Chapter Eight: A Vow Broken
I must have dozed off at some point, as the next thing I knew I was being shaken awake by Chloe.
"Neil!" she hissed. "They're here!"
My tired brain stirred, "Who? Magneto?"
"No! The soldiers! Three of them; they're here to take us back to the labs!"
She gave a cry of pain as she was grabbed by the shoulder and flung out into the corridor. I opened my eyes fully, just in time to see one of the soldiers leaning over to yank me to my feet.
"Come on, freak," he snarled. "Time to go."
I reacted angrily. I'd had enough of this. I knew they had guns, but I wasn't going to sit back and let them treat us like this any longer. My power exploded out as I raised my arms, flinging the soldier away from me. He hit the wall with a sickening thud, and the other two guards reacted instantly, raising their weapons and firing at me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bobby responding, a jet of ice bursting forth from his fingertips to create a solid, frozen wall that shielded me from the bullets.
Chris almost knocked me over in his eagerness to get at the two soldiers. Ducking and rolling over to avoid gunfire, he delivered a spinning kick that knocked the first man's weapon out of his hands. The second soldier aimed his gun at Chris; from point-blank range he couldn't really miss, but a lightning bolt from Felicity jerked it out of his grasp and into the air. The man remained unharmed; obviously the weapon hadn't conducted the electricity; as Magneto had predicted earlier, they were using non-metallic equipment, clearly knowing about his power.
The two soldiers, now unarmed, panicked and scrambled desperately to get their weapons back. Chris chopped one of them on the back of the neck, knocking him out cold. Marie and Chloe grabbed the second man, and between them they managed to subdue him. I let out the breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding, as I surveyed the aftermath of the battle. All of the three men were still alive, with no serious injuries, though the guy I'd thrown into the wall looked as if he had a broken arm. Nothing that wouldn't heal.
"What now?" said Chloe excitedly. "Do we make a break for it?"
"We need to find Wolverine and Storm," Bobby reminded her.
"I think we ought to lie low for now," I said. "We might be able to escape on our own, but we don't know how many of these anti-mutant weapons they have, and we don't want to come up against them. If we're going to make a move, we make it when Magneto gets here."
Chris indicated the three fallen men, "In that case, we'd better hide them somewhere. Say, here's an idea. Why don't we steal their uniforms and see if we can pose as guards? Maybe then we can get into the labs and destroy these weapons they're making."
"Sounds good," I said. "We'd better act fast; if we don't appear in the labs soon, Van Gaarde will send more troops to find out why."
We dragged the three soldiers inside the room and began stripping off their uniforms.
"So who's going to dress up as a guard?" asked Felicity.
Chris shrugged, "Well, there don't seem to be any women on this base, so that lets three of us out right away. And I don't think all three of us guys should do it. Having three new faces at once would make them suspicious."
"If we can't find a pair of shades or something like that, then I'm out too," I said, pointing my gold-pupilled eyes. "I think these might just give me away."
"In that case, we're in luck," said Felicity. "This guy's got a pair."
Rummaging in the pocket of one the soldiers, she pulled out a set of dark glasses, and handed them to me. I slipped them over my eyes and said, "OK, I'm good to go."
"I'll come with you," said Chris. "I already know the layout of the base a little bit."
"So if you two are posing us guards, what are the rest of us going to be doing?" said Marie.
"We'll need to take Chloe with us," Chris said. "She's the one Van Gaarde wants. While he's getting ready to test his sick little toys on her, we can spring a surprise on him, and destroy his devices."
"He might have more, in storage or something," said Felicity.
"We'll need to check on that," I said. "In fact, why don't you check on that while we go to the labs? Try to find a map of the base that'll tell you where to look."
"Shock, we'll help you look for a map," said Bobby, indicating himself and Marie. "Once we find it, we'll try and work out where Storm and Wolverine are being held, and go to rescue them."
"Right," I said. "We'll meet you there once we've destroyed their mutant-killing weapons. When Magneto attacks, we'll try to join up with him, and make a bid for freedom."
Chris and I had each managed to put on the military fatigues over our tight-fitting X-Men uniforms, and he looked both ways down the corridor outside, "We're clear. Let's go."
He stepped outside and Chloe and I followed him.
"Good luck," said Felicity.
"You too."
The three of us headed down the corridor in the direction of the labs, trying to make it look as if we were forcing Chloe to move against her will.
"I just hope Van Gaarde doesn't recognise us," I said.
"I don't think I've met him," said Chris. "And the shades ought to help disguise you. If he does recognise us, we'll just need to act quickly and knock him out."
"Do we have a plan here?" said Chloe. "Or are we just going to go in there and see what happens?"
Chris shrugged, "Just knock out whoever's in there and destroy the weapons."
"I hope it's that simple," I said.
He was going to reply, but we had reached the laboratory, and had to begin our pretence of being soldiers. Chris, as the one less likely to be recognised, went first, pushing the door open, and forcing Chloe into the room. She whimpered and pretended she'd been hurt.
"Stop whining, freak," he snapped, faking an American accent. "Get in there."
I was last to enter, and I saw with relief that Van Gaarde was the only man inside the room. He was facing away from us, fiddling with one of the silver cylinders that had caused Chloe so much pain.
"What took you so long?" he asked, still not turning to look at us. "Put her on the table and we'll begin."
"I don't think so," said Chris, in his natural voice.
Van Gaarde turned at last, an expression of annoyance on his face, which quickly turned into shock when he saw us. I stepped forward, my eyes blazing with hate, anger flowing freely in my veins.
"Do you remember what I said I'd do to you if I ever got the chance?" I asked him, raising both hands to use my telekinesis.
"Neil, don't," said Chloe, pushing my arms down. "Don't kill him. That would make you just as bad as Magneto."
"I'm starting to think Magneto's not all that bad."
"Don't do it," she said again. "I don't want you to."
I looked at her, "But Chloe, the man's a – "
From the corner of my eye, I saw Van Gaarde moving. He was surprisingly quick for a man of his age and build, as he whirled round to grab one of the cylinders from the trolley, and point it towards us.
"Nice try," he said. "I don't know how you got out of your cell, but you're going back there as soon as I can call for reinforcements."
He activated the cylinder, and the sudden shock of overwhelming pain made me stumble. It was as if every fibre of my body was being ripped apart, at the same time as being roasted alive by a white-hot flame. The burning, unrelenting agony tore through me and I heard a voice screaming, then realised it was my own. Chloe was beside me, also in the path of the device, her shrieks matching my own in volume and intensity. I tried to move to the side, to escape the beam, but my body wouldn't respond. The pain was too great. I sank to my knees, and curled into the foetal position, an instinctive reaction to try and protect myself. I lost all sense of time, of location, of who I was. My mind could only concentrate on one thing: the pain coursing throughout my body.
The device must have been switched off at some point, as I was suddenly conscious of no new pain arriving, just the still-excruciating aftermath of the previous agony. I looked up. Van Gaarde was standing over me; Chloe was lying on one of the tables, chained down, sobbing; Chris was nowhere to be seen. Had he gone to find the others, to fetch help? I got to my feet, not as quickly or painlessly as I would have liked, and faced the scientist.
"I know you're going to attack me again, so I should point out that it simply isn't worth trying," he said.
"Why not?"
He held up a syringe, "This holds a sample of another of the weapons we have been developing. A fast-acting toxin, lethal to mutants, but again completely harmless to humans. I was about to test it on your girlfriend here, but I think I have another idea. I must warn you, though. Make any offensive moves and I will inject her."
Van Gaarde moved the syringe towards Chloe's neck, and I was powerless to do anything. There was nothing I could do that would act fast enough to stop him injecting her.
"What do you want me to do?" I asked in resignation.
He tossed one of the silver cylinders towards me. Instinctively I caught it with my right hand.
"Use that on her," he said, pointing to Chloe with his free hand.
"Why?"
Van Gaarde gave me a twisted smile, and a sadistic gleam appeared in his eyes, "Because I know how much it will hurt both of you. Think of it as a punishment for escaping from your cell. And for killing Davor Rosiçky; he was a good friend of mine."
I gripped the cylinder tightly. I couldn't do it. I couldn't use it on Chloe. I'd made a vow. I couldn't break it. Nothing was more important than Chloe and her happiness.
Except perhaps her life. If I didn't do it, Van Gaarde would inject her with the poison. I had to do something, anything, to keep him busy, until Chris and the others could get here. I stretched out with my senses, trying to locate them. I could sense one mutant, travelling towards the lab. Was it Chris? Had he been unable to find our friends?
"Use the device now," Van Gaarde threatened. "Or she'll die."
I couldn't. I couldn't do it. I couldn't hurt Chloe. I'd sworn a vow. I couldn't.
I had to. I had to keep her alive until Chris could get here. I panicked and lost control.
Chloe, I said, forgive me, please forgive me, you have to understand, I have to do this, he'll kill you, I'm sorry, please forgive me, I don't want to do this, I hate this, I'm sorry, forgive me, Chloe, I'm sorry, forgive, sorry…
I was babbling incoherently now, desperately trying to communicate to her the necessity of my act. I didn't know if she'd forgive me. I knew I'd never forgive myself. I flicked on the device.
"Nooooo!!!" Chloe screamed, writhing about on the table, her body jerking horribly, her hands white-knuckled fists, straining helplessly against the steel cuffs, screaming in the throes of agony that I was inflicting on her.
Van Gaarde laughed. I felt tears falling from my eyes. It was only the second time in my life I had ever cried; my mutated eyes did not pass tears easily.
Please, Chloe was thinking, please, I can't take it any more. Please stop…
I can't. He'll kill you.
Please…
I couldn't stand to hurt her any longer. I switched off the device and threw it aside. Time seemed to move in slow motion, and I watched in an agonised helplessness as Van Gaarde plunged the syringe towards her neck. Even as I raised my hand to try and push him away, I knew I wasn't going to be in time. The needle pierced her skin, and the poison was injected into her bloodstream.
"No!" I yelled, my power coming into play a second too late, flinging Van Gaarde into the wall behind the table.
"You're too late," he said. "It'll kill her within ten seconds or less."
"No! I'll kill you!" I shouted, walking round the table to face him.
He threw the empty syringe away and made a grab for the silver cylinders on the trolley. I kicked it away, and used my telekinesis to throw him against the wall again.
"Five seconds now," he gloated. "She'll be dead in five seconds."
"So will you!" I screamed, as I lifted him off the floor, and sent him flying across the length of the room, to smash into the opposite wall.
He was unconscious. I forgot about him and turned to face Chloe. She was no longer moving, and her face had gone chalk-white. Had five seconds passed? They must have done. I couldn't believe it. I refused to believe it. Chloe wasn't – Chloe couldn't be –
Chloe was dead. Ten seconds had passed long ago, and the poison must have killed her. I sank down on to the floor beside her table, my head falling forwards to rest on her arm. Tears were flooding from my eyes now; I felt as if they would never stop. I had never imagined it would end like this. I had been looking forward to the two of us getting married, starting a family, growing old together, and dying in our eighties or nineties. Chloe couldn't die at the age of sixteen, when we'd hardly known each other, when we still had so much to share. She couldn't be dead. She couldn't. I grabbed her hand – white, cold and limp – and squeezed it hard.
"Chloe," I sobbed. "Don't be dead. Please, don't be dead. I can't live without you. You've got to be alive."
I could still sense her mind, but that didn't mean anything. Her mental image would remain for a few minutes until her body fully shut down. It was probably my imagination anyway; she was dead. She was gone, and my life was an empty void once more. I had no parents, and now no Chloe. Everything that had ever made life worth living was gone. I squeezed her hand tighter, as if I could bring her back to life by applying as much pressure as possible.
"Hey, that hurts. Stop it."
I vaguely heard the voice, but I didn't know who'd spoken it. I felt sorry for the person, because I too was in pain, and nobody deserved to be suffering like this.
"Neil, I said stop that. You're hurting me."
I wondered who Neil was and who he was hurting. I hoped he would stop it soon.
"Neil!"
The urgent tone of the voice forced its way into my attention, and my head jerked up. Chloe looked back at me, her eyes open, her face bright and just as beautiful as when she had been alive. Hang on. If she wasn't alive, why were her lips moving?
"You're alive!" I gasped.
"Uh – yes," she said. "What gave it away?"
"But the poison…he injected you…that stuff…he said it would kill you…"
She shook her head, sounding tired, "I'm all right."
"But he said it would kill you!"
"I'm here talking to you, aren't I?" she whispered.
She was alive. But how? Van Gaarde must have made a mistake somehow. Had he used the wrong chemical? Or perhaps his poison wasn't as effective as he thought it was.
"Chloe, I…I thought you were dead. I was just facing the prospect of life without you. I couldn't – I couldn't have lived with that. I – I – um – " I finished awkwardly.
"You're doing it again," she said, smiling through her exhaustion.
"Doing what?"
"Hiding your emotions; not letting me see how you really feel."
She tried to bring her hand up to touch my face, but the metal cuff still restrained it. I undid the cuffs, and her hand lovingly caressed my cheek. Her movements were weak, and I feared the worst. Was the poison still killing her, but slower than the scientist had expected?
"Are you really all right?" I asked her.
She nodded, her eyes closing and her head sinking back, "I'm fine. My body's fighting the poison; I can feel it. I'm not going to die."
Was that true? Was she merely saying it to make me feel better? I held Chloe's hand in mine, and pushed my senses out towards her. Her body was growing weak, even weaker than her outward appearance suggested. Her immune system was fighting against the poison, and I couldn't tell whether or not she would survive. Was there any way I could help? Could I lend her my power to aid in the fight?
She was dying, I could sense it now. The poison was overcoming her, just more slowly than Van Gaarde had predicted.
"I love you," she whispered, the words barely audible.
Clearly struggling with the effort, her lips formed one last smile, then she lost consciousness. I knew it was only seconds before Chloe died. There had to be something I could do. I thought desperately. I felt my adrenaline growing inside of me, and I knew I had to do something. Desperation overtook me, as I imagined the agony of life without Chloe. Without knowing what I was doing, I pushed out towards her with my power, and unlocked the last of my hidden mutations. I had a vision, for a split second, of a seven foot tall black giant, falling off the edge of a building to his death.
Antaeus.
My last gift, the last of the mutant powers my father had bestowed upon me, surged through my body and into Chloe's. Like water meeting fire, like heat meeting cold, like any force meeting its opposite, the power flowed through her bloodstream, obliterating all traces of Van Gaarde's poison as it went. My healing power swept throughout Chloe, strengthening her weakened body, repairing her damaged organs, mending all of the damage the poison had done. With a sudden gasp, she awoke. Her eyes opened and she stared at me, words pouring out of her mouth, "What – you – what did you – what happened?"
Drained, yet elated, I smiled for the first time in what seemed like years, "I killed the poison. I healed you."
"Neil…"
"Chloe…"
All vestiges of weakness gone, she flung herself into my arms and we hugged tightly, forgetting everything but our love for each other. I had come so close to losing her…I had been forced to inflict great pain upon her…she was my everything and my whole world…she was alive…she was Chloe.
My protector, she was thinking, my saviour. The man who I know will always be there for me, no matter what. He's Neil.
We were both startled out of our reverie by the sound of the door opening. Still in each other's arms, we looked over to see the soldier entering the room, his weapon pointed towards us. It wasn't Chris. It wasn't anyone I knew. Van Gaarde had regained consciousness, and he waved impatiently at the soldier, "Kill them! For the love of…finish them!"
I didn't know if I had sufficient power left to deflect bullets, but I raised my hand in preparation to block the attack. It never came. The man delivered a sideways kick to the struggling Van Gaarde, knocking him on to the floor, out cold again.
"Come on! Hurry up!" the soldier shouted.
"Who are you?" I asked.
His features melted as he morphed into a blue-skinned figure I knew all too well.
"Mystique!"
"Yes!" she said. "Come on, hurry!"
"Where's Magneto?"
"He's here. We haven't got much time. Come on!"
"Wait!" I said. "These are some of the weapons they're planning to use against mutants! We have to destroy them!"
"We don't have time!" said Mystique. "I can't explain right now! You have to trust me! We have to go!"
The two of us hurried towards the door, Mystique going just ahead of us. In the corridor outside were the rest of my friends: Marie, carrying the unconscious figure of Storm; Chris, struggling with Wolverine's larger frame; Felicity, Bobby and Pyro holding off an attack coming from the left; Magneto standing nearby, manipulating a large metal plate to act as a shield.
"I've found them! Let's go!" said Mystique.
"This way," Magneto called, leading us down the corridor to the right.
Bobby fired another blast of ice, creating a solid wall that filled the passageway to the left, blocking any soldiers who might try to come after us, then we hurried after Magneto. He seemed to know where he was going, as we ran down the corridor towards an elevator. The interior of the lift wasn't large, and with eleven of us it was a tight squeeze, but we managed to fit inside and were soon ascending to the ground floor where we could make our escape.
As the elevator doors opened, three soldiers were standing outside waiting for us, and they opened fire. I raised my hand to slow the incoming bullets, which clattered harmlessly to the floor. At the same time, the three men were felled by an ice blast, a fire ball, and a lightning bolt respectively.
Magneto seemed to know where the exit was, and continued to lead the way through the base. From around the corner up ahead, four attack dogs, big Alsatians, came speeding towards us, their teeth bared, ready to kill.
"Chloe!"
"Stop!" she yelled. "Don't hurt us!"
The dogs barked and abruptly stopped. Two of them lay down to go to sleep, and the other two ambled peacefully past us as we continued our swift progress towards the exit.
"The way out's just up ahead here," said Magneto. "When you get out, don't stop, keep running!"
"Why?" I said.
"You'll see. Trust me."
"Trust you?" said Chris.
Magneto chose to ignore him, "This door on the right."
He thrust out his hand; the metal door handle turned, and the door was thrown open.
"Wait!" I cried suddenly. "There's someone – "
From outside the door came Rat, his claws out and his teeth bared, his yellow eyes narrowed with hatred. He tackled Magneto, knocking him to the floor, sinking his teeth into his neck.
"You traitor!" the rodent-man spat. "You left me to die!"
The poison from his bite had already begun to affect Magneto, who tried to sit up, but failed and collapsed on to his back, unmoving. Rat faced the rest of us, and leered mockingly, "Who's next?"
"I'll take him!" Mystique snapped angrily. "The rest of you, get out of here! Somebody get Magneto to safety!"
Without thinking about what I was doing, I lifted Magneto's inert form, and followed the rest out of the door.
"Where are we going?" Chris demanded. "I don't think I can carry Wolverine much longer!"
"Just up here," said Pyro. "This should be far enough away."
"Far enough away for what?"
"You'll see. Hurry."
Ducking down behind the large rock indicated by Pyro, I laid Magneto down on the ground and looked up, watching the door. Presently Mystique emerged, running towards us. Rat was a couple of seconds behind her. Pyro flicked on his lighter and threw a fire ball towards him. Rat ducked; Felicity and Bobby were on their feet firing lightning and ice at him, and the rodent-man had no choice but to flee in the other direction, disappearing into the trees. Mystique arrived at my side, "How's Magneto?"
"He's poisoned," said Pyro. "Can we heal him?"
"Do you have an antidote to Rat's poison?"
He shrugged, "No. But you can do something, right?"
"Like what?"
"Wait," I said. "I think I can help."
I put my hand on Magneto's palm, and pushed out my senses. He had been poisoned, and he was dying. It was just as it had been with Chloe. The only question was, could I use my healing power again? It had been largely spontaneous last time; I didn't know if I could trigger it at will. How had I done it last time? I'd let the adrenaline build up…
I felt the adrenaline rising in my blood, and I tried to remember what I'd done before. I'd sort of pushed with my mind, and…
I was releasing the power. I felt my healing ability passing into Magneto, destroying the poison Rat had left in his body, repairing the damage, restoring him to full health.
"It's working," I said.
The poison was gone. Magneto opened his eyes and looked up at me, "Was that you?"
"Yes."
"You saved his life again?" Chris demanded.
"This is getting to be an ugly habit," Magneto agreed. "But you have my thanks. Did you kill Rat?"
Mystique shook her head, "He got away."
Chloe said, "Do you think he – "
She was cut off as a thunderous explosion ripped through the silence of the night, and the building, only a few hundred yards away, erupted into a ball of flame. My eyes, temporarily blinded by the brightness, widened in shock and I turned on Magneto, "That was you, wasn't it? You set explosives!"
"Yes. You said there were anti-mutant weapons here that had to be destroyed."
"But I didn't say anything about blowing up the entire building!"
"I was going to tell you," he said. "But you cut off the telepathic link before I could. Incidentally, how did you manage to telepath to me?"
"Never mind that," I snapped. "You've just killed everybody in that building!"
"Not everybody. Look."
I turned to look where he was pointing. A helicopter was rising out of the trees Rat had run into. I stretched out with my senses, trying to find out who was on board. One mutant. And at least one human; I couldn't tell at this distance. I pushed out with my eyes, looking through the side of the chopper.
"It's Rat," I said. "There's some others with him…Lutowski is one of them. So is Van Gaarde."
The helicopter gained more height, turned and disappeared out of view, blocked by the tree-line. I brought my eyes back to my surroundings. Chloe was crying, and I looked over at her, "Chloe?"
"The soldiers in the building," she sobbed. "All right, so they were our enemies, but they would have had wives and children. And those dogs I talked to – they must have been in there too."
Chris was staring at the ground, shaking his head. Felicity was staring angrily at Magneto, who had stood up and gone to stand calmly beside Mystique and Pyro.
"They were enemies of mutantkind," Magneto explained. "They would have killed us if they'd had the chance; I took that chance away from them."
"You didn't even give them a chance to get to safety!" Chloe yelled.
"Why should I? If they'd remained alive, they would be a threat to us. You could at least show me some gratitude. I've rescued you and removed people who would have tried again to harm you."
"You killed them! You murdered them!"
"I tire of this," Magneto sighed. "We are at war with these people. You may do things your way, and I will continue to do things my way. I bid you farewell. Oh, by the way, I believe your jet is still where you left it. You should have no trouble getting home."
The three of them left us, heading into the forest to wherever their own transport was located. The six of us remained, still sitting on the ground, with our two unconscious friends.
"I can't believe it," Chloe was saying. "I can't believe he just did that. I mean, I've been told what he's like, but I never thought I would actually see him kill people in cold blood like that."
"He's lucky the explosion happened after I healed him from the poison," I said. "Otherwise I might not have bothered."
"Yeah, I was going to ask about that," said Chris. "Since when can you heal people?"
"It's one of the powers my father implanted in me," I explained. "Remember he told me I shared one power with each of his four other subjects? Chameleon's eyesight, Inferno's berserk attack, Mindstorm's telepathy – and Antaeus must have had this healing power. I discovered it when I was down in the labs. Chloe was injected with poison, and – and I had to heal her. It's the same as when I discovered my other powers. When I'm under stress and I need to use them, they'll manifest themselves."
Marie was looking at the still-burning hulk of the military base. I pushed out my senses, but could sense no life from within.
"What do we do now?" she asked.
"We go back to the mansion," I said. "Revive Wolverine and Storm, and tell the Professor everything that's happened."
"We still don't know where Nightcrawler is," said Bobby.
"I thought we might find him here. Seems I was wrong. I don't know where he is. We have to get back home and let the Professor decide on our next move."
As we got up and moved off, making our way towards the place where we'd left the jet, I found myself thinking about the two lives I had saved within the last few minutes. My healing power had cured both my greatest love and my worst enemy. Both of these lives I had wanted to save. One of them I knew I would never regret saving, the other I wasn't so sure about. What was it about Magneto? Despite the fact that I knew, and had seen for myself, that he was a cold-blooded killer bent on the destruction of all humans, I still refused to see him as being all bad. I still saw the good in him, even if nobody else seemed to. What was it that had made me save his life twice? What was it that had made him come to our rescue when I had asked? Were we really enemies? Were we instead friends who were merely caught on opposite sides of the human-mutant dilemma? Xavier and Magneto…myself and Magneto…it was becoming clear to me that there was no such thing as simple good and evil. There was evil, and then there were differing viewpoints of people who were trying to be good. Or did evil itself exist at all? Were not all people simply trying to do what they thought was best for themselves?
No, I decided, evil did exist. It existed inside the head of one of my best friends, in a psychopath named Mindstorm. We were going back to the mansion, and I would try again to get Jacqueline to fight against her. Whatever it took, we would free her from Mindstorm's control. With Jacqueline's help, and with the X-Men back at full strength, we would end this war, destroy Rat, Lutowski and Van Gaarde, and unite the differing viewpoints of people who were trying to do good.
If only it were that simple.
