unconscious remained so as Wolverine and Cyclops went into fight mode, taking on the telekinetic. The others went up against the Red Twins.
Hank tried to inject a sedative into the closest of the Red Twins, but she backhanded him hard enough to knock him flat on his ass. Gambit whacked her in the face with his staff, barely coercing a reaction from her. Angel punched the other one in the face…a bad idea. Thorns stabbed the entirety of his knuckles and he withdrew his hand, cursing under his breath. Sparky fired another bolt of superheated lightning, which Angel had to dodge. It was sent wildly off course, smashing through the door. The unmistakable sound of Wolverine's claws unsheathing was heard and a mini-war was born. Things were whipping around every which way, vines sprouted from the floor, mini explosions boomed from exploding cards, and fist fights broke out! After nearly a solid minute of bobbing and weaving between attacks, a shrill, piercing, incapacitating screech filled the room.
He fell to his knees, hands covering his ears in a futile attempt to block out the screeching. The walking dead mutants collapsed and the shrieking stopped. Angel stood on wobbling legs, cautiously taking his hands away from his ears.
"What da hell was dat?" Gambit asked.
"Siryn." Wolverine grumbled. Everyone turned around to face the student that single-handedly incapacitated the threat.
"They're still alive." Hank said, checking the downed-mutants' pulses.
"Lock 'em up with the Monitor." Wolverine advised. Angel helped Doctor MacTaggert drag/carry the telekinetic. They followed Storm and Cyclops, who were dragging one of the red-skinned girls, into a room he personally had never been in before. Xavier was sitting in a chair, observing the sedated Monitor.
"Gonna need you to open the cage, Professor." Cyclops said. Angel watched as the cage door was opened and the red girls were dumped onto the floor. After he and the doc put the red head into the cage, the door was shut, secured, and bolted.
"We're not sure what happened, Professor." Angel said
"Unfortunately, I am. The drug that was administered to them, we thought its purpose was to kill. However, I was able to tap into this Monitor's memories, and-" the professor was cut off…
"Memories? No, no way. Hugh said Monitors didn't have the memories of their mutant half." Sparky interrupted, leaning against the door frame to support himself.
Hank appeared in the door way, placing a hand on the wall. "I told you, you must get back in bed. You need rest." Hank said.
"I'll rest when this nightmare is over!" Sparky said, stepping into the room.
"It's alright, Henry, he can stay…As I was explaining before, I gained access to the Monitor's memories," he turned to Sparky, "because he's human, and I learned that this substance given to you and the other was experimental. It goes through a process of stages. There are five: Administration, Infection, Death, Resurrection, and…Turning." the professor concluded.
"Turning?" Storm repeated.
"Yes. They'll become Monitors." he said.
(Cyclops)
The room was silent.
"You sayin' dat da three of dem are gonna become dat?" Gambit asked, pointing to the caged Monitor.
"Those three will, yes. Once they die, there is no turning back." Xavier said.
"So, me and the rest, we still got time?" Sparky asked.
"Not a lot." Hank said.
"Well, you have to do something!" Sparky insisted.
"Tell me, Sparky, what do you want us to do? We don't know how many bases Hugh has, we don't know if there's a way to stop this, and half the world is getting decimated by these damned Monitors!" Scott shouted.
"Well, I don't wanna die and become that," Sparky said, pointing to the Monitor, "so you all better do something fast!" he spat, stomping down the hall. Hank and Moira shared an 'oh-boy' look and left.
"He's not wrong, you know." Angel said, breaking the uncomfortable pause. Everyone looked at him. "I mean, maybe we can get a location out of the Monitor. We can go there, and see if we can put an end to this." he continued.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? I'm not trying to seem cowadish, but the last time we did something like that, we suffered some pretty steep casualties." Scott said.
"We can go in better prepared, not split into groups this time. We go in there as one wave, full force, and we can get Hugh. We can do this." Storm said.
"Well then, I better get in there." Xavier said, unlocking the cage.
"Woah, woah. You can't go in dere. If dey wake up, you'll be screwed." Gambit warned.
"Which is why Nightcrawler will stay here. If one of the transitioning mutants come around, he can grab a sedative and pop in." Xavier responded calmly, stepping inside the cage and shutting the door. Everyone quickly left, except Nightcrawler, of course.
"Are you sure attacking the base is a wise decision, Storm? I'm not trying to sound like a dick, but I don't want to…we can't lose anybody else, okay?" Scott asked as they walked down the hall.
"I understand, Scott. I'm just as concerned as you are, but we can't just wait it out." Storm replied.
"Do you think maybe-" Angel started, but shouting was heard coming from the med bay.
"Oh great, now what?" Scott asked, sprinting down the hall. He arrived at the open door, only getting halfway into the room before the scene hit him and caused him to abruptly stop.
Hank and Moira were reaching over Kitty, who was currently intangible. Her heart monitor showed no trace of a beating heart. Hank was clutching a defibrillator in each hand, but they were useless as they kept passing through Kitty's chest.
"Come on, Katherine. Give me one second of solidity…" Hank breathed. The drone of the heart rate monitor echoed loudly in his ears; he barely noticed the others behind him.
"Come on, Kitty!" Hank yelled, hands shaking.
"No…" Storm whispered, backing away.
Moira placed a hand on Hank's trembling form, looking at the clock. "Time of death…7:05 p.m."