Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I making any money from, the X-Men
characters. Thank you to Corrinth for the loan of Ilehana Xavier. Blaze is,
always has been, and forever will be mine, so there!
A/N: Don't forget to review!
Scene 12
"This is the shooter from the hotel last night." Xavier showed Blaze the first picture, that of the telepath he had tracked only to find him waiting for him. "Do you recognise him at all?"
"No." Blaze shook her head. "But I'll be sure to next time I see him." Xavier smiled as two tiny fireballs danced angrily in the air for a moment, before disappearing.
"Very well, how about these men?" He showed her the four faces he had gathered from the memories of Havoc and Boom-Boom. There was nothing remarkable about any of the first three, though probably mutants they could pass unimpeded amongst normal humans and not even be noticed. Blaze looked carefully at them, committing their faces to her photographic memory before admitting she didn't know them.
"But this one I do know." Blaze pointed to the last face, a rodent-like man with greying brown hair and overgrown teeth. "His name's Shrew, he deals in stolen goods, info, anything he gets told to do. He's never stood up to anyone in his life as far as I know. If he's dealing ace, it will be because he can smell out mutants, but someone else will be paying him to do it."
"Smelling out mutants?" Xavier passed the image telepathically to his X-Men team leader. "Cyclops says this is the man that spoke to him at the airport too. Hum..."
"Want me to go to Bobby's campus and check it out? I know Shrew, so long as I can find him I can get him to talk." Blaze offered, eager to vent some of her pent up emotions before she did some damage around the mansion.
"Yes please," Xavier confirmed. "Bobby is to be released later today, and I'm sure he will have a few choice words for our ace dealer as well. Go to the hospital first and relieve Storm. If Bobby feels up to it, he and his friends may be useful in tracking Shrew down."
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"You know the name of the main dealer now, Charles?" Magneto's voice was calm on the other end of the phone. Xavier knew it only hid a tumultuous stream of thoughts.
"Yes, a mutant named Shrew. I have already sent Blaze to deal with him. With any luck, we will soon be rid of this chemical."
"And you didn't see fit to consult with me first, Charles? I have one particular associate who will be able to get there much faster than your Blaze..."
"I'm sorry if I've hurt your feelings, Eric, but after Mystique's outbreak last night I felt it wise to keep this within the X-Men." There was no humour in Xavier's tone, unlike that in Magneto's voice as he replied.
"Ah yes, I am proud of her you know Charles. No matter how many mutants are thinking the same thing, that now is the time to make our stand, it is always a brave thing to be the first to say it in public."
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Across the country fury rose both for and against Senator Kelly's outbreak. All the news channels concentrated on violence from mutants and humans. In the hospital, Storm flicked channels on Bobby's TV, unable to settle to anything. Wasn't this the very reason why the X-Men had been formed, to stop all this before it got out of hand?
"I'm sure the Prof's doin' all he can." Bobby Drake's voice cut across her angst. "And its not like any of this is organised yet, so who are the X-Men supposed to fight?"
"Hey Iceman, Storm." A road-weary voice from by the door was Blaze's. "Everything okay?"
"As well as could be expected, with all of this happening." Storm couldn't shake all that worried her.
"Then you'll be glad to know the Professor is planning for some action soon. You're wanted back at the mansion, Ororo." Blaze threw her car key across the room to the white-hared mutant. "Scratch the paintwork on the Aston and the scientific world will be hailing indisputable proof of spontaneous human combustion." Blaze sat down heavily on the edge of Bobby's bed, accepting Storm's sly smile with a sigh. "Oh and fill her up for me too?"
"Absolutely. Rest up, both of you, and stay out of trouble? I'm not sure which one of you looks worse right now..." With a whirl the weather-witch left the room, and Bobby put a hand on Blaze's shoulder.
"Long day?" Was all he asked, but she only nodded in reply and shrugged off his cold hand.
"The longest. You ready to quit this place yet? Hospitals only make me nervous."
"Hey, you haven't been on campus yet, hospital's been a breeze in comparison." Bobby stood up slowly, working the crick out of his neck. His voice was subdued, his hurt obvious as he asked, "Did you hear about Rogue?"
"Yes." Blaze responded, not meeting Iceman's eyes. They'd been her first friends at the school, Bobby and Rogue, though now she wouldn't want to single any of the X-Men out as being more dear to her then the others. The breakdown of their relationship had been very hard on Bobby, but now that Rogue even turned away from him as a friend when she needed one was visibly almost too much for him to bear. "She'll be alright though, Bobby. I know she will." Pausing for a moment she repaid the gesture of support he had shown her earlier, standing besides him and placing a warm hand on his shoulder. "Lets go see those troublesome friends of yours."
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"'Course we'll help you track these losers down! I can't believe you even had to ask!" Tabitha was excitable, Blaze decided. She really didn't need to be babysitting an excitable teen today; especially not one even giddier than Jubilee was capable of. At least Havoc was taking this fairly serious, staring up at Iceman and Blaze in their matching uniforms with X-insignia so predominant.
"You'll do as you are told?" Blaze demanded, "No heroics? And if things get bad you'll let Bobby and I do our jobs? You will get out of the way if it breaks out in violence?"
"Absolutely." Tabitha answered for both of them, backed up by Havoc's nod. "When we getting going?"
"About now works for me," Bobby replied, feeling worse than he'd let on. Rushed into hospital by his fellow students three days ago, now out again and off to save the world. Guess there was no time off for the wicked. Still he'd probably had longer in bed than Ilehana would have let him get away with back at the mansion.
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"No, really Scott. I have had a good time, even if it has been a flying visit, and I've hardly seen you..." Tsunami swung on Cyclops' arm as he walked her down the airport concourse. The couple exchanged smiles nervously; goodbyes were always hard.
"Hey you!" A man's voice shouted from one of the shop entrances. "Mutants!" Scott pivoted on the spot, glaring at the man who shouted at them. But it wasn't Shrew who approached them, but a large muscular man dressed in military get-up that Cyclops vaguely recognised. Almost as soon as Cyclops turned to face the first man, more strangers gathered from every side, men in military clothes and civilians all wearing hate branded across their faces. "Mutant scum!" They cried to each other, surrounding Scott as he tried to protect Tsunami by hiding her behind him.
"What do you want?" Cyclops called out, wishing he were wearing his visor rather than his civilian shades.
"Ha!" A man spat in Cyclops' face. "The Friends of Humanity want you mutants to crawl back were you came from!"
"Hey, calm down, how do you know we're even mutants?" Scott held up his hands in an appeasing gesture, noting that those dressed in civilian get-up seemed slightly unsure now.
"The FoH knows everythin' about you X-scum, Cyclops! An' your little woman there! Get 'em boys!" And with that they attacked, hitting, punching, close body kicks that wouldn't let Scott lift his sunglasses and let off a laser blast. Tsunami screamed; dragged away by her hair from where Scott was valiantly fighting to protect her. Finally Scott managed to blast some of his attackers, but it only infuriated the others even more. Someone clobbered the back of Scott's head with a baseball bat, knocking him to the floor. Sun screamed again, terrified for her life as a man pulled out a twelve-inch blade from his coat sleeve. She didn't scream as the blade cut into her, instead gasping as blood poured down her chest, her lung punctured.
"NO!" Cyclops cried out, dragging himself along the floor under the feet of their aggressors as the hate-filled humans began to panic and run. Scott barely reached Tsunami, barely put a finger to her hand before a FoH minion tried to finish the job with another fine-tuned blow to Scott's head. Everything went dark.
A/N: Don't forget to review!
Scene 12
"This is the shooter from the hotel last night." Xavier showed Blaze the first picture, that of the telepath he had tracked only to find him waiting for him. "Do you recognise him at all?"
"No." Blaze shook her head. "But I'll be sure to next time I see him." Xavier smiled as two tiny fireballs danced angrily in the air for a moment, before disappearing.
"Very well, how about these men?" He showed her the four faces he had gathered from the memories of Havoc and Boom-Boom. There was nothing remarkable about any of the first three, though probably mutants they could pass unimpeded amongst normal humans and not even be noticed. Blaze looked carefully at them, committing their faces to her photographic memory before admitting she didn't know them.
"But this one I do know." Blaze pointed to the last face, a rodent-like man with greying brown hair and overgrown teeth. "His name's Shrew, he deals in stolen goods, info, anything he gets told to do. He's never stood up to anyone in his life as far as I know. If he's dealing ace, it will be because he can smell out mutants, but someone else will be paying him to do it."
"Smelling out mutants?" Xavier passed the image telepathically to his X-Men team leader. "Cyclops says this is the man that spoke to him at the airport too. Hum..."
"Want me to go to Bobby's campus and check it out? I know Shrew, so long as I can find him I can get him to talk." Blaze offered, eager to vent some of her pent up emotions before she did some damage around the mansion.
"Yes please," Xavier confirmed. "Bobby is to be released later today, and I'm sure he will have a few choice words for our ace dealer as well. Go to the hospital first and relieve Storm. If Bobby feels up to it, he and his friends may be useful in tracking Shrew down."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"You know the name of the main dealer now, Charles?" Magneto's voice was calm on the other end of the phone. Xavier knew it only hid a tumultuous stream of thoughts.
"Yes, a mutant named Shrew. I have already sent Blaze to deal with him. With any luck, we will soon be rid of this chemical."
"And you didn't see fit to consult with me first, Charles? I have one particular associate who will be able to get there much faster than your Blaze..."
"I'm sorry if I've hurt your feelings, Eric, but after Mystique's outbreak last night I felt it wise to keep this within the X-Men." There was no humour in Xavier's tone, unlike that in Magneto's voice as he replied.
"Ah yes, I am proud of her you know Charles. No matter how many mutants are thinking the same thing, that now is the time to make our stand, it is always a brave thing to be the first to say it in public."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Across the country fury rose both for and against Senator Kelly's outbreak. All the news channels concentrated on violence from mutants and humans. In the hospital, Storm flicked channels on Bobby's TV, unable to settle to anything. Wasn't this the very reason why the X-Men had been formed, to stop all this before it got out of hand?
"I'm sure the Prof's doin' all he can." Bobby Drake's voice cut across her angst. "And its not like any of this is organised yet, so who are the X-Men supposed to fight?"
"Hey Iceman, Storm." A road-weary voice from by the door was Blaze's. "Everything okay?"
"As well as could be expected, with all of this happening." Storm couldn't shake all that worried her.
"Then you'll be glad to know the Professor is planning for some action soon. You're wanted back at the mansion, Ororo." Blaze threw her car key across the room to the white-hared mutant. "Scratch the paintwork on the Aston and the scientific world will be hailing indisputable proof of spontaneous human combustion." Blaze sat down heavily on the edge of Bobby's bed, accepting Storm's sly smile with a sigh. "Oh and fill her up for me too?"
"Absolutely. Rest up, both of you, and stay out of trouble? I'm not sure which one of you looks worse right now..." With a whirl the weather-witch left the room, and Bobby put a hand on Blaze's shoulder.
"Long day?" Was all he asked, but she only nodded in reply and shrugged off his cold hand.
"The longest. You ready to quit this place yet? Hospitals only make me nervous."
"Hey, you haven't been on campus yet, hospital's been a breeze in comparison." Bobby stood up slowly, working the crick out of his neck. His voice was subdued, his hurt obvious as he asked, "Did you hear about Rogue?"
"Yes." Blaze responded, not meeting Iceman's eyes. They'd been her first friends at the school, Bobby and Rogue, though now she wouldn't want to single any of the X-Men out as being more dear to her then the others. The breakdown of their relationship had been very hard on Bobby, but now that Rogue even turned away from him as a friend when she needed one was visibly almost too much for him to bear. "She'll be alright though, Bobby. I know she will." Pausing for a moment she repaid the gesture of support he had shown her earlier, standing besides him and placing a warm hand on his shoulder. "Lets go see those troublesome friends of yours."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"'Course we'll help you track these losers down! I can't believe you even had to ask!" Tabitha was excitable, Blaze decided. She really didn't need to be babysitting an excitable teen today; especially not one even giddier than Jubilee was capable of. At least Havoc was taking this fairly serious, staring up at Iceman and Blaze in their matching uniforms with X-insignia so predominant.
"You'll do as you are told?" Blaze demanded, "No heroics? And if things get bad you'll let Bobby and I do our jobs? You will get out of the way if it breaks out in violence?"
"Absolutely." Tabitha answered for both of them, backed up by Havoc's nod. "When we getting going?"
"About now works for me," Bobby replied, feeling worse than he'd let on. Rushed into hospital by his fellow students three days ago, now out again and off to save the world. Guess there was no time off for the wicked. Still he'd probably had longer in bed than Ilehana would have let him get away with back at the mansion.
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"No, really Scott. I have had a good time, even if it has been a flying visit, and I've hardly seen you..." Tsunami swung on Cyclops' arm as he walked her down the airport concourse. The couple exchanged smiles nervously; goodbyes were always hard.
"Hey you!" A man's voice shouted from one of the shop entrances. "Mutants!" Scott pivoted on the spot, glaring at the man who shouted at them. But it wasn't Shrew who approached them, but a large muscular man dressed in military get-up that Cyclops vaguely recognised. Almost as soon as Cyclops turned to face the first man, more strangers gathered from every side, men in military clothes and civilians all wearing hate branded across their faces. "Mutant scum!" They cried to each other, surrounding Scott as he tried to protect Tsunami by hiding her behind him.
"What do you want?" Cyclops called out, wishing he were wearing his visor rather than his civilian shades.
"Ha!" A man spat in Cyclops' face. "The Friends of Humanity want you mutants to crawl back were you came from!"
"Hey, calm down, how do you know we're even mutants?" Scott held up his hands in an appeasing gesture, noting that those dressed in civilian get-up seemed slightly unsure now.
"The FoH knows everythin' about you X-scum, Cyclops! An' your little woman there! Get 'em boys!" And with that they attacked, hitting, punching, close body kicks that wouldn't let Scott lift his sunglasses and let off a laser blast. Tsunami screamed; dragged away by her hair from where Scott was valiantly fighting to protect her. Finally Scott managed to blast some of his attackers, but it only infuriated the others even more. Someone clobbered the back of Scott's head with a baseball bat, knocking him to the floor. Sun screamed again, terrified for her life as a man pulled out a twelve-inch blade from his coat sleeve. She didn't scream as the blade cut into her, instead gasping as blood poured down her chest, her lung punctured.
"NO!" Cyclops cried out, dragging himself along the floor under the feet of their aggressors as the hate-filled humans began to panic and run. Scott barely reached Tsunami, barely put a finger to her hand before a FoH minion tried to finish the job with another fine-tuned blow to Scott's head. Everything went dark.