Chapter 6
Natalya walked quickly down a hall. She'd been briefed; there was an elevator downstairs around here. It was disguised as part of the wall. Maybe she shouldn't have gotten rid of Jubilee so fast. Mulling over the thought of spending more time with that yammering teeny-bopper Glide was affirmed she'd make the right decision. Coming across a wood paneling square that didn't quite match she tapped it. It slid away to reveal the elevator.
Glide wondered around through the white sterile hallways looking for Pyro. She heard the clunk of boots on metal and ducked around a corner. A brown haired man with a visor walked but militarily. She knew him as Cyclops from her briefing session by Magneto. He was the leader, shot optic blasts from his eyes. She stayed pressed against the wall and held her breath. She was not going to actively make this any harder by getting caught and having to fight her way out.
Cautiously peeking out she watched the man continue down the hall towards the elevator. He glanced into one of the rooms and waved. "Hi Hank" then he continued on. Natalya smiled broadly. Hank equaled Dr. Henry McCoy. Dr. McCoy was the doctor, John was hurt, made sense that her friend was with 'Hank'.
"Johnny!" John looked up at the sound of the voice. It had sounded like Natalya. He was pleasantly surprised to find the slim blonde leaning on the doorframe.
"Talya?"
The woman smiled at him, "Good to see you alive and… sort of well". Hank approached but felt a force firmly holding every muscle in place. He couldn't move at all. The mystery woman's hand was held up in his direction. It appeared she was telekinetic.
"Pig tails?" John asked.
"I'm almost 24, have a doctorate, and trying to pull off newbie mutant. Give me a little credit; they let me in after all." She explained untying her hair and giving it a shake.
"I suppose short and thin pays off sometimes"
"The upside of childhood malnutrition"
"You got a plan besides making small talk and holding the Doc in one place?"
She set her backpack down, pulled out a pile of clothes and handed them to John. "Rooted through your room, I think they're clean"
"Thanks" he said
"You know the fastest way out of here?" She asked while putting an arm around his waist and helping support him as he put his weight on the floor.
"I did live here" John stepped into the pants and closed them with a button and zip.
"Then I propose we put you in charge of the rest of this mission."
"What about him?" John asked as his head popped out of the top of the T-shirt. The Beast had begun struggling ineffectually. He couldn't just let John walk out.
"We'll leave him in here." He glanced around the infirmary and spotted the intercom.
"Get the intercom" he pointed to the device on the wall near the door. Letting Pyro lean on the bed instead of her she held the one hand steady and flicked the other in a circle. The panel flew off the wall into her hand, leaving bare wires in the wall. He was already breathing a little heavy, it was a little soon for him to making a jail break. But, he had to take advantage. Xavier wasn't the utter goody-goody that he'd thought. He couldn't think that after what the man had tried. Pyro moved to pull out the IV lines but Glide stopped him.
"He put them in for a reason Johnny." She glanced at the pole the bags hung from. It was on wheels. "It's on wheels, just bring it with us"
He rolled his eyes, "Yes Mommy". Leaning on the pole more than he would have liked, he hated looking weak, he and Glide left.
Beast still couldn't move. It was frustrating. He couldn't move, but he heard the lighter open and shut then saw the weak orange glow around the door as Pyro melted the hinges solid, effectively sealing him inside the infirmary. Magneto must have taught him how to focus, to make the fire more intense, hot enough to melt metal. Then Beast regained control of his body in a rush. They were walking away so the girl had released her hold. Hank marveled just a little over the display of power. She seemed to focus almost no energy towards him, but had him completely immobilized. She was dangerous. "Charles" he mentally projected, "I require some assistance in the infirmary. Pyro has escaped with a young lady named Natalya and welded me in here."
"I'll send Wolverine" came the mental response.
"Natalya" groaned the professor. The girl they had just let into the school was Natalya. He scanned the compound for Jubilee and found her mind quiet. That clearly meant she was unconscious somewhere. He cursed himself for yet again underestimating Erik and his followers. They'd been infiltrated again. How could he have let that happened? He hadn't pressed to read her. Her shields had been strong; he should have suspected they weren't natural. Berating himself wasn't going to resolve the situation; it would have to wait until later.
Pyro grabbed Glide's arm to stop her at the next intersection. "You have a car or something?"
"The Corsica is outside the gate"
"It still runs?"
"Morty is a genius"
"Alright, we just make this right, it connects to the garage and it's a short sprint off the grounds."
"Except you can't sprint"
"I'll make it" he assured her. Natalya glanced at her watch.
"Damn"
"What?"
"You're on the A team again."
"And the B team?"
"Needs about 20 more minutes"
"Alright then" John turned left. Natalya pulled on her coat and followed.
"Cold?" John asked.
"I assume Rogue is still around, and that means less skin"
"But I like skin" Glide rolled her eyes at him.
"Sure you do little boy." She picked up the IV bag, then the other, both were empty. "Want me to take this out, it's empty now."
"Yeah" he held out his arm. "It'll just get in the way in the fight." She took out the lines. They were ready to see this out.
"Which way to the fight?"
They were back in the mansion. John looked around, any moment they'd be pounced upon. "Ready?" he asked his friend. She said nothing but nodded. Then the enemy appeared. Cyclops led the approaching group. Storm hovered above them, with Rogue and Iceman striding confidently behind Cyclops. They were on their home turf; they knew the objective and were sure it could be achieved.
"Give it up Pyro"
"Yeah right" He flicked his lighter and a fireball bloomed in his hand before flying towards the X-men. Xavier's men (and women) scattered and moved to surround the Brotherhood members. Glide threw her hands out and all 4 stumbled backwards a few steps. Both she and Pyro wore cold glares.
Despite being heavily outmatched the Brotherhood members put up a valiant fight. A part of Cyclops outside of the situation was disappointed his team was struggling against just two Brotherhood members. They were the two youngest Brotherhood members too. Well, maybe there were younger members, but that would be awful. When John had gone he was too young to be a terrorist. It was hard to imagine Magneto taking them any younger. A chair cracked Scott in the back of his head. Damn girl
Fire burned in the hall, all ammunition for Pyro. Bobby stepped closer to the other boy; it was Iceman vs. Pyro, again. A ball of fire lobbed at him became ice and shattered into a shower of crystals when it hit the wall behind him. More fire emerged from the lighter and flew towards Bobby. Bobby tried to ice it and steam was the result. Iceman could feel the heat of fire that slipped past his defenses and whizzed by his head by only a few inches. The wall was scorched where it hit. Bobby charged forward and tried to tackle his former friend. But, Bobby felt himself hit an invisible wall and bounced back.
Both Pyro and Glide looked like conductors as they moved their arms and hands to manipulate their powers. Iceman's ice blast shattered the skylight. Glide jumped and hung in the air to avoid a lightening bolt directed at her feet. She dropped back down and flicked her wrists, turning her whole body with the movement, to point at Storm. The white haired woman flipped backwards, somersaulting. Rogue slipped up behind Pyro and grabbed his arm. But, she was unable to get find skin before he shook her off. Storm's eyes went white as she recovered. Storm called for more wind in her storm. Glide pulled her arm back for another attack.
"Glide" Pyro warned. Glide had been trained at Avendale to use her powers at an intensity level more than she could take. It was a dangerous habit because she could collapse from exhaustion and be useless. Looking at his friend Pyro could see she was draining her reserves fast. Luckily, she was very good at taking orders. Natalya pulled back. Storm blew her back with a directed gust of wind. The smaller woman stumbled back and hit the wall. Fire flew as a snake and twisted around Storm. She hissed and brought the rain down to put herself out.
Pyro built up a wall of flame around them. "How long?"
Glide twisted her left wrist around, sending Bobby about 2 feet in the air and dropping him. It allowed her to look at her watch. "We're cool." As the words left her lips an optic blast disrupted the fire and slammed her into Pyro, sending them both to the ground.
"We're cool?" Pyro whispered.
"Mission completed, everyone should be back at the base."
"Then I'm just going to lay here."
"Good, me too"
Cyclops held up a hand. "Enough" Pyro and Glide were both lying on the floor, not moving too much. The X-men surrounded the Brotherhood.
"Are they OK?" Rogue asked
"Yes" said Pyro from the floor. He rolled onto his feet and Glide joined him.
"Hands up" ordered Cyclops. Both of Magneto's minions complied, shoulder level, palms forward. "Cross them in front of you." Again, they obeyed. Then he nodded at Bobby who iced them together, immobilizing them. They didn't want any sudden outburst from their mutant powers. "We're going to the professor's office. I know you know the way John." Pyro glared over his shoulder but trudged forward.
Xavier was in his office waiting for the new prisoners. He sat behind his grand desk and the enemy was led in and sat before him.
"Are you going to break into my mind again?" Pyro sneered.
"No Mr. Pyro, your mind is your own. I will simply ask what Erik is planning." Bobby couldn't believe what the professor had admitted. He had broken in and read John's mind. It was completely against the ethics he taught to the telepathic students. You never invaded someone's mind without permission. A mind is a personal and private thing. It was hard to believe the professor had done something like that; he was such a good man.
Suddenly striding into the office Beast flipped on the TV. "There's something on the TV I believe you should see."
"The Inapole labs have been completely destroyed in what is being called a professionally planned terrorist attack. The 3 labs that made up the company were devastated. The homes of major executives were also ransacked. Inside sources say all research on Inapole's top projects has been destroyed. No one was hurt in the incident but Inapole is seeking 2 million dollars in damages for the complete loss of findings and prototypes."
Glide and Pyro were smiling widely. "You knew about this?"
"Yeah, they tend to let you know about plans you are a part of."
"Why? Why destroy that lab?"
"Power repression collars, they were on the verge of completing a collar that neutralized mutant powers. Our sources confirmed these collars were going to be used to control the mutant population after the next major mutant incident." Pyro explained.
"You cause those 'mutant incidents' you know" Storm pointed out
"Sometimes it's not us. There are an awful lot of Strykers out there, not to mention any anti-mutant nut ball who decided to stage an incident to get us all collared."
"You just destroy; you people don't care about making things better."
"Sure we do, we just want them better for people like us, mutants." Then, Pyro started coughing. Beast approached quickly.
"Your lungs are still weak Mr. Allerdyce."
Pyro leaned in close to Glide, covered by the coughing fit. In a whisper he ordered "I want a hostage." She looked at her wrists and the ice on her wrists shattered. A wide sweeping movement followed and Rogue felt herself being yanked towards them, completely unable to resist. She hit Glide and was pushed into Pyro's arms. She felt fire dangerously close to her skin. She could also feel John's breath on her neck. He was struggling much more than he let on, his breath was ragged and she could feel him trembling ever so slightly. The coughing hadn't been entirely fake.
"We're leaving now professor, you try and stop us and something serious will happen."
Xavier looked at the scene before him. His X-men, four of his best, on their feet ready to rain down on shaking, coughing kid and his pale, sweating companion in order to rescue one of their own and protect their home. The Brotherhood members had no chance; they were visibly weakening by the minute. Rogue looked petrified though. It was time to end this.
"Stop" he ordered. Everyone did, though Pyro's grip on Marie tightened. "Let them go. Release Marie and we'll let you go back to Erik." Pyro tilted his head a little.
"We'll leave her by the car."
"No, here, now" commanded Cyclops.
"We let her go here; you pick us up again before we're out of the mansion. We do this our way."
"Scott, just go with their demands. They are weak, and desperate. They won't risk renewing the fight." came Xavier's voice in the leader's head.
"Fine, go" Still holding the fire close to Rogue the group slowly backed out of the office.
"Are you going to hurt me John?" Marie asked once the door to Xavier's office closed and the three were alone in the hall.
"No" he sighed releasing her. Glide moved herself under his other arm. She sagged a bit under the added weight but they pressed forward, leaving Rogue alone in the hallway.
"I could stop you, you know"
"You won't" Pyro called back.
"Why not?"
"You don't think I'm a bad guy." Rogue watched the Brotherhood members limp away. She just watched them make their way out of sight before going back to rejoin the X-men.
THE END
