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Chapter 14: Friendly Warning
"So, why did you call me down here?" I ask, looking between Chuck and Scott. We're back down in the labs, looking at Scruffy's X-rays.
"You said that Erik was interested in adamantium," Chuck states, wheeling around to look at me. I cross my arms and shrug. Big deal! So what? "I was curious, do you happen to know what he wants with Logan?"
"What am I, your spying angel, Charlie?" I ask curiously. "I told you, I haven't spoken to Erik since the train, and when we did talk he never mentioned Scruffy or any diabolical plans, okay?" Christ, why can't he just believe me! I'm so sick and tired of this third degree bullshit!
"I'm sorry, but I had to ask," he states apologetically and wheels around to get a closer look at the X-rays.
"You know, it's already been thirty-two hours and you still have no idea what Erik wants with Scruffy. Clocks a-ticking, Chuck," I warn him.
"What are you looking for, Erik? There are more powerful mutants. What could Magneto want with this one in particular?" he wonders.
"Maybe it's his way with people," Scott comments dryly, crossing his arms.
"You don't like him," Chuck states. I can hear the smirk. Hell, I'm smirking, too.
"How could you tell?"
"Well, I am psychic, you know." Same thing he said too me. It might be just me, but Chuck seems a bit too cocky lately. So unlike him. At that moment though, Scruffy bursts into the room, Ororo not far behind.
"Where is she?" Scruffy barks forcefully.
"Who?" Scott returns, looking at him like he's a maniac. Then again, he does kind of look like one. I'm surprised he's not foaming at the mouth. And that hair, yeesh!
"Rogue," Chuck answered, casting about with his mind again. Show off. "She's gone."
""Gone"?" I echo incredulously, looking from Scruffy to Chuck with concern. "What do you mean "gone"?"
"She's left the school," he answers. "Come, she couldn't have gotten far." With that, he rolls past all of us and into the corridor.
In the long, dark corridor, the walls and floor gleam. It's well lit, as usual, and strangely echoless. I hate that. It's almost as if we're in the dead past, waiting for the Langoliers to chew us up. Still, we follow Chuck to a thick steel door at the end of the hall that I haven't seen in a very long time.
"Where are we going?" Scruffy asks impatiently.
"To find Rogue," Chuck answers simply.
"How?"
"The brainwaves of mutants are quite different than those of the average human being," he explains, stopping eye level at a black screen. He leans forward and the screen lights up. "Cerebro amplifies my power. It allows me to browse the world's consciousness and find the genetically enhanced." The vertical beam scans across his eye and a picture of his retina appears on the screen next to a computerized image of the same. The two images overlap and match perfectly. "This is how I found you." This is how he finds everyone. A small beep and a loud knock of tumblers rolling and the vault door opens.
"Welcome, Professor," the computer drones. Figures that it would be a woman greeting him every time.
The doors open, and Scruffy walks behind Chuck further into the room while the rest of us wait at the door. This place hasn't changed a bit.
It's the same high spherical ceiling with that huge device in the center. Part computer, part super- structure. Cerebro is the sort of precision tangle of metal and wire that would seriously make Da Vinci drop to his knees and weep. The space in the bottom fits Chuck and his chair perfectly, a modification made after the accident by Erik. Suspended above its center though is a web of wires, tubes, and cables all connecting to the heart of the device: a chrome skullcap.
"Welcome to Cerebro," Chuck says, smiling lightly. God, I hate this room.
"This certainly is a big, round room," Scruffy deadpans, perhaps a little impressed. He's so dismissive though, I can't tell. He'd make a hell of a partner with an attitude like that though. Chuck just chuckles amusedly. Why does he always let Scruffy slide on shit like that? He'd never let any of us, certainly not me.
"The brainwaves of mutants are different from those of average humans. Cerebro allows me to find those brainwaves across great distances. Its how I plan to find Rogue," he explains.
"Why don't you just use it to find Magneto?" Good question.
"I've been trying. But he seems to have developed some way to shield himself from it."
"How would he know how to do that?" Another good question, on his part anyway.
"Because he helped me build it," he answers. Scruffy's silence clearly says he's shocked. After all, he's been staying in the home of a man who's protecting him from his enemy who just happened to be a former friend. Talk about uncomfortable. Not to mention complicated. "Gwen helped as well. You may ask her any of questions you might have." No, he may not! "Now if you'll excuse me…"
All of us watch as Chuck fits his wheelchair into the huge machine, followed by the chrome skullcap. The way that thing lowers onto his head, fitting like a second skin, is so damn creepy. Scruffy, thankfully, takes that as his cue to join us in the hall. Just as the doors shut, Cerebro hums and comes to life. What was dark and menacing is now a brilliant explosion of light.
"So, you helped him build that thing?" Scruffy asks, leaning against the wall next to me.
"Just as a power source," I answer, hanging my head.
"Sounds like fun." Is he serious or is that sarcasm?
"Trust me, it wasn't," I state, looking at him seriously. "I hate that room."
"Why?" Why? Why do you have to be so nosy? Why do you have to ask? Why do I want to tell you why? Life sucks.
"You know how Chuck's in a wheelchair?" I ask and Scruffy nods, looking at me like I'm dumb. "Who do you think put him there?" Frowning, I look away from his shocked face.
"You mean, you…in there?" I just nod and look back at the doors, remembering what Chuck told me about what would happen.
His mind would reach out, pass into its atmosphere and make a few orbits. All the while, he would hear the deafening voices of billions in every language and every thought. Every country, every city, every town, berg, hamlet, and village – all were subject to his control. But he would never be that manipulative. He's not power hungry like that. He would hear everything until the voices descend to a sizeable crowd of millions, then thousands, gradually working their way to the one he's looking for.
"Have you ever…?" Scruffy directs at Jean, nodding to the door.
"Used Cerebro?" she supplies and shakes her head. "No. It takes a degree of control, and, well, for someone like me, it's…" Too much to handle you candy ass, bitch!
"Dangerous," Scott states. Oh, he is so glaring at Scruffy from behind his shades! Smirking a little, I try to hold back my laughter. The door opens, thankfully crushing my laughter, and Chuck wheels out to us.
"She's at the train station," he states.
"Where is it?" Scruffy asks.
"About two miles from here," he replies and Scruffy begins to walk off. "Logan, you can't leave the mansion! It's just the opportunity Magneto's waiting for!"
"Look, I'm the reason why she took off," he states, stopping to face him and tell us this.
"We had a deal," Chuck reminds him. Oh, him, too, huh? Chuck seems to be making a lot of deals lately.
"She'll be all right. She's just upset," Ororo assures him but Scruffy clearly isn't assured. Neither am I.
"Storm, Cyclops, find her. Bring her back," Chuck orders and they follow their orders. Once their gone, Chuck goes to the elevator to leave. He waits for Jean, who I see shares a look with Scruffy, before joining him. I push off the wall and pat Scruffy's shoulder as I walk away, entering the elevator as well. It's a quite trip to the surface.
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"Where do you think you're going?" I ask, switching on the light to the garage. There's Scruffy, sitting on Scott's motorcycle with the keys in the ignition.
"What, are you gonna tell on me?" he retorts. Yeah, right, like I'm so teenaged snitch. Hello! Twenty-four years old here! I'm adult! I don't snitch!
"No," I say, annoyed, "just be careful, huh?" Scruffy looks at me curiously. "Scott loves that bike. He's been restoring it for years," I state.
"Yeah, I'll try not to crash," he says with a smirk. Okay, that pretty much guarantees that he's not going to be careful with it. I just nod, rolling my eyes and turn to leave.
"Oh, and, um," I begin, stopping in the doorway to look at him again, "Chuck is right. Erik…Magneto," I correct, "will be waiting for you. Rogue's probably just bait. Watch your back," I warn.
"Are you worried about me, Livewire?" Scruffy asks, smirking cockily.
"No!" I answer quickly. "I'm just saying that…" What am I trying to say? Am I really worried about him? No, not possible. Simply not possible. "Erik's got a thing for trains. And, when he travels, he doesn't travel alone." There, that should be clear enough.
"Thanks," he replies with a nod.
"Not a problem," I tell him. "Oh, and walk that to the gates before you start it up," I tell him as he puts his hand on the ignition. "Kids do sleep here, Wolverine."
P.S.: Five pages total.