DiScLaiMeR:

Don't own the x-men. Marvel does.

I'm really not that creative or imaginative.

Note: This is one of the….longer chapters.

What Happens Now?

By:

kojie

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CHAPTER SIX

===

The four X-Men walked silently through the underground corridors. Cyclops and Jean led the way, with Shadowcat and Nightcrawler following behind them. Strangely, there were no cameras, just a straight hallway. It reminded them of their new underground quarters back at Muir Island. The walls were also made of metal, but they weren't sure if it was made of adamantium. After a few minutes of walking, they finally reached the end of the hallway. There was a door sealed shut, about eight feet tall, with a line of colored buttons beside it.

"How do vee get in?" Nightcrawler asked the team, running his forefinger on the smooth metal door.

"Well uh, I can't blast it or else there'll be soldiers in here any moment," Cyclops said, then

turning to look at Kitty, "Shadowcat, you think you can phase us through?"

"Yeah, I guess…..I mean, I don't see why not, but how do we know that there aren't any people waiting on the other side?" Shadowcat asked.

"Wait, I can scan it telepathically," Jean replied, closing her eyes and putting the tips of her fingers beside her temples. The three turned towards her.

"There are people on the other side, but…."

"But?" Scott asked, eagerly waiting.

Jean opened her eyes slowly. "But…they're not enemies."

"What do you mean? Is it Rogue and the others?" Kitty asked anxiously.

"I-I'm not sure. I just know that they're not enemies."

"Well, vhat are we vaiting for? Let's go!" Nightcrawler said both in excitement, and relief.

==

Logan was unconscious --again.

Four armed and uniformed men had come in a few hours ago….

Logan and Rogue quickly got into their fighting positions.

"I don't think so, mutant," the leader said, pointing his gun towards Rogue. The other three did the same. Logan just growled, his claws shining on the crackling light.

"What will it be, mutant? Would you really risk the life of the girl?" the same man asked, tauntingly. "You may be fast, but my finger can pull this trigger faster that you might think."

"We'll just see, bub," Wolverine grunted taking a step forward.

"Naughty, naughty," the leader said, and fired a shot towards Rogue's right foot. Rogue jumped, and a gave a small cry involuntarily. She looked over at Logan. He stood still for a moment, then shaking his head he sighed, and slowly retracted his claws.

"Good choice," the leader said.

"What're ya gonna do to me?" Logan growled.

"The same as last time, of course. You're gonna fight the big giant robot again you lucky, lucky boy," he replied, smiling smugly. Then he turned towards the three behind him.

"Alright, do your thing," he ordered, his gun still pointing at Rogue.

"Ya sure he ain't gonna….y'know?" one asked.

"I'm sure of it. Now hurry up."

The three walked up towards Wolverine, slowly. Very slowly.

Wolverine smiled.

"C'mon! a turtle could move faster than you!" the leader yelled after watching them. "He's not gonna hurt you as long as this gun's pointed at the girl's head. Now just get on with it or I'll shoot you three and do it myself!"

The three men half-ran towards Logan, and as fast as they could, they injected him with some greenish liquid from a test tube. Then, they stepped back, waiting for the formula's effect. After a while, Logan started to feel dizzy. The men became blurry. The room was spinning. His head was spinning. "No, not….again," Logan murmured as he fell into unconsciousness and onto the floor. The four men carried him out towards who knows where and brought him back hours later. He was still unconscious.

==

Duncan stared at the blank screen before him. The remote, loosely held in his hand, fell to the carpeted floor with a small thump. He never noticed it.

A couple of friends had invited him to some cute cheerleader's birthday party a couple of hours ago, but Duncan said no. The two kept urging him to go, said it'd be fun, but when Duncan said he needed some time to think, the two stopped immediately.

Duncan was surprised they did, but he was glad. And here he was now, thinking.

"I really don't think that was her," Duncan murmured, talking to himself. "I mean, she looked a lot like her, and that freshman, Kitty was it? Well, she was with her, too, but that couldn't have been Jean….maybe, maybe she was like her evil twin or something…"

Duncan frowned. An evil twin? Those only happened in cartoons, not real life. Duncan chuckled to himself.

"Good thing Mom and Dad aren't here, or they might send me to some crazy shrink or something," he muttered. He stared at the phone to his right. "So her phone isn't working, maybe the telephone wires got wrecked cause of that giant robot…. "

"Man, who am I kidding? Something's up, and there's only one way to find out. I'm gonna have to over to the institute and see….what's up."

He smiled to himself.

==

Rogue heard the slow steady footsteps. There was definitely more than one person, she concluded. They were getting louder now, closer. Rogue also slid closer to the unconscious Wolverine. The transparent force field in front of her was there. Of course, she couldn't see it, but it was there. For the first time, she actually felt thankful for it. Why? She really didn't know. But one thing she did know was that the footsteps were getting a whole lot closer.

Then she saw it.

Red hair.

Little Miss Perfect.

Who would've thought that Rogue would be glad to see her? Not Rogue that's for sure.

"Jean!!" she shouted, standing up. Then…

The four heads turned toward her, their faces full of joy and relief.

"Scott! Kitty! Kurt! Ah can't believe ya'll are here!" Rogue cried out, half-running towards them, but being careful not to run into the invisible wall. Kitty started to run towards Rogue. "No! Stop!" Rogue yelled at her. Kitty froze. "Wha-What? What is it?"

"There's like an invisible force field right there," Rogue pointed, "between us."

"Oh…well, I can phase through it…I think," Kitty said uncertainly.

"Hmm…maybe, if we could just find a switch or something to turn this thing off, then we can just-- hey, is that Logan?" Cyclops asked, staring at the body laying on the floor, behind Rogue.

"Yeah, it's Logan. It's kind of a long story though, I think first we need to y'know, get outta here."

"Rogue's right, top priority is to rescue them and escape," Jean added. "Rogue, do you know where Storm and the others are?"

"I- I don't know. I think I heard a couple of guys talking about them last night, but I….all I know is that they're not here. They've taken them to this other base…thing."

"That's okay, we'll figure it out later I guess, but for now, how do we get you out of there?" Jean asked her from the other side.

"Hey, did anybody forgot about me? I can teleport, remember?" Kurt said.

"You're right, Kurt. Sorry," Scott apologized. "Why don't you go ahead and do it then…"

"Thank you," Kurt replied. Then, BAMF!

Smoke and brimstone scattered in the air.

BAMF!

Kurt was suddenly on the other side. He put his three-fingered hand on Rogue's shoulder, and BAMF! Kurt and Rogue were now beside Jean, Kitty, and Scott.

BAMF!

Kurt was gone again.

BAMF! Kurt was now kneeling beside Logan. He put his hand on his chest, and BAMF!

Everyone was together on the right side of the wall.

"Wow," Kurt said, trying to stand as steadily as he could, "That vas vay too much teleportin' even for the fuzzy dude." Everyone who was standing laughed.

Kitty hugged him tightly, and kissed his furry cheek. "You were great, Kurt."

Kurt simply blushed.

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