Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution.
Chapter Ten – Fight
January 2000
It had to be a bad dream.
Roberto squeezed his eyes tightly shut. When he opened them again, he was hoping to find himself in bed, with only his racing heart to remind him of this nightmare.
But all he saw was Carole's room, her downcast gaze, and the pain in his chest increased tenfold.
He stumbled back a few steps almost automatically. "No … You didn't?"
"I wasn't trying to!" Carole cried, tears springing to her eyes. "I didn't … it was an accident!"
"How can you accidentally hand Magneto the security codes?" Roberto demanded, his mind slowly realising the truth of the situation. "How could you do this, Carole? I … I thought that …"
"I'm sorry …" Carole sobbed. "I lo …"
"Save it!" Roberto snapped. "You've played with my head; don't you dare bring my heart into this!" He spun on his heel and sprinted from her room, pulling the alarm in the hallway.
The blaring noise echoed through the mansion with instant results. Drinks fell to the floor, video games were abandoned, uniforms were donned in record time and, within seconds, the X-Men had assembled in the Entrance Hall, in nothing short of a panic.
The younger babies were screaming – even Liam – terrified by the chaos around them. Lorelai, Monica and Joey clung to their mothers, tears in their eyes as they tried to figure out just why everyone was so scared.
Scott was trying to make himself heard above the noise and Kitty, trying to soothe Liam, took pity on him and whistled sharply, startling her son into silence. "All yours, Cyke." Immediately, she went back to cooing to her son now she had his attention, which thankfully settled him somewhat, even though Cindy and Eloise were still crying.
"Thank you, Shadowcat. Okay, X-Men, as you've probably realised, Magneto has broken through the outer-perimeters and we have mere minutes before they reach us. We don't have time to think of a plan and, since Professor X, Storm, Beast and Wolverine are in Scotland, we will stay as one unit. Amanda, Bella, stay down in the infirmary, we'll keep them away. Rogue, am I right in thinking you're having a power-surge at the moment, or is this just laundry day?"
Anna looked down at her old all-in-one bodysuit. The new year had also brought new uniforms and all the X-women wore something similar to Polaris, Psylocke and X-23.
"Power surge." Anna answered calmly. Unlike the others, she had been ready for hers. With the amount of people in her head, it was only a matter of time before it happened again. "It's nowhere near as bad as the last one though. I just can't control it and I've got access to everyone's powers temporarily."
"Okay, you'd better stay then." Scott decided. "Jean, Jubilee, Magma, take the children …"
"Scott!" Jean protested.
"Jean, we don't have time for this." Scott told her softly. "The twins are scared; it'll be easier to get them to go with you. We don't have time to coax them into it." He squeezed her hand as she nodded reluctantly. "Shadowcat, Avalanche, you need to make a decision."
"I'll go." Lance stated, causing Kitty to turn to him, about to protest. "No, Kitten, you're needed here. If something happens to Cyclops or Nightcrawler, they'll need you."
Kitty grimaced, but she knew he was right. She kissed Liam's forehead and handed him to his father, who pulled her into a kiss himself.
"Be careful." Lance whispered.
"I always am." Kitty watched him take Lorelai's hand and coax her away from her parents. He led the three mothers to the escape hatch and saw them through, before lifting Lorelai and Illyana through ahead of him.
"What about Carole?" Roberto asked in a tight voice. He had filled Jean in, who had broadcast an explanation to the rest of the team.
Scott glanced up towards her room. "We hope she's on our side. X-Men, positions – X-Factor, up front here. Iceman, Havoc, assemble your teams."
Shadowcat took her place between Rogue and Nightcrawler, taking their hands and feeling others rest on her shoulders, her heart thudding in her chest.
Magneto, she knew, they could handle.
But the Marauders as well?
She couldn't believe Magneto would bring lackeys – whose loyalty to him was probably shaky at best – who had been known to kill to a place where his children were living.
She didn't have time to question it though; the front doors blew inwards, shattering at the force of whatever had hit them.
No one flinched, trusting Kitty to allow the debris to pass harmlessly through them, allowing them to see their enemies clearly for the first time.
Cyclops' face was set, his emotions unreadable, as they broke contact. "Let's do this."
A wind started almost immediately, as a mini-tornado that could only have been Riptide appeared in the doorway, sending out a barrage of spikes, forcing Kitty to turn intangible so as not to get speared.
Never before had the X-Men faced a fight such as this.
Even the battle with Apocalypse had been calmer, since each team had only one opponent.
With no time to come up with a plan and opponents that would kill them as soon as look at them, this was pure chaos.
Kitty forced herself to tune out the sounds of the battle, focusing instead on the movements her enemy was making. It was something that Wolverine had drilled into the X-Men in the early days of training: one team-member getting hurt was bad; everyone else getting distracted by it made everything ten times worse.
After what seemed like an age, and without warning, Magneto and his new Acolytes retreated, leaving behind a hall full of dust, rubble and injured mutants.
Coughing, Kitty staggered to her feet, unsure of how long the fight had lasted, a little disbelieving that it had even finished.
A sharp pain shot through her leg as she shifted her weight and she bit back a scream, gritting her teeth as she gingerly felt around her ankle for any damage. After running a hand over the rest of her leg, she concluded that her ankle was either sprained or twisted and straightened up again.
Forcing herself to ignore her injured team-mates for the time being, she stumbled through the darkness over to where she knew one of the units for the main computer was hidden and rebooted the security system.
Breathing a sigh of relief as she heard it start up again, but cursing the fact that the lights stayed out, she turned her attention to her companions, automatically reaching out to her lover as she did.
Lance? Lance, where are you?
Before she had time to realise that her attempt was futile – neither was telepathic anymore after all – he had responded, his words rushed. Mom's place. Illyana managed to shadow-walk us here. Are you alright, sweetheart?
Kitty couldn't help smiling. I'm fine, hun. Sprained ankle, I think, that's all. What I don't understand is how we're doing this.
There was a moment of silence in her head and she wondered for a minute if she hadn't just imagined his response in a moment of wishful thinking, then his voice said, No idea. Do you want us back?
Stay where you are for now. Kitty responded. We'll figure this out later – I have to check on the others. I love you.
Love you too.
Kitty ended the conversation and tried to contact Belladonna or Amanda, but to no avail. "How odd …" She murmured aloud.
Around her, the silhouettes of the other X-Men had begun rising, many of them groaning in pain and exhaustion.
"What was he playing at?" Pietro's voice demanded; she could see his outline helping Lexa to her feet. "They were winning! Why'd they retreat?"
Kitty raised an eyebrow. "You're complaining?"
"Well, no." Pietro conceded. "But it still doesn't make sense. What was the point of that?"
"Could be one of a few reasons." Lexa answered. "He could have realised that he doesn't have as much control over the Marauders as he thought. Or this was a demonstration – a warning that he's not playing games anymore. I'd wager the first one – I can't see him losing a good undercover agent on a warning." Her words elicited a few flinches from those around her at the reminder of Carole's betrayal but she ignored them. "Is the security back up?"
"Of course!" Kitty rolled her eyes, feeling a little insulted. "Come on, Lex; that was the first thing I did! And there is another reason why he'd retreat when he was winning."
Lexa nodded, looking grim. "If he already had what he came for." She held a hand out to someone lying at her feet. "Alright?"
"I think so." Paige's voice answered as Lexa pulled her to her feet. "Now what?"
"We find Cyclops." Kitty answered, her mind racing. "He should be …"
"SCOTT!"
Pietro squinted through the dust. "Is it dark in here or is it just me?"
"Power's out." Kitty peered up towards the ceiling. "Can't tell if it's the generator or the actual lights at the moment though." She raised her voice. "Havoc? Is that you?"
"Shadowcat, Scott's not moving!" Alex called, panic evident in his voice.
Cursing under her breath, Kitty led the others through the gloom to where she could see two people bent over something on the floor.
As she drew closer, she could see that the 'something' Alex and Lorna were examining was indeed their fallen leader, but the darkness left her unable to see any injuries. "Havoc, some light please."
"Sure." Alex created a solar beam and held it in his hand, illuminating the immediate area.
Straight away, Kitty could see dried blood on Scott's face, seemingly caused by a cut under his hair line, and quickly checked his pulse and breathing, feeling immensely relieved when both were steady, if a little slow. "He's just unconscious." She told them softly. "Right, what we need to do is …"
A hand suddenly landed on her shoulder and she jumped, a startled scream escaping her mouth. "Kurt! Don't do that!"
"Sorry, Kitty." Kurt smiled sheepishly. "Didn't mean to frighten you."
Kitty rolled her eyes. "What now?"
"What do you mean?" Kurt asked blankly. "You expect me to know?"
Kitty sighed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes again. "Nightcrawler, Cyclops is unconscious and Jean is not here. You're third-in-command, aren't you? What now?"
Kurt hesitated for a second. "You take over. That's what."
"Nightcrawler, you know what you're doing, right?" Kitty checked.
Kurt nodded. "I'll follow your lead, Shadowcat."
"Alright." Kitty paused for a second to adjust to the almost tangible shift in authority. "Alright, everyone, listen up! Pyro, Polaris, can you do something about the light please?"
Lorna lifted a hand and some of the twisted metal from the floor rose to attach itself to the walls, forming temporary torches.
The rush of a flamethrower sounded somewhere to their right and a ball of flame flew to each one, allowing Kitty to survey the damage.
The staircase was covered in scorch-marks, parts of the banister had collapsed and in some places the steps had actually caved in.
Chunks of plaster had fallen from the ceiling, creating the dust cloud, through which the rest of the team could be seen, waiting patiently for their instructions.
Kitty cleared her throat. "The children are safe; Lance just let me know they're in Philadelphia with Sara."
"How?" Bobby asked, breathing heavily. "You're not telepathic anymore. You're sure it was him and not … I dunno, someone else?"
"I know my own boyfriend, Iceman." Kitty stated, trying not to sound too irritated. "But at least you listen to Wolverine. I don't know how I can still talk to him and, right now, I don't care. We've got at least one man down and we need to know who else. Iceman, Havoc, assemble your teams and make sure everyone is alright. I'll take X-Factor."
Bobby and Alex turned away, the silence broken by a low murmur of voices as the team-leaders checked on the others.
Knowing where Kurt was, Kitty focused her attention on the other two. "Spyke? Rogue?"
"Over here, Shadowcat!" Evan called from the top of a pile of rubble. "And Rogue's here too, but she's not moving."
Hiding a flinch, Kitty cast a glance over her shoulder to where Remy was talking to Bobby. He didn't seem to have heard, so she didn't draw his attention to it, hurrying over to where Evan was. "Be careful." She warned in a low voice. "She doesn't have control at the moment." Bending over Anna, she carefully repeated the same checks she'd performed on Scott. "She's just unconscious. Let's not move her just yet; she's practically in the recovery position already." She straightened up and raised her voice again. "Report."
"All present and accounted for." Bobby responded. "Aside from Magma and Jubilee, but they weren't here when we started."
Kitty nodded, feeling relief begin to spread through her. "Good. Havoc?"
"All here." Alex told her. "Except Avalanche and Carole."
Kitty had known Lance wasn't there, but Carole? She glanced up at the ceiling, as Scott had earlier. "Was she involved?"
"I saw her." Rahne offered, leaning heavily on Sam. "She was definitely fighting on our side."
Kitty frowned, even as Roberto visibly brightened. "Did anyone see the Marauders leave?"
"I did." Lexa answered. "She wasn't with them."
If it was anyone else, Kitty might have questioned their certainty, but Lexa's powers of observation were second to none. "Okay. Nightcrawler, teleport Rogue to the infirmary – she's fine, just unconscious," she added as an aside to Remy, "then come back for Cyclops. Oh, and make sure you tell Bella and Amanda …"
"About the power surge." Kurt finished with a nod. "Got it."
As he and Anna disappeared, Evan's voice rose above the others. "She's here! Carole, I mean!"
Kitty spun around sharply and hurried back over, to see that Carole had indeed been part-buried in the wreckage – Anna had landed on top of her in such a way that no one had noticed her before.
"Carole?" Kitty called, pressing two fingers against the pulse-point in her neck. It was steady, but very, very slow.
"What's wrong with her?" Roberto asked, climbing up the pile of wreckage to kneel beside her – the rubble shifted dangerously beneath them but didn't give way.
Kitty glanced up at Evan, who nodded and clambered down so the mound wasn't supporting anymore weight than it had to. "I don't know." She admitted, glancing at Roberto. "But …" She trailed off as a horrible thought struck her suddenly – as horrible thoughts often do.
The sound of Kurt returning spurred her into action. "Nightcrawler! Was Rogue's uniform in tact?"
"Er, yes." Kurt answered, sounding bemused. "I think there might have been a small tear, but that was it."
"With no control, that's all it would've taken." Kitty murmured, more to herself, but it was loud enough for Roberto to hear her.
"You think Rogue managed to drain her?" He asked in alarm.
"I think it's a possibility." Kitty admitted, eyeing Carole's uniform; like the rest of the girls, her arms and midriff were bare. "But we won't know until one of them wakes up." She stood up carefully, accepting Evan's help down to the ground. "Nightcrawler, can you take Carole to the infirmary as well, please, and then go and fetch the others from Philadelphia."
"How did they get there?" Piotr asked, startling Kitty slightly – he was a very quiet man and very rarely spoke.
"Lance said that Illyana shadow-walked them." Kitty answered. "I'm going to try and get the lights back on; Berserker, I might need a boost. Everyone else, start getting this rubble cleared up."
Even as she returned to the computer and began typing in commands, she couldn't help thinking about Pietro's question and Lexa's answer.
What had Magneto been here for?
And had he, in fact, managed it?
"On second thoughts, Lexa," Kitty called over her shoulder, "can you go and check on Cerebro please?" She paid little attention to neither Lexa's departure nor the sharp intake of breath from most of her team-mates as they caught on to what she was implying. "That's odd."
"What is?" Ray asked from beside her.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry, I was thinking aloud." Kitty pointed at the screen. "I managed to get the security back up, no problem, but the power's out for everything else."
"The security system's on a different circuit." Ray told her. "If there's a power cut, that circuit gets picked up by the back-up generator first, because it's more important than light or heat."
"Right." Kitty sighed. "Means we have to go down to the mainframe then." She took his arm and phased them down through the floor, landing just in front of Lexa, who took a quick step backwards to avoid being crushed.
"Don't do that!" Lexa chided. "Cerebro hasn't been touched, Kitty; no one's entered and nothing's been taken."
"Huh." Kitty frowned. "There's my theory out the window."
"Could anyone download the files or something from anywhere else?" Roberto asked.
Lexa shook her head. "No, it has to be from in there. It crossed my mind, Kit, but that wasn't it. Power out?"
"All but the back-up generator." Kitty confirmed. "So we need to …"
"Shadowcat?" Kurt interrupted from behind them.
They all turned to see him sticking his head out of the infirmary door.
"You were right." He told her grimly. "Rogue did drain Carole."
Kitty groaned. "Oh, that's all we need! Lexa, Berserker, go and deal with the power." She jogged down the hall, following Kurt into the infirmary.
Scott was still unconscious and Belladonna was bending over him – doing what, Kitty couldn't see at the moment. Carole was lying lifeless in another cot, hooked up to a machine that beeped steadily, but still far too slowly for her liking.
Anna also looked unconscious, but a trained eye could tell otherwise and Kitty hurried to her side, taking a gloved hand in hers. "Honey, can you open your eyes for me?"
Anna's eyes fluttered open and searched the room, before resting on Kitty. "What happened?" She asked hoarsely, her emerald orbs filled with uncharacteristic fear.
Kitty frowned slightly. If Anna didn't remember, then why was Kurt so certain about what had happened. "What's the last thing you remember?"
Anna frowned as well, clearly thinking hard. "I don't." She whispered. "I don't remember anything."
Kitty's eyes widened of their own accord and she willed herself not to panic. Probably amnesia. Happens sometimes after she absorbs a lot of someone. She gets confused – start with the basics. "What's your name? Do you remember your name?"
Anna nodded slowly. "Carole Susan Danvers."
Kitty's legs shook. "Oh crap." She felt Kurt grasp her arm and lead her away from Anna/Carole. "That's not good."
"It's happened before." Kurt reminded her. "She'll be fine."
"It's not Anna I'm worried about." Kitty sighed. "The only other time she walked away from an absorption thinking she was that person was the day her powers appeared. That was five and a half years ago and that kid's still in a coma. And Anna held on longer this time."
Kurt turned towards the other bed. "So what's gonna happen to Carole?"
Kitty swallowed hard. "I have absolutely no idea."
AN: Review please!
