At four pm, all of the X-Men were gathered in the living room, save Hank, who was still in the labs below working to discover what had happened, and Ororo, who was assisting him. Professor Xavier rolled his wheelchair up in front of the TV to address his students who sat, lay, or leaned no every available piece of furniture to accommodate them. Amanda sat to one side with Kurt, her hand intertwined with his. Professor Xavier couldn't help but smile at this, a living symbol of his dream world, mutants and humans getting along. But another time for that, now he had more pressing concerns.
"As I am sure you are all aware," he began. "Our mutants powers have, for lack of a better term, ceased to function. We are currently working to find a cause, and until we do we are going to have to accept this phenomenon as permanent. However, certain precautions need to be taken. Logan?"
"First off, no more danger room sessions," he stated. This was met with a few scattered cheers, which he silenced with a withering glance. "Don't think I'm going soft on you all... but for now it'd be a bad idea. Martial arts lessons are still on schedule," he added with a vicious smirk. "In addition, seems I have a new student for our training sessions."
Amanda smiled sheepishly.
"Indeed..." remarked Professor Xavier. "X-Men, please join me in welcoming our temporary guest, Amanda Sefton. We have already contacted Amanda's parents. Despite certain... reservations... they've allowed her to remain here for the weekend. She'll be in one of our quest rooms for the time being."
Kurt suppressed a grin.
"While I would request that no one leave the Institute grounds during this time I realize this will be quite impossible..."
"Not to mention noisy," added Logan under his breath.
"To have so many teenagers around. Therefore, you are still allowed to come and go as you please, but we will be imposing an earlier curfew at eight, just after it gets dark," he stated calmly. This was met with little protest, most of them weren't eager to be caught outside in the dark without their powers anyway.
"In addition, it would be wise of you to be accompanied by at least one of your peers if you do go out, and at least one of you carry your cell phone," the Professor added. "For now that will be all, we will keep you all informed if myself or Hank discovers anything new. However, I would request to see Scott, Rogue, and Kurt in my office privately for the moment... the rest of you may go on your way... I imagine you're eager to begin the weekend," he added with a fatherly, knowing smile.
With a whoop most of the younger students did just that, rushing outside, grabbing their gear, and starting a friendly game of no-powers soccer.
Scott, Rogue and Kurt filed in to join Professor Xavier in his private office.
"This situation may be permanent for the moment," started the Professor after a brief moment of silence. "However, I cannot honestly say that it will remain this way indefinitely. As such, I want the three of you to be extra precautious, and keep your usual... er, preventive measures... on hand at all times. Kurt, the same with your holo-watch, in case things return to the way they were... I understand you still wish to keep your true form hidden."
"Ja."
"We understand Professor," replied Scott, who was still wearing his sunglasses, having put them back on after school. It was more habit than anything else.
"Thank you."
"Danke Herr Professor," said Kurt, as he skipped off to find Amanda.
Scott filed out after him, joining the others while Rogue lingered, glancing back at Xavier.
"Something else on your mind, Rogue?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. When she turned back around to face him, he was surprised to see she was crying.
"No ahm... ahm fahne Professor," she replied, her accent unusually thick as her voice choked on emotion. She ran out of the room, down the hall and to her own room, flinging herself down on her bed and crying her eyes out. Angrily she ripped off her offensive gloves and threw them away.
Life wasn't fair.
First she'd been given her powers, leaving her unable to touch anyone, even those she'd cared about, and worse, made them afraid to touch her.
Then she'd lost the one person who'd ever cared about her to her rival, Ms. Perfect.
And now she could touch again, and he was out of her reach.
She cried into her pillow all the rest of the afternoon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fear.
His gut was clenched, his fingers were jittering, his body trembled, and he hid himself away from the sights of others.
Because he was afraid of them. Afraid of what they could do to him, now that he was helpless. He was alone, and no one would come to save him.
Only he would come, he thought bitterly. And he'd just as soon lock me up again. No. I won't go back... I am free, now. This would pass, and I will be powerful again.
For now, he had to find somewhere to hide out and wait. Angrily he broke into a public laundromat, stealing some clothes to cover his now naked frame. They didn't fit very well against his large frame, but they would do for now.
There. An abandoned building in the warehouse district. That would do for now.
How the mighty have fallen, he thought angrily as he pushed the door aside, breaking it off its hinges, examining what would be his new home for the time being.
It will do, he decided.
The large man grabbed a nearby crate and shifted it over, breaking it into pieces with his foot to make firewood. He winced in pain as he was reminded, yet again, that he was no longer as powerful as he once was. Grumbling, he checked his foot, but found no bleeding. Thankful he did not have to waste time bandaging his wound, he resumed his task, picking up a discarded crowbar to assist him.
Had he been listening, over the din of metal hitting wood, he would've heard the roof above him start to creak. As it was, he did not notice the sound until the building, disturbed by his entrance, had started to collapse. Its structure was already weak, all it had needed was a little coaxing. Cursing, the man tossed his crowbar aside as he made for the door, only to have a chunk of the ceiling hit his foot, causing him to veer to one side as he leapt forward. The building collapses, clouds of dust billowing up as the man was crushed under piles of heavy stone.
A few short hours later, he regained consciousness. To his relief, he'd found the stones had fallen in such a way that they piled around him, not crushing his vital organs., and thankfully not his limbs. To his irritation, his legs and shoulder were both pinned, and it was impossible for him to raise himself, or even move his left arm. He was trapped. And he highly doubted that anyone would be coming by the area for a good long time to come save him, isolated as it was.
The Unstoppable Force, had been stopped. Perhaps permanently.
The Juggernaut was immobilized, and would, unless rescued, starve to death.
Cain Marko was going to die.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We've lost another one sir. Damn building collapsed on him before we could apprehend him."
"No matter, as long as he is dead. Continue with the next group. Remember, these things are worth more to us alive than dead... for now."
Authors Notes:
Concerning the Juggernaut, in "Survival of the Fittest" they commented that Cain was had an x-gene that was latent most of his life, but was enhanced by mysticism. As such, I consider him a mutant, and thus subject to the effects of that which is now effecting all other mutants. Poor Cain. So far, the votes for who is behind all this are: 1 Sinister, 1 Magneto, 1 Dr. Herbert Landon (an old Marvel villain). Oh you poor fools are in for quite a shock. I have a few more frequent updates to come, but they're about to end shortly, as my three-day weekend is almost over. Slower updates will come as quickly as I'm able, however.
Caliente: Of course I will be bringing in the Acolytes. Every single mutant who has ever shown up in Evolution will be part of this story. As will most of the non-mutants.
HoneyBug17: Certainly.
Glaivester: I recall who you're talking about, I remember
the episode well. That was, back then,
two of my favorite shows rolled into one.
That is one of the most interesting guesses I've had so far.
Todd Fan: You see what I mean? You a
sick, twisted, demented little Evo fan............ Don't ever change.
Unknown Source: Oh, I intend to tease everyone, that is why I am leaving the descriptions vague. All will be revealed in future chapters. Oh, and here's your good ol' Rogue. More of her to come.
Mutant Fangirl: Lance at the bottom of this? Well that's a new one. Of course X23 will show up, she's one of my favorite characters. Though not for a while yet. Maybe not until I can see 'Target X' and get a better idea of what happened to her after 'X23.'
Hathor Col: I figured most would be eager to see reunion of family. There'll be plenty of that to go around.
Gyuumajo: Sure thing.