The Blackbird touched down right next to the huge metal sphere that was Magneto's fortress less than half an hour later.
Eric grumbled at the monitors at the sight of his opponents on the monitors. He knew damn well why they were there.
The Cajun.
Grumbling, Eric eventually decided this was for the best. It would allow him a better chance of solving this mystery if he worked alongside his old friend Charles. A pooling of resources was needed. But later, he would have to make sure the thief was properly punished for acting without his orders.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scott was the first out, followed by Jean and the others. He led, giving instructions as he pinpointed quickly the weak point in the structure, the sliding metal doors, at least a dozen inches of solid steel. Still, they had enough explosives to bring down a small mountain. Originally they'd been stockpiled to destroy the mansion in case the Professor had deemed it necessary. After Mystiques attack he'd added additional measures to prevent a similar occurrence, and gathered some more from his usual sources. Confidential Construction Company.
Scott actively preferred not to think he slept in a house on top of enough explosives to level Tokyo.
Bobby, Roberto and Sam carried the crates, placing them down and opening them up. Not working at quite their normally timed speed, but that was understandable, considering they were working without Sunspot to lug the heavy stuff around.
Finally the explosives were in place, ready, armed, and good to go. Everyone stepped back while Scott pulled out a megaphone and spoke into it.
"ATTENTION. PLEASE STAND BACK FROM THE FRONT DOOR, DUCK DOWN AND COVER YOUR EARS," he added with a smirk, giving the Acolytes about fifteen seconds before he flipped the switch and pressed the button, detonating the explosives.
"Fire in the hole!" he shouted, taking his own advice and covering his ears.
(Boom)
Scott and the others ducked down, covering their ears just prior to the blast, as the sand picked up and rushed past them. Professor X remained safely inside the Blackbird as the aftershock vibrations rattled through the air and ground, shaking up the whole desert. Thankfully, any inhabitants who heard it remained unaware, presumed it was just another earthquake. When the smoke cleared, they could see they'd done it. A huge, charred hole marked the side of huge metal sphere, the sides twisted inwards by the blast. A figure stepped out, shadowy in the darkness of the fortress.
A brown-haired man, clad in black t-shirt and jeans underneath his trench coat, instead of the usual garb that Storm had once identified to the other X-Men as thieves guild armor. He looked sweltering in that brown heavy trench coat, but it seemed he didn't mind overly.
"Bonjour," said Gambit charmingly. He smirked, glancing at the Blackbird as he leaned on his staff. "Well now, don't suppose you all wouldn't mind if I call shotgun?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rogue had gone upstairs and changed into some new clothes (her current ones had been wrinkled). Kitty had finished off Bobby (letting him off with a light smack on the head), and they're rejoined one another in the garage.
Rogue and Kitty had barely pulled out of the driveway in the X-Van (they'd gotten permission from Logan, Rogue was driving) before they saw the strangest sight in their life.
Walking past the front gates was Todd, Wanda, Evan and a little girl, chatting almost... friendly like.
"Did mah eyes just play tricks on me?" asked Rogue.
"If so I think it happened to me too..." replied Kitty. They stopped the car, turned off the engine and slid out of their perspective sides.
"K-Girl! Alright!" shouted Evan, giving Kitty a high-five.
"Evan, what are ya doin' here? I thought ya wanted to stay with the Morlocks," said Rogue quietly.
"I did... I needed some time to think. Still do... but right now Callisto said we needed to let you all know that..."
"You lost your powers too," interrupted Rogue. She glanced at Wanda and whom she could only presume was Toad, though he looked much different from the slimy, green-skinned punk who'd she'd lived with during her brief tenure as a Brotherhood member. "You guys too?"
"Yes," replied Wanda.
"Did you guys get attacked too?" asked Kitty.
"Attacked?" asked Todd.
"Yeah... Scott, Kurt and Amanda were all like ambushed by these swat guys. They tried to kidnap Amanda," replied Kitty.
"You don't say," said Todd, scratching the back of his head. It was obvious he didn't care much. Wanda smacked him on the back of his head.
"Idiot. If they've attacked the X-Men, whoever they are, they could go after the Brotherhood too."
There was silence for about ten seconds.
"Get in!" shouted Rogue, slipping back into the drivers seat and revving the engine, as Kitty, Evan and Todd leapt in.
"Wanda, take care of Stall..." said Evan, giving the dark-haired witch little choice as the child was thrust into her arms and the X-Van's door slammed shut, then headed down the driveway. Wanda grumbled, reluctantly taking the little girls hand and leading her into the mansion. From her past experience she knew the kitchen was down... that corridor, she decided, and made her way to it. The kid looked downright starved, and Wanda knew how it felt to be hungry. Didn't she?
Food was slid underneath the door... no, a picnic, with her loving father... she stuffed the stale bread into her hungry mouth... the biggest lollipop she'd ever seen...
Growling, Wanda stumbled, leaning against the wall for support. Her head hurt. The little girl looked up at her curiously, big blue eyes regarding her from underneath the ugly Yankees baseball cap. She tugged at Wanda's pantleg, just looking at her curiously.
"I'm fine kid," Wanda replied to her unanswered question. "Just need some aspirin..."
Hopefully there was some in the kitchen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Surprisingly, Remy got his wish, sitting down casually in the passenger side next to the pilot, Scott. The other Acolytes were crowded in the aft, and, like Remy, most had exchanged their uniforms for more comfortable garb.
Piotr had, not surprisingly, settled for something simple. A white sleeveless and some gray sweatpants, easy to work in. John was the most ridiculous looking in his Hawaiian t-shirt that was the clashing colors of blue and yellow. A pair of shorts, sandals and his yellow tinted shades completed the look of a college student on Spring Break and, unsurprisingly, he'd brought along that damn zippo lighter and kept flicking it on and off to his own amusement. Victor hadn't bothered to change, but it was clear he wasn't enjoying their little flight, and Remy suspected he knew why. Wolverine. Eric sat in the back next to the Professor, in his own black coat and hat, chatting with the Professor like the old friends they were. Jason was in the back on a stretcher, still recovering from his injuries. Though even Remy doubted that the Professor would buy that 'crates falling on him' garbage that Eric had told them when they'd arrived.
Remy kicked up his feet, leaning back with his arms behind his head, and settled in for the long flight.
"So how's the little beau, anyway?" asked Remy, glancing over at the pilot. Scott Summers, if he recalled correctly. Cyclops. Kid wasn't half bad either, from what Remy'd seen of him in action at the London museum.
"Pardon?" asked Scott, glancing his way.
"What's the little missies name... the red-head with the white stripe," he said with a smirk. Scott frowned a little as he regarded Remy.
"She's fine," he said, then turned back to piloting, trying to end the conversation.
"I know she's fine," replied Remy with a smirk, though he drew out the last word to suggest something other than what Scott had meant. "I meant was she alright? Haven't seen her 'round in a long time."
"She's in perfect health," replied Scott, still facing forward, and suddenly wished he had his visor, but it was in the compartment beneath him. With his eyes uncovered, he wasn't very good at concealing his emotions. And Remy seemed very good at pushing all his wrong buttons.
"Mmm that's good to hear," replied Remy, closing his brown, normal colored eyes and taking a nap. He wanted to be well rested when he got a chance to meet his beautiful chere again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ride to the Brotherhood house was short as Todd, Kitty and Rogue piled out of their vehicle and opened the front door...
... to see Pietro, Lance and Fred playing a friendly game of cards in the living room.
"Call," said Lance, spreading out his cards: a straight flush. Fred and Pietro both cursed and tossed down their cards in disgust and reluctantly let Lance hoard his newly acquired wealth. All three froze, however, upon sighting their guests.
"Oh, uh... hey you guys," stutted Lance, greeting them all, but his eyes were mainly on Kitty.
"What're they doing here?" asked Pietro, zipping around (as fast as he could now) to Lance's side. Fred loomed behind them both, but Kitty and Rogue held up their hands in the universal 'I mean no harm' gesture.
"Cool it guys, they're here to help," stated Todd. "Turns out the X-Geeks don't have their powers either. And worse, they were attacked by these..."
"Waitaminute... no powers?" interrupted Pietro.
"Uh... no," replied Rogue. An instant later the albino speedster stood right in front of her, smiling amiably. Before Rogue could react Pietro had moved in and pressed his lips against hers. She gasped in shock, her body seemed frozen, unable to move, unable to do anything but allow her to enjoy this... her first real, true kiss...
But when Pietro tried to French her, her anger returned in full force and she smacked him aside so hard she wouldn't be surprised if that red mark on his cheek would remain permanent. He went flying through the air, slamming into the wall and collapsing on the ground at her feet.
"Itwasworthit," he croaked from his now prone position on the floor. Rogue glared angrily, wiping her lips as the other members of the Brotherhood and even Kitty took a step back from her. She looked downright enraged her first kiss had been stolen by that arrogant, egotistical flirt. Worse, Kitty had seen it. The girl was practically gossip incarnate.
"Ya'll realize if anyone hears about this, ah'll bury ya so deep they ain't never gonna fahnd ya remains," she growled. They all gulped and nodded, but Rogue knew it wouldn't take long for this to circulate through the Institute.
It was going to be a long weekend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Prototypes ready for testing."
"Perfect, and we have a candidate lined up already. Begin testing."
Authors Notes:
Colossus's civilian garb I modeled after his appearance in the old animated series. Pyro's mostly sprung into my head, but the lighter of course was an idea from X2. The scene at the Brotherhood house was, just a little something for the surprisingly large number of Rietro fans on ff.net. But no, sorry, no more Pietro/Rogue for this story. Seems my schoolwork has lightened a little, so expect some frequent updates in the near future. I'm having so much fun writing this story, and I have not yet begun to fight, er... write!
Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: *enjoys his coke* Mmmmmm... Oh fret not, all cliffhangers will be wrapped up in time. I'm just trying to prolong interest in the story. Still, you of all people would be excited about upcoming developments.
Todd Fan: *enjoys another* Of course I remember Jason. Jason's so tragic, even if he is a villain. So ugly he cloaks himself in illusion, just like... well... a lot of people do metaphorically. I think that's what I love most about X-Men characters. They're 3-D, with backgrounds. They're not just 'oh I'm evil I think I'll just destroy everything 'cause I'm mean.'
Caliente: Does that *points to the last three paragraphs or so* answer your question? Actually I won't involve the kiss from Dark Horizons because my story takes place between that and X23. I'm trying to keep everything within the plot of the X-Men Evolution episodes. And of course Gambit likes Rogue, it was blatantly obvious the first time they met.
Gyuumajo: You just enjoy then. Plenty more of him to come.
Rain: Magneto's always been that way. Plus I'm gradually pushing him towards the arrogance a little more, since he'd have to be supremely arrogant to go after Apocalypse alone (Impact). I mean, what was he thinking? Serves him right he got destroyed.
*B: Glad you like it, that means a lot. Don't worry, plenty of the big fellow, though forgive me if I can't get him portrayed rightly, I don't honestly know that much about him.
Xrex: I'll look into your story, but sorry, already have two original characters in it myself and that's my limit. Still, enjoy.
Rogue14: Yes ma'am, right away!
Snitter in Rivensdell: The phone gave out because of unrelated outside interference. Basically I just needed to have a reason for Pietro to be cut off from his daddy so he'd panic, and leadership in the Brotherhood could return to where it properly belonged, with Lance. Or am I the only one who thinks that?
Unknown Source: Lots of pairings, actually. The next couple of chapters will be filled with fluff and romance, so get out your vomit bags and be prepared to gouge out your eyes if necessary. Just a few more chapters, the action will commence, and you should be fine. Yes a Rogue/Remy is in the making, the other couple listings I gave a while back, but mostly I'm keeping in touch with the Evo episodes.
HathorCol: Oh alright, since all of you are bursting to know I will stop with hints and give one fact. The villains are not mutants, but humans. And, as most have noticed in the dialogue, there is more than one. One of you reviewers has figured out the identity of one such individual. That is all I will say.
Glaivester: I've added a few creative spins to the anti-mutant effects taking place worldwide so that the physical mutants now aren't. Seems more interesting to me this way. Though thank you for clarifying for me how the device from the Savage Land worked, I was unaware of that.