Chapter Three-
The school was in chaos. Screams. Crying. Panic. Pain. Death. It was all over. The government had finally made their decision on what to do with the mutants, and this was their answer. It didn't matter that they were young. It didn't matter that they were innocent. Nothing mattered to them. They still feared what they didn't understand after all these years. It took one man to call for the roundup of those born with abilities, and that was all that mattered. He didn't care that these children were watching their parents die protecting them. It didn't matter that after tonight, these children would be captured or murdered.
Out of the shadows a boy appeared with a youthful girl and he looked around in a panic as soldiers came toward him from both sides. He knelt down quickly and the young girl climbed on his back before he ran to the right and dropped into the shadows of the soldiers and reappeared near a window where there was another of a tree. The shadow jumper smirked to himself before turning and running down another hallway.
Before he could stop another group of soldiers moved into view. The childish girl on his back dropped to the ground by staying behind him, holding onto the back of her shirt. "Jett, what are we going to do." she asked.
"We'll get out of this, Cass. I'm not letting anything happen to you." he told her. "Don't be afraid of the shadows. They won't hurt you. Just stay close to me." The boy, Jett told her. As he did this his eyes turned black and creatures formed out of the shadows, swallowing the soldier as the room darkened. When the lights came back on the two of them were left. Without Hesitation he grabbed her hand.
"Jett!" a voice suddenly called to him, and as he turned he saw another girl and sighed with relief. Around her were several soldiers on the ground. "We've been looking for you. We need to go this way. Your mom is taking everyone straight down to the Blackbird.
"How bad is it? Was anyone taken?" he asked as they ran down the next hall.
"I've only seen a few students and led them to Ms. Pryde." She answered quickly. "More trained students stayed above ground to help get the younger ones to safety. I have seen none of the Drakes or Howlett's. We aren't too worried about the Howlett's but we need ways to communicate with all the groups, we are ending up split. The Blackbird will fill up."
"The younger ones are top priority Viv, you even said it, we are more trained, we need to get Cass to my mom and then we can stick together and help get others out." he told her. "Between our abilities we can find a way out."
"My sister is down there already and Benjamin is in London with our mother, my father is not here either, so I have no issue clearing the property."
"Good."
"Jett!" Kitty Pryde called out. "There you are, I was so worried. Cassandra, baby, are you okay,"
The youthful girl nodded, still clinging to her older brother's hand. "Jett let nothing happen to me." She whispered.
"Let's get all of you to safety. They will leave soon."
"Mom," Jett started and looked at her. "Take Cass, I will stay with Vivienne and make sure we get everyone. We'll get out."
"I am not leaving you behind." Kitty told him firmly. "There is no way I am leaving you here, you know exactly where they will take you if you get caught and I will not have that happen."
"I won't get caught, you trained me. I've been training for years for something like this. You need to be there for Cassie and I need to know you both are as safe as possible." Jett paused. "Mom please. Trust me. I can do this."
Kitty hesitated for a moment before pulling out her communicator and placing it in her son's hand. "As soon as you are safe, you are to contact me. If I haven't heard from you in two days. I will come find you. As soon as you are out, get as far from large cities as you can. Do you understand me, Jett?"
"Yes." He said just as Kitty pulled him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around his mom, hugging her closely. "I love you mom."
"I love you too, baby. Stay safe. Vivienne, don't let him do anything stupid."
"I won't Ms. Pryde."
"I'll contact your parents as soon as I can, and I'll keep Shae close to me. You two work together, remember everything we taught you. Don't underestimate them." Kitty reminded the two older teens. Cassie quickly moved to her brother and hugged him before she disappeared through the floor, gripping her mother's hand.
Vivienne Worthington and Jett Wisdom had known each other since they were children. Their training had begun at around the same time and they were familiar with how the other moved. Vivienne knew that Jett never hesitated to move through the shadows, but he did when he created creatures from them, because once the creature swallowed someone, that person would no longer be alive. Jett knew his friend used her telepathy with ease, but flying was something she opted to avoid as much as possible. Their hand to hand combat styles were similar, having the same teachers, but often rotating out. They had been sparring partners since they were twelve.
Jett held out his fist to his friend. "So. We will take them down Viv?"
"Well, it's your mother who thinks you will be too reckless." She responded.
"Obviously she isn't aware of your habits."
"They taught me to be a lady, I don't have vulgar habits." Vivienne retorted, Jett let out a laugh, his friend quickly silenced with a punch in the arm. "Let's go." She instructed.
The two checked the third floor, making sure that they cleared the dorm rooms completely. As they finished, Jett grabbed Vivienne's hand, and the two moved down to the second floor jumping through shadows. As they appeared, the two froze in shock at the carnage before them. Vivienne covered her mouth as tears sprung to her eyes seeing one of their mentors on the ground sprayed with bullets. The mutant Bobby Drake had been one of the victims of the night.
Jett ran over to feel for a pulse, little hope that he would find one, and he didn't. "Fuck." he cursed as he stood back up. "They either got the rest of the family or they got away." He said just before they heard screaming from another corridor. The two teens took off running toward the sound just in time to see ice impale three soldier's abdomens.
"Renee!" Vivienne called running toward the girl. The other girl turned toward them before spinning around and throwing more ice at soldiers. "Renee, you aren't alone. We're going to get out of here together."
"They killed him. They killed my dad. They murdered him right in front of me. I will kill all of them." She said. "Every last one of them Vivienne, they deserve what is coming to them, we did nothing wrong!"
"I know. I know sweetie. But we need to make sure you get out of here. So we can find your brother and sister." Vivienne tried getting through to her. "Mr. Drake wanted you to get away. He wanted you to survive. Please come with us."
Renee Drake looked at the other two teens, tears in her eyes as she contemplated going with them. Her heart hurt. All she wanted was for her father to be okay, for the entire night to be a dream. Her hands returned to normal color and she quickly wiped her eyes. "Okay. Okay. Let's..fine...we can go. David got Michelle out. Dad came back for me, I had been in the library." her voice was shaky and unsure as she spoke. "I'm not going to hold back. They deserve what is coming...where did the bodies go?" She asked suddenly.
Vivienne looked around her to see the hallways cleared. "I took care of it. Even if they were alive, nobody will see them again. Rini, this is war now. They made their move, we're making our stand. They think we will go down without a fight but they're wrong." Jett said. "We're in this together. We aren't kids anymore. Our parents trained us for this. They knew it could happen, that's why I stayed behind, and I'm not leaving either of you."
"We need to see if there are any others. We want to clear the mansion before we leave, and make sure nobody gets left behind." Vivienne said. "Are you with us Renee?"
"Well, I'm not against you, and we'll have more of a chance if we stick together. Power in numbers right?" she asked. "I still won't hold back."
"Nobody is expecting you to." Jett said as he moved into a room. A Few moments later he moved out and shut the door. "Three dead." he said softly. "Let's keep going." The girls looked at each other and gave a small nod before continuing on, keeping a count in their heads as they found bodies.
An hour passed, the soldier's had cleared out or been taken down, but there was silence throughout the school. As they reached the kitchen Vivienne froze midstep. "Someone is here. I feel their mind, but it's too fast for me to read." she said before a gush of wind hit the three of them. A boy their age stood on the other side of the room with windblown silver hair. He looked liked they had woken him up from a deep sleep, wearing just sweatpants and a muscle shirt. "Who are you." she asked. He remained silent as he watched the three of them carefully. Renee's hand slowly iced up, ready to fight if needed, and the Shadows behind Jett surrounded the stranger.
"You're mutants." the boy stated. "Maybe you can tell me what the fuck is going on."
"Maybe you should tell us your name." Renee said, an ice spear now in her hand.
"Kielar Maximoff." He stated. "They raided the Baxter building. And Stark Tower."
"Wait, they went there too!?" Renee asked wide eyed. "I never thought they would try and tough the Fantastic four or the Avengers."
"My sister and I were adopted by Johnny Storm, but Pietro Maximoff is our birth father, and somehow they knew that. I could only get out because my sister warned me. They took her from the Baxter building and they came for me at Starks. I didn't know what I would find here, I didn't think they would be stupid enough to raid an entire school of mutants." Kielar admitted. "Is it just the three of you?"
"Yes. everyone else either escaped or…" Jett answered.
"I can contact someone so that the ones who passed can be buried properly. But we need to go. I know where there is a station set up for us to go into hiding for…"
"We aren't going to just hide, we need to fight. We have lost people and we are going to continue to lose them if we don't do something about it. You can't come in here and just tell us what we need to do." Renee snapped at him.
"We have to regroup." Kielar said, remaining calm. "After we regroup, we can plan. We will work better with one."
"She's right you know. You have no idea what we have been through tonight." Vivienne said.
"You're a telepath." Kielar stated. "I felt you inside my head and that's how I knew someone was here. I wasn't sure if you were who I felt. Have you ever had someone in your head going through pure agony? Have you ever had someone in your head, through all the good and bad times, through the struggle, and then, they just say goodbye, and you no longer feel them?" he asked. "Because that is what I went through tonight, as they murdered my twin sister." The three went silent, looking down at the floor. "So no, I don't know what you went through tonight. But I know what I went through and I at least have an understanding."
Jett nodded. "Okay. So where is this station we need to get to?"
"I can get us there quick. But it must be one at a time. My guardian told me exactly where to go. I will also have to eat something after the second trip because it will take a lot out of me to run that much." Kielar explained to them.
"Take Vivienne first, I'll wait here with Renee and we can grab some snacks from the cabinet so that you can eat something. When you get back take Renee, I'll go last" Jett directed them.
Kielar turned to Vivienne. "Okay, so the easiest way for me to carry you is bridal style. Will you be okay with that?" He asked.
"That is fine. Thank you for asking instead of surprising me with that." She said with a small smile. Kielar scooped her up and looked at the other two giving them a nod and then disappearing with a gust of wind.
"Have you ever heard of him?" Renee asked. "Because he seems really familiar, but I can't quite pin why."
"He's the current Captain America. I wasn't sure at first, but when he started talking to us about what we needed to do, I met him before. He also said that he had been at Stark Tower." Jett responded. "He's good at what he does. I wasn't aware he had super speed, it isn't something he displays when he's in uniform. I guess that is good considering it helps with his secret identity."
"Kielar Maximoff, that means he's related to Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, that explains the speed, if I remember some history we were taught, Quicksilver has a daughter with a member of the Inhuman Royalty and Scarlet Witch has two sons that are reincarnated from herself and Vision?" Renee commented as she grabbed some food from the pantry.
"There is way more to it than that, but we don't know Kielar very well, he said his sister was in the Baxter building, didn't he? Johnny had twins, and then there is Franklin and Micah that are also around." Jett explained.
"You know a lot about the heroes and their families. I know you didn't learn that here." Renee shook her head. "I would have learned it."
"It's something that I took upon myself to learn. When I found out Pete wasn't my biological father, I started making a family tree. I felt that it was pretty important to know the history. When I got done with my own, I started branching out to others. It's a jumbled mess honestly. Especially when you bring in the clones and alternate timelines."
A gush of wind blew past them and Kielar stood before the two once more. "Alright she is safe. I had her all set up and introduced to the ones that were already there. Renee? your next."
"I guess it has to happen. Look, my father, he's on the second floor."
"I contacted someone. As soon as we are cleared from here, everything will be taken care of. He won't be left here long, I promise." Kielar insisted. "We take care of our own."
"Thank you." She said allowing him to lift her up in his arms. Within seconds they disappeared "Once from the mansion's kitchen once more speeding through New York. Renee tucked her face into Kielar's chest and wrapped her arms around his neck as they ran. When she looked up, she realized they had stopped outside a large home. "Where, where are we?"
"Canada." Kielar said simply. "It is an Avengers base that was built a few years ago. The U.S government is not aware of it. Tony Stark teamed up with Yashida Industries when the rumors started about the President-elect and his feelings on mutants, and his plans to 'take care of the problem'" Kielar quoted. "Once he was in the office, they began their contingency project."
"That makes sense." Renee said as she looked around the area. "How many people are here?"
"I'm not sure. There is a group that brought a few here early on. I didn't speak to them too much. It's been a whirlwind of a night, really. I still don't know what exactly happened. I was told to run so I ran. "
"Are you really the new Captain America?"
"I...I have worn the uniform quite a few times. Steve and Tony are a big part of my life and their son is training to take over for Iron Man, so it just made sense."
"Well, they picked a prominent person. Not everyone would have done what you did tonight, they would have just gone to safety and not worried about others." Renee told him. "We would have never known to come here."
"It's the best kept secret." Kielar admitted. "Let me go pick up Jett, Vivienne should still be waiting to be checked in at the lobby, so you can easily find her."
"Thank you, I appreciate it. I have more to ask, but I know you need to go."
"I will answer everything when I come back. I promise." Kielar said just before disappearing. Renee turned and looked at the building in front of her, taking a deep breath and stepping inside.
"Rini!" she suddenly heard Vivienne call from an entryway. "Over here, you'll freeze if you stay outside." The younger girl ran over to the other and she stepped inside rubbing her arms. "This place is incredible. I don't know how we didn't know about it."
"Kielar did say it was the best kept secret. I wonder how many people he brought here himself. There are so many, yet," Renee paused. "Not nearly as many as you would think there would be Viv."
"I know, I know." Vivienne whispered. "I haven't seen very many from the school. I don't know where they could have gone. We've already been informed we can't use any outside form of contact unless it is cleared. They don't want anyone using an unsecured radio wave."
"We don't have a way to contact anyone though." Renee said, running a hand through her hair. "How can we just hideout here when everyone else is somewhere out there?"
"Actually," Vivienne started. "Ms. Pryde gave Jett a communicator. " As the words left her mouth, Jett appeared next to them before he ran to the nearest trash can. "Still gets motion sickness, I see."
"I think we can forgive him this time, seeing that we traveled by speedster." Renee said with a hint of a smile. "Speaking of speedster…" She said, looking around her. "Where did Kielar go?" She paused as she spotted him. "Is that Bucky Barnes? He wasn't lying when he said that the Avengers had this place prepared."
"Hi." An unfamiliar voice said from behind them. "My name's Dakota Potts, Kielar would have shown you around but something came up so he asked me to do the tour." The redhead girl stated before she could question her. "I arrived with some other Avengers kids. You three came from Xavier's right? We have some others over here. So when your friend is done puking I can take you to them."
"Wait, there are more here already? How did they know about this place?" Renee asked.
"They didn't. This place was a very well kept secret from a lot of people, including those at the Xavier Institute. Relations between the Avengers and X-Men have been rocky at times, but Tony, Mr. Stark wanted to make sure there was always a safe place for Kielar. In turn, it became a haven for other super powered beings on the new Avengers team. That being said, they would never turn away people, as long as there is room. "
"I think I'm good." Jett mumbled as he moved back over to the group.
"Good, now I believe I heard you had a communicator to contact your mother."
"Yes, right here." Jett said, holding out, Dakota grabbed it before dropping on the ground and smashing it. "What the hell! Why did you do that?"
"I did that because we do not know what is safe anymore. Do you not realize the shit happening right now?" Dakota asked them, holding up her tablet. "This is footage of the Baxter Building." She said before going to the next video. "This is Stark Tower, The Avengers compound in upstate New York. Drone footage from the Guthrie farm in Kentucky." She continued. "And that is just a few places. West coast facilities have been hit as well. This place won't hold everyone."
The three other teenagers stood silently, unaware of what happened at the other locations until that moment. Vivienne's eyes widened as the footage played for them and Renee's shoulder slumped as the feeling of defeat washed over her. Jett quickly looked away, crossing his arms over his chest as he shook his head. "So, what do we do?" he asked.
"You follow me." Dakota told them and led them into the building. "All phones will need to be placed there until we can have them checked, and you will need to walk through this scanner." She instructed them. As they did, none of the machines went off and they continued inside. As they passed through two large doors and entered a large recreational area, Dakota turned back to them. "Welcome to the Legacy Compound."
The three Xavier students looked around at the others that filled the room. A majority of them they recognized from the Avengers roster, those training to take position as the older members retired. There were however, a few from Xavier's. Too few, and it hurt to see that not many of their friends had made it to the same location as them. They could only hope that they would arrive later, that they had survived.
A.N: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought.