Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I making any money from the X-Men
characters. Thank you to Corrinth for the use of her character Dr. Ilehana
Xavier. I do own Blaze, and appreciate authors not using her without
asking.
A/N: Reviews always welcome!
Scene 28
It was raining in Washington D.C., raining thick black tar-like drops that pelted everything so hard it was painful to be outdoors. The wind whipped round the city, making the many umbrellas useless, buffeting the few brave souls that dared venture outside in their lunch hour until they had second thoughts. The weathermen couldn't explain it; the predictions had been for cold but clear days, low wind and morning frosts, not a storm that showed no sign of blowing itself out...
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"You've translated all the phrases in Blaze's notes? Do you understand what has happened to her and Storm any better yet?"
"Its all here Dad. The Amentha are an ancient cult believing in the power of the elements; deities of fire, air, water and earth. They believe that a man will come to them and bring them these goddesses to act as a small army, helping them to take over the world and restore their ancient beliefs. Every sign of how the goddesses will be recognised is right here in Blaze's notes, Garthen Doking or whatever his name is must have had access to the same information and translated it to find Storm, Blaze and two others to satisfy the Amentha's instructions and be proclaimed their leader. Its likely the cult is a powerful one, with members all over the world in government and business that could help Garthen Doking gather the power and support he'd need for such a dangerous enterprise."
Xavier let his daughter finish as the dread grew in his soul. What had this man done to Blaze and Storm and the other two young women to make them do his will? Had he threatened or harmed them in any way? Again he longed for his powers to be returned to him, it would be so easy to use Cerebro to reach out to his two protégées and make sure they were all right...
"Are you even listening to me Dad? The runes say the greatest seat of power will be annihilated first, and there were numbers on Blaze and Storm's rings that correlate to the latitude coordinates of Washington D.C. We've no time to lose, the X-Men must get there now before anyone gets hurt."
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Lightning caused the first deaths. It struck an overhead phone cable on the outskirts of the city, fried three people who had been on the phone at the same time. Then, as the sun began to set unseen behind the storm, the first fires broke out. An industrial warehouse complex, a high school and a post office, though evacuated just in time were all razed to the ground. They had all been within five blocks of one another. With the sudden burst of rain all the drains in the city seemed to suddenly overflow, even though the local government said there was no way that could happen. Cars and lorries and a whole assortment of junk were washed away down streets that became flooding torrents. The power and phones all failed. The emergency services struggled to cope or even get to problem areas. The city felt cut off, no one could get in or out. There were riots, looting, and protests outside the White House. The media was in a feeding frenzy, cameras and reporters braved the weather to give on-the-spot reports. Then the earth quaked.
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When the X-Jet flew over the city, Nightcrawler commented it was like flying over Hell itself. Fires burned unnaturally brightly despite the heavy rain. Roads were split in two by the shaken earth. Buildings were flattened, people screamed and panicked. Vixen and Cyclops argued over the safest landing spot, both angry at being so late. Wolverine spoke in hushed tones to a worried looking Rogue sat next to him. At the back of the blackbird, Gambit rolled his shoulders back in the tight X-Men uniform, trying to get a feel for the movement of the suit.
"Dis no good." He moaned, plucking at his gloves. "Gambit needs to touch things to use his power." Logan looked over and grinned at the Cajun.
"Want a hand?" He slid a single claw through his right index knuckle.
"You take my fingers off, I kill you." Gambit held out his hands and shut his eyes.
"How's that Cajun?" The black material that had covered Gambit's thumbs, index and little fingers now lay on the floor of the jet. The only sign of how close Wolverine had come to taking any of Gambit's fingers was a small cut on his left thumb.
"What you think dis is, Wolverine? Butcher's class?"
"Will you people stop squabbling?" Cyclops demanded. "This is serious."
"So dis, Cyclops." Gambit replied, sucking his thumb to stop the bleeding. "Merde."
"I'm going changing." Ilehana unbuckled her seatbelt and stood.
"Is that such a good idea? We wont be able to communicate with you if you're in animal form." Cyclops reminded Vixen.
"It'll be fine, Scott. Stop worrying." And with that she was gone.
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The blackbird landed with a judder on a school basketball court. The school didn't stand any longer; only a shell remained of blackened brick and charred timber. Lightning snaked across the sky like vines of power, and all around the trees and grasses whispered to each other as if they knew a great secret.
"Well this is creepy." Nightcrawler announced in a chirpy tone, trying to alleviate the doom that made all the X-Men fractious. He didn't wait for the runway to descend, instead poof!-ing to the ground. Behind him a blue- eyed, white Bengal tiger leapt the distance to the ground; Vixen had done changing.
"What do we do first, Cyclops?" Rogue was unsure of herself, but steeled her nerve and removed her right glove. They had a job to do, people needed them. Maybe Bobby could forget that they were X-Men, but Rogue couldn't.
"We work our way through the streets, try and find Storm and Blaze and convince them to stop. It'd be best to split into teams. Rogue comes with me, Vixen and Wolverine, Gambit and Nightcrawler. Stay in contact, this is going to be like looking for two needles in a haystack."
"Yeah, if one needle packed a million volts, and the other a raging inferno, and the haystack was caught in a hurricane, it'd be just like that." Wolverine snarled, enough talk, time for action.
"Remember," Cyclops ignored Wolverine's remarks, "Whatever happens, whatever Garthen Doking has done to them, they are still our friends. Be careful."
A/N: Reviews always welcome!
Scene 28
It was raining in Washington D.C., raining thick black tar-like drops that pelted everything so hard it was painful to be outdoors. The wind whipped round the city, making the many umbrellas useless, buffeting the few brave souls that dared venture outside in their lunch hour until they had second thoughts. The weathermen couldn't explain it; the predictions had been for cold but clear days, low wind and morning frosts, not a storm that showed no sign of blowing itself out...
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"You've translated all the phrases in Blaze's notes? Do you understand what has happened to her and Storm any better yet?"
"Its all here Dad. The Amentha are an ancient cult believing in the power of the elements; deities of fire, air, water and earth. They believe that a man will come to them and bring them these goddesses to act as a small army, helping them to take over the world and restore their ancient beliefs. Every sign of how the goddesses will be recognised is right here in Blaze's notes, Garthen Doking or whatever his name is must have had access to the same information and translated it to find Storm, Blaze and two others to satisfy the Amentha's instructions and be proclaimed their leader. Its likely the cult is a powerful one, with members all over the world in government and business that could help Garthen Doking gather the power and support he'd need for such a dangerous enterprise."
Xavier let his daughter finish as the dread grew in his soul. What had this man done to Blaze and Storm and the other two young women to make them do his will? Had he threatened or harmed them in any way? Again he longed for his powers to be returned to him, it would be so easy to use Cerebro to reach out to his two protégées and make sure they were all right...
"Are you even listening to me Dad? The runes say the greatest seat of power will be annihilated first, and there were numbers on Blaze and Storm's rings that correlate to the latitude coordinates of Washington D.C. We've no time to lose, the X-Men must get there now before anyone gets hurt."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lightning caused the first deaths. It struck an overhead phone cable on the outskirts of the city, fried three people who had been on the phone at the same time. Then, as the sun began to set unseen behind the storm, the first fires broke out. An industrial warehouse complex, a high school and a post office, though evacuated just in time were all razed to the ground. They had all been within five blocks of one another. With the sudden burst of rain all the drains in the city seemed to suddenly overflow, even though the local government said there was no way that could happen. Cars and lorries and a whole assortment of junk were washed away down streets that became flooding torrents. The power and phones all failed. The emergency services struggled to cope or even get to problem areas. The city felt cut off, no one could get in or out. There were riots, looting, and protests outside the White House. The media was in a feeding frenzy, cameras and reporters braved the weather to give on-the-spot reports. Then the earth quaked.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When the X-Jet flew over the city, Nightcrawler commented it was like flying over Hell itself. Fires burned unnaturally brightly despite the heavy rain. Roads were split in two by the shaken earth. Buildings were flattened, people screamed and panicked. Vixen and Cyclops argued over the safest landing spot, both angry at being so late. Wolverine spoke in hushed tones to a worried looking Rogue sat next to him. At the back of the blackbird, Gambit rolled his shoulders back in the tight X-Men uniform, trying to get a feel for the movement of the suit.
"Dis no good." He moaned, plucking at his gloves. "Gambit needs to touch things to use his power." Logan looked over and grinned at the Cajun.
"Want a hand?" He slid a single claw through his right index knuckle.
"You take my fingers off, I kill you." Gambit held out his hands and shut his eyes.
"How's that Cajun?" The black material that had covered Gambit's thumbs, index and little fingers now lay on the floor of the jet. The only sign of how close Wolverine had come to taking any of Gambit's fingers was a small cut on his left thumb.
"What you think dis is, Wolverine? Butcher's class?"
"Will you people stop squabbling?" Cyclops demanded. "This is serious."
"So dis, Cyclops." Gambit replied, sucking his thumb to stop the bleeding. "Merde."
"I'm going changing." Ilehana unbuckled her seatbelt and stood.
"Is that such a good idea? We wont be able to communicate with you if you're in animal form." Cyclops reminded Vixen.
"It'll be fine, Scott. Stop worrying." And with that she was gone.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The blackbird landed with a judder on a school basketball court. The school didn't stand any longer; only a shell remained of blackened brick and charred timber. Lightning snaked across the sky like vines of power, and all around the trees and grasses whispered to each other as if they knew a great secret.
"Well this is creepy." Nightcrawler announced in a chirpy tone, trying to alleviate the doom that made all the X-Men fractious. He didn't wait for the runway to descend, instead poof!-ing to the ground. Behind him a blue- eyed, white Bengal tiger leapt the distance to the ground; Vixen had done changing.
"What do we do first, Cyclops?" Rogue was unsure of herself, but steeled her nerve and removed her right glove. They had a job to do, people needed them. Maybe Bobby could forget that they were X-Men, but Rogue couldn't.
"We work our way through the streets, try and find Storm and Blaze and convince them to stop. It'd be best to split into teams. Rogue comes with me, Vixen and Wolverine, Gambit and Nightcrawler. Stay in contact, this is going to be like looking for two needles in a haystack."
"Yeah, if one needle packed a million volts, and the other a raging inferno, and the haystack was caught in a hurricane, it'd be just like that." Wolverine snarled, enough talk, time for action.
"Remember," Cyclops ignored Wolverine's remarks, "Whatever happens, whatever Garthen Doking has done to them, they are still our friends. Be careful."