"Evening, Storm," he said as he slinked into the light.
"Sabertooth," she gasped, recognizing him by his dirty blonde mane and brown trench coat. Gone were his claws and fangs, and his hair, once wild and untamed as the animal he was named after, now seem almost calm, smoother, and slightly shorter. Gone were his thick sideburns, as well as the hair on the back of his hands. Still, she could see the animal within him in those dark, haunted eyes of his. "What brings you here?"
"You," he replied, his intentions blatantly obvious as he stalked towards her. Ororo took a step back, fearful. True, he was no longer a mutant any more than she, but he towered a good foot over her, and not all of his strength was dependent on his mutation. He still looked capable of ripping her in half should he chose to. "Been rather long, since I had a woman..."
"I do not have the time for this," she replied, glancing around at the exits, then starting towards the door that would lead out onto the porch. Sabertooth grabbed her arm, restraining Ororo as he leered down at her.
"Scream for me," he said as he leaned in to kiss her.
By Storm was no child to be frightened, no little girl to quake in fear without someone to watch over her. Ororo reacted purely by instinct, her knee shooting up and into Sabertooth's sensitive regions, 'causing him to double over in agony and growl in pain. He clutched at his injury self, watching as Ororo shook off his hand and made her way to the door, opening it.
"For your sake, I will forget you ever tried that," she stated quietly, amazed how confident she sounded. She'd been perhaps a little more frightened than she cared to admit. "Good night, Sabertooth," she said, slamming the door in his face and leaving him to recover as she headed towards the gazebo to have some private time to herself.
She shivered, but it wasn't because of the cool night air.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Victor growled, low and painful, as he managed to stand upright again, though his wound still ached. Fortunately, the nubian princess hadn't hurt him overly much, she'd seem more intent on distracting him than giving him a wound. He growled again, low and dangerously. No one refused him, he thought with a wicked grin.
Suddenly his grin dropped, and was replaced immediately by a scowl.
"And just what do you want, runt?" he growled, turning around, none too surprised to see Logan standing there. He was surprised to see the runt trembling though. Rage. Over the girl? Huh, he must've claimed her already. Strangely enough, he also noticed a few extra gray hairs in Logan's dark locks that he hadn't seen before. The effects of living a hundred years without a healing factor must be starting to catch up to him.
"You listen and you listen good bub," said Logan, making his way over to Victor until they stood nose to nose (or at least as close as their different heights would allow). "No one, and I mean no one, takes advantage of 'Ro while I'm around, got it?"
"Yeah, whatcha gonna do? Call 911?" he asked. Then, without warning Victor swung a fist, aiming for the runts head. To his surprise, Logan caught it, and held on... hard.
"Seems you forgot somethin' bub," as he tightened his grip, crushing Victor's fist in his hand. "You buddy, that ghoul in the black coat, made me undergo a procedure..."
Victor growled, grabbing Wolverine's arm, but he couldn't pry him off, his grip was like iron.
"Laced my entire skeleton with an unbreakable... unbendable... metal... called adamantium," he explained, punctuating each word with a powerful twist of his hand, making Victory sink to his knees. He refused to cry out in pain though.
"Now, for you own good Creed... back... off!" he stated, still in the same quiet tones, as he pushed Victor flat onto his back and stalked off.
Sabertooth growled, rubbing his injured hand.
"You'll pay for that someday, runt," he growled. "You're gonna wish you finished me off when you had the chance."
Logan heard him, and was starting to wish he had. Growling, he clenched his fist, his stomach twisting. He knew he was dying. It wasn't just because he was starting to age, but it was the adamantium. In his body, it was slowly poisoning him. Unless his healing factor was restored, or unless it could be removed (he doubted that was possible without killing him now) he was going to die a very slow, very painful death.
He stepped into bed, and somehow, despite the pain, fell asleep. Back in the Canadian wilderness, almost fifteen years ago, he'd learned how to deal with the pain.
Now he had to learn all over again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Things became peaceful at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters as everyone drifted off to sleep after their first full day of living without their powers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, almost everyone.
"Stall... wake up... Stall..."
Stall opened her eyes, looking up at the visage of her spikeless big brother, staring down at her. He was already dressed, his skateboard under his arm.
"We have to leave now... be quiet..." he said quietly, helping her to her feet and out of the sleeping bag (she was still dressed). He slid open the window quietly, unfurling his sheet and sliding it out the window to the ground, one end still tied to the foot of his bed. "Me first, I'm heaviest... keep an eye on this, alright Stall?"
She nodded.
He tossed down his skateboard and slid out the window with little problem and hit the ground outside the mansion, holding his hands up.
"Alright you next," he whisper-shouted up at her. "If you slip at least I can catch you."
She slid down the makeshift rope as he caught her and helped her, giving the sheets a final tug and bringing it down. Might as well bring the damn thing with him, thought Evan, as he slipped it around his back and tied his skateboard to his back, taking Stall's hand as the two of them made their way towards the gate, opening them with Evan's password, and then closing them once they were on the other side, making their way back to the Morlock tunnels.
Only two people saw them leave.
One was Ororo, from the gazebo. She easily guessed who they were, because she'd seen Evan leave before in a similar manner, and she cried softly as she realized she couldn't go after them. She hadn't the strength. She'd failed Evan as a guardian, and an aunt. And she'd failed Vi as a sister by promising to protect her son. She spent the night there, in the gazebo, cold and alone. It was better than she deserved.
The other was Jamie, from his upstairs window. He'd never known Evan terribly well, the two just didn't get along well. But in the brief time he'd known Stall, she'd seemed so nice. So naive, so sweet... so cute. Alright, he admitted to himself, she was cute. The first girl he'd ever thought so. Rahne and Jubilee had been pretty, in their own ways, but Stall was just so innocent. After dinner, when he'd brought her an ice cream cone for desert, her blue eyes had lit up like a Christmas tree.
Jamie sighed. He was going to miss her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eric lay awake, staring up at the ceiling.
His entire room was a prison. Like it had once been, he was at the mercy of other men. True, his old friend Charles was nothing like the Nazi's who'd invaded Poland, but Eric had sworn never to let that happen again.
That very day when he'd been rescued, by Logan and Captain America, he'd sworn never to be at the mercy of any man, ever again. To be the master of his own destiny, for good or ill, and to die on his own terms.
And not it was falling apart.
Normally sleeping in a room covered in all sides by metal would be reassuring. A room that would do his whim. Now, it frightened him, and he trembled like a child in the darkness.
Eric growled, his stomach tensed with pain as he clutched his sides. This was not the pain of fear. This was not the pain of bad cooking.
This was the pain of rebirth.
Without his X-gene, he was no more than a normal human. And cellular breakdown had begun. Like Captain America, he was dying. He had, a most, a few months left. Even if his status as a mutant could be restored, the damage might not. Already his cells were rejecting themselves, starting to rebel against his very system.
Magneto was going to die.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Couldn't sleep either, I see," said Scott, as he sat down across from Jean, absent-mindedly pouring himself some milk. Jean smiled at him over the table, still in her nightgown. Scott was in his pajamas.
"No... it was... too quiet," she said with a shiver. Too quiet in her own mind as well as out, every shadow seem alive and sinister to the pretty young redhead. She could almost swear she could hear dark laughter, mocking her. Mocking them all.
"Yeah I know," he replied, slipping off his sleeping glasses and placing them on the table in front of him as he absent-mindedly munched on a cookie. "Plus I'm starting to get worried about Alex... every time I call his house I keep getting a busy signal."
"Scott I'm scared..." she said suddenly, grabbing his hand, and instantly she felt a little relief as Scott's concern and loving emotions washed over her. By some strange quirk, the link forged by her ordeal remained, even though the psionic powers that had forged it had gone. She could still, very faintly, sense Scott, and vise versa. It gave her some reassurance. "I can't help but feel something... really bad is going to happen."
"Hey relax," he said, giving a reassuring squeeze. "The Professor and Hank are doing the best they can to fix this... and meanwhile we're perfectly safe here in the Institute..."
"I know, its just..." she choked on her words, tears welling up in her big, pretty green eyes. Scott smiled reassuringly.
"I'll protect you, Jean. I promise."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Piotr collapsed onto his newly acquired bed, his body aching from the Danger Room training. Still, it had been rather interesting spending most of his time dodging lasers and the odd grappler tentacle. Afterwards he'd meant to offer his thanks to the little pony tailed girl, but she'd ran off before he'd had the chance. Pity that, she certainly seemed nice. Definitely nicer than anyone who worked for Magneto, save maybe Remy.
His thoughts turning to Magneto, his eyes closed and he scowled as he started to drift off to sleep.
"I will find you, Ilyana, sooner or later... until then I will have to endure this. Stay safe, wherever you are."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"No Kurt, I really should get to bed... its late..." Amanda said with a smile. She and Kurt lay wrapped in each others arms on his bed, engaged in the make-out session to end all make-out sessions. Both were still fully clothed, content to simply lie in one another's arms. They had no desire to move their relationship at any faster a pace, which is why they stayed in the safe comfort of hugs and kisses.
"Come on Amanda, just five more minutes..." he murmured softly into her ear, breathing softly on it. She giggled softly, since it was a sensitive spot on her. He'd found it a few weeks shortly after the Sadie Hawkin's Dance, when they'd shared their first date. And first kiss.
"You said that fifteen minutes ago," she said, tapping his nose playfully. "Now come on Kurt its late... and its not like we don't have the whole weekend to ourselves tomorrow..."
"Ja, I suppose you're right liebchen," he said with a sigh, sitting up and adjusting his red t-shirt. His tan overshirt had been discarded earlier, and he made no move to reclaim it as he escorted Amanda to the door and gave her a final kiss good-night.
"Come wake me up in the morning?" she asked, smiling at him coyly.
"Seven am," he replied.
"Make it six," she replied, as she walked down the hall to her own room and he shut the door.
Kurt lay down on his bed and tried to fall asleep, but it was impossible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One by one, they all fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Everything will be ready by morning. I've installed the remaining modifications into Model B, as requested."
"Good work. Has there been any word on the subjects I desired?"
"Both are at the mansion, with the others."
"Excellent. I am
pleased with your work, you've done a most excellent job so far, for a wanted
criminal."
"Shut your mouth. Don't pretend I
don't know about your experiments either.
Technically that makes you a fugitive as well."
"I have been convicted of no crime."
"Only because they haven't come to light yet."
"Nor would yours, if not for your incompetence."
"Rrrrrr... enough. We should proceed."
"I agree."
Authors Notes:
I am a big fan of all incarnations of the X-Men, even if I happen to like Evolution the most. The Sabertooth 'attacking' Ororo scene above was mostly inspired by the first movie, of course. Jean and Scott's little interaction was inspired by Julia345's 'Milk and Cookies' story, who is a brilliant fan fiction writer. Since their 'link' was mostly created out of love, it remains despite the loss of Jean's telepathy.
Todd Fan: Ominosity huh? Works for me. Well in that case you two'll have to catfight over me.
Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: I know, irritated the heck out of me too. But the Evolution show has made me like characters I never thought I would've. Jean, Gambit, Cyclops. Heck the only guy I don't like (and I don't outright hate him) is Spyke. And even he improved after they sent him down to the Morlocks. Psylocke should be appearing shortly, but I confess I don't know much about her, can you fill me in?
Glaivster: Didn't think about that... soooo... shifted into another dimension! I dunno. But you can't tell me he can be -that- fat just because he eats too much. At least part of its due to mutation, I think. As for Project Rebirth, we only saw it enhance normal human characteristics (strength, endurance, agility, etc.) nothing a normal person with tons of training couldn't do (at least I think. I don't know Captain America very well) so those effects remain in place for good ol' Magneto, though now he is of course dying.
Faith Darkholme: Curse you woman and your feminine wiles! Of course Angel is coming, not for a while, but I'll toss in a quick scene with him in a few chapters. As for Bastion, is he that super-sentinel from the future? The one that can shapeshift and repair itself from damage? The one who looks all big and bulky and... pinkish...?
Rogue14: You will soon see. Tomorrow... it begins.
Gyuumajo: 'course he'd apologize. You don't think he was trying to kill her, do ya?
Unknown Source: The evil Sentinel/Area 51 people monitoring mutants? And what pray tell makes you think they're not responsible for it? But yes all the human organizations: SHIELD, Hydra, the Sentinel makers, they're all aware of this. Heck even that Weapon X ghoul is ('cause we all know he survived). They will be included soon enough. But since most of the mutants (in Evo at least) have gone into hiding at the Institute, and they try not to use their powers anyway (since nobody likes them) how would anyone figure it out?
Tailfeather: I was under the impression Professor X's disability was because of an accident (caused by either Magneto or Juggernaut) not his super-powerful mind. Besides, he'd look silly walking. As such, he stays in the chair.
Emerald Lightning Goddess: Awwww, well don't get too attached now... at least not two of those little stuffies. Oh and you're a Spider-Man fan? You'll enjoy chapter XVI then.
Ilyana Rasputin: 'fraid it isn't, but seems everyone has that guess. More of your big brother Piotr to come, as he's one of my favorite Evo characters. Heck I might even have you show up later. I'll check out your story, but I'm no Pietro fan, believe you me.