Disclaimer: I dont own the X-men
The Dream We Share
Chapter 21: The measure of a man
Nick fury kept his eyes on the video screen that conveyed the situation in the city. More and more sentinels were being sent in as the MRD lost control. Mutant citizens were running down the street, trying to escape the sentinel onslaught. Standing in the Sentinel's way were two men. Cade Hunter and Sven Reilly, otherwise known as Deathblade and Aeon respectively. Four Sentinels' from the Sentinel squad landed in front of the two men, also blocking the mutants trying to get through. Dani poked her head out of the crowd, catching a glimpse of the two men. Cade raised his blades and spread his legs out. Suddenly, the man dashed forward, swinging his axes. He slid to a halt behind one of the Sentinel's, lowering his blades as the Sentinel began to fall. The Sentinel slid off its legs, damage caused by Cade's perfect cut. Energy gathered around Cade's blades before he swung them again. A series of energy blades flew from the axes, cutting apart the massive Sentinel. Pieces of the machine slammed into the ground, but by some miracle they never hit the pedestrians.
"What are you people waiting for, run now," Cade growled as his eyes glowed red.
"EVERYBODY RUN NOW!" Zuzha Yu yelled.
Sven ran just as the mutants did. He jumped onto the leg of one Sentinel and climbed up the machine. A spider symbol glowed on his chest, indicating that he was mimicking the powers of a spider mutant nearby. Fury had read the young man's file; he could temporarily fuse his soul with that of another human, enabling him to temporarily absorb their powers and skills. Sven then mimicked Zuzha's powers, jumping from the Sentinel's leg to its hand and then onto its shoulder. The gaps of his armour glowed a metallic colour as he accessed the powers of another mutant. His hand took on a metal tone as it shaped itself into a blade. He stabbed the metal blade into the Sentinel's head, dragging it around to cut the head in half.
"Everybody keep going, Zuzha show them the place, only stop for other people," Dani ordered.
Cade brandished his axes and jumped up at another Sentinel. He cut open the machine's cockpit, and then stabbed the pilot in the gut. Pulling his axe out of the machine, Cade flipped back as one of the Sentinel's fired its palm laser. With no more mutants around to fuse with, Sven removed a disc shaped device from his cargo belt. He threw the device at the Sentinel's chest. As soon as the device made contact, an electrical surge passed over the Sentinel before it shut down. Cade landed on the floor and looked up in the sky. He narrowed his eyes at the transport flying away from the district. Jumping into the air, Cade left a trail of black energy as he flew. Sven ran down the street, stopping as he saw some mutants being loaded onto a truck. Without hesitation, he pulled a knife out of his cargo belt and threw it into one of the tires. He then ran forward, sprinting towards the truck. Soldiers got out of the passenger seats, aiming their rifles at the masked man. As soon as they opened fire, Sven ignited an energy shield device on his wrist. The bullets bounced off of the solid round energy shield. Sven dived forward, hitting one of the soldiers with his shield. He deactivated the shield as he punched and kicked each soldier.
"Mutant freak," The driver growled as he got out of the truck.
He pulled his pistol from his holster, aiming it as Sven as he knocked another soldier to the ground. But the driver suddenly clutched his head, screaming as his worst fears appeared before his eyes. Sven looked at the soldier in mild confusion before looking to his right. Dani ran towards the truck, checking the driver for his keys. As soon as she found them, she rushed to the back doors of the truck. She opened the doors, looking at the mutants inside.
"Everyone please get to the nearest Sewer manhole, I know it sounds crazy but believe me the tunnels are the safest place in the city for mutants," Dani explained as she helped each mutant out of the truck.
Meanwhile Zuzha Yu guided the mutant she ran with to a sewage drain. Opening the cover, she urged the mutants to go inside. They climbed into the tunnels, some complaining about the smell. Zuzha jumped down the hole, smiling as she landed.
"Sorry about the smell guys but this is the safest place we can go to right now, follow me guys," Zuzha said.
"Where are we going?" A blue skinned girl asked.
"A place called the Morlock tunnels, don't worry they've got enough room for all of us," Zuzha smiled as she led the group on.
Unbeknownst to the group someone had watched them enter the sewers. Whoever she was, she stood on one of the rooftops, a smile escaping her lips as she reported the mutant's destination. While the mutants ran, Cade flew to recover those already captured. He stabbed his axe into the back door of a transport ship, cutting it open like a can opener. Looking at the group of mutants with a stern expression, casually charged energy into his axes.
"Whoever can fly grab a partner and get out of here," He said sternly.
The crowd of mutants began jumping out of the transport. Some grew wings; others carried people with telekinesis or simply fell to the ground, their invulnerability or altered skin helping them to survive the fall. Cade however flew towards the front of the ship. The pilots widened their eyes as he launched an energy wave, blowing the ship out of the sky. Aeon and Dani looked up at Cade's actions with a mix of shock and disapproval. But they moved on, aiming to save as many more lives as they good. Dani's eyes let out a purple glow as she used her powers on the Sentinel pilots. They screamed inside the cockpits of their machines, clawing at their suits or curling up into balls. Aeon utilised the distraction as he ran to a crowd of mutants. He looked into the crowd, sifting through the powers he could use. Finding decent power sets, the gaps of his armour glowed as he fused his souls with the other mutants.
"Shoot that guy down now," A squad leader said.
MRD soldiers lined up and fired their rifles at the masked man. He clicked his fingers, slowing down time around him. To the normal untrained mind it appeared as if he used super speed, running around the bullets and knocking the soldiers out with flurries of punches. His right hand lit up while his left became surrounded with ice. Thrusting both hands forward, he increased the heat of several guns, forcing the soldiers to drop their weapons. With the ice powers he froze another group of soldier's guns, making them unusable. With their weapons disabled, the soldier's lost control. The crowd of mutants ran into the soldiers, using numbers and power to their advantage. Aeon's elemental powers disappeared as he created several pink crystal pikes. He threw them like shuriken, hitting several mutants that pounced on the soldiers. They disappeared and reappeared around a manhole cover.
"What the hell man, these guys have been sending us to concentration camps," A pink skinned girl said, brandishing the same teleportation spikes Aeon had copied.
Dani quickly ran to the group, stopping in between the crowds of mutants and the downed soldiers.
"We don't have time for revenge, forget these men, they don't understand what it is to be a mutant. Instead of trying to kill them, bringing ourselves down to their level we have to keep our heads down and survive," Dani explained.
Her words seemed to reach some of the mutants as they lowered their aggressive stances. Others such as Blink remained adamant.
"To hell with this," She said as she raised her spikes.
The pink haired girl blinked as she suddenly found herself with the group of mutants around the sewage cover. Back with Dani's group, she and her fellow mutants blinked in confusion before a brown haired boy in a green polo shirt appeared. Aeon recognised him as the one whose powers he had copied, control of time in his immediate area.
"So what are we going to do next?" the boy asked.
"Its simple, we find as many people as we can and save them, anyone who wants to run go ahead. But I know that I cant do this alone," Dani said.
"People across this district are scared, we can hear their thoughts, its not just mutants that are suffering because of the gatherings," Five identical blonde haired girls spoke simultaneously.
A skinny African American teenager shuddered as the five sister's eyes glowed. While Aeon saw that the five sisters shared a hive mind, he saw that the boy, a former cab driver had adaptive evolution powers. His body would change automatically to survive any situation. An African girl beside him had the power to control fire and ice, again a useful talent.
"If we can make a difference by intervening then why not try?" A girl in an Abaya robe asked.
Aeon nodded his head at the girl's observation. This small group was at least willing to save others. He looked up, watching as Cade flew straight towards a Sentinel. His rival crashed into the machine, killing the pilot inside as he blew the Sentinel up. He landed on the ground, smoke rising from his body as he turned to the other Sentinel's marching towards him.
"You go ahead and save lives Sven Reilly, I'll just kill these bastards for their injustice!" Cade declared before flying straight towards the machines.
His vision was blurred as he awoke from unconsciousness. He could hear people speaking around him.
"Are you all right?"
"Piotr wake up come on."
Piotr Rasputin gasped as he regained consciousness. He looked around, seeing that he was in bound to cuffs built into the walls. His arms and legs were completely trapped by the metallic cuffs. Looking around him again, Piotr saw his fellow prisoners. Julian, Maxwell and the Professor.
"Professor," Piotr gasped.
His teacher had wires stuck onto his head. Charles tried to use his telepathy but the devices on his head were blocking his telepathy. Likewise the same was being done to Julian and Magneto. The door of their cell slid open and Malcolm Colcord walked into the room. Sabretooth and, much to Piotr's shock Lorelei soon followed him. The white haired woman sultry smiled as she cupped Piotr's chin.
"But why?" Piotr could only afford two words.
"Lorelei, Wild Child and even Unus the Untouchable are part of a small group of mutants that work for Weapon X. We call them the X-Force, sanctioned mutants of the US government. For the past year now they've been working with us to secure an incentive for our Sentinel initiative," Colcord explained.
"I don't understand, why support Weapon X?" Wanda asked.
"You fucking race traitors," Maxwell growled.
"Where's Warren?" Charles asked.
"Worthington? He's indisposed, we've got Dr Essex dealing with him right now," Colcord said dismissively.
"You see guys unlike Lorelei and I there are some mutants out there who just don't see the benefit of working with Weapon X. Of course they're also unlucky enough for Essex's mind control drug to work on them," Sabretooth explained.
"But don't worry, those drugs wont work on you guys, like us your minds are far too powerful for that. However we do have other ways of putting you under our control. These are ways we employed to bring men like John Wraith under our thumb," Lorelei rubbed Piotr's chest as she spoke.
"That Magneto clone, the one who called himself Xorn, you created that machine in order to spread hatred for mutants," Charles said.
"Hatred is such a strong word, mutants do represent a genuine threat. True there are people like you and your students but in the end, its better to control a threat than empower it. An idea was bought to our attention by Bastion; he suggested a network of Sentinel's all linked together, relaying information and orders from a single computer that was controlled by a single man, a single country if you would," Colcord explained.
"You get an excuse to expand the Sentinel operation. Then you gain control of the Sentinels and have them bring to you all the mutants throughout the country. With all the mutants in camps and the Sentinel's under your control, Weapon X becomes the dominant power in the world," Magneto glared at the Weapon X director, seeing a man of both Charisma and insanity.
"America Magneto, not Weapon X but America. If a person could gain control of the most powerful weapons in the world whilst at the same time fixing the countries number one problem they might just make him president of the United States!" Colcord grinned.
"Your actions will only result in tragedy, all the blood that has been spilt for your dream is pointless," Charles said.
"No more pointless than the blood that was spilt for yours," Colcord glared.
The man frowned at the mutants before walking towards the exit. Lorelei and Sabretooth stayed, both smiling as the door closed.
"Bad luck Magneto, this probably would have been different if you'd given me more stuff," Sabretooth grinned.
"You're a thug Creed, a psycho who had no place in any order I would have built. I had at least fifty ways of killing you prepared for when I claimed victory," Magneto explained.
"But pretty soon I'll be a psycho thug with adamantium, and then we'll see whose the best."
Victor chuckled as he turned to leave.
"You're an idiot if you think you can beat Mr Logan," Maxwell said.
Sabretooth stopped, turning towards the prisoners with a growl across his face. He took a few steps towards Quill, extending his claws as he stopped inches away from the boy.
"I mean look at you, taking orders from a guy like that Director dude, your like a cat begging for some food, Meow, meow, meow! Wolverine's a wolverine, dogs fucking eat cats for breakfast dude!" Maxwell spat.
Suddenly, Sabretooth slashed Quill across the throat. Blood ran down Maxwell's chest and the prisoner's collectively widened their eyes.
"NO!" Xavier yelled.
Sabretooth laughed, licking the blood off his hands as he walked to the door.
"Wolverine's are a breed of Weasel idiot," He chuckled.
"I hope you do get Adamantium Creed, because it'll make it easier for me to rip your skeleton out of you," Erik growled.
Victor remained silent as he walked out of the door. Lorelei shrugged her shoulders as she walked away. Julian's eyes remained fixed on Maxwell's body while Xavier hung his head in shame. More and more of his children would die, and it was all his fault.
Xavier accepted the fact that he had sent children into battle. It had begun with the first X-men and it would be a trend that would carry on for many generations of the team. All those years ago, Xavier had once thought that his students would pave the way to a world where mutants were adored. Things did start off well, when the five original X-men introduced themselves to the world. Everything had been simple back then.
"Now class, today we are going to learn about the American Revolution, it all began in…"
"Snore," Warren muttered, interrupting Sean's speech.
"Warren, our country's history is important," Scott said.
"These classes have been a little boring, why don't we just visit a museum?" Jean asked.
"You know the agreement, one outdoor trip every two months, you already visited the aerospace museum," Sage explained.
"And might I add that the trip didn't go to waste, Forge and I have been working on a new means of transportation," Hank said.
It was a time when they were younger, ignorant and with only the common problems of all teenagers. Hank hadn't suffered from his physical mutation yet and Warren was still a rich brat. Xavier observed his class with a smile on his face. Despite their hesitation to learn, he still saw great potential in all of them.
"Why cant you be more like Bobby Warren, surprisingly he hasn't opened his mouth all day," Sean said, patting Bobby's shoulder.
The Iceman suddenly fell off his chair, shattering as his form slammed into the ground. Sean stepped back in horror while the other teenagers laughed. Even Sage tried to hide a smile as the ice melted into the floor.
"Don't worry Mr Cassidy that isn't Mr Drake," Sage said.
"Bugger where is the lad? Everybody spread out and find him."
Xavier rolled out of the war room, joining his students as they got into the elevator.
"Say Jean, how's about you and I go to lunch tomorrow, I'll be paying," Warren grinned as he spoke to Jean.
"Actually I'll be joining Xavier tomorrow, we're going to be visiting a scientist on evolution theories, I think his name was Professor Wallace," Jean explained.
"Heinrich Wallace? I've read his papers, but isn't he based in Germany?" Hank asked.
"While you were working on your studies Forge finished that little idea you composed. You can test flight it if you like…" Charles paused as the elevator door opened.
The Institute students and staff instantly dropped their jaws. Charles in particular was stunned by what had been done to the front hall of the mansion. Snow and ice covered every inch of the room. It was as if it was the winter season. Charles stayed at the door while the others waded through the knee inch snow. Ice statues of the team had been made, including one of Sage and Jean in provocative swimwear. There were also five snowmen, complete with scarves and carrot noses.
"Oh my god, look at this mess," Jean said, biting her lip as she tried to hold back a laugh.
"I must admit, Drake's attention to detail is incredible," Sage muttered as she admired her statue.
"Just wait till I get my hands on that boy, he'll be living in detention when I'm through with him," Sean growled.
Hank and Warren both clutched their chests as one of the snowmen began shuffling towards the door. Sean turned to the snowman, gathering air into his lungs.
"BOBBY DRAKE!" He yelled, his sonic scream throwing the snow off of Bobby's body.
Xavier had never laughed that hard in his laugh. As Bobby recalled it was really the only time he heard the man laugh. Throughout his career as an X-man, Bobby admitted that he had always been the class clown. But if one was to simply dismiss him as such then they would be surely mistaken. He was an X-man for a reason. As Bobby looked down at the atrocities being committed in Australia, he knew that he couldn't stand by and simply watch. He threw his coat off as ice began to cover his body. Then he fired several ice beams, freezing MRD trucks. Jumping off the rooftop, Bobby created an ice slide he used to travel down to the city levels. He slid across the floor, jumping to his feet as he looked towards the MRD transport ships.
"HEY FACISTS!" Bobby yelled.
The MRD soldiers turned around, some even ignoring the mutants they were gathering to focus on the X-man. Bobby fired several ice blasts, freezing the soldier's guns. Iceman raised his hands, creating ice pillars that impaled the MRD trucks and knocked other vehicles away. Creating an ice slide, Iceman slid across the street. Bullets pounced off his ice form as he slid to his fellow mutants. He jumped off the slide and landed in front of the mutants.
"Everyone get to a sewage drain, make your way through the sewer system and use it go get out of the city. Anyone who can fly or can teleport get as far away from this region as you can. Your long term goal should be to remain in hiding and stay away from any areas the Sentinel's are covering," Bobby explained.
"Who the hell are you to order us around, it's easy for you to say, we can't fight like you can!" One mutant said.
"I'm not asking you to fight, I'm asking you to run as fast as you can and don't look back. I'll cover your escape, I promise none of you will get hurt."
"Why are you helping us anyway? You aren't even from Australia, why did you leave America?" Another mutant asked.
"You really don't know? Mutants everywhere are under threat. My friends and I came here to escape that, but I know now that we can't escape. I am an X-man, a member of a team dedicated to protecting people, mutant and human alike. Everybody run, survive for as long as you can because I promise you, somehow the X-men will find a way to stop all this!"
"How and more importantly why?"
"Because its what we do, even when the whole is against us we do the right thing always," Bobby smiled. "We make the choices no one else wants to, the right choice, even if it costs us our lives," Bobby explained as he turned to the approaching MRD forces. "RUN NOW!" He yelled.
His hands shined as he fired an ice beam. He dragged the beam across the ground and upwards, slowly forming an ice wall. When the ice wall was high enough, Bobby then slid through one of the alleyways. He altered the ice slide, practically flying through the air as he looked for more mutants. Without jumping off his slide, Bobby fired two ice blasts. The blasts flew into an alleyway, freezing together the arms of two MRD soldiers. This gave the mutants they were gathering a chance to knock them down and run away. Iceman jumped off his slide, using ice beams to slow his fall as he landed between an MRD convoy. He fired two ice beams either side of him, freezing the engines and doors of one truck. His second ice beam hit the back of a mutant convoy. Bullets and stun blasts bounced off of Bobby's skin as he ran to the frozen door. His ice fist expanded as he punched the door, shattering it like glass.
"EVERYBODY OUT NOW! I'LL COVER YOU!" Bobby yelled.
He turned and fired ice beams, freezing soldiers or knocking them down. Mutants ran out of the truck, making their way down the streets as fast as they could.
"Come on fascists, hit me with everything you've got, I'm the coolest X-man of all!" Bobby smiled.
Suddenly a blast flew into Bobby's back. His ice skin cracked as he rolled across the floor. Smacking his head against a fire hydrant, Bobby's vision blurred as he looked up at his attackers. They were two Sentinels' both with their weapons aimed straight at him. Getting up off the floor, Bobby ran a hand across the crack on his shoulder. More ice armour covered his shoulder as he looked at his enemies.
Several years ago, Bobby Drake was the joker of the class. Sometimes he made people laugh and sometimes he merely offended people. But there were also times when his joking nature would cost the team dearly. It had been one of the X-men's regular fights against the Juggernaut. Marko was rampaging through San Francisco. At the time Bobby didn't think to pay attention to why he was rampaging. He simply joined his fellow X-men to stop him.
"Dazzler, blind Marko, Cannonball try to slow him down, Beak and Iceman take care of the civilians," Cyclops ordered.
He and Dazzler fired energy blasts at the man as he stampeded towards them. Cannonball flew shoulder first into Juggernaut, trying to push him back. But the man merely slapped him aside, sending him flying towards a building. Sam slammed into the building, the explosive effect of his powers broke pieces of rubble off the roof, sending them falling towards several civilians. Iceman however created a shelter of ice that blocked the rubble. He grinned as he looked to Juggernaut, who clutched his eyes as Dazzler shot him. Colossus then ran in, punching him across the head.
"Jean, keep him immobile with your powers," Scott said.
Jean nodded her head as she telekinetically pushed Juggernaut into the ground.
"Hey if you guys need something to hold him I'll take care of it," Bobby said.
"BOBBY WAIT!" Cyclops yelled.
But Cyclops's warning came too late as Bobby covered Juggernaut's body in ice.
"Problem solved," He chuckled.
The Ice around Juggernaut suddenly began to crack and the X-men backed away in shock. Juggernaut roared as he shattered his prison, sending pieces of ice flying across the area. One slammed harmlessly into Colossus's skin while Dazzler ducked to avoid another projectile. Cyclops dived to the left, dodging the shard of ice that flew at him. He quickly fired an optic blast, intercepting an ice shard before it could hit a civilian. Colossus quickly jumped at Juggernaut, grabbing the edges of his helmet. Gathering all his strength, Colossus tore the helmet off of Juggernaut's head.
"NOW JEAN!" Piotr yelled.
Jean put her hands to her head and fired a psionic blast straight into Juggernaut's head. The man yelled in a mix of fury and pain, stumbling across the floor. His eyes then rolled into the back of his head as he crashed into the ground. Iceman got up off the floor, looking to his teammates. They all looked at him with the same look of disapproval. Bobby remembered sitting in Xavier's office, looking down as his teacher lectured him.
"It's a miracle you didn't get anyone killed, Scott relayed a plan and you had to follow that plan, because disobeying orders gets people killed. You know what happens when you freeze people with Cain's strength, I thought you learned that lesson time and time again," Charles explained.
Bobby kept his head down, thinking over what he had done.
"I don't blame people for the mistakes they make Robert, but I do ask that they learn from them, and when the mistakes are truly horrific they must pay for them. As of this moment you're on probation from the team, until we've determined that your ready for duty again!"
That was several weeks before Karl came to the mansion. Bobby had still been on probation when the massacre occurred.
In the present, Bobby looked at his enemies. The Sentinels were bigger than the Juggernaut, so freezing them completely was out of the question. He charged an ice blast in his right hand and created two ice pillars with his left. Firing the blast, Bobby froze the Sentinel's legs. Then he threw the ice pillars, hitting the Sentinels in the chest. The two gargantuan machines fell backwards, the ice on their legs snapping as they slammed into the ground. Bobby then created an ice slide, rushing past the downed Sentinels. He slid through an alleyway, headfirst into an MRD platoon.
"Shit," He muttered.
A rocket suddenly flew into his ice slide, shattering it and sending him falling to the ground. Bobby felt his shoulder crack as he landed on the ground. He looked at the MRD soldiers gathering around him. There were too many of them to even count. Getting up off the floor, Iceman again strengthened his ice armour. Spikes burst out of his back and arms as he decreased the temperature around him. The soldiers around him began to shiver, while the insides of their guns froze. Iceman thrust his hand forward, freezing the engine of an MRD truck. He began running forward and no soldier dared to approach him. A few of the soldiers got as far as drawing their batons, but promptly fell to the floor as they were struck with Hypothermia. Bobby continued to run down the street, heading towards the outskirts of town. He felt a bullet slam into his ice skin, but like any other bullet it didn't do anything.
"Bullets don't work on him," An MRD sniper radioed his superiors.
"Any demolition teams in that area, converge on the mutant and hit him with rockets," The lieutenant ordered.
"But sir, property damage will be catastrophic and there are civilians in that area," One of the soldiers said.
"The PR team will pin the damage on the mutant, do whatever it takes to bring that mutant down!"
Bobby came to a stop as he saw several MRD soldiers gathering on the rooftops. They passed rocket launchers to one another, aiming them straight for the spot Bobby was standing on. He created an ice wall, hoping to block the explosions. The soldiers fired the rocket launchers, sending multiple missiles flying into the ice wall. Iceman fired an ice blast, hoping to strengthen his shield.
"Send in more Sentinels, I want him brought down," The commander said.
Bobby widened his eyes as a rocket flew past his shield, hitting the wall of a building. He yelled as a Sentinel shattered the ice wall. Two rockets then flew into the floor, launching Bobby into the air. He rolled across the floor, immediately getting up as he prepared for the next attack. A missile flew into his shoulder, sending him stumbling backwards. Then a Sentinel fired a blast from its eyes, hitting Bobby in the chest. He fell to the floor, a crack spreading across his chest.
"Damn it, come on Drake, get up," He growled.
Slamming his fist into the ground, Iceman created several ice pillars.
'That's right, focus on me you ass holes, give other people a chance to escape,' He thought.
Four Sentinels marched towards him, aiming the palms of their hands towards him. Iceman stretched out his arms as he waited for the Sentinels to start firing.
"You machines probably don't understand this, but contrary to what you might believe, next to Jean I'm the most powerful X-man there is," He began as cracks spread across his body.
The MRD soldiers backed away as ice particles began flying across the street.
"Jean's always been special, she's had some weird power that goes beyond her telekinesis. But me, I'm your standard level 5 mutant, or Omega Class if you will. I never really paid much attention to the different types, but what I do know is that Omega Class is the highest level a mutation can reach. You guys might say that omega classes are the most dangerous types of mutant. I disagree, you cant measure a man by the titles you give him, or the state of his genetics. We should be measured by our actions!"
Iceman paused as the cracks spread towards his face. Images flashed before his eyes, not quite his whole life but just enough to make him smile. He saw his normal childhood, ruined by the emergence of his powers. His girlfriend ran away from two bullies that Bobby froze. He saw Charles convincing the authorities to let him take him into custody. Despite his new situation, he still felt happy to be amongst people like him. Scott, Warren and Hank, with Jean joining them soon after, they became the first class of Xavier's school and the first generation of X-men. He remembered the countless adventures they had, the good times and the bad times. Teasing Scott about his crush on Jean, encouraging Hank to accept his blue furred mutation. He wouldn't say he was the most active of the X-men. But when push came to shove he was there when he needed to be.
"Right now I see a group of soldiers gathering people to be sent away, when they haven't even done anything wrong yet. Declaring someone illegal because of his or her genes is bullshit, where does it lead to huh? It leads us, the society we live in to a path that mirrored Germany's in the Thirties. I WONT LET ANYONE BE SENT AWAY!" He yelled.
His ice form shattered as pictured the memory of the First X-men team. That image put a smile on his face before he shattered completely. A white mist passed over the area where the soldiers gathered. They shivered while the Sentinel's remained motionless, as if the insides of the machines were frozen. The engines of the trucks howled as the soldiers tried to move their vehicles.
"Sir, we cant start any of our vehicles, including the vertical take of air craft," One of the soldiers said.
"Why not?" The Commander asked.
"Sir, we didn't believe it for a second either, but the fuel inside the vehicles has completely frozen!"
The commander widened his eyes in astonishment. Meanwhile, miles away from the city, the mutants and the few human family members with them walked as far as they could away from the region. They stopped as a white mist appeared over them.
"Don't worry, keep walking and you'll find a safe place," A voice seemed to emanate from the mist as it encouraged the mutants to move on. "Human or mutant, the X-men will protect you!"
John Wraith stood in the observation room next to the holding cells. He saw well over twenty different mutants being held. Sighing as he reached for the bourbon flask in his pocket, Wraith gulped some of the alcohol down. It was all he could do to ease the guilt of what he was doing. Young mutants were being held down while "doctors" injected them with some kind of serum to control them. The door slid open and Maverick walked into the room, holding his mask.
"Its hard to watch isn't it?" Nord asked.
"Its unbearable Maverick, not exactly what I signed up for. Hunting our own kind, there's a special place in hell for that," John explained.
"Maybe, but I've got my orders and I've been following them my whole life."
"Maybe that's why we're all going to hell," John sighed.
"At least we wont be going to the worst corner of it," Maverick said.
Both men looked down to see Sabretooth walking with Jackson and Colcord. Sabretooth looked up at them, grinning as they both glared at him. The three men walked into the labs, where mutants were being experimented on. Colossus was put in a chamber, where lava was dropped on his steel skin. He yelled in agony while the scientists took notes. Julian was strapped onto a table, yelling in pain as surgeons crafted cybernetic hands onto his stumps. Colcord and Jackson both walked into a separate area of the lab, a place reserved for the key aspect of their project. They walked down an observation platform, looking at the recovered circular dome that was Cerebro. Bastion stood at the entrance of the dome, controlling numerous holographic screens.
"Can you give us what you promised?" Colcord asked.
"Yes of course, I'll need the assistance of construction teams, we'll to know down some walls in order to properly install Cerebro," Bastion explained.
"Then you'll be able to alter Cerebro's programming?" Jackson asked.
"Yes, rest assure gentlemen, by the weeks end you'll have your control system, then every mutant across the world will be at your mercy. Now if you excuse me I have work to do," Bastion said as he typed at his holographic pad.
Bastion smirked as the two men exited the room.
'Idiotic humans, you have no idea what kind of future you're helping me to create,' Bastion thought as he continued his work.
Lorna felt cold, colder than she had ever felt in her life actually. She looked at her surroundings and felt pure fear. Darkness was the only thing she could see, there wasn't even a speck of light in her prison. She knew she was a prisoner because of the chains that bound her. They were metal but she couldn't move them. She tried to move them with her powers, but she couldn't even feel the effects of her powers anymore. A shiver ran down her spine as she saw her captor walking towards her. She was dressed in black clothing that showed off a lot of skin. Lorna glared at the woman as she caressed her cheeks.
"Don't worry Lorna, your safe with your Queen, welcome to the Hellfire Club!"
Next Chapter 22: Defiance and Acceptance
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, just to clarify Iceman isnt dead
Next time we'll focus on Kurt, Jean and Lorna as they face their captors