Chapter 21 - Escapes
Xavier's School for the Gifted Youngsters, Salem Center, New York.
First, they heard the thunderous roar coming from the east wing. Before they could perceive what was happening, another five explosions took place all along the mansion's outer walls. The War Room quaked vigorously, forcing the X-Men to hold onto each other in order not to fall. Dust and smoke filled the room, making it hard to breathe. Rogue's sharp instincts told her to fly to Xavier's direction. She picked him up in her arms and was about to escape through the broken windows when the professor's mental command invaded her mind.
'X-Men, we're under attack! Evacuate the mansion now!' His telepathic call reverberated like a fire alarm inside his pupils' heads. Xavier didn't try to hide the fact that he was terrified as he performed a quick mind scan of his surroundings. He gave another grave order. 'We're outnumbered. Do not engage in battle. I repeat, do not engage in battle. Evacuate the mansion immediately!'
"Everyone, to zhe Blackbird, quickly!" Nightcrawler shouted, helping Jubilee up to her feet and teleporting both of them to the hangar.
Storm's head darted up and then sideways, her eyes wide. She couldn't endure to be buried alive under a collapsed building, not again. She recalled the attack to Harry's Hideaway almost two years ago and stuttered in panic. "W-Where's Forge?"
"Las-Last I saw him, he was in de… garage," Gambit told her, his hands and knees on the floor, coughing hard. Ororo noticed how her teammate was struggling to breathe. She pushed her phobia aside and grabbed Remy by the arms; with the help of her winds, she flew both of them out of the smoke and into the hangar's direction. "Take slow, deep breaths," she advised him in the air.
"Oh God, Nathan's in the lab with Jean!" Cyclops' voice was dripping with fear as he sprinted out of the room.
"Shit," Iceman cursed and followed his team leader to the east wing. Once he had reached the hallway, he created an ice ramp and slid himself towards the lab's direction, pulling Scott up on the ramp with him. "We'll be faster if we skate," he explained.
Meanwhile, Polaris and Havok ran out of the War Room hand in hand. When they arrived in the main parlor, she raised her arms and used her magnetic powers to hold the mansion's metal structure in place. "Go to the Blackbird, Alex."
"No. I'm not leaving you here," he shouted, and a nearby explosion sent him to his knees. He raised his head and glimpsed at the wracked front door, through which a dozen armed men were gaining access to the house. They pointed their guns at him and Lorna, and not thinking twice, Havok stroke all of them with a single plasma blow. The men were violently thrown backwards, crashing against the wall; some slumped unconscious, other dropped dead to the floor. When the dust settled, he could see an intimidating male figure approaching them.
"Oh, the young love. So innocent, so blind… You should have left when you had the chance, Mr. Summers," the strange man said with a wicked smile.
"Who the hell are you?" The blonde mutant asked, standing up and charging himself up again.
"I'm the Inner Circle's Black King," he told them, getting closer, "and I'm indestructible."
"We'll see," Havok defied, gathering all his power and striking the man with full force. However, not only Shaw didn't flinch, but he also expanded his chest and opened his arms, absorbing the totality of Alex's blow within his body.
"Is that all you've got?" The older man continued to stride towards the X-Man, who fell to the ground, exhausted.
"Get away from him," Lorna shrieked, using one of her hands to hurl a piece of iron girder into Shaw's body while the other kept directing her powers to secure the collapsing ceiling. With a mere punch, the Black King easily pitched the object away. He then lifted Alex by the collar and headbutted him, knocking him out hard. "You're next," he spoke to Polaris, advancing into her magnetic field and punching her in the stomach. With the impact, the woman bowed over herself, and before she could inhale some oxygen again, Shaw's fist hit her left temple mercilessly.
The Black King lifted the limp bodies of the two X-Men in his arms and exited through the mansion's front door. He didn't look back as the ceiling collapsed over the bodies of the Hellfire Club's hitmen who were lying on the parlor's floor.
"That's what I call a true Christmas miracle," he grinned to himself.
xxxxx
In the meantime, Rogue, Xavier, Storm, Gambit, Nightcrawler and Jubilee arrived in the hangar. Kurt teleported himself into the Blackbird, opened the hatch and started the engine.
"All of you, get on board," Charles ordered. "I'm trying to contact Beast telepathically, but something or someone is preventing me from reaching him."
"Professor, I'm going after Forge," Ororo let him know and commanded the winds to fly her towards the garage. However, her weight suddenly became too heavy and she fell face first to the floor. "What the hell?"
"My name's Harry Leland," the obese man standing under the hangar's door told her, his hands on his hips, "and I'm going to crush your bones against the floor, X-Man. Please, do scream," he said as Storm's mass became denser and two ribs gave in. She yelled in pain.
"That's enough!" The professor's stern voice echoed across the hangar, and Leland let out a loud scream. "I will not tolerate torture in my home," Charles declared. With an unfamiliar brutality, he invaded Leland's mind and ripped away his opponent's most recent memories. When the fat man came back to his senses, he wore a confused look on his face. "Sleep now," Professor X commanded, forcing him into unconsciousness.
Meanwhile, twelve men had dashed into the hangar with firearms in hand. Nightcrawler teleported out of the plane and performed a sequence of acrobatic kicks and punches that sent four of them to the ground. Two other men met Rogue's fists, while Jubilee incapacitated another pair by burning their faces with fireworks. Gambit's charged cards and staff took care of the remaining mercenaries.
"Ugh," Ororo cried on the floor while Remy assisted her up.
"My turn to help you, chér," he told his teammate and walked her towards the jet.
"I need, ugh… to get Forge…" she hissed between moans.
"Let me contact him, Storm," Xavier intervened, launching his telepathic powers all over the mansion. However, he couldn't detect the man's mind. "How strange," he mumbled, trying to reach Beast next. Again, his other pupil's thoughts were cloaked to him. The same was true for Havok's and Cyclops' mind. "My gifts… they're gone."
"What? But you've just used zhem on Leland, professor. How's zhat possible?" Nightcrawler inquired. Xavier was one of the most powerful mutants he had ever known. If someone was messing with his powers, it meant the threat they were facing was even more dangerous than they had anticipated.
"Someone, or something, is blocking my telepathy. I can't even feel your minds right now," Charles said.
"Don't worry, I'll get Forge," Rogue told him and flew away.
When she arrived at the garage, she witnessed Forge firing his gun at a blond man with a mechanical arm who was shooting back with a much larger gun. The mutant engineer was hiding behind the huge conduit in the center of the room. Sneaking behind the X-Man, there were two hitmen ready to shoot him.
"Naw, that's the coward's way of attacking, dontcha' think, fellas?" Rogue asked, and when the mercenaries turned around to acknowledge her presence, she punched them hard on the face. Needless to say, the battle was quickly over for them.
"Are you going to hide all night, Indian? First behind a machine, now behind a woman?" Pierce provoked.
"Who's hiding?" Forge questioned, adjusting his aim and firing the next bullet flawlessly through the cyborg-man's metal arm.
"Fuck!" The White Bishop cursed, staring in horror as sparks covered his bionic limb. "Do you know how much it will cost me to fix it? I might have to send the bill to your grave!"
"I'd pay anything to make ya' shut yoah damn mouth," Rogue barked, flying over Pierce's head, too quickly for him to get a good aim at her. She plunged towards him, gripping the gun from his left arm and breaking it against her thigh; then she pulled on the cyborg's arm so fiercely that the robotic member came out in her hands.
"I guess I fixed the short circuit for ya'," she said and used the metal piece to strike Pierce's head, sending him to the floor unconscious.
Forge came out of his hiding place to stand beside the woman. He gave a light kick on the man's chest and watched as his limp body rolled around. "You've definitely shut his mouth. He's out cold."
"'Nough talking, genius. Yoah girlfriend's waiting for us in the jet," Anna told him and grabbed his arm.
"Rogue, wait! We can't leave the conduit here!" Forge said, pointing to said device. "It's our only chance of fighting the 'cure'."
The southern woman glanced at her teammate as if he had completely lost his mind. "Sugah, we need to get the hell outta here before any more maniacs with guns show up."
The man shook his head. "But we can't leave it behind. Imagine what could happen if it fell on the wrong hands."
Anna sighed. "Forge, what the hell are we supposed t'do 'bout it?"
"Well, you ARE super strong, and the conduit fits in the Blackbird. Let's bring it with us, wherever we're going," he shrugged.
"Unbelievable," Rogue muttered, shaking her head sideways. "At least guide me back to the hangar. I won't be able to see a damn thing with this machine in front of me," she said, mildly annoyed. She held the conduit between her hands and took off from the floor.
"Just fly ahead," Forge advised from the ground. "I've got your back."
xxxxx
On the east wing, the usually quiet, clean and tidy laboratory had turned into a chaotic scenery. A violent explosion had destroyed the wall facing the back lawn, generating fire spots that threatened to burn the place to the ground. The blast had shattered every window and light bulb in the room, and the thick smoke that filled the air made the lab even darker. The displeasing ringing in McCoy's eardrums prevented him from hearing further noises; nonetheless, his keen eyes were able to identify two female figures emerging from the hole in the wall. A new surge of adrenaline flooded his bloodstream as the pair stepped over the shards of plaster and concrete to gain access to the lab.
Beast looked at Jean's body lying unconscious on the floor, covered in debris; he then glimpsed at the two babies crying inside the playpen and stroller, both placed beside the far wall and under a broken window; finally, he glanced back at the two strange women approaching him. He quickly calculated his moves. If he was fast enough, he could pick Jean from the ground and reach the two children with on big leap. He made a motion to run, but his right foot and head hit some sort of pinkish force field, bouncing him backwards. He hadn't noticed it before, but it surely explained why he hadn't been struck by any shrapnel during the explosion. He glimpsed to his left… the two women were getting closer. Hank didn't pay attention to their oddly scant outfit - his priority was to break free from the confining bubble. He used his two large paws to give the force field a fierce push, to no avail. Meanwhile, the two females had finally reached him - they passed him by, not minding his presence.
They kept marching forward, and McCoy wondered if it was Jean that they were after. He screamed his friend's name as loud as he could, hoping she would wake up in time to defend herself. Yet, the woman didn't move. At this point, the two villains came to a halt beside the redhead; the one wearing the lighter outfit crouched down and put two fingers over Jean's neck - Beast saw how they moved up and down, meaning his friend had a strong pulse. He let out a breath and started pushing against the pinkish energy field once again - it still didn't give way. He noticed that the two females exchanged succinct words and then resumed their pacing, advancing towards the opposite wall… towards the babies. Hank froze. The babies. They were here for the babies!
Beast's hearing was slowly returning, and the first thing he heard were the children's cries. He clawed at the bubble in desperation, and his heart skipped a beat as the woman in darker clothes bent towards Rachel. To his surprise, her hands never reached past the stroller, and a frustrated expression appeared on her face. The blonde followed suit, trying to grab Nathan from his playpen, but she too didn't succeed. Both children were secured inside a force field.
Hank sighed in relief. The same force preventing him from moving was protecting the babies. There was only one person inside the lab that could have generated it, and she was currently down for the count. His eyes darted down in Jean's direction at the same time that the brunette's eyes did. He saw the blonde putting her hands against her own head, and then pointing her right index finger at the redhead. "She's the one doing this," Beast could distinguish her words.
"Jean! Wake up!" He yelled from inside the bubble. He noticed that his friend's face contorted slightly, and her body gave the faintest stir. However, the female in black must have noticed it as well, since she quickly paced back towards Jean. She kneeled before the injured woman and locked eyes with McCoy.
"Is this the troublemaker?" She inquired him with a derisive smile. Beast's eyes widened, but he didn't dare to respond. "I guess your friend needs to learn that the Black Queen always gets what she wants. I'll make sure to teach her this lesson," Selene told him, putting her hands around the redhead's neck.
"Nooo!" Hank screamed.
Jean let out a whimper as the Black Queen started consuming her vital energy. After only three seconds, Emma poked into the force field surrounding the babies. "It's yielding," she informed her associate, adding. "Hurry up. I don't know how long the telepathy blocker Pierce has installed in this place will work."
"Hmm… This woman is powerful, Frost," Selene said, relishing in the power. "I just need a few more seconds and she'll be done…"
"Time's over," she heard a male voice yelling as a fierce crimson blast crushed her body against the lab's bench. Startled, the White Queen turned around, only to be hit on the temple by one of Cyclops' narrow but precise eye beams. Both villains slumped unconscious to the floor.
As Jean's energy was drained, the telekinetic force field gave way and Beast was finally able to move. "Right on time," he said while leaping towards the redhead.
Meanwhile, Cyclops ran to the playpen and picked his son up, relieved to see that the boy was unharmed. Nate was sobbing copiously, though, and clung to his father's neck. "Daddy's here, son," Scott whispered in his ear and hugged him back. He then transferred Nathan to his left arm and used his right to take the weeping girl out of the stroller. "How's Jean?"
"Not well. Her heartbeat's too low," Dr. McCoy responded as he inspected her wounds. She had a cut on the scalp that was bleeding profusely and a significant blood stain on her light blue jeans.
Suddenly, a small army of hitmen came in through the hole in the wall. "Freeze, muties!" One of them ordered.
"Since you asked so nicely…" Iceman replied, freezing their guns' firing pins. He then contained all mercenaries in a giant ice tie, preventing them from moving. After that, Cyclops blasted the lot out of the lab and into the backyard again; Bobby finished the job by sealing the hole with an ice barrier. "That should keep them away."
"We need to get out of here," Scott looked around, trying to figure out a plan. "Beast, take Jean. Iceman, find a bag and grab as many antidote samples as you can. I'm gonna blast us out of here," he fired an optic beam at the wall and carefully stepped onto the lawn, holding the two scared babies close. Hank picked Jean in his arms and followed his leader outside.
Bobby searched around the room but could only find the baby bags. He threw away the diapers and toys and filled them with ice and antidote samples instead. Before he exited the lab, he spotted a small silver device laying on the side table and grabbed it. 'It might come in handy,' he thought and sprinted towards his teammates.
The three men ran away from the burning mansion, heading towards its iron gates. From time to time, Cyclops would glance over his shoulder to certify that they weren't being followed; however, the thick smoke was preventing him from seeing enemies and friends alike. The trio came to a halt in the middle of the front yard and attempted to contact the rest of the team. "Iceman, de-ice," he commanded, and Bobby's body turned to flesh again. Scott handed Rachel to him and used his free hand to press the communicator in his uniform. "X-Men, it's Cyclops. Iceman and Beast are with me, and Jean's wounded. We need rescuing. X-Men, do you copy?" Unfortunately, no one responded. Iceman tried the communicator on his belt but it wasn't working either. "Something must be interfering with our communication system," Scott concluded.
Beast noticed that more mercenaries were approaching them from both directions. He counted at least two dozen men with guns in hand. "Cyclops, we've got bogies at six and twelve o'clock," he let his team leader know, placing Jean on the grass so he could prepare for battle.
"Damnit! If I use my optic beams against one group, the other will shoot us," he pondered, protecting his son with both arms. "I can't hit them all at once."
"Beast, take Rach and warm her up. I have an idea," Iceman gave the baby to Hank and iced up again to create an ice barrier all around them. He added layer after layer of ice, quickly making it impenetrable to bullets. "This should protect us."
"And leave us trapped in here," Scott observed.
"Hey, I said I had an idea, not that I had a good idea," he shrugged.
"If Jean was conscious, she would be able to reach the professor telepathically. Now we'll have to wait for Xavier to try to contact us," Cyclops said, jumping backwards as bullets started hitting the ice wall. "Iceman?"
"I'll keep reinforcing it," Bobby replied with both palms placed against the ice surface.
From afar, they heard the rumble of an engine advancing in the air. They glanced up at the dark sky and soon distinguished an unidentified helicopter hovering thirty meters above. Their first instinct was to recoil in fear; but seeing as the pilot started firing at the Hellfire Club's men, the three X-Men concluded the aircraft was friendly. They heard how the mercenaries redirected their guns at the vehicle; many shouted in desperation, since their firearms were no match for the helicopter's machine gun; a few lucky ones managed to run away; most, however, ended up gravelly hurt or dead on the ground. Gradually, the shooting came to an end.
"Oh my stars and garters, if it isn't our guardian Angel," Beast said as he spotted blonde locks and wings behind the machine gun.
"How come he's shooting the gun and piloting the chopter at the same time?" Iceman asked.
Cyclops's lips curved into a smile. "That's an UH1-Huey. The newer version includes the GFC 600H flight control system."
"What?"
"Automatic hovering, among other things," Scott explained.
"Hop up, guys, there's no time to land this thing," Warren shouted from above, releasing a rope for his teammates to climb.
"How are we supposed to pull Jean and the kids up with a rope?" Iceman questioned.
"We can't," Scott replied, considering his options. He didn't want to leave his son behind, not even for a few minutes, but he couldn't think of another way. "I'll climb first and take on the pilot seat. That way Angel can fly down to take you guys up," Cyclops said, placing a kiss on Nathan's forehead and handing him to Bobby.
He pulled himself up on the rope and rapidly ascended, accepting Warren's help to enter the aircraft. Soon after, Angel landed inside the ice barrier. First, he carried Bobby, who had Nathan and the bags in his arms, back to the helicopter. Then he descended again to bring Jean in. Finally, he took Hank and his godchild into the vehicle.
"What happened to Jean?" Warren asked in concern, crouching beside the woman on the helicopter's floor.
"Head concussion followed by life energy draining," McCoy explained, searching for the helicopter's first aid kit.
"Shit."
"Indeed. Bobby, see if you can cool down Jean's head while I try to control the hemorrhage," Hank told him, handing Rachel to Angel.
"I'm on it." Iceman put Nate in Warren's arms as well and kneeled beside the redhead.
"What am I supposed to do with two crying babies?"
"Hold them tight," came Scott's stern voice. "They're probably cold and scared."
"Ugh," a moan escaped the telepath's lips as Bobby's cold hand touched her forehead. "R-Rach?" She mumbled.
"We've got her, Jeannie. She's safe," the blond mutant let her know.
"Angel, take the co-pilot's seat. Bring the kids to the cockpit with you, so Hank and Bobby can have more room to tend to Jean."
"Yes, boss."
"May I ask, my dear friends, where are we going?" Hank inquired while using a scissor to cut through the redhead's jeans. His eyes widened at the sight of the deep gash on her left thigh. "Oh my, this will definitely need stitching."
"Let's go to my cabin in Colorado," Warren proposed. "It's in the Rocky Mountains, pretty isolated. Plus, I doubt the Hellfire Club knows I own it."
"You sure?" Scott questioned. "It will be a long flight. We'll have to stop to refuel at some point."
"No, but… at least we can hide in there for the night. I imagine these kids will need to eat and sleep at some point," the winged man reasoned, rocking the crying babies in his arms. "And I've brought some extra fuel."
"All right. Strap yourselves, gentlemen. We're getting out of here," Cyclops said and started maneuvering towards west. When he turned the helicopter around, he spotted the Blackbird taking off from the mansion's hangar. 'I hope you've made it into the jet, Alex,' he prayed in his mind.