Chapter Seventeen: Ways of Dealing
The characters in this fic, by and large, do not belong to me. The X-Men, and related characters, are the property of Marvel Comics. GI Joe, and related characters, belong to Hasbro. The Delgado children (Althea, Brittany, Daria, Quinn, and Claudius), Xi, Sgt Snuffles, and the Eloi belong to Red Witch. Reader, however, does belong to me.
RogueFanKC: Yup, I loved the future scene, too. And as for the eavesdropping- what did you expect? The Lance-Kitty-Peter show has been a great source of entertainment to that bunch. You're dead on with the blackmailing- I don't care how serious the problem is- I would never discuss it in that house unless I absolutely had to! As for the asskicking- it is almost upon us!
Cammy: It's okay- you sounded busy last week! I was pretty busy, too- and still am. As for the sequel, if any… yes, eventually, but maybe not right away. I have a number of possible places to go, and I haven't decided where yet.
L1701E: I'm glad you liked it. I thought I verged on sappy at times. Yeah, Peter does have class- and I believe that if the positions were reversed, Lance would have done the same thing. Re. Sam- good idea for a crossover, but I'm afraid he isn't that kind of an immortal. Although, the confusion might be a good way to set up a crossover… hmm…
Red Witch: Yup- that place has more spies than SHIELD! (Better spies, too- but please don't tell Fury I said that!)
Sparky Genocide: Hey! Glad you like it! Nope, I don't think that the triangle will be busted up in Red Witch's or L1701E's fics either, and I'm glad. It's just so damn amusing- I wasn't even going to do it, but it seemed so natural given what had happened, and then there was the… No! Mustn't spoil! No, Magneto won't be happy when he finds out what Sabretooth has done, but that will be addressed in time. Besides, nothing Magneto could top what's going to happen to him in about two chapters, and saying more would be spoiling, so I'll shut up now.
Like sands through an hourglass, like water through a river, it is the nature of time to pass.
The X-Men and New Mutants had to go to school the next morning, so they did. They were still tired, but except for Kurt- who wasn't up to it yet- they went. Compared to the weekend, the first week of the last semester were very boring.
The Misfits were given a new duty: caring for the wounded until the X-Men and co. were able to do it. That meant during the days. Pietro and Wanda spent extra time at the Institute, becoming reacquainted with Gabrielle. Wanda kept her word- she didn't tell anyone, not even Pietro, what Gabrielle told her.
Not everything was calm, though.
Late one night, Althea entered the kitchen to find Fred already there, sitting at the table. He had one of his 'Blob Deluxes' in front of him, but he wasn't eating.
"Bad dream?" she asked him. The question was rhetorical- what happened last weekend was enough to give them all nightmares, but Fred had a special cause to worry.
"Hunh," he grunted. Althea sat down beside him.
"Wanna talk about it?" she asked. He just shook his head.
"You sure?" she asked. Fred nodded. Althea shrugged.
"Okay. But I'm here if you wanna talk." Althea got herself a couple cookies and a glass of milk and went for the door.
"I was covered in blood," Fred said quietly. Althea stopped. Silently, she turned around, and sat opposite him.
"I was in Hawk's office, and I was covered in blood. He was yelling at me. 'Remember what I told you?' He kept shouting it. He pressed a button, and the floor opened up underneath me. I fell for a long time, and I was screaming for him to forgive me. I landed on an operating table, and some straps came out of the sides and I couldn't move. The table changes position, and I'm facing a door. Mystique and Dr. Mindbender come out of it, and Magneto and Cobra Commander are standing behind them. They're all smiling, and Mindbender picks up a scalpel and says, 'I wonder what killer blobs are made of?' Mystique says 'We're about to find out,' and then they all go to the walls, and Blockbuster comes out. He's all bloody and broken, like he was after I killed him. He smiled at me, and came right up to me. He lifted his hand like he was gonna hit me. Then he swung. I woke up just as his fist was about to hit my nose."
Althea just stared. Oh, Fred.
"I know what it means," Fred went on. "It means I'm afraid that Hawk's gonna kick me out for killing Blockbuster, and that Magneto or Cobra or somebody's gonna find me, and use me as an experiment. I know it's crazy, but I… why do I feel like I deserve it?" Tears started rolling down his face. Althea didn't know what to say, so she just hugged him. That's when he broke down. Althea could hear the door close, and footsteps move away.
The next day, after the Misfits returned to the Pit, they found Hawk waiting for them. Hawk took Fred aside.
"Spirit told me what you said to Althea last night. You are not leaving," Hawk told him, firmly. "You shouldn't have had to do it-"
"That's what everyone keeps saying," Fred said softly, hanging his head. Hawk put a hand under Fred's chin, lifted it, and looked Fred straight in the eye.
"They're right. As I was saying, you shouldn't have had to do it, but when I was talking about punishing you for killing people, I did not mean situations like this. You're stuck with us, Fred Dukes. God help us all." Hawk smiled. Fred looked away, and then crushed Hawk in a bear hug. Fred quickly remembered his strength, and released him.
"Medic," Hawk whimpered as he fell to the floor.
***
Fred wasn't the only one to have nightmares. Many of the kids had nightmares about what had happened. One of them had nightmares about something else.
Elisabeth was lying on a table. On the table next to her was an oriental woman, in her mid twenties, who was apparently unconscious. Elisabeth felt light hit her face. She looked up, and saw a figure in white approaching her from an open door. The light obscured the face and features of the woman, but somehow it looked familiar. The figure touched Elisabeth's forehead, and then the other woman's forehead. Suddenly, Elisabeth was screaming. Her mind was being flooded by images of a life not her own, and she heard a voice that was not her own screaming in pain. Elisabeth felt terrible. She suddenly didn't know who she was, or what she was, and she saw herself dressed in a ninja suit killing people. She saw the other woman dressed up as her, fencing with her brothers, or having tea with her family. The images, of her life and of not-her life jumbled, so that she was having tea with her mother in a ninja suit and jumping up to behead a man for bringing her tea that was too cold. The images blended and blurred until they became incoherent, and then Elisabeth heard laughter, terrible, mocking laughter. "You shall never oppose me in the Circle, child," a third voice laughed, louder and louder and louder, and even the incoherent colours faded to black, and Elisabeth felt herself falling, until she woke up gasping.
"What in God's name is wrong with you girl?" she asked herself. "You should be having new nightmares about the Marauders, not revisiting an old nightmare."
***
Not that anyone knew it, but they had nothing to worry about from the Marauders for the moment, but that was about to change.
"Here comes Hurricane Polaris," Scrambler muttered to Vertigo. Polaris stormed by in a huff. Vertigo sniffed, and Polaris shot her an evil look. Vertigo shot Polaris a challenging look. Polaris growled, and stalked off. Scrambler and Vertigo started to snicker. They still remembered Polaris' outburst when the master told them that the hunt was over.
"Why can't
we finish them off?" Polaris screamed. "You said it yourself- the old woman
said that we failed, and we're sure she's telling the truth!"
"We cannot mount an offensive
because we are underpowered," Essex growled. "We will
not attack the enemy on their own ground when we are at less than full
strength. That is final!"
Polaris had yet to stop raging. It got so bad that Essex had to call her for a private meeting.
"Malice," Essex said, touching the picture on Polaris' choker. Polaris' face went blank, and Malice's enraged face appeared in the mirror.
"You promised me revenge!" she screamed.
"I remember that," he said, allowing his voice to fill with cold rage. "And you will avenge yourself against Xavier, Haller, and all the others, but I cannot afford to allow it now. You must be patient."
"I have waited for too long!" she shouted.
"You will wait longer. I tire of this- Polaris takes her cue from your emotions. You will curtail the amount of rage you are feeding her."
"I will
not!"
"You misunderstand. That was an order, not a request." Essex leaned into the mirror. "Do not believe that you are invulnerable. Your loyalty and patience have been remarkable, which is why I have tolerated Polaris' behaviour. I grant such to so very few, but my patience for your childishness is at an end. Persist in it, and I shall be forced to correct you, Malice."
Malice followed orders, but she still seethed. She had waited too long to allow Sinister to take her vengeance away when it was in her grasp. As she walked through the secret base, Polaris' feet took her to the Cloaking Shield. The Shield protected the hideout from detection. As Polaris checked it and realigned it, Malice smirked. She knew what she could do. She took brief control of Lorna, and deliberately misaligned a critical piece. It was slight- very slight- and it wouldn't affect the Shield right away. But by the time a few days had passed, the Shield would begin to fail. The best part was that when it was discovered, it would be interpreted as an honest mistake, which could happen to anybody. Polaris would take the punishment, if one was given. Malice would be safe- Essex would certainly suspect, but he couldn't prove anything, and that one never acted without proof.
Soon, now, very soon…
***
"Hey," Amanda smiled as she entered the Danger Room. Kurt wasn't quite healed enough to let him go back to school, but he wasn't in danger anymore, hence his being moved to the Danger Room.
"Hi," Kurt smiled. He was glad that Amanda could come see him. "How is the new term?"
"Ugh," Amanda frowned. "Don't ask. It won't be so bad when you're back with me. We're in every class together."
"Well, that'll make me get better fast- more time vith my hot babe."
"And I'll get to spend more time with my hunk muffin."
'Oh brother,' the nearest patients thought.
"Ah, young love," Sean remarked to Moira. They were splitting their time between the Institute and the lab at Muir Island until the wounded were fully healed.
"Remember when we met?" Moira asked.
"Aye. I was in a community production of 'The Rocky Horror Show,' the first thing I did after I left Interpol, and ye were in the front row of the audience. I was Frank N. Furter, and we locked eyes when I came onstage, and I almost forgot the words."
"Aye," Moira smiled. She turned back to Sean with twinkling eyes. "How about we do the Time Warp again when we get back?"
"Let's skip the wait," Sean grinned.
"Ye better wise up, Sean-et Weiss!"
"Sorry, sorry. I guess I'm just gonna have to be breathless with antici……pation."
"Wait until we get home. Then ye'll get to touch-a touch-a touch-a touch me, creature of the night!"
"Creature of the night," Sean leered.
"Creature of the night!" everybody in the room sang. The lovers blushed. Clearly, they weren't as quiet as they thought they were!
***
One night, at dinner, things got ugly. Sam noticed that a lot of the Morlocks, and even a couple of the Eloi, had been staring at him. He also heard some whispering, but ignored it, since it couldn't possibly be about him. Or so he thought.
"Coming back for more, Sam?" Ewe laughed as she served him yet another helping of food. He couldn't help it- he was a growing boy, and Ewe was a great cook. He couldn't believe that Ramrod and Ramfist were her sons. The Joes took everybody aside and told them that Ewe didn't know who her children were working for, and to keep their mouths shut around her. So far, everybody had.
"Of course he is," Masque said quietly, but loud enough to be heard. "The boy knows all about coming back when he has no right to, doesn't he?"
Everybody stopped eating. Even those who had been talking stopped when the sensed the silence.
"And what is that supposed to mean, Masque?" Callisto asked, very calmly.
"You know exactly what I mean," Masque snapped. "We're all thinking it, I'm just saying it."
"Are you implying that Cannonball has no right to be alive?" Xavier asked, every bit as calm as Callisto.
"I'm sorry," Masque sneered. "I thought I was saying it right out." The next thing anybody knew, Masque was knocked to the floor, and Tabby was on top of him.
"DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT AGAIN!" Tabby screamed. "DON'T YOU EVEN THINK IT, YOU-" It was then that Logan and Hank pulled her off of him.
"Get up," Callisto snarled. She picked Masque up. "Excuse us, Professor. My underling and I need to have a talk." She frog-marched Masque out of the room.
The Morlocks and former Morlocks looked at each other. Masque was gonna get it! And rightly so, in Evan's and Ray's opinion.
"May Ah be excused, sir?" Sam asked softly.
"Don't you want that extra plate, Sam?" Ewe asked. Sam smiled at her.
"No thank you, ma'am. You're a great cook, but Ah don't have much of an appetite right now."
"Then you may go, Sam," Xavier told him.
"Thank you sir," he almost whispered, and left.
"Tabitha," Xavier said, looking at her, "behaviour such as that is inexcusable. I am very disappointed. What Masque said was cruel, but you must remember that he has recently lost his home and most of his family, and he is looking for somebody to blame. Since the Marauders are nowhere to be found, he has chosen Sam. I'll inform you of your punishment later. For now, I think Sam needs you." Tabby nodded and went after Sam.
"Professor," Sunder rumbled, "I know it's not my place to get involved, but don't punish Boom-Boom. Masque is a jerk through and through. He had no right to hurt the boy like that, not after he risked his life for us."
"If he'd said that about one of mine, I know I'd have beat Boom-Boom to it," Cover Girl agreed. "I was gonna do that too, as it is." Several people nodded.
"Be that as it may, the students are here to learn control," Xavier disagreed. "They cannot respond to words with violence, no matter how hateful."
"Tell me you didn't want to punch that creep into the middle of next week."
"Into the middle of next year, actually."
***
"It's called survivor's guilt," Low Light said. Sam was in his room, staring out the window.
"Huh?" Sam asked, turning around.
"I ran into your girlfriend. She said she couldn't reach you, so I decided to try."
"You don't have to," Sam muttered. "He was right. Why am Ah-" He was interrupted by Low Light shaking him.
"No, Masque is wrong. We don't know why you're back yet, but we'll find out. It is not your fault that you're still alive when all those others died. You're asking yourself if it's because you dress up and go out to fight, right?"
"Huh? How did you know?"
"I went through it too, after Morrisseau."
Sam looked at Low Light. He'd forgotten about that.
"I know what it does to people," Low Light told him. "It'll eat you alive if you let it, boy."
"Does it
get easier?"
"No, but you do learn how to ignore it. But you're not going to be able to do it if you spend all your time in here out of guilt." Low Light left, leaving Sam with his thoughts.
***
"Hold onto your horses, kiddies," Shipwreck boomed as he threw open the front door of the house. "The Shipwreck is back, and better- oof!" The air flew out of his lungs as Pietro slammed into him, giving him a bear hug. The others soon joined him, and Shipwreck was soon in the middle of a big group hug.
"Okay, I need to breathe," he wheezed. The others let go.
"Geez, you had to get better just as I get used to the peace and quiet around here," Althea said, eyes suspiciously wet.
"Peace and quiet? Around here? Okay, who are you people, and what have you done with the kids?"
"Good to have you here," Roadblock grinned. "We could always use more cheer."
"He's back!" Polly squawked, and landed on Shipwreck's shoulder. "Boy, am I glad to have you back! The girls are teaching the babies that Polly is a pet!"
"Polly is a pet," Brittany smirked.
"And what to the boys do with their pets?" Shipwreck asked.
"Oh, they play…" Quinn told him.
"They tie me up and help the girls experiment with me!" Polly shouted.
"Polly almost go boom," Claudius giggled.
"Boom-boom-boom!" Barney added.
"Don't tell me they've got more TNT!" Shipwreck moaned. "I thought I told you to get rid of that stuff!"
"You did, and we did," Daria said innocently. "But you never said we couldn't get more."
"Oh," Shipwreck moaned.
"Welcome back," Spirit grinned.
***
"Anybody want dessert?" Tabby said sweetly. The Professor had a serious talk with her about attacking guests. As punishment, she was required to serve everybody for a week. "We have a cake unlike anything you guys have ever tasted before."
"I'll have a big piece of that," Masque smirked. He enjoyed having the bomber be forced to wait on him.
"Coming right up," Tabby smiled. "Anyone else?" When nobody took her up, she headed to the kitchen.
"Something is very, very wrong," Jamie whispered to Elisabeth. "Tabby's never been this nice to anybody for this long!"
"She has her reasons," Elisabeth whispered back.
"If you say so," Jamie shrugged. "And when did we get a cake?"
"Today," Elisabeth replied innocently. "Kitty baked it. She's been doing a lot of that, lately."
It took all of Jamie's willpower not to burst out laughing. Looking around, he could have sworn he saw the Professor wink.
***
Suddenly, it was Saturday, one week since the attack on the Eloi.
Kurt was out of the infirmary, and was back to being his normal self. He was still visited every day by Amanda, who volunteered to help with the wounded and the sick (the only sick person was Masque, who was recovering from a nasty case of food poisoning).
The Misfits were still coming by to help, although the need was lessening. It wouldn't be long before the last of the wounded were whole in body, if not spirit.
Elisabeth mostly enjoyed her week in the American school system. A lot of people were friendly to her until they found out where she was living. Most of them stopped after that, but a few stayed friendly to her. Amanda was one, and there was a boy named Paul who was another. Scott told her that Paul's father was Mainframe, who she vaguely remembered from Bree's and Edwin's wedding. When Paul heard what had happened, he also started volunteering at the Institute.
Lance took Kitty out almost every night that week, after Kitty was finished her homework and he was finished his shift. They were planning to go on a double-date that night with Elisabeth and Pietro, and were soon joined by Althea and Todd, and Amanda and Kurt (who was finally let out), and finally Remy and Rogue, Sam and Tabby, and Scott and Jean. Nobody remembered why they used to fight. For their part, the adults of both teams started a two-fold pool- how long the truce would last, and who would be the first to break it. The rest of the Joes and even Gabrielle, Moira, and Sean soon got into the act. So far, the most bets were placed at about a week-and-a-half after the Eloi and the Morlocks went home, and the most bets were placed on Pietro making an ass of himself, with Peter losing grip of his jealousy coming in at a close second.
Kitty was just getting ready for the mass date when a telepathic alarm went through the Institute: *All students are to report to Cerebro right away!*
Five minutes later, she showed up in the Cerebro chamber. All the others were there, as were the Misfits and the handlers.
"Lance? What are you doing here?"
"Beats me," he shrugged. "I was starting to get ready, and then we got a call to come here right away."
"Where's the fire, Professor?" Shipwreck asked.
"Ever since last night, Cerebro has been detecting unusual readings," Xavier explained. "An hour ago, the readings suddenly cleared up." He pressed a button. On the console behind him, a face and body appeared. A lot of people gasped. It was Arclight. "And it's not just her. For the last hour or so, I've been picking up on all of them. They are in one place." He pressed another button. A map appeared on the screen. "They are holed up in the Appalachians."
"Could this be a trap?" Roadblock asked.
"Possible, but I doubt it. It has all the signs of a mutant 'cloaking device' slowly failing. It could be staged, I admit, but if it isn't-"
"Then it's payback time," Thorn said, and smacked a fist into his other hand.
The long wait is almost over: the final fight is almost upon us! Be prepared for twists, turns, some strong language, and Malice's full story! Stay tuned for "The Mutant Massacre:"
Chapter Eighteen: It's Payback Time!