Chapter 29: Mutantile Delinquent
It had been all over the news for the past week. Today was the first day they would outfit the school with the new 'X-Gene Detection Systems' which were basically Mutie scanners. A petition had gotten over 1,000 signatures from parents concerned of what troubled Mutants might do, especially since they knew that disturbed students were ready to bring in guns to kill. Mutant powers could be much more dangerous. There was all ready a bill being passed through to have all schools given these detectors, claiming Mutant powers could be classified as dangerous weapons.
It was obvious to Charles Xavier that this was just a stepping stone towards the Mutant Registration laws that had failed so far. Many parents were concerned what disturbed children with Mutant powers might do. So now any child that was discovered to be a mutant would be given a tracking band to wear on school grounds. This was justified, of course, to ensure that a Mutant wasn't unfairly accused of some mischief. It was all just the newest racist movement, really.
Right now, though, there was nothing he could do about it, so he told all the students to not worry and just go along with it until they could do something legally. Remy was worried, though, because the people who had made the machines were the Friends of Humanity group, and they were the ones who posted security guards by each to attach and remove the tracker bracelets. He did as he was told, though, and let them put the black band around his wrist before he continued on to class.
He glared back at the machines that looked so much like metal detectors - and they served that purpose too, but had different alarm sounds for whether it was metal or a mutant - and glared at the guards. This was very unfair.
Rogue pushed through the crowded hallways as the lunch bell rang, her head bowed more than usual. She tried her best to hide the tracker bracelet behind the books she carried, but they were told to keep them visible at all times. She wondered, angrily, what difference it made - they were used to track, not to label them as mutants for all to see. Or maybe they were. It was an invasion of her privacy, to be sure.
As the other Bayville High students made their way towards the lunch room, Rogue remained wandering the now sparse hallways idly, looking for Remy. He had a way of making her day brighter just by appearing.
As Rogue turned the corner she found out where Remy was.
"Say, mutie, that's some nice jewelry you got there." Some hulking behemoth in a letterman jacket and his equally large friends. The boy shoved Remy into the lockers and the Cajun grunted, but didn't retaliate, at least physically.
"Yea, yo' momma give it ta Remy aftah he make her scream last night." He grinned, but for his quip he got a nice right hook to the jaw that sent him stumbling sideways. They wouldn't let him get away, though, and one shoved him against the lockers.
"Oh no, mutie, we aren't done with you yet..."
Rogue watched, Logan's inherited short fuse taking over. Dropping her books to the floor, she stormed over to them, giving the boy who was pinning Remy a rough shove.
"Back off, ya creep! Why don't ya pick someone with ya own IQ?"
The boy's hold on Remy didn't loosen, and one of his buddies grabbed Rogue's wrist, twisting it to display the tracker for all to see.
"What's the matter," the kid sneered at Remy. "Need your mutie girlfriend to fight your fights?"
Rogue struggled against his hold, striking the arm that held her. "Let me go!"
Her efforts barely fazed him, and he seized her other wrist, forcing her back against the lockers and pinning them above her head. He leaned in to leer at her. "Hey, I have powers too, how about I show ya?"
Rogue cowered back against the wall, fearful. He was much too close.
Remy gritted his teeth and nailed the kid that was holding him in the groin with a quick knee shot. As his grip slackened Remy got him in the stomach with a left jab and finished him off with a right to the nose. There was a cracking of cartilage and blood spurted out as the boy fell to the floor.
Remy whirled on the one holding Rogue and kicked him hard in the back of the knee, then grabbed him by the hair and pulled him away from Rogue, his fist slamming into the boy's esophagus. Two down. The third came after Remy but fell like a sack of bricks when Remy gave him a swift kick in the temple. Then he was taken to the floor as one of the FoH security guards tackled him from behind.
Remy growled and elbowed them man in the side of the head and flipped over. He head butted the man, which finally got him off, then kicked him in the face. Another guard ran in and jumped on Remy, followed by a third. They held him down while the guard Remy had kicked pulled out a needle and injected something into Remy's neck. The Cajun soon stopped struggling and his eyes closed. Once that was done the guards started to pick him up, and one turned to Rogue.
"Go to lunch before we report you too, mutant."
Rogue watched in horror as Remy's body slumped, the guards hauling him away to God knows where. "Wait, ya can't do this! They were-"
"A mutant attacked three civilians. Do you think he wasn't using his powers if he took down three by himself? Now get out of here before you become an accessory."
Rogue was about to protest when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Kurt, his eyes sad and sympathetic, and he shook his head slightly. It was only when he pulled her away that Rogue moved. As soon as they were out of sight, she spoke.
"It's not fair! Those kids attacked him first!"
Kurt shook his head again, "I know, but zhere's nothing ve can do."
She wrung her hands, feeling more helpless now than ever before.
"What are they gonna do with him?"
Kurt shrugged meekly. "Ve'll talk to zhe Professor, he'll know what to do."
The news on the TV switched from the mutant detector initiative to what had happened at the school. Two students in critical condition, one with his nose shattered, one with a collapsed trachea. The other was held for a few days with a concussion. The picture switched from the students in hospital beds to the anchor woman behind her desk.
"The president has just given the Friends of Humanity a ten-thousand-dollar grant after seeing their new mutant holding facility where the boy, Remy LeBeau, will be kept. The facility has all ready received state sanctioning and has several police personnel on staff to make sure there is no mistreatment. We will be coming to you with a tour of the facility tomorrow."
That was the end of the news for tonight. No mention of where the facility was, or when Remy might be released, or even have his trial.
Rogue sat in Xavier's office, hunched over and staring at the floor. She had told the Professor about the situation that had just transpired, though there was nothing he could do. Because Remy was a mutant, no doubt he'd receive harsher treatment for the rules he broke. Rogue also doubted that the boys who started the whole thing would get in trouble. It simply wasn't fair. Xavier's voice broke her thoughts.
"Acting as Remy's guardian, I have tried to contact the Friends of Humanity leaders and the school administration, but they refuse to reveal the facility's location. They are restricting all visitation and communications. Now that they have the government's backing, there is no hope of bringing the matter of Remy's rights as a prisoner to trial."
When Rogue made no attempt to comment, the Professor continued. He realized how hard this must be for her. He glanced over at Logan, who was standing in the corner with his arms folded, but he had averted his gaze from Rogue, too.
"I have my suspicions about this group. The technology they have implemented at the school far surpasses what they possessed when you and Remy were at the cinema only months ago. They must be receiving outside aid, but I don't imagine it is from the government." Looking pensive, Xavier turned to Logan.
"We have no choice. Remy must be freed, and we must discover more about this organization and their intentions. I'll attempt to track him using Cerebro, and then an assembled team can move in."
Logan only grunted in assent, suddenly straightening and exiting the room. He needed a cigar.
Rogue looked up as soon as Logan was gone, one hand lifting to touch her earring absent mindedly. "Professor.. Ah've.. been thinkin' about Carol. Why can't Ah look at her memories?"
Xavier glanced back at Rogue, raising a brow before sighing. "Even if she weren't repressed, her will is too strong. She's keeping you out on purpose."
"But.. Is there some way Ah could try? What if she knows somethin' about this? Ah could use her powers to help rescue Remy!"
Xavier shook his head woefully, seeing where this was going.
"Rogue, I cannot simply force your mind open and unlock her entity. We run the risk of her regaining control, and even permanent damage."
"But it's not fair! Ah need her, she knows how to use and control all my abilities! If Ah could just.. *look*, we could find out how she's able to do it!"
"I'm sorry, Rogue. Control is something you must develop for yourself. I don't mean anything by this, but if your body is unable to develop control, it can never be forced into you. You risk hurt to yourself."
Rogue sat for a long moment, seething. She knew he had the ability to look into her mind, would he really deny her the chance to be normal? More upset than ever, Rogue stood and stormed out of Xavier's office, who was left to mourn his two troubled students.
