Stolen

Chapter Nineteen: Rebellion

*****

Robert Drake looked around cautiously as he leaned over the exhausted mutant and examined her to see if she was worth saving. This was not a position neither him or Colossus wanted to be in, having to decide which mutant was healthy enough to be able to withstand the rigorous escape ahead and which ones are just plain hopeless. No one wants to have to choose between the potentially living and dead but that was part of being an X-Men, was having to make the choices that no one else can or wanted too.

"Think she'll make it?" He asked for the opinion of the strongly built man next to him whose eyes scanned her frail body and hopeless eyes, the clumped dirt in her green hair making it appear like the color of dirty pond scum.

"What's your name?" Peter asked her as he lifted her up by the arms, watching her feet hold herself up while anchoring her weight against his.

"Lorna," she said quietly, not wanting to catch the attention of the few guards, "Lorna Dane." She looked at them and despite the torn leather and their dirt smeared faces; she could tell that they were not one of the enslaved. The tears were too clean and new and the energy level they possessed told her that they had not been victim to this torture for long.

"Who are you guys?"

"We're here to help," Bobby said quickly and brought his hand close to hers. To the eyes of the guards it looked like two young servants helping a fallen comrade but what they did not notice was the icy frost that started to wrap around the immunity band on Lorna's wrist. Once Bobby had frozen the band, Colossus delicately covered his hands around it and added just enough pressure to shatter the thick bracelet without hurting the wounded girl.

"Keep quiet," Bobby said to her as he turned his attention away and started to grudgingly march the line like so many mutants in front of him. Lorna followed suit but not without noticing the line of mutants behind him who were also nervously walking the same line, while trying to turn their naked wrists away from the superior eyes of the guards.

"We need information," Peter whispered to Lorna from in front of her, going through the same motions they did with all the previous ones that they were in the process of saving. "Who brought you here and why?"

"I don't know who brought me here. I was on my way home and then all of a sudden a giant robot attacked me out of nowhere and when I woke up next thing I knew I was here."

"What are they making you do?" Bobby added from behind her.

"We're building, I heard one of the guard say we're building the means to and end," she whispered to her saviors.

"The means to and end?" Bobby echoed her words, trying to dissect its meaning. "Do you anyone by the name of Marie D'Ancanto or Rogue that was taken hostage here?"

"Never heard of her," she replied back, her eyes catching the questionable gaze of a foot soldier as he approached her. She broke contact with him in the hopes that he won't notice her, like none of them did but their rapid exchange proved her wrong.

"You there," he said through his mustached lips and dark glasses as he hovered over the nervous girl whose concern became that of both Bobby and Peter, afraid that her moment of anxiety might expose their strategy for salvation. "What's all this chatter about?"

"Nothing," she stuttered, attempting to mask her contempt for the human individual on a power trip. She knew that without the dwindling effects of the immunity band that the insignificant man would be no match for her but at the same time she did not want to expose the rest of the individuals.

"Don't sound like nothing," he barked at her and pulled her out of the line up. Slowly circling her, he was trying to show his invisible display of power to frighten her. "What's your name?"

"Lorna Dane," she said quickly and was met by the sting of the back of his hand as he slapped the girl in the face as though she were a dog that needed to be punished for misbehavior.

Bobby can see her face getting hotter and can almost feel her anger as he watched her eye him, even daring him to do that again. This worried him because he knew that if she cannot stay composed they will surely loose everything that they had been fighting for.

"You have no name here," he shouted at her as he grabbed her by the ends of her scalp, forcing her head to tilt back to face him. "Unless we give you a name, you have none. Do you understand me?"

"Ye-yes," she gritted through her teeth. He released his hold on the girl and shoved her back in line.

"Now, what is your name?"

"Lorna Dane," she said absentmindedly and out of the corner of her eyes saw that he was about to lift his hand again to strike her. She would not stand for this; she is a mutant, a powerful mutant whose stubborn nature will not allow her to be struck twice by some insolent man.

She looked at the thick Swiss watch on his wrists and raising her open palm up stopped him by the metal gears and shiny face of the device. He looked at her angry face with a confused and almost frightened look, the same look that so many men before him had given her before trembling before her powers.

"My name is Lorna Dane," her voice was stern and powerful, "Don't ever forget that," she continued and with another swift movement of her other hand sent metal debris that was caked with dirt from the ground to his fearful face and large body. The onslaught of sharp and rusty metal pieces tore through his skin and clothes, rendering him a bloody mess as he fell to the ground at her feet.

Bobby and Peter looked at her and knew exactly what she was capable of, they saw it in the way her mind manipulated the metal, had seen it before in Magneto. She was a combination of hatred, recklessness, and power, all the things that they knew could potentially lead to their downfall.

The newly freed mutants gathered around her and the dead body, creating a circle around Bobby and Peter as they both examined the dead man.

"Why did you do that?" Bobby shouted at her as he stood up to face the defiant look on her face. "Do you know what you've done?"

It was too late, Bobby knew. He heard the shouts and orders of the other guards as they activated the mutant bands which shocked the majority of their still trapped colleagues to an unconscious submission. He counted in his mind really quickly the number of freed mutants that can contribute to the onslaught of war, a measly twelve, and saw the giant iron gates of the large building near the dam open up as an army of hundreds of camouflaged men stormed out of it heavily armed.

"We have to get out of here," Peter said to him as he gestured to the other mutants to retreat. Pulling Bobby along, he let Lorna lead them out into the open fields towards the gated exit.

"Wait, what about Rogue?" Bobby stopped them and reminded the already metal armored mutant of the reason why they were here to begin with.

"Right, we have to get to her and find Logan," he agreed and both of them turned to Lorna who just stood there looking at them as if waiting for direction.

"You can go if you want but we need to find the rest of our team," Bobby assured her that they will be ok but she just gave them her trademarked disobedient gaze.

"Do you know where she would be?" The green haired girl asked them before stopping fury of metal bullets that came their way. They saw her focus all of her strength at just stopping mere bullets. Both Bobby and Peter knew that she was not as strong as Magneto who had the control and strength to move bridges but regardless of the weakness of her control, they knew they needed her.

"The small building to the north," Bobby replied as he lead them up a hill towards the building that he hoped his friends would be in and safe from the destruction on the fields.

Following behind him, Lorna did all she can to stop the onslaught of firearm headed their way, as Peter did what he can in the front of the line to make a safe route for them by causing a thrashing of pain to the soldiers that stood in the way. She was getting exhausted, the months that she spent in the camp had drained her and this was pushing her to the extreme.

"There's too many of them," she yelled. "We need more help." Bobby turned at her distress and released a flurry of ice towards their way, trying to create a thick wall in order to stop the impending attack.

There was too many of them, he realized, feeling defeated. He had a fleeting thought about just escaping instead of trying to find the Logan and Marie and glanced at the exit to the left of them that was blown open and melted as a collision of forced fire sent the gates flying to the air, hitting the men in front of them.

He looked beyond the blown gates to see John Allerdyce, the Pyro, his best friend leading a troop of at least fifty men onto the fields to help their ailing escape.

*****

"You guys know what you need to do and where you're to go," he reminded his troops one more time before they approached the invisible battle line that existed just five feet before the iron chain linked gate. "Strength in numbers," he said to them trying not to think about how many will be sacrificed in the looming battle, "no one gets left behind, got it?"

The wave of mutant shouts and calls were heard from behind John as he prepared himself mentally for what he was about to put these good obedient people through. They followed him so willingly as if he had the answers to their problems and that was a responsibility that he did not want but right now he needed them. He needed as many of them as he can if he were to find his way back to his distressed damsel.

Marie…the memories of her sweet voice kept stinging at his heart and reminded him of why he was doing this to begin with. He had to find her, he needed to be with her and he would set the whole world aflame if it meant having those preciously stolen moments with her.

It was agonizing the way that her voice kept echoing into his mind, pleading with him to save her that fueled his body with drive. Never in his life had he seen Rogue rely on anyone to rescue her. She was never the damsel in distress type but the image that kept playing on his mind was just that and it vexed him and only added more fire to his rage.

John, please…help me

I need you…

"On my signal," he shouted behind himself as he lifted his hand, having repaired his wrist igniter before he left, and forced the gate open with the pressure from his powers. "Now," he said and waved them in, waiting for every last one of them to rush the fields before he stepped onto the desolate grounds behind them, still hearing Marie's excruciating voice in his psyche.

Watching as the first wave of his battalion feel the sting of being outnumbered, he was amazed that they still held on, knowing that their heart was more into the fight than the uniformed troops attacking them. Looking at the fields he saw the grounds littered with unconscious mutants and a handful of ones running away, towards the open gates. Either they were expecting him or someone had already started the revolution. He was not going to ponder this any longer, he thought, as he looked up to see the dark shadows of the large building where he knew she would be.

I'm here

Waiting for you, please

Her voice whispered in his mind and forced his body forward, almost as if he was in a trance.

"JOHN," the loud deep voice of Robert Drake broke him out of his stride and he looked farther down the field to see his friends along with an unknown mutant several yards away from him. "John, over here," the distress in his voice was evident as Pyro ran to his battle ridden comrades while combating the blaze of gunfire and artillery.

"What the hell are you doing here Drake?" John shouted over the drowning noise of war.

"I should ask you the same thing but I'm glad you are," Bobby told him as he looked back up to the small building where, according to Tom Hartley, Rogue was held captive.

"Watch out!" The ice man heard Lorna yell as she pushed him on the ground and with one quick motion, lifted her hands to the stop the large broken pieces of debris that was mere inches away from piercing her face.

Looking at the girl's reaction, whose nerves were almost shattered at the near death experience, a light bulb turned on in John's head as he realized the full extent of the girl's ability and how they finally had an upper hand to play against the domineering robots that have yet to make an appearance.

"You," John approached her slowly with wide eyes, "you can control objects, telepathic?"

"No," she said to him as she dropped her arms and collapsed on the ground, trying to gain some strength. "Just metal, only metal," Lorna told him in between large gasps of breath.

Even better, John thought to himself, thinking of the amount of help and leverage he will need the minute he steps inside the building full of sentinels that were meant to keep him from his blissful eternity with Marie.

"How far can your powers reach?"

"Not far, I have to see it to be able to control it and even then, it takes a lot." She was not the powerful mutant that he had hoped she would be but she must have some use, John thought. He looked around and saw the dying and immobile mutants and turned back to the other side to see the masses of guards headed their way, some of them carrying small devices.

"Those remotes," John told her, remembering the source of all the mutant inhibitors, "Get those remotes and destroy as many of them as you can."

Lorna nodded her head in obedience, understanding his thinking, as Bobby helped her up and she focused as much as she can. Her eyes only saw three of them but three should be enough for now. Squinting her eyes sharply, and using her arms to shift her center, the other three boys saw as she willed the metal devices to shattered pieces and then watched as she collapsed back on the ground, a thick cloud of sweat evident on her forehead that soaked her hair.

Bobby, catching the falling girl, looked around and saw a number of immobile and unconscious mutants rise up and after shaking themselves out of unawareness, joined their uprising. "You did it Lorna," he said to the girl in his arms whose rough face forced a small smile at the successful result of her hard concentration.

"Did you doubt me?" She replied arrogantly to him, never letting go of her strong nature and Bobby couldn't help but smile back admiring her vigor.

John please help me, I'm here

Marie's voice cried in John's mind but louder and more damaged this time as he proceeded to walk towards the large building, not necessarily caring whether or not the rest followed him.

"John, where are you going?" Peter stopped him quickly before his pace could quicken.

"Rogue, we have to get to Rogue, I have to get to her," he replied, the sheer look of tranquil determination evident in his eyes. He kept on walking and all the distraction and destruction around him was not going to keep him from her now or ever.

"John, where are you going? That's the wrong building, she's not there," Bobby shouted as he handed the exhausted girl over to Peter to carry her and rushed to John's side, pulling him on the arm, trying in useless regard to get him to break his stride. "John, what is the matter with you, she's not there."

"No, she's there, Bobby, I don't know how I know but she is. I can hear her, she needs me," Pyro told him, not breaking his pace or turning to look at Bobby.

John

Her voice in his mind was trembling with tears this time. It hurt him to the very core of his body to even think that his beautiful Marie could be suffering. He had to get to her. He had to see her. He had to protect her.

Please hurry

He could not handle it anymore, the idea that she was in such turmoil ripped through him like a dull and rusty serrated knife and he found a sudden burst of energy that fueled him as he went running towards the large building refusing to let anyone get in the way.

"JOHN," Bobby screamed at the hasty mutant whose image just disappeared beyond the horizon of ruin.

He was torn, a part of him wanted to go with John to make sure he does not do anything that would get himself killed but another part of him knew that he needed to find Rogue. John was almost too certain that Rogue was in the building and Bobby wondered what the driving force behind that firmness was. Tom Hartley had told him to stay away from that building at all costs but then again did he really trust Tom Hartley to tell him the truth when he was so willing to sacrifice Kitty?

Many different scenarios were playing in Bobby's mind as he assessed the situation at hand. Hartley very well could have been lying to them and maybe Rogue was in the larger building. He could have been leading them into a trap but than again what if John was the one falling under the trap and Hartley had been right to warn them to stay away from the building adjacent to the dam.

"Bobby, look," the Colossus diverted his attention from his thoughts at pointed to the small building where three very familiar figures emerged from the broken door. While their outlines were just a blur, Bobby and Peter knew exactly who two of them were as one jumped off the back of the other who hovered over her protectively.

Bobby's attention turned back to the large building where his frantic best friend had disappeared into long ago as the three of them trudged towards the shadows of the emergent figures. His mind could not help but think of what disaster John had walked himself into.

*****

So in case you've noticed, I am updating more frequently than I normally do and that's because I'm pretty much done writing it and now I am just editing and proofreading.

Also, Sage, yeah I do tend to update a lot too on average because there's nothing that bothers me more than authors who don't update and leave you on a cliffhanger for months or don't tell you that they just gave up writing. Also, don't be too hard on Magneto, you have to understand from his point of view that John was being reckless and Magneto is a smart man, he knew John wasn't thinking clearly. He was thinking about rescuing Rogue more than he was concerned with the attack strategies.

Previews for Chapter Twenty:
The X-Men unite, sort of

Again, read and review