Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men: Evolution, or any of the associated characters. I know it's been a while since the last update, but I would have expected this to be obvious.
Summary: See Previous Chapters.
A/N: It's been almost three years since the last update, and I have frankly lost inspiration. The X-Men: Evolution world took a spin at "Day of Reckoning", so that is where I will be finishing the fic. If anyone wants to take it up from there, feel free, and I'll even email you the previous chapters, as long as due credit is mentioned.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Pietro was pacing back and forth in his room, his mind going in circles.
For most of his life Pietro had adored and looked up to his father. When Magneto had locked Wanda in a mental institution, Pietro had told himself that his father was only looking out for them. When Magneto had dumped him with the Maximoff family and disappeared, Pietro had reassured himself that his father would be back for him. Years later, Magneto had shown up to get him out of jail and sent him to join the Brotherhood. Pietro had thought that leading the Brotherhood would be his big chance to prove himself, to make Magneto proud. Boy, had he been wrong.
Pietro had tried to assert himself as the boss from day one, only to be informed by the then-only girl that she was in charge, so he'd better learn to deal with it. In spite of that, it was only a few weeks before Pietro felt more at home with the Brotherhood than he had in years with the Maximoffs.
Lance had a temper, and was very possessive when it came to his jeep. He and Pietro always seemed to be competing against each other, but he was a good guy, a good friend, when you got to know him. Toad had hygiene issues, and enjoyed snacking on insects, but he made an effort when he saw how much it affected the others, and they had worn him down to one shower a week, rather than once a month. Fred was always hungry and very sensitive when people teased him about his size. He wasn't what you would call smart, but he would always stick up for the rest of the Brotherhood and tried to control his temper around them.
Tabitha had been a Hellish Nightmare on two legs, but she had only been with them a few months, out of necessity, so she didn't count. Mystique was strict, but she cared about them, and looked out for their interests, and the boys viewed her as something of an aunt. Rogue had a biting sense of sarcasm, but she was also a great leader, and treated them like family, and had masterminded the plan to get Wanda out of the Asylum and teach her control.
Wanda. Pietro's twin sister, the person he could always count on to be there. His other half. Sure, she had been furious at what happened and nearly hexed him when she saw him for the first time in eight years, and Pietro had been frankly worried when she and Rogue formed a strong friendship, (no-one wants two girls with that kind of collective embarrassing stories swapping notes, after all) but Pietro had solemnly promised himself that he would never let her down again.
Now that Promise was being put to the test. Magneto had called, and asked for his help in exposing mutants, a plan that would involve lying to the rest of the Brotherhood and probably leading them into a trap at some point.
Not that Magneto would ever put it like that, of course, but Pietro wasn't stupid, and knew that the rest of the Brotherhood would never go along with such a scheme. Magneto had told him to think about the request/order, and get back to him with his answer. Therein lay Pietro's dilemma.
Regardless of what Magneto might think, the Brotherhood couldn't care less what he wanted, especially after Asteroid M, the 'Test' for Rogue and Mystique, and the incident in New York over Christmas. Magneto didn't control them, and unless they all decided that exposing Mutants was a good idea, the Brotherhood would have no part in Magneto's plan.
Besides, Joining Magneto would mean having to work with Sabertooth, who was the very definition of a bad hair day, that crazed pyromaniac, and the terrible 'Nature Twins'. Not to mention that infuriating Cajun who usually played messenger, and who kept talking in the third person and trying to hit on Rogue. If Pietro had to hear one more comment about the fascinating allure of his almost-sister while his father went on about 'the glory of Mutant-kind', Gambit was going to find himself in a lot of pain.
And if Gambit turned out to be able to dodge Pietro… well, then Pietro would just tell Rogue and the others what Gambit had been saying, and enjoy watching the show.
Taking a deep breath, he walked downstairs to where someone would be starting dinner soon. Since the entire Brotherhood gathered there to either supervise (Rogue and Fred, when it wasn't their turn) or try to sneak tastes (everyone else), he could tell them all at once.
As it turned out, Pietro's decision came at a good time, as the X-Men called just as he finished, asking if the Brotherhood had seen Wolverine lately. Apparently, he had disappeared without warning, something he never did. If nothing else, he always let the Professor know in advance if he would be gone longer than a day.
The X-Men had formed search parties when the Professor had looked for him and been telepathically blocked by some kind of interference. A search of the sewers turned up nothing but a slashed-up metal grate, un-naturally twisted.
Magneto.
Wonderful.
The Brotherhood was lounging around the living room while the Professor updated Mystique on the results of Beast and Storm searching the sewers. Rogue was absorbed in her latest book, while Toad and Wanda flipped through TV channels, absently taking turns to trip Pietro when he tried to get a look at Fred and Lance's cards as the three of them played Go Fish.
Iron Chef. "Seen it."
My Kitchen Rules, why were there so many reality cooking shows? "Seen it."
Wheel of Fortune. "Hate it."
My Little Pony, ugh. "Hate it more."
"Ooh, Rizzoli and Isles! Let's watch this!"
Lance grinned. "Got any threes, Fred? Figures you'd like a show with polar opposite female leads who always get the bad guy."
Wanda shrugged as Fred handed over a three of hearts. "It's a good show, even if the plots are a bit contrived, and it has some great one-liners. Eep!"
The Rizzoli-obsessed serial killer appeared on screen, and Wanda hid her face in Toad's shoulder, waiting until the scene changed before glaring at the others. "He reminds me of one of the creepy orderlies who wanted to experiment to see how my powers worked, OK? Shut up."
Pietro scowled, and the mood plummeted even further when Mystique walked back in. "Well, it looks like Magneto is up to something significant."
The Maximoff twins looked up from their different activities, eyes narrowing. "He's made a very bold move. He's abducted Wolverine."
Pietro choked as Lance stared. "Wolverine? That's crazy! Why would he want to do that?"
Mystique rubbed her forehead, trying to stave off the migraine that tended to appear whenever the subject of Magneto came up. "Why indeed? Pietro, he talked to you last, perhaps you can enlighten us."
Magneto had contacted him, but he never told anyone anything until seconds before they left on the mission, and certainly not until he knew that they were fully committed to the cause. "Hey, don't ask me! Apart from the call I told you about, I don't know where he is or what he's doing. Sorry."
Mystique leaned against the window, next to where her daughter was sitting. "He actually snatched one of the X-Men. Why? There's a larger strategy at work here, I can feel it. Now we are forced to make a move of our own."
Rogue sighed. "I hate to say this, but I think we need to team up with the X-Men on this one. They know Wolverine, and they have better resources."
Lance sighed, reaching for the phone. "I'll call Kitty and see if she can talk to the X-Geeks. Rogue, you might want to call your boyfriend. Even if he can't come down, he could probably do with a head's up."
Rogue nodded and headed for the kitchen, where the extension line was usually kept. The others stood to pack a few things. If they did end up joining forces, the X-Mansion was the logical place, as it had Cerebro… and a lot more room.
They arrived at the X-Mansion just in time to see the Nightcrawler take his place with a few other X-Men outside the Danger Room, covered in paint and looking dejected. "Whoa, what happened to you guys?"
Iceman looked up. "Wolverine installed a new program for training last week. No-one has lasted over ten minutes yet."
Rogue lifted an eyebrow in eerie imitation of her mother. "Impressive. I wonder if the Professor will let us try."
She ignored the baleful looks from the rest of the team, who weren't so keen on the idea. Until the program was over and the rest of the X-Men were out, it didn't really matter, anyway. "So, any idea about what happened with Wolverine?"
Kurt shook his head, looking unusually serious. "We can't find him until he somehow uses his powers and it seems like he hasn't done anything to make his healing kick in between his disappearance and now."
That was promptly proven wrong by a call from the Professor, who had been in Cerebro and apparently picked up a trace of Wolverine's Healing near the Docks in New York City.
"Team two, you'll find some familiar-looking orbs near the loading docks. Stay alert, Magneto brought friends."
Storm's voice was serious and professional, but also carried a note of well-hidden aggravation at Magneto. The Brotherhood recognized the same note that had been in Mystique's voice for the past few days. Part of Team two, Rogue really hoped that Gambit wasn't among the 'friends'; his mode of taunting was really annoying flirtation, and Restraining Orders were difficult when you didn't even know the offender's legal name. "Understood."
Storm moved on to the next group. "Team three, what's your status?"
Team three was Beast, Shadowcat and Toad, the latter two arguing in the background. "We're proceeding into the next sector."
Not far from them was Team one, consisting of Pietro, Lance, Wanda and Fred, Pietro keeping watch as the other three searched. "Empty. Man, I'm getting creeped out here. Where are they?"
Kurt was searching the metal orbs that had undoubtedly been the mode of transportation. Rogue hoped that Magneto and his minions enjoyed the smell of sulphur on their way home. He shook his head at Jean, Spyke and his sister. Jean spoke into her communication. "Confirmed, the orbs are empty."
Rogue frowned, her senses practically screaming an obscure warning. "You know, Ah don't get this."
Spyke joined the two girls. "Yeah, they gotta know that we're here."
Nightcrawler bamf-ed over. "Now what? There's no sign of them."
That statement was promptly proved wrong as an ace of spades floated between them, glowing. Rogue cursed as she dove out of the way. Jean shrieked, recognizing it from what the Brotherhood had told the X-Men. "Run!"
The resulting explosion drew the attention of the other teams, though the responses were someone different. Beast motioned for Kitty and Todd to follow him. "Let's go."
Lance looked more cheerful than he had since they had temporarily moved into the X-Mansion. "Finally, some action!"
Wanda was not so pleased, as Pietro swore and a metallic hum filled the air. "It's a trap!"
She was right, as anything metallic started flying around, one warehouse actually being taken apart to reveal Magneto's latest batch of minions.
Flora and Fauna were not present, at least, and neither was the Earth-powered mutant with the unpronounceable name. Songweaver and a blonde with super-strength, invulnerability and flight, on the other hand, were, along with Gambit, Sabertooth, and a man who could turn himself into living metal. An attack by the blonde sent Rogue flying through the air, to be thankfully caught by a pair of strong arms.
Warren held her long enough for Rogue to tap into Storm's power, and then let her go, diving at Songweaver. About to follow, Rogue froze in horror at the sight of a news helicopter, apparently filming the whole battle. Could things get any worse?
Apparently it could, as the blonde woman was back in a (literally) flying tackle. Hoping that her invulnerability did not extend to Rogue's absorption, the younger woman yanked off her gloves and grabbed on.
Discovering her powers, and trying to keep them secret. Afraid to touch anything while she tried to adjusts to being strong enough to lift a small plane.
People looking at her strangely when she was hit by a bus and walked away without a scratch. The joy of flight, and even that tainted by being her only method of escape from the stares and the whispers.
A helmeted man in red and purple, with a cape and the ability to manipulate metal. The knowledge that while her powers may be unique, she was not alone!
A man with a Russian accent, nearly as invulnerable as she was, and just as lonely. She didn't care about Magneto's cause, but the cute Russian, Piotr, could use a friend, and that was a good enough reason to go with them.
"Join me, Carol Danvers. You will be… Ms. Marvel…"
The two interlocked women faltered just before hitting a building. "I don't want to kill you, but you're in the way, and I'll stop you however I have to!"
Rogue grunted with effort. She had never had skin-to-skin contact for so long with anyone except Angel, and Warren never put her in a position where she had to turn her powers on in self-defense. It had been a long time since she had used her powers so aggressively, rather than just a small tap to borrow a power or knock someone out! Aunt Irene had said that her powers could kill, if not properly controlled, and Rogue didn't want to find out if that was an exaggeration.
Rogue was losing control, fighting to simultaneously stay in the air, stay herself, and force Ms. Marvel's personality into a file. Ms. Marvel was still invulnerable, and nothing Rogue did would throw her off. "Ah don't want ta kill you either, but if ya don't let go, I won't be able to stop myself from drainin' ya dry!"
Despite Rogue's almost-plea, Ms. Marvel didn't let go, until she finally fell from the sky, unconscious. The steel-covered man, Colossus, broke away from his fight to catch her, taking her as far from the action as conveniently possible before going back. To her great dismay, Rogue found that she couldn't force the newly-borrowed powers back, and Carol's personality was proving too difficult for her to simply file away while in the middle of a battle.
It wasn't like Magneto to take this long to show up… there!
Pietro was in place next to his father, just in case. Large heavy objects tended to get thrown around when Magneto was involved, but up against Wanda's hexes, that could go badly, and they wanted Magneto alive to answer questions.
Rogue dropped to the ground, turning around just in time to come face-to-face with Gambit, who smiled and pressed a glowing card into her hand. Letting a random human in her head take the force of his Charm, Rogue threw the card back the way Gambit came and punched him straight in the face, following up with a roundhouse kick to the temple, knocking him down for the moment.
She grabbed Wanda, both of them flying toward a tall building a block or so away.
Murphy's Law being what it was, they almost ran straight into a News Helicopter. "Aw, man. We're doomed."
Wanda's eyes narrowed. "Then we'd better put on a show for the camera and get to Magneto before he does anything irreversible."
Rogue nodded, dodging the Helicopter and borrowing Jean's Telepathy. 'Um, guys? You just got caught on Live TV. Try not to do anything too destructive and take down the Acolytes as fast as you can!'
Magneto had also seen the News Crew, and the Helicopter started to buckle under the power of Magnetism. Despite their impending death, the News Crew instantly trained the camera on Magneto, and were thus in a perfect position to see him get knocked flat by Wanda's hex bolts as Rogue threw her best friend at the ledge and caught the Helicopter, guiding it to another building. "This ain't the best place for y'all to be rahght now. Ah suggest moving somewhere far away."
Reporters must suffer from a severe lack of self-preservation. "Wait! Can we get a statement from you, Miss?"
It was very hard to surprise Rogue, but that man had just managed it. "Can Ah do it later? Ah have friends who are tryin' ta stop that guy's friends from tearing up the docks, so Ah'm a bit busy."
The man looked like several of his dreams had all come true at once. It reminded Rogue of the Bigfoot scientist. "Of course, we'll be right here! OH!"
Angel landed very ungracefully beside her, having wound up on the wrong end of Songweaver. "Ugh! I'll give him Defying Gravity!"
Despite the situation, Rogue couldn't help but smile. "Later. Can you keep an eye on Wanda and Pietro for me? Neither of them can fly, and I wouldn't put it past Magneto to throw them off the building if it suited his purposes."
The reporter looked ready to faint. "The New York Angel, too! Can we – "
He was too late, as both Mutants had made themselves scarce.
Wanda's strategy was very simple: have Pietro run around to create a vortex to throw Magneto off, and then Hex him flat. It worked, stopping him straight in the middle of whatever-he-was-doing, but left them with the problem of how to get him down. Pietro couldn't take both of them at once, nor could Angel, and Magneto would be back to normal as soon as he got out of Wanda's Hexing range.
The problem was eventually solved by fusing Magneto's armor into a kind of metal straightjacket, and crushing the front of his helmet so that he couldn't see to manipulate anything, either. Angel was very reluctantly delegated to taking Magneto down to where the other X-Men were finishing off the Acolytes, while Pietro took his sister.
Songweaver might have been able to block Rogue's Absorption, but he couldn't do anything about her multitude of borrowed powers, and had been taken down by Mystique as he tried to defend himself. The rest of the Acolytes had seen Magneto knocked unconscious, and given it up as a loss, disappearing into the crowds that had started to show up.
Unfortunately, the News Crew had managed to get down from their own rooftop by now, and they weren't going anywhere until they got answers. Worse still, they had attracted friends. Mystique sighed. "If you want to get away without being mobbed, now is the time. Actually, it might be a good idea to take Magneto somewhere and get answers out of him before a bunch of humans with no idea what they're up against try to take custody."
Most of the X-Men left, leaving Nightcrawler and Shadowcat behind to back up the Brotherhood. Rogue echoed her mother's sigh. "Let's just get this over with."
The words were barely out of her mouth before they were mobbed my reporters and cameras, all shouting questions at once. Finally, Lance let loose with a small tremor; just enough to shut them up, and Mystique took point in all of her blue glory and Principle Darkholme No-Nonsense Attitude. "One question at a time, if you please."
There was a short pause before a female reporter piped up. "Is that a costume, or your natural form?"
Mystique sighed, and Kurt, also his naturally-blue self, laughed. "It is not a costume. Ve should have expected zat one, Mutter."
Another reporter shut his mouth, having been about to ask exactly that. He changed his question. "Who are you?"
Rogue took that one. "Science would call us Mutants, the next stage of Evolution. We are people just like you… with an extra chromosome or two that give us our abilities."
That prompted another babble of questions, one man finally shouting over the rest. "Are you superheroes?"
Toad laughed, jumping onto Fred's shoulders for a better view. "God, I hope not. Like Rogue said, we're just normal people with special gifts."
Another woman fought her way to the front, directing her question at Angel. "Last Christmas, people reported sightings of an angel. Did you come from Heaven? Are you truly an angel?"
Warren sighed. "Should have expected that, too. Yes, that was me. No, I'm not an angel, and Kurt isn't a demon, and that pick-up line is getting very, very old."
There were more questions, obviously, but Mystique cut them short. "Look, we just finished a fight for our lives, and we are exhausted. I'd like to get these young people back home. As long as you don't try to villainize us for the way we were born, we'll contact you later."
She shape-shifted into a giant eagle, taking Toad and a partially-phased Kitty with her. Kurt teleported away with Fred. Pietro lifted Wanda and sped away. Warren kissed Rogue on the cheek and flew back to his home, while Rogue picked up Lance and flew after her family.
Mutants were revealed to the world, and there was no telling how the world would react, but whatever happened, the Brotherhood would face it together.
THE END
A/N: OK, as you can probably tell by the time gap between now and the last chapter, I lost my inspiration for this story, and this chapter will be the end, unless one of my readers wants to write a continuation or sequel. If so, feel free; just mention me in the Summary so that one of us doesn't get deleted as a Plagiarist. I'll even send you copies of the previous chapters so you can post the entire thing.
It's been fun to write, and I appreciate all of the constructive criticism that you gave me.
Thanks,
Nat