Damsel In Distress
The XM-Velocity soared high over the smoldering remains of the Blackbird. Storm piloted the copter over near the warehouse. On the ground, she could see Shadowcat and Nightcrawler outside digging thought the remains of the Blackbird. Storm circled around, hen landed the copter.
Storm stood up and faced the other passengers, "Iceman, Magma, I want you to put out the fires. Beast, come with me; well be attending to the Professor's wounds. Alright, move out."
Beast grabbed his medical bag and followed Storm off the copter. They ran across the field and into the building. Shadowcat and Nightcrawler ran behind them, telling them about what had happened, and about the Professor's condition. Storm entered the building and surveyed the situation while Beast went to help the Professor. Jean was already knelling next to the Professor; face screwed up in concentration, her hand one his forehead. Cyclops was a different story. He stood away from the group, arms crossed over his chest, an angry expression on his face.
Jean was the first to notice them, "Oh thank God!" Jean started to stand, but her body was to exhausted to support her weight.
Beast caught her as she fell and laid her down, "Now, now. You need to calm down, the last thing we need is for you to overstress yourself." She started to protest, but Beast cut her off, "Don't worry, I'll take care of the Professor. You need to rest now." Beast turned to Cyclops, "Cyclops, would you please take Jean to the XM-Velocity? Make sure she is comfortable. We'll be along in a moment."
Storm watched them leave. He would blame himself for the Professor's injury, she knew him well enough to know that. Sighing, Storm walked over to help Beast.
"How is he?" asked Storm.
Beast smiled, "He'll be okay. Jean did a good job stabilizing him; she'd make a good doctor some day. We should still get him back to the mansion as soon as possible though, just in case. I see no reason why he won't be up and moving in a few days. Could you go fetch Nightcrawler for me? I need to get Charles onto the jet, Nightcrawler's teleportation would come in handy with that."
"Sure," Storm replied with a nod.
Storm walked to the door and signaled for Nightcrawler to see Beast. She started to reenter the building when she noticed Cyclops and Shadowcat. They were standing right outside the XM-Velocity, and by the look of it they were arguing. Suddenly, Cyclops turned around and walked off. Shadowcat made a rude gesture, then walked off in the other direction.
Storm walked over, "Shadowcat? Is everything all right?"
"Yeah, Cyclops is just being a jerk! That stupid mother…sorry." She turned around and faced Storm, "He is like so totally mad right now. Cyclops wants to go hunt down Mystique, said he wanted revenge. I told him that finding Rogue should be first priority, that Mystique was probably long gone. He got all pissed and started telling me that I like don't care about the Professor. As if!" Shadowcat balled her fists and bit her lower lip, "Are we going to save Rogue now? I care about the Professor, don't get me wrong, but there's like nothing more we can do right? At least we can go help Rogue. What if she's in trouble? Rogues my best friend…we need to help her!"
Storm looked at Shadowcat and smiled, "I wonder if Rogue knows how lucky she is to have a friend like you?" Shadowcat blushed slightly, "Wolverine is already on his way, but your right. Let's go save Rogue!"
Mystique watched the happenings from a distance. She watched now as the team spilt up; Beast, Cyclops, Jean, Xavier, and Magma back to the institute while Storm, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, and Iceman went to rescue Rogue. As the XM-Velocity flew away, Storm created a gust of wind to carry her and the others away. Mystique smiled to herself, they would be easy to follow. Shifting to the form of an owl, Mystique silently followed.
Wolverine sighed, he had been watching the cave for almost a half hour now, but ad seen no sign of Sabertooth. "This isn't right. Not like Creed at all." Wolverine started to rise from his crouched position, "I can't wait anymore. I'll grab Rogue, get her safe, then come back for Sabertooth."
A sudden scent caught Wolverine's attention. It was Sabertooth. He was standing in the entrance of the cave, obviously getting ready to leave. Sabertooth was rolling on of Magneto's large, metal spheres out of the cave. He started to reenter the cave, then stopped. Raising his head he sniffed the air.
"Well, well. Looks like you finally got here Wolverine. Bout time, I was afraid you wouldn't make it in time to say goodbye." Sabertooth turned around, "Might as well come out, I'll find you sooner or later."
Wolverine stepped into the clearing, "Sabertooth, why did you take Rogue?" Wolverine growled.
"Orders. Magneto's got some big plans for the bitch."
"What kind of plans?"
Sabertooth smiled, "Wouldn't you like to know? Too bad, guess you'll have to beat them out of me."
"Guess so," Wolverine said with a smile.
Rogue slowly made her way thought the cave. Already, her ankle had gone numb, as had her blood covered wrists. With one hand on the wall for balance, and a broken piece of metal from the bars in the other, Rogue followed the path outside. She could see a pale light, the outside, getting closer with each step. Also, she could have sworn she had heard voices, but the were being drowned out by the sound of running water. Suddenly, the cave ended and the outside world appeared. Shadows danced across her face, while the wind blew her hair about. Rogue breathed deeply, taking joy in the fresh night air. As sudden cry broke the peace.
Rogue's eyes snapped open just in time to see Wolverine go flying though the air into a nearby rock. Slowly he got to his feet, only to have Sabertooth lunge for him, knocking Wolverine to the ground. The two rolled, claws, hair, and insults flying. Rogue just stood there in the cave entrance, stunned.
Wolverine kicked Sabertooth away and jumped to his feet. The two now stood, facing each other, in a battle stance. They circled, every once and awhile making slight lunges for each other, they were testing each other. Rogue watched, completely powerless. She slowly removed her gloves; as soon as Sabertooth was open she would absorb his powers.
Sabertooth lunged, this time catching Wolverine off guard. Wolverine fell to the ground, stunned. Sabertooth stood over him, laughing. Rogue saw her chance. She ran forward and grabbed Sabertooth's face. A sudden wave of thoughts and memories washed over her, flooding her mind. Sabertooth recoiled, pushing her back. Rogue let go, and stumbling backwards, fell into the fast moving river.
Rogue screamed as she fell into the ice-cold water. Suddenly she was pulled down, water rushing over her head. Fighting her way to the surface, Rogue managed to keep her head above the swirling torrent, but she was quickly losing strength. She tried to grab the rocks as the water slammed her into them, with no luck. Up ahead she could see more rapids, all leading up to a waterfall. Rogue struggled against the current trying to get to safety, but with a bad ankle she didn't have a chance. Water rushed over her head, sucking Rogue down into blackness.