Hey guys!
Welcome back! I'm sure if you've been following the story, you want to jump right in, so without further ado…!
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Her body froze in fear, unable to move, unable to speak. There was a thunder in her heart as it battered against her chest, wanting to burst out in agony. Her stomach twisted in knots, nausea and dizziness overtaking her. Her knuckles turned white as her grip tightened around her bag, wanting to pull it apart in anxiety. She felt like she couldn't breathe, as if all the air had been sucked out of the atmosphere. A twinge of pain flashed in her temple, reminding her of the physical pain he had inflicted on her, but also tearing apart every ounce of strength she had to forget he ever existed. He was there, standing in front their only route to freedom.
Anna heaved a beleaguered breath, as she could do nothing but stare at him in horror. But no sooner had he appeared, did Remy step in front of her, blocking her view of him. In an instant, she felt a minor relief, as if she'd been drowning, and been brought back up for air. Kitty came up beside her, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"You…" Joseph snarled, his voice bellowing in the halls, as he demanded, "What are you doing here?!"
Anna shifted behind Remy, wincing as the intensity of Joseph's voice. But she was more startled by the response.
"Magneto?" A shot rang out, causing everyone to recoil.
"Don't ever say that name to me!" Joseph demanded, holding the smoking gun out above his head.
Remy maintained eye contact with Joseph, "Then… who are you?"
Joseph frustratingly fidgeted at the question, "Who I am is none of your concern!"
Anna gently reaching up to Remy's arm, as he cautiously turned to look at her over his shoulder, she appeared beside him, "Who is he?" she asked quietly to Remy, now maintaining eye contact with Joseph.
Remy swallowed, his mouth going dry, as he turned back to Joseph, "He looks like a former boss of ours, Erik Lenhsherr. But he was arrested a year ago during an anti-mutant riot."
"Yes, and you Acolytes were too concerned with your own matters to bother helping to free him!" Joseph interjected, as he began slowly walking down the hallway.
Remy backed up, pushing Anna and Kitty behind him, "He killed innocent humans; innocent civilians!"
"Ha!" Joseph laughed, "What human is truly innocent? It was for the greater good of mutantkind! None of us are safe while they capture and torture mutant brothers and sisters!"
"He was a mad man," Remy replied, "…and so are you,". He was well aware of what Magneto was capable of. But to know that this was the man who had hurt Anna, only confirmed how crazy the megalomaniacal mutant truly was. As they backed further into the hallway, Remy was assessing the best escape route. He just hoped John and Piotr would be coming soon to help. It'd already been far too long, and they'd grow suspect of where they were. Remy just hoped they'd be on their way. After all, three mutants who all had worked for Magneto before, and knew his weaknesses, should be able to take him down.
Joseph snarled at the comment, "The world never sees saviors for who they are in their time," He gestured towards them, "You want to know who I truly am?! I am his successor to the mutant cause, a thousand times greater than he could ever be, and I will usher in a new age of prosperity for all mutants!"
He raised his empty hand towards Anna, standing no more than 10 feet away, and said, "I wanted you because of your gift; such power was never meant to be caged. And your beauty and grace so fit of a queen, that with you by my side, there is no one who would be able to challenge or stop us."
Joseph offered again, "Come with me, Anna. Be my queen, and together, we can create a brighter future for all mutants."
Crashes continued from further inside the club, as Piotr and John were still fending off the security as best they could, but the echoes of the fighting soon lessened, and the sounds of sirens in the distance began to grow.
The offer was loaded in heavy implications, and Anna shivered at the thought, at the mere idea of aiding this lunatic and his messed-up view of the world. How could she even consider such an absurd offer? After the horrific things he'd done to her, and likely countless other victims of his cause, what could possibly possess her to even think it was in the realm of possibility? Luckily, Remy's hand smoothed over hers on his arm, a small act of comfort, but one that grounded her.
After this past week, Anna had no doubts in her mind where she belonged. When she felt unloved, Remy made her feel wanted. When she was filled with fear and dread, Remy made her forget all anxiety. When she was trapped, Remy freed her. What Joseph offered was conditional, transactional. There were expectations of her he wanted her to fulfill. With Remy, it was raw and real, nothing was an act. It was never an option in her mind; there was only one kingdom she would want to be a part of; Remy's world.
She looked back to Joseph, and said in a confident, defiant tone, "I've already found my king, Joseph."
Remy stood protectively beside her, his gaze never breaking from Joseph, though he was clearly scared of what her answer might be. Inwardly filled with such pride and reverence for Anna, he never wavered next to her.
Joseph's hand curled inward and fell to his side, a grin appearing as he said, "Then let me solve that problem for you," he raised the gun and aimed squarely for Remy's chest.
Everything happened so quickly that none of them truly know what occurred. But for Remy, it happened in painful slow motion. He could hear the shot let out in an ear-piercing screech that matched Kitty's wail in pitch. He felt a pressure in his arm as the grip tightened. His stomach lurched when the vibration of the shot was felt running through him. The only problem was that he never felt the sting of the familiar pain. The warmth of blood ran down his hands, and the only thing he could see was her beautiful emerald green eyes flash as a weight fell on him.
Anna had taken the bullet. She had grabbed Remy by the arm and swung herself in front of his body, facing him as the bullet hit her in the back.
"Anna!" Remy cried in a panic as she fell into his arms, the pair collapsing to the ground in a heap. He fell to a sitting position, cradling her limp form, blood flowing freely across the hallway. He franticly fumbled with her, brushing his blood-stained hands across her hair and trying his best to smooth it off her face, caking the blood in her pale white strands, "Anna! Chere!" he continued to cry out, desperate to see her eyes open again.
Flashes of red and blue began to glow through the windows, and the sirens blared from the street below. Footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs behind Joseph, as John and Piotr approached the landing.
"Oi! Ya'll 'bout ready to go?! We've got compa…" John shouted as they rounded the corner, but his voiced died as they came upon the scene.
Joseph dropped the gun in shock and horror, fumbling backwards before turning to face them. There was an immediate moment of acknowledgment between him and the men, who recognized him as their former boss. He ran for the stairs. Piotr made a move to stop him, but he was forced back and into a wall by the familiar invisible wave of magnetism he'd felt many times before. Joseph dashed down the stairs as John tried to torch him, but he was out of sight before his flames could reach.
"Was that who I think it was?" John asked aloud, baffled by the white-haired man who so greatly resembled the infamous mutant terrorist, Magneto. Piotr, having wretched himself from inside the concrete wall, replied, "How could it be?"
Let both looked to each other before turned to the scene unfolding before them, "Do we go after him?" John asked. Seeing Remy cradling Anna in the hallway, they decided silently it was best to stay and help their friends than to chase after the unknown assailant.
As they approached, Kitty had been gently trying to coax Remy to move Anna, in hopes of resuscitating her, but Remy only gripped her harder.
"Stay back!" He shouted, his voice cracking a bit as he resumed trying to wake her, "Chere, please don't…" his voiced cracked as he spoke, unable to form words that he'd hoped would rouse her from unconsciousness.
Remy rocked back and forth, her head nestled against his chest as she laid limp in his arms. He pressed his lips to the top of her head, holding her tighter, as his eyes squeezed shut, hoping to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. Though he had been shot many times before, they had never been as painful as this, "Please don't leave me!"
The group stood silently, as police and paramedics arrived, violently removing Anna from Remy's arms. Piotr and John held him back as the paramedics took Anna, white hot rage blinding Remy as he lashed out as his friends before he crumpled up on the ground. He pounded his fist into the bloodied carpet, splattering the blood back onto his face, hair and duster, before howling in anger.
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2 hours later
"Thank you for answered our questions, Ms. Pryde. We'll be sure to let you know if we make any headway on finding Joseph," the officer informed Kitty as she stepped into the lobby of the police station. She'd been informed that Joseph had escaped, using his powers of magnetism to fend off the police force and flee.
"Where are the others?" Kitty asked, not seeing Remy, John, or Piotr anywhere.
"We still need to hold them in connection with the property damage and assaults in the club," the officer explained.
"That won't be necessary," came a voice from behind Kitty. Raven walked in, disguised in her civilian form, as her heels clicked across the lobby floor, "I'd like to speak with the officer in charge of the case," she commanded effortlessly.
The officer nodded, "Right this way, ma'am."
Kitty watched as Raven walked back into the station with the officer. She was stone cold. There was not an ounce of despair or shock on her face. Was she so unmoved by Anna's current state?
Kitty remained in the lobby for 30 minutes before Raven returned, along with Remy, John, and Piotr in tow. She stood from her chair and ran to Piotr, hugging him. After the embrace, she turned to Raven and asked, "How did you get them out?"
Raven answered sharply, "I've always had good connections with military and police forces. It's how I've kept an illegal business running for as long as I have."
Remy stared at his hands, the remnants of blood still covering them. He balled them into fists as his rage began to overcome him once more.
Raven turned to the men and said, "All the charges against you three have been dropped, and now we can focus on what's truly important…"
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At the hospital, the group sat just outside the room where Anna was being treated. Her surgery was almost finished, and they were waiting on the outcome.
Remy had been pacing feverishly across the room, running his hands through his hair, unable to comprehend the worst. Every time he imagined her on that operating table, fighting for her life, he would shake his head to the side in hopes of forgetting the image. He didn't want to see her that way, but it was the only thing that kept permeating his mind.
Piotr and Kitty sat next to one another, talking quietly, concerned for Remy and Anna. John had gone to make a run for coffee, and Raven was speaking to the doctor's in charge of her care.
Remy couldn't handle waiting any longer. He turned towards and walked through the double doors that led to a hall where Raven was seen talking to the doctor. He marched through with authority, looking through each door in hopes of seeing them and demanding answers about Anna's condition.
He turned and saw Raven with the doctor through a glass window that faced an adjacent hallway. She was distraught and openly weeping, the doctor doing her best to comfort her. Remy made out the words "I'm so sorry" across the doctor's lips as she held Raven's shivering shoulder.
Remy silently backed away from the window, leaning his back against the wall and tilting his head down. His shoulders shook as he couldn't hold in the pain anymore. He raised his hands to his face, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes in a desperate attempt to control himself, but it was too late. As a stream of tears began to flow down his face, he crouched against the wall, his arms laying across his knees. His stare was vacant and hollow, but his eyes refused to stop shedding tears.
The numbness had set in, and the pain would never be forgotten.
He sat there for what seemed like an eternity before Raven rounded the corner and saw him. She quietly approached him and gently touched his shoulder, but he ignored her, overcome with grief.
"We… we will make him pay… for what he's done," she spoke with a sternness that even she did not recognize in herself. Resolute and assured, she continued, "That man has caused my family too much pain for it go ignored. We will bury him, and no one will mourn him, even if it takes my dying breath."
Remy turned to look at her, his eyes steeling to match Raven's intensity, "Tell me how, and I'll kill 'im myself."
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That's it for this chapter! I know a lot has happened in a short chapter, but I'll hopefully get back to writing the next chapter shortly, and we can get to the climax of this fic!
Thanks for sticking around and reading my fics, it's always appreciated! Feel free to leave a reviews, I love reading your guys' feedback.
Until next time…