Hey guys! How's everyone doing today? We're finally at the last part of First Class and then we can finally move onto the next few movies, which will hopefully only take one chapter per movie, and then we'll finally be moving onto the It portion of this crossover!
Like always, I enjoy any comments, except for those that are just full of negativity and not constructive at all. Just give me something to work with instead of just "It's bad." I also appreciate any positive constructive criticism since I'm always looking to improve my writing and storytelling capabilities. Thanks for reading this story! Virtual hugs and cuddles to y'all.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except any OC's that may come up, any world building that has not yet been officially stated by any medium, and any plot points/structures that have not been used in the books or movies.
Warning: No beta, we die like canon cause superhero timelines are the worst.
Chapter 3: X-Men First Class Pt.3
XXXXXX
"You wouldn't believe it but the other day, Erik actually managed to move a satellite with just one hand, no twitchy jazz hands required, and Sean finally figured out how to fly without screaming like a little girl," Angel chatters excitedly.
She's seated beside a large bed with Darwin as its only occupant. He's hooked up to multiple machines that keep track of his vitals and there's a specialized I.V. drip attached to his arm.
"And Hank, he actually built Alex some sort of metal plate that gives him more control over his powers which must be such a relief to him. I think the two might've hugged but neither of them will talk about it," she says with a giggle, "Oh yeah! And just this morning I finally managed to catch Raven off guard after the billions of times she's scared the crap out of me."
She gently takes hold of Darwin's hand with a melancholic smile. "I wonder what you'd think about me being able to throw a punch that could knock the socks off of you. You'd probably just make some lame joke about adapting or some shit."
Angel laughs to herself as she watches him for any reaction beyond the steady rise and fall of his chest. Her lips wobble a bit as her eyes glaze with tears.
"You're missing out on a lot of stuff you know. The size of Bill and Raven's house is insane, especially with all the decorations that just scream old money and nobility. We've already been here for a while and I'm still too scared to touch anything cause I feel like I'd break something and then have to suffer through Bill's patented not surprised but disappointed dad look," she continues to ramble on in an attempt to stem the tears, "And I think you'd get a real kick out of Sean's reaction. He actually said that the mansion was unimpressive. A mansion. Unimpressive. None of us have gotten an answer out of him about that yet but it seems like Bill might know cause he's always smiling all sneak like whenever we try to drill Sean for answers."
She watches Darwin again for any reaction besides his steady breathing and the consistent beating of his heart. But just like the other days she sat by his bedside, there are none.
She squeezes his hand as she brings it up to cradle against her cheek.
"I wish you'd wake up. Everyone's accomplished so much in such a short amount of time and you're missing out on it all," she chokes out as tears trail down her face, "Soon we're all going to get so far ahead of you that we'll be the ones protecting you next time."
She wipes the tears from her eyes and continues to speak. "We're going out on a mission tomorrow. Shaw's finally made a move to start his stupid nuclear war mutant paradise plan. He's managed to convince the Russians to send out fleets armed with nuclear weapons and the US is standing by to fire if Russia violates the truce. It's like an insane repeat of the Cuban Missile Crisis but this time, we're the only ones who can stop him."
She releases a shuddering breath.
"There's so much I want, no, that I need to tell you before we go cause I don't want to leave anything unsaid in case I don't make it back. It might just be the nerves but I feel like something terrible will happen tomorrow so please, please, please, just wake up already," she desperately pleads. "Because I might not see you again and I wanted to make sure that you knew that my answer is yes. A million times yes. I'll be your girl if you'd just please wake up."
But there's no response, even though this may be the last time she sees him, Darwin still does not wake up.
She bows her head and squeezes his hand between hers in a prayer as the tears fall again.
XXXXXX
Bill and Erik sit together in a comfortable sitting room with a chessboard placed between them. The only source of light in the room is the fire burning in an elaborately decorated fireplace. On either side of the men is a glass of alcohol - Erik's contains whiskey while Bill's contains scotch.
They're currently engaged in an intense chess match with both men's brows furrowed from deep concentration and thought.
"Russia, America...it makes no difference," Bill sighs out as he moves his white queen to take Erik's black bishop. "Shaw's declared war on all of us so of course he has to be stopped."
Erik pauses in his action of moving a rook. He picks up his glass to take a drink. "But I'm not going to just stop Shaw," he says, "I'm going to kill him."
He resumes and takes one of Bill's pawns. "Do you have it in you to allow that?" he asks, giving Bill a questioning look.
Bill huffs out a laugh as he leans forward to examine the board.
"You've known all along why I was here, William," Erik says with a frown, "What started as a covert mission to stop Shaw will end with mankind discovering the existence of mutants. Then whether it be Shaw...us...they won't even bother to differentiate. They'll fear us."
Bill looks up at that point, frowning. Whether in thought or from disappointment, Erik can't quite tell and somehow the thought of the latter makes his stomach twist into knots.
"That fear will turn to hatred," Erik states like an ultimatum, a prophecy that no fight against fate could ever hope to stop.
"Not if we stop a war, not if we stop Shaw, not if we risk our lives doing so and continue to show that we are just like them, that we are still human...just with a little something extra," Bill rebuttals.
"But will they do the same for us?" Erik asks.
"We all have it in us to be the better person," Bill responds.
"We already are," Erik retorts, "We are the next stage of human evolution. You even said it yourself in-"
"No, no, that's not what my thesis was about," Bill vehemently denies. He picks up his glass and takes a sip to calm himself down.
Erik rolls his eyes. "Are you really so naive as to think that they won't battle their own extinction," he says, now speaking with a condescending tone as if Bill were a naive idealistic boy without a single notion of the dangers and evils the world contains.
Then when Bill doesn't respond, Erik asks, "Or is it arrogance?"
"I'm sorry?" Bill responds, incredulous.
"After tomorrow, they're going to turn on us," Erik explains like a teacher having to repeat two plus two equals four to a child who continues to say it equals fish, "And you're blinded to that fact because you think they're all like Moira."
"And you believe they're all like Shaw," Bill calmly rebukes.
Erik sits in silence. He doesn't respond but his clenched jaw and tense posture were answer enough.
Bill sighs. "I may seem naive for wanting to have faith in humanity, for believing that every single person has the capacity for good, for change...But I'm not," he states, resolutely, "And I say this with one hundred percent certainty, killing Shaw will not bring you peace."
Erik stares at him, expression unreadable. "Peace was never an option," he says.
"And continuing the cycle of violence is?" Bill asks with a heavy sigh, "I won't stop you if you're that gung ho on killing Shaw but I can't condone your actions."
"That's a bit contradictory of you isn't it, Charles?" Erik asks, amused.
"Not at all, Erik. I'm just simply stating that I'll never agree with your actions but I won't stop you because it's your decision to make," Bill responds, "But I will have further issues with your decisions if you don't draw the line in the sand."
"Oh? And what line would that be?" Erik asks, humor instantly gone, "When Shaw's dead that suddenly means the world's been saved? You sit there with the ideal of wanting to save everyone, to see the best in even the most depraved of people..."
"And you sit there ready and willing to fight even when there's the option to lay your arms down and finally shake hands with your adversaries," Bill snaps back. "When do you believe you'll stop fighting?"
"When we're all safe," Erik responds with the utmost seriousness.
"Then you will never stop fighting because there will always be something that threatens our safety," Bill retorts, "Do you really want to live the rest of your life fighting?"
"Well we can't all be like you can we?" Erik asks, sarcastically. "But let me warn you, William, the brighter the light becomes the deeper the darkness grows."
Bill smiles wryly. "You seriously believe me to be so pure? While I'm highly flattered, I too, have my own darkness within. I'm just better at hiding it."
Erik scoffs and takes another sip of his drink.
Bill sighs before draining the rest of his glass. "Please Erik...I just want you to think about what it is you actually want. Don't think with your anger, don't think with your fear. Find that point between rage and serenity and maybe you'll arrive at an answer that will allow you to believe in peace," he requests, expression resigned as if he knows none of his words will make a difference because they were both stubborn men set in their ways.
One was an optimistic dreamer and the other a pessimistic realist.
But the pessimistic realist was only made as such when hope was wrenched away through the cruelest method possible and was never allowed to recover from such an ordeal. For how can light reach someone at the bottom of the darkest pit when they continue to dig deeper down rather than stop to look up and climb towards a hope long forgotten?
And underneath that shallow surface, the optimistic dreamer could only live on by continuing to march forward one step at a time with hope for a brighter future. It was the only light left at the end of the tunnel they were still trapped in and could only believe they would one day escape. Because looking back towards the darkness they were leaving behind could never be an option if they didn't want to continue being chained down by the past.
Bill gives Erik a soft smile that looks so fragile and resigned that it makes Erik's stomach toss and turn.
"Good night, Erik. I'll see you in the morning," Bill says softly. Then he leaves the room with Erik staring after him with a nauseous feeling and his thoughts all a jumble.
XXXXXX
Raven pokes her head through the open doorway leading into Hank's lab. She glances around and sees Hank staring down a microscope with an intense concentration. But it's not his usual intense "found something fascinating" concentration. There was an edge to it, a tension that runs throughout his entire body.
"Hank?" she calls out hesitantly as she slowly steps inside.
Hank's gaze instantly snaps over to her and he visibly brightens at the sight of her. "Oh! Raven! You're here!"
"I am? Because you asked me to be here?" she responds, confused as she walks over to him, "What did you want to talk about anyways?"
"This," he responds as he pulls out a small metal box from underneath the table.
Raven stares at it then at Hank. "You wanted to show me a metal box?"
"Oh! No!" Hank exclaims as he fumbles around clumsily with the box in order to open it, "I wanted to show you what's inside."
The box is finally opened and inside is a syringe filled with a light blue liquid.
A feeling of unease grows inside of her as she stares at the syringe. "Hank...why are you showing me this? What even is it?"
"It's the cure," he declares, beaming at her like he's just handed her the cure for cancer.
Understanding dawns on her as she's filled with horror. "Hank, you didn't-"
"I did!" he exclaims excitedly, "It took a while but I finally found a way to reverse mutations through the cellular process of your genes. I can cure us. We can be normal!"
"Is this because we saw you running around without your shoes? How can you be ashamed from that?" Raven demands, "We all cheered for you because we were so proud that you'd finally accepted yourself! Alex hasn't even made a joke about your feet in weeks! And I thought you finally dropped this whole cure business after our last conversation."
Hank nervously adjusts his glasses. "Well, no. I wasn't pushed to finish it because of the running thing though it did play a factor into my decision."
"Then why the hell are you so ashamed of your mutation? You have nothing to be ashamed of!" she exclaims.
"Yes, I do," he responds with a seriousness that has Raven shutting her mouth with an audible click. "I never wanted this body, I mean the muscular structure of a primate that's pre-homosapien with the feet to match? Who would actually want that? But here I am, forced to live with a physical mutation that I won't ever be able to hide for the rest of my life. At least you and the others are able to hide more easily than I ever will."
Raven barks out in laughter at that. She stares at Hank, completely dumbfounded that he would say such a thing to her.
"Are you kidding me? I can hide more easily?" she asks, incredulous. She laughs again, setting Hank on edge from the hysteria rising within her. Then she explodes.
"I have had to spend every single moment of my life hiding who I am! When I'm out in public, when I'm out with friends, when I need to do anything that requires me to interact with the outside world," she shouts at him, "The only time I have never had to hide my true self is when I'm alone or with Bill in a private setting! Because the moment I show my blue skin, the mobs come busting after me because I look like I belong in a freak show. My mutation may help me blend in but it is because of it that I will never be accepted for who I am!"
"And you think the others have it any easier than you? Alex is so traumatized that he will always live in fear of his abilities because even if you give him all the control in the world, all it takes is a single mistake and hell breaks loose without any way for him to stop it," she spits out at him vehemently, "You, Angel, and Sean are the only ones who could live a normal-ish life without ever having to fear losing control so don't you dare sit there and play the poor, innocent victim in front of me."
Hank stares at her, completely shook. But he's still standing firm about his decision. "But if this cure does work, it can take your mutation away and you won't have to hide anymore. You can be normal and finally live a fear free life," he proclaims, holding the syringe out to her.
Raven frowns at him. She reaches out and pushes the syringe away. "But not like this, never like this. I am a mutant and proud."
Then she storms off leaving a dejected Hank staring down sadly at the syringe. His hand curls around it tightly.
XXXXXX
Bill lounges on his bed reading through a printed draft of his recently completed horror novel that will never see the light of day no matter how much Raven begs him to publish.
Speaking of Raven, he looks up when she barges into his room in all her robed covered, blue skinned glory.
"Raven? Is everything okay?" Bill asks as he clears the bed of papers and puts them away.
"Do you think I'm pretty?" she asks, gesturing at her entire blue skinned self, "Looking like this?"
"Well, of course I think you're beautiful," he responds, brow furrowing in confusion, "You're the most beautiful woman I know."
She sighs as she places her head in her hand. "Why the hell did I even ask you that? You're my brother. It's practically your job to say things like that."
"Raven, what's going on?" Bill asks, patting the open spot beside him in invitation, "What brought this all on?"
But Raven doesn't make her way over to cuddle against him like she usually does whenever she's upset. Instead she paces back and forth before him, growing increasingly agitated the longer she paces.
"Raven?" he tentatively asks.
She pauses her pacing for a moment.
"Hank made a cure for mutations out of my genes," she blurts out.
Bill blinks. Then he blinks again.
"I'm sorry but did I hear you correctly?" he says with a bewildered expression, "Hank did what with your what?"
"Hank made a cure for mutations with my genes," Raven slowly states again.
"How- no that's not a question I should be asking because of course he could create something that like if he put his mind to it," he shakes his head, "The question I should be asking is why? Why would Hank go through with such an endeavor? I thought we were making a breakthrough in his mentality?"
"Right?" Raven exclaims. "But apparently he's too "ashamed" of his mutation as if having big feet and strong muscles somehow makes him more of a freak than me," she spits out venomously.
"Well everyone's ashamed of something about themselves, no one's perfect and we all seek to cope with or even rectify that," Bill says.
"But he wants to be normal! And then he has the audacity to offer me the chance to be normal? What does it even mean to be normal?" she shouts, gesturing wildly as her anger grows, "That I have to be ashamed of who I am and what I can do? That I'm not beautiful in my own way just because I have blue scaled skin and yellow eyes? That I can only accept who I am if I conform to what society says is normal?"
"Normal is a very subjective term," he interjects, "And I don't believe you have to conform to accept who you are."
"But you do!" she angrily exclaims, "You preach acceptance and overcoming fear by taking control of what makes us afraid but what you really want is for mutants like us to conform to society's whims and make us hide who we are just because other people are afraid! I thought it was always going to be us against the world, Bill. But you've wanted to be part of the world all along!"
She pants from the sudden exertion. Bill watches her, silent and patient, as she suddenly lets loose a loud scream of pent up frustration and anger.
Then her shoulders slump and she falls face first onto the bed. After a few more moments of screaming into the sheets, she lifts her head up and scoots up to Bill's awaiting arms. He pulls her in and she wraps her arms around him in return.
"I've just realized how hypocritical I sounded after I said all that," she says with a sigh, "I'm sorry."
Bill hums. "It's quite alright since you're not exactly wrong either," he says with a wistful look in his eyes, "I too wish I didn't have to hide my abilities, that people wouldn't look at me with such distrust and fear when they discover I can read their thoughts. But that's their own decision to make, illogical or not. We can't take that away from them no matter how much we want to because if we do, we're no better than those who despise us for something we can't control."
"I know but I'm just so...tired. Tired of being afraid, tired of others being so afraid," Raven says, tired and resigned, "Some days I just want to slap the fear away and shove acceptance down people's throat whether they like it or not."
"But that's the problem isn't it?" Bill interjects, "You can't make someone accept you through violence because that would only breed more anger, more fear, more hatred..."
"And then we'll be back where we started except worse," she finishes for him.
"Exactly," he proclaims.
She sighs. "Fear is stupid."
"It always has been and always will be," he says, "But it's how we respond to it that truly determines whether we'll be able to achieve acceptance and understanding."
Raven hums thoughtfully. "Mutant and proud."
"Mutant and proud," Bill agrees.
Then the two siblings cuddle for a bit, relaxing in each other's presence with Raven feeling as though she'd finally gotten an idea for how she wanted to proceed with her life after so many nights questioning the very purpose of her existence.
"So what were you working on before I came barging into your room with existential crisis' up the wazoo," she asks, making gimme gestures at the stack of papers off to the side.
"It's that horror novel I'd been writing in tandem with my graduation thesis," he responds, handing the papers over to her.
"You mean the one you'd work on whenever you felt like giving up on getting a PhD and just becoming a novel writer instead?" she idly comments, attention slowly being drawn to the papers she rifles through. "What's it about again?"
"It's about a boy who's desperately searching for his missing little brother," Bill says with a hint of nostalgia and melancholy, "However, his investigation continues to lead him to a certain house at the end of the street. And as he continues to delve deeper into the mystery of his brother's disappearance, more mysteries come to light as he discovers dark forces that conspire to stop him before he can stop It."
"And I see you've finally managed to complete it," she comments, brow furrowing in worry at the emphasis he'd put on the word "it" but knowing that no good would come from her asking him to elaborate. "Did you finally figure out the ending?"
Bill laughs sarcastically.
She smiles up at him. "I'll take that as a no."
"A rather resounding no," he says, "The ending is rather incomplete and stops abruptly because I just...don't know how it should end even though it feels like I should. But...whenever I think about it, I just feel a sense of longing and incompleteness."
"Like you've got some unfinished business?" she suggests.
"Exactly! But I don't remember what it could be and it just makes my memory more blurry the more I try to recall what I've forgotten..."
She pats him comfortingly on the chest. "You'll figure it out eventually. You're my brother after all," she says, putting the papers aside before settling in to sleep.
Bill turns off the lights and settles in beside her. But sleep was a long way off. For as much as his mind appreciates the faith Raven has in him, something about what she said makes his heart twinge with regret and guilt.
XXXXXX
The sun is shining.
The birds are singing.
The air feels crisp and cool.
But nobody bothers to pay attention to such details, too stuck in their own heads as their stomachs roll with anxiety and nerves.
For today is the day they were finally going after Shaw, bringing the fight to him so to speak. And nobody feels ready at all, not even Erik who'd been waiting for this day for his entire life.
Sean looks green in the face. Alex twitches from nerves and jumpy attempts to keep his ability under control. Angel clasps her hands as she utters prayers to a God she'd long lost faith in. Moira taps her fingers anxiously against the desk with a large monitoring and communications system set up as she'd be acting as the "team's" oversight.
Raven paces nervously back and forth. "Where in the world is Hank?" she exclaims after the aforementioned scientist still doesn't appear with each passing minute.
"I'll go check on him," Bill says. "Would anyone like to come with me?"
Everyone agrees to his suggestion, thankful for something to help distract them from the impending mission. The group travels through the halls of the mansion until they arrive at the door leading to Hank's lab.
There's a taped sign on the door reading 'Gone to the airbase, bring the crate marked X. - Hank'
Bill takes the sign off the door, looking at it in confusion. Then he opens the door and frowns at the sight that greets him.
Hank's lab was completely in pieces. Tables snapped in half, equipment broken into multiple pieces, and destroyed remnants of experiments litter the floor.
Everyone cautiously makes their way inside, bewildered at the destruction before them.
"What the hell happened here?" Erik asks.
Bill shrugs in answer as he makes his way over to the only untouched object in the room - a large metal crate marked with an X.
He opens the crate and stares wide eyed at its contents. The others join and also take a look inside the crate.
Erik whistles, impressed. "Hank has been busy."
"Do we really have to wear these?" Alex asks, deadpan.
"Since none of us have mutated to endure extreme G force or being riddled by bullets, I suggest we suit up," Bill dryly comments before closing the lid of the crate.
XXXXXX
Soon after the "team" dress in the specialized black and yellow suits Hank had made, they make their way to the nearby CIA airbase. They walk into a hangar where an impressive, sleek black jet greets them.
"Where's Hank?" Raven asks, as she looks around the hangar for any sight of the scientist.
The others look around as well but don't see him either.
"I'm here," Hank's voice calls out, his tone resigned.
They all turn towards the open hangar doors to see a large, blue furred figure in a black and yellow suit walking towards them. Everyone's eyes widen in surprise.
"Hank?" Bill asks tentatively.
Hank continues to walk until he stands before Raven. "It didn't reverse the cells...it enhanced them," he says as he bows his head, "It didn't work."
"Yes it did, Hank," Raven says, shaking her head as if Hank were just a silly boy. "Don't you see? This is who you were meant to be." She places an encouraging hand on his large arm. "This is you."
Hank looks up at her, hope shining in his eyes. She smiles. "No more hiding, no more fighting. Mutant and proud."
The two are then off in their own little world. Erik looks thoughtfully at them.
"Guess we can finally call you Beast for real now," Alex remarks, breaking the little moment.
Hank growls in response but doesn't rebuke his comment.
"Uhhh, this is great and all but does anyone know how to fly this thing?" Sean asks as he points at the large jet.
Everyone looks to each other with shrugs and head shakes. Hank clears his throat, bringing everyone's attention to him.
"You can?" Sean asks a bit in disbelief.
Hank smiles, showing off his newly acquired fangs. "Of course I can. I designed it after all."
XXXXXX
The team sits anxiously in the hold of the jet as it zips across the sky. Everyone's strapped tightly to their seat while wearing headsets to allow for communication over the roar of the engines.
"Testing, testing," Moira's voice crackles through the headsets, "Can you all hear me?"
Everyone voices their affirmation. Hank presses a button on the side of his headset. "We read you loud and clear, Moira."
"Copy that," she sends back, "Based on my radar, you should be coming up on the Russia fleet soon. Can you confirm?"
Hank glances at the radar system and spots multiple blinking lights in formation appearing on the screen. "Copy that. Just coming into range, now. Do you see Shaw anywhere on there?"
"Negative," Moira responds, "I can only see the Russia fleet moving and the American fleet on stand by."
"Are the ships slowing down at all?" Bill asks both Hank and Moira.
"Some of them seem to be slowing down as they reach the treaty line...wait! One of them's speeding up!" Moira exclaims in confusion. "Can you guys confirm what the hell is going on before I'm forced to make the CIA clean up a nuclear disaster?"
"I'm on it," Bill responds as he furrows his brow in concentration. His mind reaches out towards the soldiers aboard the ship.
He manages to slip into the mind of a navigator on the bridge just as Azazel appears and runs his blade through the navigator's heart. Bill gasps and jerks wildly as the connection breaks suddenly.
"Bill?" Raven calls out in concern.
Bill takes in a shuddering breath to regain his bearings. "Shaw's killing the people on the boat so that there's no way for the ship to stop!"
"What are we going to do?" Alex asks out, a hint of fear in his voice.
"Erik!" Bill calls out to said man, "How do you feel about practicing controlled destruction?"
Erik nods with a grave expression. "Let's do it."
"Alright Hank, bring us closer to the ship."
The jet zips through the skies and brings itself to hover just above the ship under the cover of clouds as Bill and Erik unclip themselves from their seats. The hangar doors open, allowing them a clear view of the ship.
Erik holds out a hand, closing his eyes in concentration as he uses his abilities to map out the mechanics of the ship. Then, with a slow clenching movement, he crumples the engines, the propellers, the rudders, and drops the anchors down, stopping the ship completely in its tracks.
Everyone lets out a collective sigh of relief.
"Now we can focus on finding Shaw," Erik says. "Have we located him yet?"
"No, only the Russian and US ships are appearing on my radars," Moira responds.
"That must mean he's underwater somewhere," Hank chimes in, "He's got a submarine right?"
"Yes. He's down there and we need to find him now," Erik impatiently demands.
"But how are we going to track it? It's not like we have any sonar," Moira says with growing frustration.
Sean clears his throat, drawing everyone's attention to him. He smiles cheekily. "Yes, we do."
Bill's eyes widen as he mentally smacks himself for his momentary lapse in intelligence. "We do, indeed."
Bill ushers Sean to unclip himself from his seat and make his way to the open hangar doors. Erik shuffles over to join them.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sean calls out, gesturing at Erik to stop, "You stay back."
Erik holds his hands up in surrender with a look of innocence that no one buys for a second.
"I'll be with you the entire time," Bill says to Sean as he taps his fingers against his head, "So you do what you need to do and stay safe out there. Good luck!"
Sean nods appreciatively before jumping out of the hangar. He lets loose a scream that allows him to loop up and control his momentum as he dives into the water. Once he's gotten deep enough, he lets loose another scream as hard and as long as he can.
Soon the scream echoes back towards him and he's struck with an odd sensation of knowing exactly where Shaw's submarine is even though he can't see it. Then he swims his way back to the surface where he's met with a tugging sensation as the metal pieces of his suit lift him up into the air and back onto the ship.
"Are you alright?" Bill asks as he helps Sean walk back over to the seats.
"I'm fine," Sean reassures him. Then he taps his head. "Did you get it?"
Bill nods affirmatively. Once Sean's back in his seat, he makes his way over to Erik who's still standing by the hangar doors. "You ready?"
Erik shakes his arms out. "Let's find out."
Hank brings the jet to hover over the location of the submarine given by both Sean and Bill. The landing gear is lowered with Erik holding on and Bill standing by the opening.
Erik reaches a hand out, powers reaching out for the metal of the submarine and just barely managing to snag a hold of it. However, he begins to shake from exertion as he struggles to pull the submarine to the surface.
Bill notices his struggle and reaches out gently with his mind, pulling up the loving memory of Erik and his mother as well. 'Remember Erik. The point between rage and serenity.'
Erik sucks in a breath at the sudden flood of emotions. Then he takes a moment to slowly release it and allow a feeling of calm to wash over him. His hand slowly stops shaking and soon after a large submarine begins to rise to the surface.
Bill calls out for Hank to move the jet towards one of the nearby islands and as the plane moves, the submarine follows with. It rises higher and higher until it breaches through the surface and continues up into the air where it hangs like a metallic puppet on Erik's invisible strings.
Erik looks at Bill with an expression of elation to which Bill responds with a look of pride. Moira's frantically saying something through the headset but they're too distracted to pay attention. They idly note that the jet was speeding up towards the island before their attention is drawn to the hatch of the submarine opening as the tornado mutant climbs out.
The three engage in a stare down before the tornado mutant smirks and makes spinning motions with his hands. A tornado rapidly forms and makes its way towards the jet.
"Oh shit!" Hank exclaims when he spots the tornado, quickly engaging in evasive maneuvers. "Hang on guys! It's gonna get bumpy!"
Erik quickly releases his grip on the sub, giving it a last shove towards the island before jumping up towards Bill. He magnetizes the two of them onto the floor of the jet with Bill tucked securely underneath him. The others grip the straps of their seats as tightly as possible just as the tornado slams into the jet.
Everyone hangs on as tightly as they can as the jet is tossed around like a rag doll. After what feels like an eternity, but was only a few seconds, the jet slams down heavily onto the beach. The submarine follows soon after and the tornado disappears just as quickly as it appeared.
"Is everyone alright?" Bill calls out as Erik slowly lowers them down to the ground from the floor that was now the ceiling as the jet had landed upside down.
He pushes himself off of Erik and holds out a hand to help the other man up. Bill only has a few bumps and bruises while Erik sports a small cut on his forehead.
"We're fine!" Raven shouts out in response as she helps the others out of their seats. "Just a few bruises and possibly a lifelong fear of planes."
Bill sighs in relief as he does his own cursory inspection of the others and sees that Raven's assessment holds true.
"G-ys? -uys? Ar- you all a-ri-ht?" Moira's voice crackles through some of the headsets that weren't completely decimated during the crash.
"We're all good, Moira," Angel calmly answers though her shaking hands say otherwise, "Just a little shaken."
"Understatement of the century," Alex mutters to Sean who giggles hysterically due to the hilarity of the comment but also the insanity of the situation.
Bill gestures for Angel to hand him the headset.
"Moira? Can you hear me?" Bill asks.
"Ye-h. The connection is a l-ttle sh-ky right n-w. But y-s," Moira responds, "I don- kn-w for how -uch lon-er though."
"Alright then, before the connection cuts I need you to do damage control with the US and Russian governments. Get them to stand down and leave before Shaw attacks them or tries to take another shot at starting WWIII," Bill hurriedly says, "Do whatever you have to but all those ships need to leave now."
"I'll d- w-at I -an," Moira says, "Be s-fe out th-re."
The connection clicks off and Bill takes off the headphones with a heavy sigh.
"What now, William?" Erik asks.
"Really? You're still going to do that even now?" Bill deadpans.
Erik shrugs, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I need to find the humor in the situation or else I might just curl up into a ball and cry."
"You? Cry?" Bill asks with humorous skepticism, "I can't quite see it."
"Oh ha, ha," Erik shoots back dryly. "But seriously, what should we do now?"
"Well I read the tornado mutant's mind and it seems that Shaw is drawing an enormous amount of nuclear energy within himself in order to become some sort of walking nuclear bomb," Bill states, trying to keep the growing worry out of his voice.
"Which we can unfortunately confirm because the Geiger counter is getting dangerously too close to the red zone at too quick a pace," Hank calls out from the front.
"We're going to have to go in then, find a way to get Shaw to release that energy in bursts so he won't have enough left to detonate," Bill concludes. He turns to Erik, looking him straight in the eyes with a serious expression. "Are you ready to bring the fight to him?"
Erik stares at Bill in shock before a grin slowly overtakes his expression. He looks like a shark who's just smelled blood in the water and has finally been released from its cage to hunt the source of it.
"Why Charles," Erik practically purrs, sending shivers down Bill's spine, "I thought you'd never ask."
XXXXXX
Erik walks out of the jet with Alex, Sean, Hank, and Angel flanking him. Raven crouches beside Bill in the cover of the wreckage.
Across from them, Emma, Azazel, and the tornado mutant emerge from the wreckage of the submarine.
'We all know what to do, yes?' Bill asks, brow furrowing in concentration as he extends his mental reach in search of Shaw.
'Erik goes charging in after Shaw with Angel and Sean providing cover. Alex and I will focus on keeping the other mutants distracted while you guide him and Raven watches your back,' Hank summarizes as he flexes his claws in preparation.
'Who wants to take who?' Angel asks as her wings peel off her skin, 'I'd take a stab at Shaw myself but since Erik's already got that covered, Frost's the next best thing.'
'Go for it,' Alex shrugs, 'We'll take care of the other two.'
'Remember that we are stalling for time. From what I've seen, these mutants' loyalty to Shaw only extends to what he can offer them. When he has nothing left, they'll turn on him faster than you can blink,' Bill urges them, 'So please do whatever you can to stay safe and...be careful.'
Everyone voices their affirmation as they cautiously make their way towards the enemy mutants.
Emma's skin shifts to diamond as Angel lifts off into the air. Sean prepares to take off as Azazel unsheathes his blades. The tornado mutant flips his palms and tornados begin to form.
Alex takes the first shot and unleashes a bolt of energy that knocks the tornado mutant back into the submarine. Azazel teleports and appears right behind Alex, his tail wrapping itself around his neck. Hank whirls around and grabs onto Azazel just as he teleports again.
The three appear high up in the air and immediately plummet down towards the ground. Hank sinks his claws into Azazel and growls out, "If we go, you go."
Having no other choice, Azazel teleports them straight to the ground though the earlier momentum has them slamming down harder than they anticipated.
Meanwhile, Angel dive bombs at Emma who slices at her with diamond covered hands. Emma manages to get a lucky hit in and Angel's wing jerks from the sudden injury. She rolls into a crouch and immediately engages in a fistfight with Emma.
Erik books it across the beach towards the submarine. The tornado mutant prepares a tornado to stop him but is forced to cover his ears when Sean releases a sonic scream.
Erik holds out a hand and rips a hole into the submarine that he runs through. "Where am I going, William?"
'You need to make your way towards the middle of the vessel,' Bill states, 'That entire area has been blocked from my reach so we can only assume Shaw's there.'
Erik slowly makes his way through the submarine, passing by an area with modern white decor and multiple glass tumblers shattered on the floor with alcohol painting colorful stains on the white interior. He passes through a door and into the submarine's control room.
'The nuclear reactor's right in front of you,' Bill says, drawing his attention to a large machine with a gauge slowly dropping into the red though it's thankfully still in the yellow. 'You need to disable it.'
Erik places his hand on a lever and pushes it down from "Reactor Open" to "Reactor Close." He walks through another set of doors into another room with more tasteful decoration and more alcohol tumblers shattered across the floor. He frantically looks around for any sign of Shaw but doesn't see him at all.
"I'm in the middle but he's not here, Charles!" Erik shouts with growing frustration. "There's nobody here!"
'What! But he has to be there!' Bill exclaims, 'There's no other place he could be. Just keep looking.'
"There's nowhere else to look!" Erik shouts back, "He's not here!"
Suddenly, a trap door slides open behind him. Erik slowly turns to see Shaw standing in a mirrored room with a metal helmet on his head.
"Hello there, Erik. What a pleasant surprise," Shaw greets with an unpleasant smile, "It's so good to see you again."
XXXXXX
'Erik?' Bill calls out when his connection to Erik suddenly cuts off, 'Erik!'
"Bill, what's wrong?" Raven asks, concerned.
"He's gone," Bill says.
"What do you mean he's gone?"
"He's gone into the void! I can't communicate with him there," Bill shouts as he starts making his way out of the jet with Raven following behind.
As the two of them step off the jet, they're greeted with the sight of a battle slowly reaching its climax.
Hank and Azazel engage in a vicious fistfight with Azazel teleporting every other second and Hank only able to land a hit if he manages to predict where the man will appear next. Alex and Sean fire energy and sound at the tornado mutant who uses tornados to divert the attacks elsewhere. Angel, now covered in small cuts all over, continues her throwdown with Emma whose diamond skin is smoking in some places and retracted in others.
Bill takes a moment to look towards the ocean and is glad to see that the US and Russian ships were sailing far away into the horizon. He makes a mental note to send Moira the nicest gift basket money could buy for the strings she must've pulled to achieve this feat.
Suddenly an explosion catches everyone's attention, their fights coming to a sudden halt as they watch Erik fly through the air and land painfully onto the sand. Shaw steps out from the hole he'd made in the submarine and jumps down gracefully onto the beach.
"Erik!" Bill cries in worry as he rushes over to check on him.
Erik coughs out weakly, struggling to catch his breath. "I'm alright," he chokes out, "Maybe a few cracked ribs but nothing too serious."
Bill stares incredulously at him. "A few cracked ribs are not serious at all?"
"So you must be William Charles Xavier," Shaw calls out as he leisurely walks towards them. "I have to thank you, my good sir. You've given my little monster quite the upgrade."
"He's not a monster," Bill spits out venomously, "If anyone were the monster here, it'd be you."
"Oh quite the contrary," Shaw rebukes, "I liken myself to Frankenstein rather than Frankenstein's monster."
Bill glares at the man as he stands before them, his chin tilted up so he can gaze down like a god looking down upon his rebellious subjects.
"I'm going to give you one last chance to either join me or surrender," Shaw smugly states like an inevitable ultimatum.
"Or else what? You'll kill me?" Bill snarls, frustrated that his abilities don't work because of that stupid helmet on Shaw's head.
Shaw shrugs. "Your answer?"
"Go to hell!" Bill snaps, clutching Erik closely to him.
Shaw sighs like he should've seen this coming. "Oh well then. You've made your bed, I hope you're able to stomach lying in it."
Bill furrows his brow in confusion. "Wha-"
Shaw whips a hand out and a wave of seismic energy slams into Angel, knocking her all the way back into the submarine and cracking her ribs in the process. She coughs out blood as she slumps to the ground.
Then he whips out his other hand and sends Alex and Sean flying towards the jet, more specifically towards the sharp metal debris. Sean quickly latches onto Alex and lets out a scream to change their course but they still end up with large gashes across their arms and legs when they land.
Before anyone can react, Shaw brings his hands together and releases an enormous wave of energy at Raven who raises her arms up for cover. Hank rushes towards her as swiftly as possible and manages to wrap his arms around her just as the wave hits and the two go flying through the hole in the jet and slamming into the walls with a painfully loud thud.
Emma, Azazel, and the tornado mutant gape at what just occurred, shocked by the complete brutality Shaw directed towards fellow mutants who were significantly younger than them. They all jump in fright when Shaw turns to face them.
"And that is what happens to those who continue to defy the natural order of this world," Shaw proclaims arrogantly, looking down at them all in warning.
The three enemy mutants lower their head in fearful deference. Shaw smiles at the show of submission. He turns to face Bill and Erik who stare at him in shock, still struggling to process what just happened.
"Shaw!" Erik growls out, "You bastard!"
Erik struggles to push himself up and away from Bill's hold, his arms shake from the effort.
"Now because I am such a benevolent person, I'll give you another last chance," Shaw says condescendingly, crouching down before the two. "Either join me now or I really kill these kids for real. I'd hate to dirty my hands with the blood of my brothers and sisters."
Erik growls as he continues to search for some semblance of energy to do something, anything.
Bill's gaze travels towards Angel who struggles to breathe properly as she stares tearfully at him. To Alex and Sean who stand, shaking and stumbling, while they hold their hands over the bleeding gashes on their limbs. To Hank and Raven who slowly shuffle out of the jet with heavily concentrated effort and brows covered in sweat.
Then it slides back towards Shaw who he just stares numbly at. His expression is frighteningly neutral. Emma pales when she catches sight of it and she immediately begins corralling her confused fellow mutants as far away as they can get.
Shaw tilts his head in confusion at Bill's continued silence and almost catatonic expression. "Huh. I guess you weren't as tough as I thought you'd be," he observes amusedly. "Then I won't be needing this anymore."
He takes off his helmet, so smug and sure of his victory. But that was his mistake.
Without warning, Bill surges forth, wrapping a hand around Shaw's collar and lifting him up into the air.
"Oh! So the little telepath does have some fight left in him," Shaw jokes, "Guess I took this off preemptively."
"You shouldn't have done that," Bill hisses, expression still frighteningly neutral even though his tone is full of rage.
"And why is that?" Shaw arrogantly asks, still mocking Bill, "You're a peace loving professor. What could you possibly do? Lecture me to death?"
Bill chuckles. But it's not a chuckle like one would make towards a joke or to mock someone. It's dry and creaky. Almost disembodied with a layer of something alien underneath.
It strikes a chord deep within Shaw and for the first time in a long time, he actually feels something he thought he'd long forgotten...fear.
"I'm going to do so much worse," Bill hisses as his eyes slowly darken, black completely swallowing his pupils and overtaking the whites of his eyes. "I'm going to make. You. FLOAT!"
Overwhelming fear overtakes Shaw and he starts convulsing uncontrollably in Bill's grasp. His eyes roll up into his head as his jaw drops open and foams. Bill releases his grip on Shaw and everyone watches in horrified awe as Shaw slowly rises into the air, still violently convulsing.
"William?" Erik calls out to Bill in worry, "William?!"
Erik somehow manages to find the strength to push himself off the sand and stand up. He quickly shuffles over to Bill who continues to do whatever the hell it is he's doing.
"Charles! Stop!" Erik cries out when he sees blood dripping down Bill's nose.
But Bill doesn't stop. Erik grabs him by the shoulders and looks him in the eyes. He jerks a bit in surprise when he sees only blackness and three orbs of light circling around in Bill's eyes. Tears of blood also begin to flow down his cheeks.
"Charles!" Erik cries out again, shaking Bill but he continues to ignore him. "Bill!"
The use of his preferred name coming from Erik is enough to draw Bill's attention to the metal bender.
"Please, Bill. Stop," Erik desperately pleads with him, "Don't cross the line you've drawn in the sand for yourself. I know you'll never be able to forgive yourself if you do."
Bill stares at Erik, expression indecipherable. Erik grabs his face, cupping his cheeks in between his hands. "Please," he whispers out like a prayer and plea. Then he leans forward closing his eyes while bringing Bill's face towards him as their lips meet.
For a heart stopping moment, Erik thinks he's failed as he opens his eyes and still sees the darkness in Bill's. Then, just as he starts to lean away, the black slowly bleeds away. Shaw's catatonic body falls behind them as Bill's eyes flutter shut and he leans into the kiss.
The two stay connected like that, not quite making out but also not just giving a quick peck. Completely ignoring where they currently were and the situation at hand while everyone watches them slack jawed, though Raven does wolf whistle at the sight of her brother finally getting some.
They both simply enjoy the feeling of each other's lips upon theirs before Bill's legs give out from underneath him. Erik manages to hold him up with his arms before he, himself, sort of drops onto his ass when the last of his energy drains away. The metal bender cradles the telepath closely to his chest.
"Thank you, Erik," Bill weakly whispers out to him.
Erik smiles back at him. "You would've done the same thing for me."
Bill lets out a weak chuckle. "What are you going to do about Shaw?" he asks, nodding towards said man.
Erik glances over at him, staring a bit numbly at Shaw's frighteningly still body. Only the shallow rise and fall of his chest indicating that he was still alive.
"I'm going to finish what I started," Erik says, before turning back to Bill, "And then we're all going home."
Bill smiles tearfully at Erik. The others have now gathered around them, they all stare at Shaw in shock and Bill with awe. Raven crouches beside him and takes over for Erik as he slowly stands up.
Erik walks over to Shaw, feeling a sense of calm wash over him as he crouches beside the man's catatonic body. Then he places one hand on Shaw's neck and the other on his head. Without hesitation, he sharply twists, snapping Shaw's neck.
And just like that, his nightmare has finally ended.
XXXXXX
In the immediate aftermath of the battle, Erik manages to convince Azazel to transport them all to a CIA facility where everyone, including their once enemies, are given medical treatment.
They all spend a week there before Bill and Emma "convince" the CIA to let them go and also subtly influence the higher ups to leave them alone now that Shaw has been dealt with.
Bill and Moira agree to cut the professional ties between the mutants and the CIA because they both knew that the government would never let them go in peace due to the threat they posed and the advantages they provided.
However, she does continue to stop by the mansion on occasion in order to update them all on the latest now that she'd been promoted to head of the liaison department due to her stellar work in handling the Russian government and US navy.
Emma, Azazel, and the tornado mutant, Janos, all decided to go their separate ways. Though they departed with a standing invitation to the mansion and that they were always welcome should they need a place to stay.
And when the group finally returned to the mansion, they were met with the delightful surprise of Darwin wandering around its halls in confusion. Angel tearfully embraced the newly awakened man and the other guys excitedly filled him in on everything he's missed. Raven soon shoos them away as he and Angel deserve to finally go on that first date cause, quite frankly, Angel's pining was starting to get a bit pathetic.
Once everyone had fully recovered, they all went about their lives with new paths placed before them that they never thought they'd be traveling down before.
Bill, having derived great joy from teaching the younger generation to control their abilities, decided to start a school for mutants. He wanted to provide a safe haven where they could learn and be free to be themselves without fear of judgment or persecution.
Alex, Sean, Angel, and Hank happily jumped on board with his idea, helping him out with the schematics and details, even volunteering to teach a few classes as well.
However, Raven and Erik decided that they couldn't stay. Both wanted to take a journey of self-discovery around the world. Erik, because his entire purpose for living had been to kill Shaw, and Raven, because she wants to do good in the world and feels she'll be more likely to achieve that by actually going out into the world. But both reassured that they wouldn't stay away forever, volunteering to help recruit mutants for the school and their cause.
And so, it is with a heavy heart that Bill shares his goodbyes with his sister and his newly minted best friend/something more?
"Make sure to write," Bill says as he brings Raven in for a hug, "Even sending a generic postcard will do."
"Don't you worry, Bill," Raven reassures as she pats him on the back, "I'll be back. I've gotta make sure that my goody two shoes brother stays alive and one piece."
"Oh ha, ha, ha," he sarcastically says, reluctantly releasing Raven from his arms. His brow furrows in worry. "Be safe."
She smiles. "I will." Then she slaps him on the arm. "Now go say goodbye to your man!"
"He's not my man," he sputters out indignantly.
"That kiss on the beach says otherwise," she cheekily retorts.
Bill turns his back on her with a huff. She laughs at how red his ears were turning. He shakes off his embarrassment and walks over to Erik.
"I guess this is goodbye then," Bill says, fidgeting slightly as he stands before Erik.
"I didn't know you were so eager to be rid of me, Bill," Erik dramatically laments.
Bill gapes at him. "You said my name."
"I did," Erik says with a genuine smile, not a hint of protest or joking to be seen, "Because this is not a goodbye but a see you later."
Bill smiles shyly in return. "Alright then. I'll see you later."
The two look at each other for a moment longer, eyes roving across in an attempt to etch the image of the other permanently into their mind. It seems like they might lean in for another kiss.
And then the moment ends when a taxi honks impatiently from the driveway.
Erik smiles apologetically. "We'll come back to this. We have all the time in the world now."
Bill nods as he watches Erik turn and walk off towards the taxi. Raven slowly follows after him as she waves goodbye to everyone.
Bill watches the taxi drive off with a feeling of peace and completion that he'd never felt before. Even though there continue to be parts of himself that were missing and desperately needing to be filled, it didn't really matter anymore.
Because the past was the past and the future never looked brighter.
And that's the end of First Class! I hope you guys liked the changes I made that were a combination of fix-its of things I didn't really like about the original movie and attempts to make the crossover of the two movies make sense.
Cause I think we can all agree killing Darwin and never bringing him back was a dick move and having Moira physically involved in a mutant v mutant fight was the stupidest decision ever. Like, why the hell was she there? She's a human with a gun that will do more harm than good and she's also dead weight, contributing nothing with her physical presence. It made more sense to me for her to be their oversight, making sure they're all safe and that the CIA's keeping the US and Russia government off their asses.
Anyways, look forward to the Days of Future Past rewrite chapter cause whoo boy, there are a lot of changes that'll happen now that we've got the whole Bill/Charles fusion going on and there's NO beach divorce with Cherik sprinkled all over in copious amounts. Until next time!