AN: Well, here's another chapter. I guess I'm going for the short and frequent approach as opposed to the long and few and far between. In the next few chapters, there'll be a few characters yoinked from the Ultimate X-Men comic book, which is damn fine piece of comic, and which I highly recommend. You know those obnoxious little circles with X's in them saying "see Uncanny X-Men issue # 235"? Yeah, well, none of that, marvelous (no pun intended) artwork, and Mark Millar has totally won me over to the Marvel side of the force with his writing. Go pick one up today. Thanks for reading and/or reviewing.
Never was a cornflake girl
Thought that was a good solution
Hangin' with the raisin girls
She's gone to the other side
Given us a yo-heave-ho
Things are getting kind of gross
And I go at sleepy time
This is not real this a this this is not really happening
You bet your life it is
You bet your life it is
Oh honey you bet your life…
-Tori Amos, "Cornflake Girl"
Every alarm in the Institute was screaming blue murder. The main team had been practicing in the Danger Room, and were fortunate enough to have their adrenaline pumping already. They pounded up stairs and down the corridor: whatever was coming was planning on walking in through the front door.
The new front team of Cyclops, Jean, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Magma and Iceman assembled, backed by Storm, Wolverine and Xavier, every pulse pounding hard.
It was just not a good day to be a door. The hinges on the outside of the front door twisted and popped, then flew through the wall like bullets, and the door tipped in towards them. Magneto floated in the door, and did not speak. The X-team was surrounded by a cage of fire in mid air, which only Magma and Nightcrawler could escape. Jean guarded the rest of them, Magma swallowing hard as she faced down Magneto himself as her first test on the main team.
Nightcrawler, Magma, stand down, Xavier's voice resonated in her mind. Let's see what he wants. Magma stepped back by the group, overwhelmed with guilt, fear, and relief. Kurt put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder once she cooled off, and the scared look in his eyes told her that she wasn't alone. Magneto floated forward, the others following him.
"What do you want, Magneto?" Scott shouted, fingers on his visor, prepared to take his shot.
"I need to borrow something," Magneto replied. Xavier gave a startled cry as his wheelchair rose off the ground and moved along behind Magneto, the others following behind him.
"So this is how it is now, Stripes?" Logan growled as she walked past. "Tell us to go screw one day, come back the next backing Magneto?"
"You don't know anything," Rogue replied, face flushed with shame.
"I know you make me sick to my stomach," he said.
"Logan, don't," Jean said. Be careful, she said in Rogue's mind. You're playing a very dangerous game. It's not a threat, it's an observation. You're already way in way over your head.
You're not wrong, Rogue thought back, with a quick glance at Jean as she followed the others behind Magneto.
"Left or right, Rogue?" Magneto asked when they reached a particular point in the hallway.
"Left. It's the big door. Kinda hard to miss."
Magneto turned where she said, and then used his powers to crumple the door to the Cerebro room like waxed paper. He then plucked Xavier out of his chair and placed him in the seat of the device.
"Find me Sabertooth," Magneto said, floating behind him.
"Erik, what's going on?"
"Shut up. Find Sabertooth."
"This isn't-" Xavier began to protest. Magneto put his hands on Xavier's shoulders and leaned close to his ear.
"Charles, the only reason I tolerate your continued existence is the hope that reality will sink into your skull and you will see that I am right and prove yourself useful. However, if you stall for so much as another moment on this request, when you manage to crawl back downstairs, you will find your precious students are dead. Find Sabertooth."
Xavier swallowed hard and complied, giving Magneto the coordinates from whence Sabertooth's power emanated.
"Thank you Charles," Magneto said, drifting out of the Cerebro room and down the hall.
"This isn't over, Erik," Xavier replied as he floated out the door.
"Is it ever?" Magneto said as they turned the corner.
The X-Men let them pass without incident on orders from Xavier, and Magneto and his troops emerged into the sunlight.
"Where are they?" Colossus asked.
"They are in the Nevada desert. Let's get to the warehouse."
"Pietro? Pietro please, please wake up," Wanda said. She'd been at this since she woke up, which seemed like hours ago, though her fear was making it difficult to gauge the passage of time. He finally groaned and started to stir.
"Wanda? What the hell happened?"
"I happened, sugar plum," a voice said. Pietro opened his eyes to see a man wearing a khaki military uniform leaning against the bars of a cell. Pietro could only assume this newcomer was on the outside, and that he and Wanda were in.
"You'll have to pardon me, I have a terrible memory for names and some jackass shot me with a tazer: who the fuck are you?"
"I'm the heartless son of a bitch who's gonna make you wish you were never born, sunshine."
"Do you have a shorter name?" Pietro groaned, rubbing his eyes. The man gave a broad, toothy grin that neither of the twins particularly cared for and replied.
"My little mutant friends call me Colonel Wraith."