Yep, it's chapter 13 time.... Maybe it's bad luck to post the 13th chapter on Friday the 13th, but I thought it would be funny! ; )
okay, well, just to let you know - I've got this story planned up until 25 chapters, and I plan to post a chapter every Friday and Monday, so maybe it'll be all up and posted by mid-July? I know, I plan too much. Well, here's chapter 13 - and this is complete angst-core because this is the Celebro chapter (see! I haven't forgotten the movies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) This chapter, though, is really necessary, especially if you've read the book - I can't exactly overlook this part.
Thanx to all ye reviewers! All your reviews really help inspire me, and believe me - you'll be getting even more cliff hangers with this chapter o.O
And, this chapter was written entirely to Operation Ivy - " All I know is I don't know nothing." (Dances around the room for a bit... " Oh, yeah, I better get writing this chapter!") And I don't really know why I keep letting everyone know what music I'm listening to while I'm writing this, but since music is the voice of the soul, " let the rebel beats beat on!!!!!!!!"
P.S. On a further note, you guys all need to check out " Ain Gwine Miss" on my favorite stories list - I love my little Snitter XD. (and Snitter even promised to write a Rob and Adrian fic when I'm done with this, so you've all got to help me encourage Snit to do it!!!!!!! Oh, how I love that kid!)
Chapter 13
******************
Adrian was having a difficult time. On one hand, he knew he desperately needed to form a plan to escape - but the harder he tried to form a plan, the less fabricated it would become. Adrian didn't even know why he couldn't concentrate on anything - he still had not realized that there was a helmet on his head that was preventing him from concentrating. Adrian, though, had a vague idea that he couldn't concentrate because couldn't teleport, but he even could hardly dwell on that fact for long.
He felt like he was half way between sleeping and waking.
But he knew that he had to form a plan to escape. That was painfully clear, unfortunately, it was also painfully clear that it was just plain painful to try to think. Yet something kept him going - even if it was hard for him even to remember what he was working on.
Adrian cleared his mind to focus, struggling to push his way through the fog that clouded his mind, and hoped that Rob was okay.
***************
Todd kept walking. He had been worrying since he had left the mall - all his thoughts revolved around that memory that he had put onto the television screen. It had been a close call. What would have happened if someone realized that he was a mutant? Todd shivered for a second, and pushed the thought from his head. There was no time to think about that now. He was more worried over his own powers. Did that mean that he had full access to the memories of anyone that he touched?
But the funny thing was that Todd couldn't even think about these memories. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pull up one of his Dad's old memories - it just flashed up on the screen. That was a relief. Todd didn't know if he could remain sane if the memories of everyone he touched were just bouncing around in his mind.
But what was going on with his Dad? Todd desperately wanted to know, but anytime he came across a television, there were far too many people around. Maybe he should just go back home? But then he remembered that threat - " Do you have any idea what they're planning to do?"
What were they planning to do? Todd had to know.
Todd had been walking for quite a while until he finally stopped in front of a Wal-Mart. There were sure to be plenty of TVs in there, and maybe he could just find a way to seclude himself - or perhaps he could just project his Dad's memories into a camcorder and all he would have to do was peer through the lens?
He walked through the front door, and made his way as fast as he could to the electronics department. There were lots of TVs, but there were also lots of people. He looked around - this store was busy as hell. There was no way that he could hope to search through the plethora of memories he got from his Dad without being noticed. Todd felt disappointed, yet he should have known that the store would be too crowded.
He turned to walk away, giving up for the moment, and then he stopped dead in his tracks.
***********
Somewhere, half way across the country, Xavier began searching for all the mutants, unable to realize what devastation that would cause..
*****************
Somewhere not too far from Bayville, New York, Kelly fell to her knees, a look of complete panic in her eyes as she saw the ground littered with tiny versions of herself. She couldn't even control it. Every few seconds, another one would appear - and each time she created one, she lost that part of her personality. Soon, she would have nothing left.
**************
Adrian was struck with the same terror as other mutants were feeling all over the country. Every sound that was usually even beyond his own hearing became painfully audible. It was a rising tide that he couldn't resist, no matter how hard he tried. Soon, he was engulfed in a agony of noise. He held his hands over his ears and screamed out in anguish - helpless not to scream, yet adding to his own torment as well.
******************
Todd would have never been able to imagine that such pain could exist. He was standing - rooted to the spot, a look of complete shock and horror plastered over his face as his arms curled around his stomach in an attempt to comfort himself. For a second, he acted as if he was simply attempting to ignore the pain, but it simply became unbearable.
What was happening? He was suddenly struck down by it, falling to the ground in a terrible spasm fit that was causing other shoppers to rush to his aid in alarm. Todd began screaming out in pain - it felt like every nerve of his body was being severed - it burned his mind, he couldn't even think beyond this world of agony. His whole body was shaking in an attempt to rid himself of the torment.
By that time, quite a crowd had gathered to see what was going on - some were even trying to get away from the scene after witnessing the horror of it. One of the store security guards pushed his way through the crowd - he had been trained how to deal with emergencies like these.
" Son," the man called to Todd, kneeling down on the ground next to the teen. Todd was quite beyond them at the moment. All he could do was scream out in pain, begging for someone to help him.
At that moment - all the TV monitors around Todd began flickering - pieces of memories flashing up on the screen so quickly that people could hardly understand what was happening. The security guard looked down at Todd and then up to the wall of TVs. This couldn't be, could it?
Without warning, every single electric devise with a monitor began to spark. Todd's power was pulsing through each one of those machines at such a furious pace that they could not stand up against it. Todd was breaking them through his own pain.
Todd was writhing on the ground when the first monitor exploded. The crowd of people who had gathered all jumped and screamed a bit at the suddenness of it. The security guard made the quick connection - Todd's own manic torment seemed to fall into perfect synchronization with the rapid flashes of pictures on the TVs. It was quite obvious what Todd was.
" Get out of here!," the security guard yelled at the crowd, " He's a mutant!"
The effect on the crowd was incredible - a panic gripped them so harshly that they fled the scene in a frenzy. Looking at what Todd was doing to the monitors around them was enough to make them fear for their own safety. The security guard looked down at the teen for a moment, and a hatred surged through him - reaffirming his disgust of mutants.
Until he was knocked down by the same intense suffering.
Todd's breathing began to slow, rumors of the pain he had felt subsiding. He sat up in a hurry, and gasped at what he saw. Nearly every customer in the store were stricken down to the ground in an agonizing torture. He was the only person who was free from the pain.
At first, Todd didn't know what to do - he was so overloaded. The fear from the pain that he had endured only a few moments before seemed now to have rebounded upon everyone else. Everywhere he looked, he saw the devastation that he had brought upon monitors of the store - there was smoking rising - yet everywhere he looked, there was also someone screaming, crying, cringing at the pain.
" What IS this?," Todd asked out into the crowd, not like he was even expecting an answer. He scrambled to the closest person to him, the same security guard who had been at his side a few moments earlier.
" What's wrong?," Todd asked him, shaking the man as if hoping he could help him. Todd was very close to a feeling of extreme helplessness.
" Help me!," someone else screamed out in a voice so riddled with unbelievable torment that Todd rushed to their side.
" How can I help you?," Todd asked them desperately, almost close to tears at the lack of a solution, but he got no such answer. Panic began to rise in him. These people were going to die, and he could think of nothing to do that could help them. An even greater fear struck him as he wondered to himself if HE was the cause of their suffering. Could he have such powers that he couldn't control?
But just as it had been with him, the torment was gone as easily as if it had been a light being switched off. The screaming stopped. Todd looked around, an overwhelming feeling of relief gripping his heart. He had been so afraid for these people.
One of the first of the crowd to actually attempt to reach his feet was the security guard. Todd hurried over to his side, to do what he could to help the man get to his feet.
" Are you okay?," Todd asked the man, and then looked around at the smoldering TVs, " Uh, sorry about the mess." Todd smiled encouraging at the security guard, but the man only stared at him with a look somewhere between hatred and pure fear.
" Mutant...," was all that the man could mutter. Todd stared at him in disbelief.
" Mutant!," the security guard screamed at Todd, pointing a finger as if someone may have not known who the man was talking about.
" Just wait," Todd tried to start, but someone else cut him off.
" Is that your idea of a joke?," a woman screamed at him.
"Hey, I didn't do this, I can't," Todd began apologetically, but he was beginning to realize there was probably very little he could do to convince them otherwise.
" Are you kidding?," an older man coughed nearby, " Only a mutant could do something like that."
" I don't have that power," Todd explained, but his voice slowly trailed off.
Todd was the only mutant around. He suddenly felt surrounded, exposed, and unprotected as the hostility rose around him - so thick upon the air that it was suffocating. He had to escape, though he hated having to think like that. Without even thinking twice, Todd broke out in a run before too many more people had the chance to rise to their feet.
He heard shouting, some people trying to stop him, but he was running, running as fast as he could for the exit. Todd was encouraged by the terror that gripped him, not knowing what had just happened, but knowing that it wasn't his fault.
Todd reached the doors faster than he thought. He ran up to them, relying on the fact that they were automatic doors, and he slammed into them as they very slowly opened. With a push, he ran through them, and was out in the open.
He kept running, wondering what had happened that had made him as well as all the other people in the store suddenly become stricken with pain - but more worried that it may happen again. But there was an even more urgent thought on his mind. If every 'normal' person in the store had become stricken with this pain, had it happened to people outside of the store?
All the fear and anger that he had felt during those last moments at home disappeared, a new worry overcame him, and he ran with a frantic helplessness as he made his way back home.
*************
Night had descended - at least 6 hours had passed - and still, Adrian was waiting in anticipation for the next brutal attack. Neither he nor Brit had any idea where that sudden onslaught of torture had come from, and neither of them knew if they should be expecting it again.
" Adrian?," Brit asked. Adrian clearly could hear her, but it took him a while to answer. The helmet he was wearing still made it unbearable to talk.
" huh?," he whispered to her after his long pause.
She said nothing in response - as if she was only seeking comfort by hearing his voice alone. Brit couldn't help but to feel alone and frightened - she had been awake when Professor Vincennes had lead the party of students and grant-givers through their cell block, and she was quaking with fear at what that man was intending to do. Anything he had said about the evolution of mutants went completely over her head, but she could hardly tell herself that it was important enough to cage people over.
Of course, and then, she had been struck with a sudden pang of agony as Celebro was put into power. She had seen through walls, through people, through everything, even through herself - until she was alone. Brit wasn't even anything. There was nothing. And she had been terribly afraid that she wasn't even living anymore.
That was her ability going against her - and even now that things had returned to normal, she hesitated from using her powers, as if afraid that it may induce what had happened once again.
If she had been looking through the walls, she may have seen something very strange going on.
But Adrian heard it first, and he snapped his head in the direction of the door. Brit watched him for a few moments, and seconds dragged on before someone actually opened the door. Both teens weren't exactly surprised to see that it was Craig Vincennes. But then he did something that neither of them would have predicted.
He sifted through a ring of keys and unlocked Adrian's cell. Adrian hardly had time to pull himself off the floor when the professor was nearly on top of him. But Craig wasn't there to harm anyone, though Adrian had come to expect otherwise.
Instead, he took off the helmet that had been dulling Adrian's thoughts.
Craig simply said, " You have to escape."
At once, Adrian was standing - a flood of thoughts and ideas coming back to him. He fought his way through the fog that had once clouded his mind, and he remembered everything - Craig's speech to the students and military and the man's pursuit of mutant research, Adrian's own desire to escape, his worry over Rob.
" Huh?," Adrian asked, " What? You want us to escape? I thought you wanted to experiment on us."
" That's changed now," Craig simply said again, " You must escape. There is a Jeep outside for you."
" What's happening?," Brit asked timidly from a few cell blocks down.
" A man more terrible than me has come," Craig said, though he uncharacteristically stumbled through his own words, " with far worse plans for you."
" What about Rob?," Adrian asked.
Craig said nothing.
" What about Rob?!," Adrian shouted, his nerve rising now that he could tell that Craig was desperate for them to leave.
" Rob is coming with me," Craig started, " Look, you must understand, I don't want them to get to him. You have to trust me."
" But I don't trust you," Adrian said, clearly not convinced with Craig's good nature.
" Adrian, please!," Brit shouted from down the hall, not wanting him to get Craig angry enough to keep them locked up, " Just listen to him! He's letting us go!"
" I'm not going anywhere without Rob," Adrian said defiantly.
Yet Craig seemed absolute in his resolve.
" Fine, then stay here," Craig said, turning away from him, " Stay here and they will catch you. Trust me, they have far worse plans for you."
And Craig slipped through the door that he had come in from. Adrian simply rolled his eyes - as if the man could have hoped to evaded him. But Adrian couldn't simply abandon Brit, so he teleported first to her cell.
" Come on," was all that he said as he took her hand, and in a flash, they were gone. Adrian, of course, had not forgotten about Rob. He teleported through the door and reappeared with Brit right by Craig's side.
" Where are you going with him, you know, just in case I need to track you down to do some catching up on this 'which mutants are taking over the world' theory stuff?," Adrian asked. Craig seemed highly annoyed that he was being followed - his plan obviously wasn't working. He had put far less faith upon Adrian's loyalty to his friends.
Brit was far more curious with her surrounding, and she looked around herself, though still afraid to use her powers. If she had, she would have seen the trouble that was coming for them. Instead, she noticed something that made her shout out with surprise.
" Hey!," she cried out, pointing to a far corner of the room. Adrian looked in the direction that she had pointed, and did a double take. In the corner, they could clearly see the body of Craig Vincennes.
" Just wait-," Adrian said, wheeling around to face the Craig Vincennes that had been helping them escape. But what Adrian saw made him even more startled. As if a series of card were being overturned over his body, Craig Vincennes shifted into a different form - that of a woman who was draped in nothing but her own vibrant blue skin. Adrian took a step back.
" Uh, yeah, okay," he said aloud in the same voice a crazy person would have used to reassure himself, and then wheeled about again - for he heard someone approaching him. He turned to see an older man walking towards him.
" Pity it comes to this," the man said in a distinctively proper voice, and Adrian stared in disbelief as a large metal block picked itself up off the floor and began to fly through the air towards him. Adrian didn't even have time to react, or even to wonder why this block was flying at him. It smacked him right in the side of the face and knocked him out cold.
**************
Okay - I know a lot happened here! The suspense rises!
Next chapter up in a few days - please review while ya wait!
hugs, deke
okay, well, just to let you know - I've got this story planned up until 25 chapters, and I plan to post a chapter every Friday and Monday, so maybe it'll be all up and posted by mid-July? I know, I plan too much. Well, here's chapter 13 - and this is complete angst-core because this is the Celebro chapter (see! I haven't forgotten the movies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) This chapter, though, is really necessary, especially if you've read the book - I can't exactly overlook this part.
Thanx to all ye reviewers! All your reviews really help inspire me, and believe me - you'll be getting even more cliff hangers with this chapter o.O
And, this chapter was written entirely to Operation Ivy - " All I know is I don't know nothing." (Dances around the room for a bit... " Oh, yeah, I better get writing this chapter!") And I don't really know why I keep letting everyone know what music I'm listening to while I'm writing this, but since music is the voice of the soul, " let the rebel beats beat on!!!!!!!!"
P.S. On a further note, you guys all need to check out " Ain Gwine Miss" on my favorite stories list - I love my little Snitter XD. (and Snitter even promised to write a Rob and Adrian fic when I'm done with this, so you've all got to help me encourage Snit to do it!!!!!!! Oh, how I love that kid!)
Chapter 13
******************
Adrian was having a difficult time. On one hand, he knew he desperately needed to form a plan to escape - but the harder he tried to form a plan, the less fabricated it would become. Adrian didn't even know why he couldn't concentrate on anything - he still had not realized that there was a helmet on his head that was preventing him from concentrating. Adrian, though, had a vague idea that he couldn't concentrate because couldn't teleport, but he even could hardly dwell on that fact for long.
He felt like he was half way between sleeping and waking.
But he knew that he had to form a plan to escape. That was painfully clear, unfortunately, it was also painfully clear that it was just plain painful to try to think. Yet something kept him going - even if it was hard for him even to remember what he was working on.
Adrian cleared his mind to focus, struggling to push his way through the fog that clouded his mind, and hoped that Rob was okay.
***************
Todd kept walking. He had been worrying since he had left the mall - all his thoughts revolved around that memory that he had put onto the television screen. It had been a close call. What would have happened if someone realized that he was a mutant? Todd shivered for a second, and pushed the thought from his head. There was no time to think about that now. He was more worried over his own powers. Did that mean that he had full access to the memories of anyone that he touched?
But the funny thing was that Todd couldn't even think about these memories. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pull up one of his Dad's old memories - it just flashed up on the screen. That was a relief. Todd didn't know if he could remain sane if the memories of everyone he touched were just bouncing around in his mind.
But what was going on with his Dad? Todd desperately wanted to know, but anytime he came across a television, there were far too many people around. Maybe he should just go back home? But then he remembered that threat - " Do you have any idea what they're planning to do?"
What were they planning to do? Todd had to know.
Todd had been walking for quite a while until he finally stopped in front of a Wal-Mart. There were sure to be plenty of TVs in there, and maybe he could just find a way to seclude himself - or perhaps he could just project his Dad's memories into a camcorder and all he would have to do was peer through the lens?
He walked through the front door, and made his way as fast as he could to the electronics department. There were lots of TVs, but there were also lots of people. He looked around - this store was busy as hell. There was no way that he could hope to search through the plethora of memories he got from his Dad without being noticed. Todd felt disappointed, yet he should have known that the store would be too crowded.
He turned to walk away, giving up for the moment, and then he stopped dead in his tracks.
***********
Somewhere, half way across the country, Xavier began searching for all the mutants, unable to realize what devastation that would cause..
*****************
Somewhere not too far from Bayville, New York, Kelly fell to her knees, a look of complete panic in her eyes as she saw the ground littered with tiny versions of herself. She couldn't even control it. Every few seconds, another one would appear - and each time she created one, she lost that part of her personality. Soon, she would have nothing left.
**************
Adrian was struck with the same terror as other mutants were feeling all over the country. Every sound that was usually even beyond his own hearing became painfully audible. It was a rising tide that he couldn't resist, no matter how hard he tried. Soon, he was engulfed in a agony of noise. He held his hands over his ears and screamed out in anguish - helpless not to scream, yet adding to his own torment as well.
******************
Todd would have never been able to imagine that such pain could exist. He was standing - rooted to the spot, a look of complete shock and horror plastered over his face as his arms curled around his stomach in an attempt to comfort himself. For a second, he acted as if he was simply attempting to ignore the pain, but it simply became unbearable.
What was happening? He was suddenly struck down by it, falling to the ground in a terrible spasm fit that was causing other shoppers to rush to his aid in alarm. Todd began screaming out in pain - it felt like every nerve of his body was being severed - it burned his mind, he couldn't even think beyond this world of agony. His whole body was shaking in an attempt to rid himself of the torment.
By that time, quite a crowd had gathered to see what was going on - some were even trying to get away from the scene after witnessing the horror of it. One of the store security guards pushed his way through the crowd - he had been trained how to deal with emergencies like these.
" Son," the man called to Todd, kneeling down on the ground next to the teen. Todd was quite beyond them at the moment. All he could do was scream out in pain, begging for someone to help him.
At that moment - all the TV monitors around Todd began flickering - pieces of memories flashing up on the screen so quickly that people could hardly understand what was happening. The security guard looked down at Todd and then up to the wall of TVs. This couldn't be, could it?
Without warning, every single electric devise with a monitor began to spark. Todd's power was pulsing through each one of those machines at such a furious pace that they could not stand up against it. Todd was breaking them through his own pain.
Todd was writhing on the ground when the first monitor exploded. The crowd of people who had gathered all jumped and screamed a bit at the suddenness of it. The security guard made the quick connection - Todd's own manic torment seemed to fall into perfect synchronization with the rapid flashes of pictures on the TVs. It was quite obvious what Todd was.
" Get out of here!," the security guard yelled at the crowd, " He's a mutant!"
The effect on the crowd was incredible - a panic gripped them so harshly that they fled the scene in a frenzy. Looking at what Todd was doing to the monitors around them was enough to make them fear for their own safety. The security guard looked down at the teen for a moment, and a hatred surged through him - reaffirming his disgust of mutants.
Until he was knocked down by the same intense suffering.
Todd's breathing began to slow, rumors of the pain he had felt subsiding. He sat up in a hurry, and gasped at what he saw. Nearly every customer in the store were stricken down to the ground in an agonizing torture. He was the only person who was free from the pain.
At first, Todd didn't know what to do - he was so overloaded. The fear from the pain that he had endured only a few moments before seemed now to have rebounded upon everyone else. Everywhere he looked, he saw the devastation that he had brought upon monitors of the store - there was smoking rising - yet everywhere he looked, there was also someone screaming, crying, cringing at the pain.
" What IS this?," Todd asked out into the crowd, not like he was even expecting an answer. He scrambled to the closest person to him, the same security guard who had been at his side a few moments earlier.
" What's wrong?," Todd asked him, shaking the man as if hoping he could help him. Todd was very close to a feeling of extreme helplessness.
" Help me!," someone else screamed out in a voice so riddled with unbelievable torment that Todd rushed to their side.
" How can I help you?," Todd asked them desperately, almost close to tears at the lack of a solution, but he got no such answer. Panic began to rise in him. These people were going to die, and he could think of nothing to do that could help them. An even greater fear struck him as he wondered to himself if HE was the cause of their suffering. Could he have such powers that he couldn't control?
But just as it had been with him, the torment was gone as easily as if it had been a light being switched off. The screaming stopped. Todd looked around, an overwhelming feeling of relief gripping his heart. He had been so afraid for these people.
One of the first of the crowd to actually attempt to reach his feet was the security guard. Todd hurried over to his side, to do what he could to help the man get to his feet.
" Are you okay?," Todd asked the man, and then looked around at the smoldering TVs, " Uh, sorry about the mess." Todd smiled encouraging at the security guard, but the man only stared at him with a look somewhere between hatred and pure fear.
" Mutant...," was all that the man could mutter. Todd stared at him in disbelief.
" Mutant!," the security guard screamed at Todd, pointing a finger as if someone may have not known who the man was talking about.
" Just wait," Todd tried to start, but someone else cut him off.
" Is that your idea of a joke?," a woman screamed at him.
"Hey, I didn't do this, I can't," Todd began apologetically, but he was beginning to realize there was probably very little he could do to convince them otherwise.
" Are you kidding?," an older man coughed nearby, " Only a mutant could do something like that."
" I don't have that power," Todd explained, but his voice slowly trailed off.
Todd was the only mutant around. He suddenly felt surrounded, exposed, and unprotected as the hostility rose around him - so thick upon the air that it was suffocating. He had to escape, though he hated having to think like that. Without even thinking twice, Todd broke out in a run before too many more people had the chance to rise to their feet.
He heard shouting, some people trying to stop him, but he was running, running as fast as he could for the exit. Todd was encouraged by the terror that gripped him, not knowing what had just happened, but knowing that it wasn't his fault.
Todd reached the doors faster than he thought. He ran up to them, relying on the fact that they were automatic doors, and he slammed into them as they very slowly opened. With a push, he ran through them, and was out in the open.
He kept running, wondering what had happened that had made him as well as all the other people in the store suddenly become stricken with pain - but more worried that it may happen again. But there was an even more urgent thought on his mind. If every 'normal' person in the store had become stricken with this pain, had it happened to people outside of the store?
All the fear and anger that he had felt during those last moments at home disappeared, a new worry overcame him, and he ran with a frantic helplessness as he made his way back home.
*************
Night had descended - at least 6 hours had passed - and still, Adrian was waiting in anticipation for the next brutal attack. Neither he nor Brit had any idea where that sudden onslaught of torture had come from, and neither of them knew if they should be expecting it again.
" Adrian?," Brit asked. Adrian clearly could hear her, but it took him a while to answer. The helmet he was wearing still made it unbearable to talk.
" huh?," he whispered to her after his long pause.
She said nothing in response - as if she was only seeking comfort by hearing his voice alone. Brit couldn't help but to feel alone and frightened - she had been awake when Professor Vincennes had lead the party of students and grant-givers through their cell block, and she was quaking with fear at what that man was intending to do. Anything he had said about the evolution of mutants went completely over her head, but she could hardly tell herself that it was important enough to cage people over.
Of course, and then, she had been struck with a sudden pang of agony as Celebro was put into power. She had seen through walls, through people, through everything, even through herself - until she was alone. Brit wasn't even anything. There was nothing. And she had been terribly afraid that she wasn't even living anymore.
That was her ability going against her - and even now that things had returned to normal, she hesitated from using her powers, as if afraid that it may induce what had happened once again.
If she had been looking through the walls, she may have seen something very strange going on.
But Adrian heard it first, and he snapped his head in the direction of the door. Brit watched him for a few moments, and seconds dragged on before someone actually opened the door. Both teens weren't exactly surprised to see that it was Craig Vincennes. But then he did something that neither of them would have predicted.
He sifted through a ring of keys and unlocked Adrian's cell. Adrian hardly had time to pull himself off the floor when the professor was nearly on top of him. But Craig wasn't there to harm anyone, though Adrian had come to expect otherwise.
Instead, he took off the helmet that had been dulling Adrian's thoughts.
Craig simply said, " You have to escape."
At once, Adrian was standing - a flood of thoughts and ideas coming back to him. He fought his way through the fog that had once clouded his mind, and he remembered everything - Craig's speech to the students and military and the man's pursuit of mutant research, Adrian's own desire to escape, his worry over Rob.
" Huh?," Adrian asked, " What? You want us to escape? I thought you wanted to experiment on us."
" That's changed now," Craig simply said again, " You must escape. There is a Jeep outside for you."
" What's happening?," Brit asked timidly from a few cell blocks down.
" A man more terrible than me has come," Craig said, though he uncharacteristically stumbled through his own words, " with far worse plans for you."
" What about Rob?," Adrian asked.
Craig said nothing.
" What about Rob?!," Adrian shouted, his nerve rising now that he could tell that Craig was desperate for them to leave.
" Rob is coming with me," Craig started, " Look, you must understand, I don't want them to get to him. You have to trust me."
" But I don't trust you," Adrian said, clearly not convinced with Craig's good nature.
" Adrian, please!," Brit shouted from down the hall, not wanting him to get Craig angry enough to keep them locked up, " Just listen to him! He's letting us go!"
" I'm not going anywhere without Rob," Adrian said defiantly.
Yet Craig seemed absolute in his resolve.
" Fine, then stay here," Craig said, turning away from him, " Stay here and they will catch you. Trust me, they have far worse plans for you."
And Craig slipped through the door that he had come in from. Adrian simply rolled his eyes - as if the man could have hoped to evaded him. But Adrian couldn't simply abandon Brit, so he teleported first to her cell.
" Come on," was all that he said as he took her hand, and in a flash, they were gone. Adrian, of course, had not forgotten about Rob. He teleported through the door and reappeared with Brit right by Craig's side.
" Where are you going with him, you know, just in case I need to track you down to do some catching up on this 'which mutants are taking over the world' theory stuff?," Adrian asked. Craig seemed highly annoyed that he was being followed - his plan obviously wasn't working. He had put far less faith upon Adrian's loyalty to his friends.
Brit was far more curious with her surrounding, and she looked around herself, though still afraid to use her powers. If she had, she would have seen the trouble that was coming for them. Instead, she noticed something that made her shout out with surprise.
" Hey!," she cried out, pointing to a far corner of the room. Adrian looked in the direction that she had pointed, and did a double take. In the corner, they could clearly see the body of Craig Vincennes.
" Just wait-," Adrian said, wheeling around to face the Craig Vincennes that had been helping them escape. But what Adrian saw made him even more startled. As if a series of card were being overturned over his body, Craig Vincennes shifted into a different form - that of a woman who was draped in nothing but her own vibrant blue skin. Adrian took a step back.
" Uh, yeah, okay," he said aloud in the same voice a crazy person would have used to reassure himself, and then wheeled about again - for he heard someone approaching him. He turned to see an older man walking towards him.
" Pity it comes to this," the man said in a distinctively proper voice, and Adrian stared in disbelief as a large metal block picked itself up off the floor and began to fly through the air towards him. Adrian didn't even have time to react, or even to wonder why this block was flying at him. It smacked him right in the side of the face and knocked him out cold.
**************
Okay - I know a lot happened here! The suspense rises!
Next chapter up in a few days - please review while ya wait!
hugs, deke
