X-Men: A New Battle, Part 8
Summary: An X-Men: the Movie sequel. The Mutant Massacre has started!
Disclaimer: I don't own Gambit (damn), or Rogue, or any of the other X-Men. They are Marvel's, and the movie is Fox's. I am not making any money from this (damn again), so please don't sue.
Author's Note: This is only the first half of what was originally going to be part eight. But it was getting long, and it's been awhile since I last posted, and considering that it would probably take me two more weeks to get it done if I included all of it, I decided to make the rest of that part nine, and then after that is the epilogue! (Unless another chapter sneaks in there somewhere…) Anyway, hopefully the next parts will get up faster than these last couple have been doing… sorry about that… well, on to the story already!
~*~
Rogue slowly opened her eyes, squinting from the bright fluorescent lights. A form loomed above her… young, male…
"Remy?"
The figure- sandy haired, she now noticed- frowned and turned away. "No, I'm not Remy."
"Bobby. Ah'm sorry-"
"It's okay," he dismissed curtly.
"No, it isn't. Bobby, Ah haven't been too nice ta ya lately, Ah know-"
"I don't really want to talk about it with you right now-"
"Rogue. You have awakened from your prolonged state of unconsciousness." Henry McCoy interrupted them, entering the pristine room from his private laboratory. "How do you feel?"
"Fine, Ah guess." She looked around the room. She was hooked up to several different monitors. Had she really been in danger of dying? "Hank, where's Remy?"
"Gambit left after transporting you here, presumably returning to Sinister. He left a message for you with Storm, if you'd like she would be delighted to deliver it, I am sure."
"Okay," she agreed, though her mind hadn't registered the word. He left? Ta go back ta Sinister? But Ah thought- he- we- why?
"Rogue," Beast was continuing, "I noticed a slight difference in your DNA sequence. The X-factor genes have been… altered."
"Which means what?"
"Alteration of the X-factor means alteration of the mutant powers. Have you noticed any unusual… abilities, other than your own?"
"Well, Ah-" Then she remembered. "Ah flew."
"You flew? Do you mean, partake in flight through the atmosphere?"
"Uh… Ah flew. Right aftah an operation Sinister performed on me- d'ya think that might be the reason?"
"It very well may be. Professor Xavier will be performing some tests on you, to see what new powers you may have received. For now, you should rest."
"Okay." She yawned sleepily. "Hank? There was somethin' Ah wanted ta tell y'all 'bout Gambit… somethin' important- somethin' he did… Sinister… can't remembah…"
"Shhh. Rest. If the knowledge you wish to share is as important as you say, then you will surely recall it later," Beast told her, dimming the med lab lights. "You can inform Professor Xavier in the morning."
She was already asleep.
~*~
Gambit finally returned to Sinister's base. He'd been away for a week, jumping from hotel to hotel, hoping that perhaps Sinister would calm down and forget about him springing Rogue.
He should have known that Sinister wouldn't.
"Gambit back," he announced, and was met with dark glares from the Marauders.
"Can I kill him now?" growled Sabertooth, claws ready.
"Not yet," answered Sinister calmly. Remy decided that he didn't like the sound of that "yet" at all.
Sabertooth snarled.
"Patience, patience." He turned to Gambit. "I would like you to lead the Marauders to some tunnels under New York City-"
"For what?" Gambit interrupted.
Essex ignored him. "It will be my finest hour. This is what all of your work has led to, Gambit. It would not have been possible without your help."
Something about the cold glint in his red eyes sent shivers down Remy's back. He barely concentrated on the maps or instructions given to him. And why was Sinister coming along as well? This was- something big.
~*~
The Morlock tunnels.
They had a definite aura of age about them, yet were kept up well enough so that they looked recently built. The main area- the "Alley"- was a secret bomb shelter built during the Soviet scare, then forgotten. Forgotten by all, that is, except the Morlocks.
The Morlocks, who took their name from H.G. Wells' rulers of the underworld, were mutants who felt that they had to hide from the rest of society. They were too disfigured, or their powers were too horrible, or they simply had no place else to go. Intruders were met with hostility, but intruders were few and far between. The Morlocks had always kept to themselves, and no real harm had ever been dealt them.
Until now.
"Blockbuster, Arclight, Scrambler, you clear out those tunnels," Sinister barked. "Riptide, Prizm, Scalphunter, you three take those. And Sabertooth, Polaris, and Harpoon- I'll need you three here."
"What de hell is goin' on?" Gambit demanded, staring aghast as the first Morlocks were slaughtered. "Y'said- y'said dat dey were for tests!"
Sinister ignored his complaints, but put an arm around the Cajun. "Remy, my boy- this is what your work was for. Look around you. Look carefully. This would not be possible if it were not for you."
All around them- death. Blockbuster was snapping an old lady's neck. Riptide sent shuriken out at a group of mutants. Blood was everywhere. So much blood- in only a few minutes. What would the Alley look like in an hour? Two? Ten? Who would be dead, by then? Who would survive?
"Porquoi?" Remy whispered. "Oh, mon Dieu, porquoi?" A tear rolled down his cheek unbidden.
"Stop that," Sinister commanded harshly, pushing Gambit from him. The Cajun stumbled to his feel in front of a snarling Sabertooth. "Now you may do with him as you please," Sinister told him.
"Goody." Sabertooth grinned, and lunged at Gambit with claws bared.
Gambit felt his life was ending in slow-motion. He felt the wall, hard and unforgiving, suddenly against his back and head as he was shoved into it. Five sharp bolts of bloody pain buried themselves below his heart and spread. The last thing he registered was the claws, still embedded in his chest, being twisted…
~*~
"Logan? Logan- what's happenin'? Rogue followed at the heels of the leather uniformed man as he walked through the hallway briskly.
"Hurry up, get that uniform on, kid," he instructed tersely.
"But what's goin' on?"
"The Marauders are attacking some underground mutants. Xavier says we need as many X-Men there as possible. That means you."
Marie stopped. "Marauders?" Then in a smaller voice: "Remy…?"
"Listen, Marie, that kid's our enemy. We are going to fight him. You have to-"
"Perhaps it would be best if Marie were to stay here," Storm interrupted, approaching them from the end of the hallway. "After all, she has not received training on her new abilities yet. Flight, super strength, and invulnerability- they are all new to her."
"No, Ah… Ah wanna come. Ah wanna be an X-Man," Rogue told them.
"You sure, kid?"
"Ah'm sure," she said, but she didn't sound it.
~*~
They piled into the Blackbird, eleven X-Men all together. There were the five adults: Jean, Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine and Beast; and the six students: Rogue, Iceman, Shadowcat, Pyro (better known as John Allerdyce), Jubilee, and Angel. Angel, or rather Warren Worthington III, was a recent transfer student from a prestigious prep school. His mutation was the full feathery white wings sprouting from his back, enabling him to fly.
When they landed, the carnage had already reached ground level. A couple Marauders were hunting down the few Morlocks who were lucky enough to have a chance to escape. Jean, Iceman, and Angel stayed above to take care of them while the rest descended into the depths of hell.
And a hell it certainly was. The concrete was blood-stained beyond remedy. Many of the walls were reduced to rubble as a result of various mutant powers. Screams echoed in the body-littered cavern.
Rogue's gaze fell on one of the broken bodies, at first not recognizing the finely chiseled features spattered with drying blood. She kept walking, then turned back.
"Remy?" She ran to the lifeless body, crouching beside him. "No…" She embraced him desperately, as though she could squeeze life into him. Carefully, she raised a hand to his face. Nothing. Not even a small pull. Just the feel of his soft skin, and the slight beginnings of five o'clock shadow.
She ran her hand down his chest, encountering the bloody wound. What happened to ya, Remy? Rogue couldn't be sure through all the blood, but it looked a hell of a lot like claw marks. Wolverine? Please, God, no. But the wound was too shallow and hadn't brought a clean death. "Sabertooth…"
She flew straight for the large man, pushing him from a fight with Wolverine into an only partially standing wall. Even with his healing factor, several of Rogue's super-strong punches caused damage. Her invulnerable skin protected her from his claws, and a seventh-sense let her know what Sabertooth was going to do before he acted. Rogue quickly gained the upper hand, as she had revenge on her side and Sabertooth was already tiring. He was eventually knocked unconscious, and she flew with his body out of the tunnels and dropped it into New York Harbor.
Meanwhile, Wolverine found himself immobile as his old opponent was torn away and a new one crept up behind him.
"You're gonna want to let me go now, kid," he growled.
Polaris merely laughed as she held her magnetic field steady.
Pyro shot a fireball at her, knocking her backwards. Her field was forgotten as she picked herself up.
Wolverine took the opportunity to attack. He lunged for her throat, but she raised another magnetic field at the last second.
Her cameo choker fell to the ground, sliced by admantium claws.
She lowered the field, staggering dizzily. Wolverine knocked her out with a blow to the head, but it hadn't really been necessary.
~*~
On the surface, the X-Men appeared to be having more luck. Jean was telepathically finding hiding Morlocks, Angel was flying them to safer ground, and Iceman was covering Jean and Angel.
Angel had two Morlock children with him, when his right wing was hit, and it suddenly felt as though it were on fire. Something's hit my wing, he slowly realized through the thick cloud of pain. Harpoon, he barely registered as he careened toward the ground.
Two more harpoons were fired. One of the children was hit as the weapon exited Angel's wing. The other did not survive the landing.
"Not so tough after all, are you, pretty-boy?" growled Harpoon, as he fired again into his wings. He pinned Angel against the wall of the dark alley, pushing stakes through each wing until he resembled a crucifix. His world was rapidly growing dark. A woman stepped from out of nowhere between him and his torturer.
She was young and gorgeous, with long deep purple hair tied back from her face. Flawless Asian features were twisted into a fierce mask of anger.
Harpoon looked up just fast enough to see the red blade of fire coming from the lady's hand being driven into his forehead.
The last thing he registered was a clipped British accent informing him: "No one is tough when they're half-unconscious, now are they?"
She turned to Angel and began removing the stakes, as gently as possible. "Are you alright?"
"My wings…" he gasped.
"They were beautiful," the lady told him. "I should hope they can be saved."
"My wings…"
The last stake was pulled out, and he fell to the concrete, slipping out of consciousness.
"You need medical attention," she told him, dragging him carefully further into the dark alley. She stepped into a shadow, bringing Angel's limp body with her, and they both disappeared.
~*~
Scott… is everyone all right down there? Jean asked telepathically.
There's something wrong with Kitty, she tried to phase through one of the energy harpoons and now she's stuck. And Rogue is refusing to fight.
Why?
Gambit died. She's in hysterics. It was Sabertooth who did it. Rogue took care of him real fast. Jean sensed Scott's irritation but also regret that anyone had to die, and admiration for Rogue for taking on someone like Sabertooth and coming out on top. I've lost track of Hank, John, and Jubilee, though.
They're fine, I can sense them nearby. Could you send some reinforcements up here? Angel's gone and Iceman is tiring. She tried not to let on that Angel's disappearance had her more than worried for his safety, and that she was tiring as well.
A small pause. Wolverine and I will be right there, Jean.
She gave him a mental smile and a thanks before cutting off contact and opening her eyes.
Sinister's red eyes stared back, glowing malevolently above a grin of razor-sharp teeth.
~*~