Disclaimer: I own nothing (if you want the full one, see chapter one)
Author's Note: Whoo! Reviews were AMAZING this time! You guys are great, really, and I'm always glad to hear from you. Wanda W, Marylouue, sarahroseserena, Charmedfan90 and Julie.
MIND OVER MATTER
-- Only the great remain standing –
Last time:
"You can sense…other mutants?" Magneto stood up then. "Using their powers."
"Yes."
"Could you…," he paused, leaning forward as if to tell a secret. "Could you find someone for me?"
-/\-
"This isn't diplomacy, it's supremacy."
"Hank, listen—"
"I will have no part in this," he stated, pushing back his chair and standing up. "Good day, Mr. President,"
-/\-
And now, let's continue…
Chapter Ten:
Rescue and Abandonment
Mobile Prison Unit, Interstate 84
September 13th, 9:20 AM
Transport the prisoner to Interstate 86, he said.
Transfer her to the mobile truck awaiting the next stretch, he said.
It'll be easy, he said.
There won't be any problems, he said.
As Special Agent Thomas Jenkins looked up at the smouldering remains of three four police cars, two bikes and an array of knocked out cops, he realized the soothing words of his commanding officers were complete and utter bullshit.
He could already see the blackness of his unconscious mind filling in at the sides of his vision, but he fought against it, pulling a phone from his pocket with his remaining good arm. He flipped it open against the pavement and pressed button after button.
But his effort was in vain as the dial tone sounded and a large combat bat boot crushed the phone to pieces. Thomas looked up to see a teenager with brown-blond hair and a cocky grin leaning over him. Fire danced in the boy's eyes as he shook his head, chuckling to himself and turned away to regroup with a handful of others, who all walked off down the road.
Groaning, Agent Jenkins collapsed onto the pavement, passing out.
Same place – twenty minutes earlier
"Why do we gotta transport these freaks anyway?" Special Agent Kale Hunter grumbled, slouching in his seat and glaring at Agent Jenkins, who was in command.
"Because no one else would," the older man shrugged.
"Yeah, but we me?" the young hot-heat groaned. "It was my day off!"
"Well, not all of us have the luxury of…what the…," Jenkins frowned, trailing off as he noticed something up ahead on the road. Since their cop car was first in line, with the truck following, and two cop cars behind that, plus a bike on either side of the mobile prison, he had to be sure it was safe.
He sped up a little to get there first, only to find a ripple was racing across the ground, cracking the pavement. It hit their car and flipped it right into the air – straight into the cab of the mobile truck prison.
Their car was easily tossed aside by the huge truck, and both agents landed in a heap with their vehicle on the side of the road. Meanwhile, fireballs went roaring past, colliding with the two cop cars in the back of the truck. Their tires screeched and they skidded to a halt, the front of one smashing into the other.
The bikes were taken care of with another ground-shake, and finally, a man with black clothes and grey and red cape wearing an odd helmet lifted up a hand, causing the cabby from the mobile prison to come right off the hinges and go flying.
The giant cargo box came sliding to a halt, slowed down and finally stopped by Magneto, who stood with the others behind him, smiling.
Inside the mobile prison
The prison lurched to a halt, jolting its passengers. This caused one guard to go flying off his feet and smash his head into the wall, whilst the other fell to the ground and skidded all the way to the back, stopping in front of Mystique's cell.
She smirked, watching the man who had threatened her earlier as he moved to get up, shaking his head. She pulled on the chains, suspending herself enough to stick her blue legs out of the cell, wrap them around his neck, and twist viciously.
He fell to the ground and she grinned. "I told you so," fulfilling her promise from earlier. She then reached out with the toes of her right foot, hooking them through the chain of his keys, and pulling them away.
With the perks of being practically – if not actually – double jointed, and totally flexible, Mystique lifted her leg straight up, using her toes and the keys to unlock the shackles on her wrists.
She dropped to the floor just as the door to the mobile prison cracked away from its hinges, falling down into a ramp shape. She watched as Magneto came walking up, holding his cape away from the ground like he always did, Pyro loyally following his side.
She grinned, pushing the door of her cell open to join them. At first, she'd been sceptic when Magneto had offered the boy a back door from the X-Geeks, but in a short time John had proven himself, as Pyro, a pyromaniac set on unleashing his powers on anyone who stood in the way of their goals.
She'd grown quite fond of the boy in a way that almost mirrored Storm of his past acquaintances, but no one would ever openly say this.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Magneto inquired, breaking her from her thoughts. She turned her yellow eyes to him.
"The source of the cure is a mutant," she revealed. "A child at Worthington Labs. Without him, they have nothing."
The man nodded slowly, before noticing a clipboard on the floor beside the guard she'd killed. With a flick of his wrist it flew through the air, and Pyro deftly caught it. "Read off the guys list, will you, my boy?"
He flipped through the pages with a finger off the hand he held the board with, running his free hand through his brown and golden locks. He smirked – his trademark, of course – when he found the right page and walked to the first cell.
"Cell 41205," he announced. "James Madrox."
The door swung open easily with a simple flick of Magneto's wrist, making the locks pop off. Inside was a tall, lean man with black hair and a leather jacket. He hopped out, grinning mischievously.
"This one robbed seven banks…," Mystique filled in, having heard things from the guards when they suspected her to be ignoring them or asleep. The man's grin widened and his shape duplicated into several others. "At the same time."
"I could use a man of your talents," Magneto smiled.
"I'm in," the man shrugged.
"Welcome to the Brotherhood."
Pyro then continued to the next cell, flipping to the next paper on the clipboard as Magneto followed. Mystique did as well, but not before noticing the crouched form of a green-skinned mutant and a tall man with animalistic qualities coming up the ramp to follow.
Toad winked, while Sabretooth grunted, both in recognition. She was happy – or as happy as Mystique could get – that they were both alive and well. After the Liberty Island incident, she had not known whether her two companions, and if you could call them that – friends, had come out on the breathing end.
By the looks if it, they had, and it brought a confident smirk to her lips as she joined Pyro and Magneto.
"Careful with this one," she announced, seeing which cell they stood before.
"Cell 41206. Solitary confinement," Pyro 'hmm-ed' his eyes scanning the next few lines before he looked up at them. "Get this; prisoner must be confined at all times."
Toad snickered, and Sabretooth growled slightly, making Mystique's smirk widen as Pyro resume his lecture. "If he builds up enough momentum, nothing can stop him. He calls himself the Juggernaut, and was previously known as—"
"Cain Marko," Magneto said, a grin spreading onto his face.
Pyro looked up with a frown, noticing how all four former teammates shared knowing looks. "You guys know this mutant?"
"He ain't no mutie," Toad shook his head, chuckling. "'is suit gives him power. If 'is helmet is taken off, he's vulnerable to mutant powers targetin' 'is head or min'. I always wondered what happened to the poor buggah."
Just then, Pyro got the go-ahead from Magneto, and lifted up a hand, rolling his index across his thumb and effortlessly clicking his fire to life, melting away the locks with ease. After that, the door swung open to reveal a large, muscular and quite frankly, enormous man wearing a maroon and red outfit and matching helmet.
The man looked around at the array of mutants before him, and he struck recognition, making him grin. "You kill Chuckles yet?"
Having gotten the most information out of Toad, Pyro aimed his questioning glance at said mutant, who grinned, shrugging.
"Did I forget mention he's Xavier's step-brother?" Toad cackled.
"You gonna talk about me, or lemme outta here?" Juggernaut barked, fidgeting against the many bolts that held him in place. "I gotta pee!"
It brought a chuckle to Toad and Pyro at least, but not Magneto, who merely lifted a hand to tear away the bolts and straps, freeing the man of his prison. He pushed the rest aside and jumped down, causing the whole mobile prison to shake.
Standing up straight, Pyro realized he was taller than even Sabretooth, a feat which he'd always thought was impossible. Well, apparently for Mr. I-Wear-A-Funny-Hat, impossible was nothing.
"Nice helmet," Pyro commented, unable to retain himself any longer. The smirk that spread onto his face was normally irritating or infuriating for anyone outside the Brotherhood (mostly those at the Institute).
"Keeps my face pretty," Juggernaut replied, grinning.
Magneto smiled, almost proudly, looking at Juggernaut. Meanwhile, Sabretooth sniffed at the air and growled, turning around. He spotted the guard that had been knocked out earlier had regained consciousness, and was raising an arm with a cure gun.
"I think you'll make a fine addition our army," Magneto was saying, just as the guard fired off a dart.
"NO!" Sabretooth roared, leaping forward. It attracted everyone's attention, and they turned in time to see a cure needle dig into Sabretooth's chest. The tall and muscular man smiled toothily and stood up straight, calmly ripping the needle out.
"Is that all you've got, you insignificant little—"
He suddenly dropped, writhing on the floor, the needle carelessly discarded, now useless. His mane of hair began to shrank, as did his pointed teeth and tails and in no time the seven foot tall man had shrunk to just under six feet, looking perfectly human.
Pyro reacted first as the guard went for a taser, and brought up his arm, flicking his wrist igniter to action and burning the man to ashes. Magneto stared down at the fallen Sabretooth, the last traits of his power vanishing through convulsion.
"You saved me," the man mused, before turning towards the door.
"Wait…," Sabretooth, or Victor Creed, rasped, his voice no longer containing the growl it always had.
"Sorry, Victor, you're not one of us anymore," Mystique smiled, almost warmly, joining arms with Magneto as they headed for the door.
"Well said, my dear," he agreed. "How unfortunate, he was such a great warrior."
Pyro looked at the man – now a mere human by the name of Victor Creed – and then up at the leaving mutants, a look of utter disgust on his face. Everyone's just a casualty they can throw away…
"C'mon, lad, no sense hangin' 'round here," Toad said, offering Sabretooth a sympathetic look before patting Pyro on the back and hopping off after Magneto and Mystique. Juggernaut and Multiple Man followed, and last, with once final glance cast at the de-mutinized man, Pyro left the truck.
White House, Washington
September 13th, 1:30 PM
"You think resigning will make a difference?" the President asked, arms folded on his desk. "That's no way to influence politics."
"Policy is being made without me, Mr. President," Hank McCoy stated, adjusting his glasses. "The decision to turn the cure into a weapon was made without me. What happened on the convoy this was inexcusable! But your actions—"
"Hank, that was an isolated incident!" the man cried, his voice slightly raised as he stood, his hands on his desk. "You have to understand that those mutants were real threats."
"Have you ever begun to think what a slippery slope you're on?"
"Hank, listen—"
"No, now you listen! I have been living my life with ape-like features, being teased and harassed," Hank snapped, never losing his political disposition. "The only person who helped me was kidnapped by Stryker and his men last year, and you authorized it!"
The President tried to protest, but Hank continued.
"I was always trying to develop a cure. My attempt failed and made me blue," Hank went on. "I realized that I wasn't meant for the cure no matter how I looked!"
There was an uncomfortable silence that passed between the two men, and the President sighed, folding his arms behind his back and walking to his window, looking down at the grounds.
"I worry, Hank, when one man can kill an entire city without hesitation."
"As do I," McCoy nodded, realizing they had drifted back to the subject of Magneto and the convoy. "But even you are capable of that,"
"Don't avoid it. A war is coming! It's only going to get worse," he stated, turning back to look at the Secretary of Mutant Affairs.
"All the more reason for me to be where I belong," Hank replied, turning away and leaving the office, telling his secretary to schedule him into the quickest flight to New York. The President sat down at his desk, sighing and shaking his head.
He reached to press the intercom button on his desk. "Send in Bolivar Trask."
A/N: Muahaha, so there, I've done it. I've saved Mystique (because I always thought it was cruel to just toss one of the most sadistic, scheming and manipulative "I'm-100-percent-loyal-to-Magneto" characters aside.) Anyway, other than that for future storyline purposes, I made Pyro very aware that he's probably just a pawn to Magneto as well, and…the Pres is calling in the creator of a certain project. What'll happen next? Well, send me your thoughts, and you'll find out.
Next:
Chapter 11: Phoenix Rising
"Jean, stay with me! Look at me! Look at me! Focus! Focus."
"Poor little untouchable girl, so misunderstood, so fragile…so powerful."
"She's left the mansion. She's trying to block my thoughts. She's… so strong."