It was my birthday last Saturday! And my party tomorrow! *parties*
Chapter 10 - Wednesday Part III (yes I know there's a lot of parts to Wednesday oh well ^_~)
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Rogue thudded to the ground, and the last thing she saw was Remy, probably turning to see why she wasn't following, looking at her, calling, "Chere!" before she blacked out.
*
"Omigod! Omigod! He's got her! Omigod! Omigod!"
"Kitty, stop. You're making me dizzy." Bobby said, his eyes rolling all over as he watched the panicking valley girl run squealing around the cave.
"Calm down, Kit, we have a job to do." Amara said.
"Yeah, and besides, we already knew they had Rogue, that's the whole point." Jean added.
Kitty finally stopped running around like a headless chicken (1) and yelped, "Yeah, but look!" she dashed over to the mouth of the cave, where Sabretooth was still holding 'Rogue', and now throwing her up in the air, and catching her again, 'Rogue' squirming in the ropes. "See! That, like, can't be healthy! And people aren't like supposed to like do that when they like kidnap someone!" Kitty protested, pointing to the pirate ship.
(Meanwhile on the Pirate ship:
Mystique: Cut - it - out! I'm - not - a - doll - to - throw - about - I'm - a - kidnapped - X-man!
Sabretooth: But it adds extra effect!
Magneto: No it doesn't, stop it Sabretooth.)
"Yeah, but its Sabretooth, what do you expect?" Scott answered her, then said to the rest of them, "Come on team, we know what we have to do."
*
"I'm not backing out. What does he think I am, weak?"
Tabby approached the mansion in which she used to live on Sabretooth's bike. She held up her thumb to the small panel on the front of the gate, and waited a few moments while it scanned her thumbprint. After a small while a mechanical voice said, "Welcome Tabitha Smith." then the gates opened wide and she drove in.
Halfway up the round path leading to the mansion's front door, she stopped the motorbike and looked up at the huge house before her. Before her eyes flashed memories of her being happy in there; her on the balconies with Kurt, her watching TV with Jamie, her reading magazines with Amara in her bedroom, her out skating with Rogue, Kitty and Jean. She thought of the people inside (2) whom she was about to kill, people who had finally accepted her for who she was and treated her like family. She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to erase the memories before they changed her mind.
Too late.
'I can't.' she thought to herself. 'I can't. I can't murder them. I can't just take away their whole life.'
"I CAN'T DO IT!" she yelled aloud.
Her head spun, making her feel dizzy. Breathing fast, she thought to herself, 'I'm not killing them. No way.'
Suddenly, an idea hit her. Solemnly, she climbed back onto the bike and drove nearer towards the mansion door. Once there, she got off and ran inside to find an empty mansion.
"They knew what we were doing!" she thought aloud, not bothering to hide the big grin that plastered itself across her face, "Even if I didn't change my mind, they wouldn't have died! But how did they know?" Tabby suddenly realised how stupid she must look, talking aloud to herself, and she ran upstairs, blushing slightly. She knew what she had to do. A few minutes later she was back out of the gate, carrying a box that wasn't with her before, and heading towards the Brotherhood house.
*
"So, should we get ready then?" Jamie asked.
Everyone turned to look at Lance.
"Hey! Why're you all looking at me?" he said, slightly freaked out by the many eyes upon him.
Pietro stood up on a couch and waved his arms about in the air so everyone noticed him. They did, and he began, "Mutants, mutants. Unlike some people - " he looked at Lance, who childishly stuck his tongue out at him, " - I know what to do. The life of our friend is at stake. Let us show her kidnappers what we're made of!"
Several cheers and applause from the others broke out. Pietro smirked, and added as an afterthought, "Hey, I sound just like my dad!"
"Erm, hello? We haven't got uniforms." Ray broke in.
"Yeah, I'm not fighting in my pyjamas!" Jubilee added.
"Well, erm, we could, er - " stammered Pietro, trying to think of a solution.
"How about getting your uniforms on." Came a voice from the doorway.
"I just said, we haven't got - Tabby?" Ray turned round to see a familiar figure in the doorway.
"Why hello." Tabby added, and walked towards them, opening a box she was carrying and took out the New Recruits' uniforms. "Bung these on, we're gonna save us some X-ass."
Obediently each of the New Recruits stepped forward, grabbed their uniforms and disappeared upstairs. Tabby, who was already in hers, yelled up the stairs, "Hurry up! We haven't got much time!"
"And don't go in my room!" Pietro added.
Soon, the New Recruits had joined Tabby and the Brotherhood downstairs, dressed in their X-uniform, and ready to go.
"I take it you already know what we're doing?" Tabby asked. Most people nodded. "Good. Ozcas canal is just round the corner. When we get there, listen to me, because I have a plan. Don't just go attacking Magneto, kay?" Everyone murmured yes.
"I don't know what we're doing!" Jamie tugged at Tabby's arm as they were on their way out of the front door. "I don't understand. Are we helping free Rogue? The Professor said not to help."
"I know he did." Tabby said, flicking her hair out of her face, "But he doesn't know what Magneto's up to."
*
"Chere?"
Rogue's eyes opened, her vision temporarily blurred. She could see a shape in front of her, moving about. Her eyes focused and she saw red and black eyes staring into her own emerald ones, only an inch or so away from her face.
"AARGH!"
Remy moved away, startled by her sudden cry. She had, after all, been unconscious for 15 minutes. Rogue shot up and scrambled to her feet, wondering why she'd been lying on the ground like that.
"Whoa chere, y' nearly gave Remy a heart attack!" Remy joked, getting up slowly and standing up beside her.
"Cajun! Did yah see how close yah were tah me! Ah coulda absorbed yah!" Rogue didn't yell, but her voice was sharp. Though, Remy heard, it sounded quite close to tears. He ignored this fact though, and instead said one of his usual remarks.
"Aww, chere, Remy didn't tink y' cared."
"Ah don't. But it's crowded enough in there, even without yah." She gestured to her head, then let her arm swing limply beside her again. Then she looked around. "Where's Logan?"
"Monsieur Wolverine went off over in dat direction." Remy pointed around the big climbing rock they were hidden behind, and towards the pirate ship, "An' - "
"An' Ah'm off." Rogue tried to walk the same way, but Remy stood in front of her, his hand leant against the rock, his arm blocking her way.
"Y' not meant t' interrupt Remy, chere. Its rude."
Rogue just mumbled something under her breath, so Remy just continued what he was originally saying.
"An' he said not t' follow him. For any reason."
"An' whah's that?"
"Remy tinks its because he tinks you've been in enough trouble recently. An' so does Remy." He answered, smirking.
"Then Remy can fuck off." Rogue said, turning her back on him and taking a step in the opposite direction to him. Remy ran and stood in front of her again, using the same method to once again block her way.
"Cajun! Whadda yah think you're doin'?''
"Stoppin' you, chere. Y' not goin' t' help, Remy has t' look after y'."
"Ah don't need lookin' after. You're the one that needs lookin' after. An' that insane buddy o' yours."
"True, Pyro does need lookin' after. So do you, chere. But Remy doesn't."
"Ok, ok. Just let meh go." She tried again to push past him, but he stood firm, no intention of letting her go at all.
"Uh-uh, chere. Y' not goin'. Remy ain't lettin' y'."
"Fahne," Rogue mumbled, looking to the ground but not moving.
'She's up to something.' Remy thought, 'She wouldn't give up that easily. Sure, she went on, but being Rogue, she would yell at me or fight or something.'
Then she looked up again, into Remy's eyes, and then over his shoulder.
'What is she doing?' He was really puzzled now.
Rogue's gaze seemed to focus on something behind his right shoulder. Her eyes seemed to be glued to whatever it was - so Remy, who, basically, wanted all of her attention on him, turned to see what was so interesting. And that was his weak move. For as he turned, Rogue saw instantly that her own plan of action had worked; she turned and ran as fast as she could (which was pretty fast; at least Logan's 3 - hour training did actually work) in the opposite direction of Remy. The very direction she'd first intended to go to. Towards the pirate ship. Remy turned back after gazing at the air behind him (yes, he had found out there was absolutely nothing there) to see Rogue running towards the distant pirate ship. It was quite far away, but she'd manage to get there in time to screw things up.
"CHERE!" He yelled, exasperated, still behind the climbing rock. Rogue, still running, heard this, and she didn't bother to hide the smirk covering her face.
*
She knew that leering, grinning face would haunt her dreams tonight. How could he be so - triumphant - when carrying a hostage who looked very ill? It looked as if she hadn't eaten since she disappeared. So it was probably true.
Storm continued to look up into the face of Sabretooth. She was pale, even under her cocoa coloured skin, and she seemed unable to move. She tried to say something to Nightcrawler, to reassure him maybe, but all that came out was a load of meaningless jumble. In the end, it was Nightcrawler who was doing the reassuring.
"Storm?" He asked quietly, gently tapping her on the shoulder. "Are you ok?" He was concerned about her; her bright blue eyes were wide with shock and she continued to look up at the three mutants.
"Y - yes, thank you, I am fine." She replied weakly, breaking her gaze with the hairy mutant above them. Though she looked anything but. Her hands were still shaking, and it looked like her legs were going to collapse any minute.
'I bet if a fly were to crash into her she would fall over,' Nightcrawler thought, and usually, he would have laughed out loud, or smiled at least; but under the circumstances, he did neither. Instead, he looked back up to the Pirate ship, and saw something that angered and upset him more than when he first saw Magneto, Sabretooth and Rogue before.
Sabretooth, who had been throwing Rogue in the air and catching her before Magneto told him to stop, had done it again when Magneto wasn't looking. And he missed. She tumbled, almost over the side of it into the water. Luckily Sabretooth reached out and caught her in the nick of time, but had he not - Nightcrawler growled. He actually growled. This sudden, fierce noise made Storm jump; she quickly turned her head to look at him and was surprised at the clear anger and hurt written across his face.
"MAGNETO!" he yelled. "Give me back my SISTER!!!!!" (3)
It was so loud - it echoed round the entire canal; everyone heard it. Logan, who was climbing up the rocks near the cave, which was holding the X- men team, could hear and smell the anger in him. The X-men in the cave all turned their heads, shocked, towards the direction of their usually calm team mate. The approaching New Recruits, Brotherhood (being led by Tabby) heard it, and looked around themselves asking each other, "Was that Kurt?!" Remy, over behind the climbing rock, wondering whether to run after Rogue, or stay where he was, heard it. And Rogue, currently running towards the nearing ship, screeched to a halt as she heard the angry cry of her new found brother. 'Uh-oh.' She thought, and carried on running, though she wasn't sure she could last much longer. She could feel herself getting a bit more light headed, but still she carried on. She had to.
"Ah, young Nightcrawler." Magneto looked down upon the two mutants standing on the ground below the ship. "What was that - give you back your sister? You're not even related, I believe." (4)
"With blood or without, she's still my sister." Nightcrawler answered, quietly but deadly. At this comment Mystique gave a loud sniff. Sabretooth prodded her in the back as if to tell her to remind herself that currently she was Rogue, not Mystique.
"Touching. Very touching. But I'm afraid you won't be getting this back - " he gestured at the figure in Sabretooth's arms, " - until you give us that." He pointed to the packet in Storm's shaking hands. His gaze made Storm shudder even more, and she almost dropped the packet. Nightcrawler took it off her, and held it above his head.
"Take it zen!" he demanded.
Magneto raised an eyebrow. "I don't have telekinesis, Mr Wagner."
"I know zat," Nightcrawler snapped back; he didn't have time for a stupid old man like Magneto, powerful as he may be. Then he did something he should've done a while ago. He teleported up to the top of the ship and reached for his sister. Sabretooth quickly pulled Mystique out of the way of the teenager's reaching grasp and Magneto snatched the package of money out of his three-fingered hand.
"Zere! You have ze money! Now I vant my sister!"
Sabretooth smirked maliciously, and growled, "Sure." Nightcrawler knew he was planning something; sure enough, Sabretooth raised Mystique, still in Rogue's body, high above his head. Nightcrawler didn't move, just watched, alarmed. Then suddenly, Sabretooth gave an almighty roar and threw Mystique off the side!
Mystique screamed, though it was more of a muffled shriek as her mouth was gagged. Nightcrawler yelled in distress - no way was he going to lose her - and made out to be about to port, but before he did, he saw 'Rogue' stop in mid-air and float safely to the ground. He ported down to the edge, where Storm was stood, arms out in front of her, eyes white like they always were when she used her powers. Nightcrawler ported to where his mother (in form of his sister) was, and back to the ground where himself and Storm previously were, careful not to touch her skin.
Storm peered into the metamorph's face, as did Nightcrawler. Mystique decided to pretend to be in a faint because of the fall so had her eyes closed. She felt strong arms embracing her, and heard Nightcrawler's accented voice whisper, "It's all right, sis. You're ok now." Strong feelings of guilt and happiness hit her; though she was mostly responsible for their ruined childhood, they'd both managed to be together again and be proper brother and sister. She felt the beginnings of tears prickling behind her closed eyelids, and was glad she had her eyes closed.
Nightcrawler picked Mystique up and told Storm to put her hand on his shoulder. She did so, and they ported to the safe, unseen caves where the other X-men were previously.
*
"Rogue!"
Shadowcat ran from the mouth of the cave to near the back where three of her team mates were stood, one of them carrying the limp form of another. On seeing this, she squealed,
"Oh my gosh! Is she ok?"
Everyone in the cave at that point crowded round Storm and Nightcrawler, who was carrying who he, and everyone else, believed to be his unconscious sister. Then Nightcrawler spoke, solemn, as he had uncharacteristically (AN ooh! Long word!) been from the first time he heard his sister was missing.
"She will be fine. But you vill all have to leave and do your part of the plan now."
Everyone nodded, and ran to the front of the cave. Nightcrawler lay 'Rogue' down on the floor and joined the others at the front. Meanwhile Mystique, who had got sleepy from closing her eyes for a while, and didn't have much sleep tonight anyway, drifted away into a deep sleep. Unfortunately, when she was asleep, she didn't have any control over her power, so she couldn't stay in a disguise. Uh-oh. But as everyone was peeping out the front of the cave, nobody noticed her change into her real self.
"Ok," Cyclops started, "Shadowcat, Jean, Iceman - you need to stop Magneto from escaping. Iceman, form an ice slide that will get you down there. Storm - you fly above them and make it cloudy so Magneto can't spot them. Spyke, Magma, Gambit and I will go round that way - " he pointed down to the ground, "and attack him from a different angle."
"Err - Cyclops? Gambit's not here." Nightcrawler pointed out.
"What?!" Cyclops looked around, and sure enough, there wasn't a Cajun present. Cyclops growled in frustration. "I KNEW he was too quiet! I knew it! He's a trouble maker, and we shouldn't have trusted him."
"Scott, calm down." Jean told him. "We should really go now."
"Ok." He replied, "Kurt - you sure you'll be all right on your own?"
"I'm not on my own. I have Rogue."
"Ok then. X-men - go!" The mutants crept out of the mouth of the cave, leaving Kurt Wagner standing there alone. But not for long.
"Whatcha doin' on your own, elf?"
Kurt jumped at the sudden voice, then stared down at the figure trying to pull itself up into the cave in amazement. "Volverine? Vhere on earth have you been?"
"Same place as Rogue, an' it wasn't nice." He clambered up, his muscled forearms straining. Kurt held out a hand to help him up, but Wolverine shook his head and stood up. "Just climbed those rocks." He pointed to the rocks that lead up to the cave opening. "I needed to tell you all something important, but when I got here, you'd all gone. Except you."
"And Rogue!" Kurt added.
"And that's just the problem." Wolverine said. Kurt frowned - what the hell was he on about? Shouldn't he at least be happy that Rogue was safe?
"Vhat do you mean?!" Kurt angered slightly. "She is safe!"
"She's safe because me an' Gumbo rescued her."
"Nein! Storm and I rescued her! She is over in that corner!" Kurt pointed, though not actually looking at the body whom he was pointing at. Wolverine peeped over his arm, and frowned.
"Have you seen what you're pointing at elf?"
Kurt turned around, not really seeing why he was doing so, because he knew Rogue was lying there - he put her there himself. So, naturally, he was shocked at what sight did meet his eyes.
With medium-length red hair, tiny black clothing and most importantly, blue skin, this could be no other than the sleeping form of his own mother - Mystique.
"Mystique?!" She stirred, awoken by his sudden loud cry. She sat up and gently smiled at him, before realising the situation - her cover was blown.
"Damn."
*
Whoo. Long chappie for me! Anyway -
1 - I love that expression! I always try to use it when possible coz I think its really funny! Lol
2 - At that point, Tabby wouldn't have known that no one was inside. Just so you know. ^_^
3 - Kind of like when he yells "Give me back my inducer!" at Toad in The Toad, the witch and the Wardrobe.
4 - I know I've written Magneto a bit OOC ish here. It's more like the Magneto from the movie. He's groovy in that! Nicking off with people's blood . . . ^_~
Anyway, I'll try to get this up as soon as I can. But please review! Ya know ya wanna. :p
DB
xxx
Chapter 10 - Wednesday Part III (yes I know there's a lot of parts to Wednesday oh well ^_~)
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Rogue thudded to the ground, and the last thing she saw was Remy, probably turning to see why she wasn't following, looking at her, calling, "Chere!" before she blacked out.
*
"Omigod! Omigod! He's got her! Omigod! Omigod!"
"Kitty, stop. You're making me dizzy." Bobby said, his eyes rolling all over as he watched the panicking valley girl run squealing around the cave.
"Calm down, Kit, we have a job to do." Amara said.
"Yeah, and besides, we already knew they had Rogue, that's the whole point." Jean added.
Kitty finally stopped running around like a headless chicken (1) and yelped, "Yeah, but look!" she dashed over to the mouth of the cave, where Sabretooth was still holding 'Rogue', and now throwing her up in the air, and catching her again, 'Rogue' squirming in the ropes. "See! That, like, can't be healthy! And people aren't like supposed to like do that when they like kidnap someone!" Kitty protested, pointing to the pirate ship.
(Meanwhile on the Pirate ship:
Mystique: Cut - it - out! I'm - not - a - doll - to - throw - about - I'm - a - kidnapped - X-man!
Sabretooth: But it adds extra effect!
Magneto: No it doesn't, stop it Sabretooth.)
"Yeah, but its Sabretooth, what do you expect?" Scott answered her, then said to the rest of them, "Come on team, we know what we have to do."
*
"I'm not backing out. What does he think I am, weak?"
Tabby approached the mansion in which she used to live on Sabretooth's bike. She held up her thumb to the small panel on the front of the gate, and waited a few moments while it scanned her thumbprint. After a small while a mechanical voice said, "Welcome Tabitha Smith." then the gates opened wide and she drove in.
Halfway up the round path leading to the mansion's front door, she stopped the motorbike and looked up at the huge house before her. Before her eyes flashed memories of her being happy in there; her on the balconies with Kurt, her watching TV with Jamie, her reading magazines with Amara in her bedroom, her out skating with Rogue, Kitty and Jean. She thought of the people inside (2) whom she was about to kill, people who had finally accepted her for who she was and treated her like family. She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to erase the memories before they changed her mind.
Too late.
'I can't.' she thought to herself. 'I can't. I can't murder them. I can't just take away their whole life.'
"I CAN'T DO IT!" she yelled aloud.
Her head spun, making her feel dizzy. Breathing fast, she thought to herself, 'I'm not killing them. No way.'
Suddenly, an idea hit her. Solemnly, she climbed back onto the bike and drove nearer towards the mansion door. Once there, she got off and ran inside to find an empty mansion.
"They knew what we were doing!" she thought aloud, not bothering to hide the big grin that plastered itself across her face, "Even if I didn't change my mind, they wouldn't have died! But how did they know?" Tabby suddenly realised how stupid she must look, talking aloud to herself, and she ran upstairs, blushing slightly. She knew what she had to do. A few minutes later she was back out of the gate, carrying a box that wasn't with her before, and heading towards the Brotherhood house.
*
"So, should we get ready then?" Jamie asked.
Everyone turned to look at Lance.
"Hey! Why're you all looking at me?" he said, slightly freaked out by the many eyes upon him.
Pietro stood up on a couch and waved his arms about in the air so everyone noticed him. They did, and he began, "Mutants, mutants. Unlike some people - " he looked at Lance, who childishly stuck his tongue out at him, " - I know what to do. The life of our friend is at stake. Let us show her kidnappers what we're made of!"
Several cheers and applause from the others broke out. Pietro smirked, and added as an afterthought, "Hey, I sound just like my dad!"
"Erm, hello? We haven't got uniforms." Ray broke in.
"Yeah, I'm not fighting in my pyjamas!" Jubilee added.
"Well, erm, we could, er - " stammered Pietro, trying to think of a solution.
"How about getting your uniforms on." Came a voice from the doorway.
"I just said, we haven't got - Tabby?" Ray turned round to see a familiar figure in the doorway.
"Why hello." Tabby added, and walked towards them, opening a box she was carrying and took out the New Recruits' uniforms. "Bung these on, we're gonna save us some X-ass."
Obediently each of the New Recruits stepped forward, grabbed their uniforms and disappeared upstairs. Tabby, who was already in hers, yelled up the stairs, "Hurry up! We haven't got much time!"
"And don't go in my room!" Pietro added.
Soon, the New Recruits had joined Tabby and the Brotherhood downstairs, dressed in their X-uniform, and ready to go.
"I take it you already know what we're doing?" Tabby asked. Most people nodded. "Good. Ozcas canal is just round the corner. When we get there, listen to me, because I have a plan. Don't just go attacking Magneto, kay?" Everyone murmured yes.
"I don't know what we're doing!" Jamie tugged at Tabby's arm as they were on their way out of the front door. "I don't understand. Are we helping free Rogue? The Professor said not to help."
"I know he did." Tabby said, flicking her hair out of her face, "But he doesn't know what Magneto's up to."
*
"Chere?"
Rogue's eyes opened, her vision temporarily blurred. She could see a shape in front of her, moving about. Her eyes focused and she saw red and black eyes staring into her own emerald ones, only an inch or so away from her face.
"AARGH!"
Remy moved away, startled by her sudden cry. She had, after all, been unconscious for 15 minutes. Rogue shot up and scrambled to her feet, wondering why she'd been lying on the ground like that.
"Whoa chere, y' nearly gave Remy a heart attack!" Remy joked, getting up slowly and standing up beside her.
"Cajun! Did yah see how close yah were tah me! Ah coulda absorbed yah!" Rogue didn't yell, but her voice was sharp. Though, Remy heard, it sounded quite close to tears. He ignored this fact though, and instead said one of his usual remarks.
"Aww, chere, Remy didn't tink y' cared."
"Ah don't. But it's crowded enough in there, even without yah." She gestured to her head, then let her arm swing limply beside her again. Then she looked around. "Where's Logan?"
"Monsieur Wolverine went off over in dat direction." Remy pointed around the big climbing rock they were hidden behind, and towards the pirate ship, "An' - "
"An' Ah'm off." Rogue tried to walk the same way, but Remy stood in front of her, his hand leant against the rock, his arm blocking her way.
"Y' not meant t' interrupt Remy, chere. Its rude."
Rogue just mumbled something under her breath, so Remy just continued what he was originally saying.
"An' he said not t' follow him. For any reason."
"An' whah's that?"
"Remy tinks its because he tinks you've been in enough trouble recently. An' so does Remy." He answered, smirking.
"Then Remy can fuck off." Rogue said, turning her back on him and taking a step in the opposite direction to him. Remy ran and stood in front of her again, using the same method to once again block her way.
"Cajun! Whadda yah think you're doin'?''
"Stoppin' you, chere. Y' not goin' t' help, Remy has t' look after y'."
"Ah don't need lookin' after. You're the one that needs lookin' after. An' that insane buddy o' yours."
"True, Pyro does need lookin' after. So do you, chere. But Remy doesn't."
"Ok, ok. Just let meh go." She tried again to push past him, but he stood firm, no intention of letting her go at all.
"Uh-uh, chere. Y' not goin'. Remy ain't lettin' y'."
"Fahne," Rogue mumbled, looking to the ground but not moving.
'She's up to something.' Remy thought, 'She wouldn't give up that easily. Sure, she went on, but being Rogue, she would yell at me or fight or something.'
Then she looked up again, into Remy's eyes, and then over his shoulder.
'What is she doing?' He was really puzzled now.
Rogue's gaze seemed to focus on something behind his right shoulder. Her eyes seemed to be glued to whatever it was - so Remy, who, basically, wanted all of her attention on him, turned to see what was so interesting. And that was his weak move. For as he turned, Rogue saw instantly that her own plan of action had worked; she turned and ran as fast as she could (which was pretty fast; at least Logan's 3 - hour training did actually work) in the opposite direction of Remy. The very direction she'd first intended to go to. Towards the pirate ship. Remy turned back after gazing at the air behind him (yes, he had found out there was absolutely nothing there) to see Rogue running towards the distant pirate ship. It was quite far away, but she'd manage to get there in time to screw things up.
"CHERE!" He yelled, exasperated, still behind the climbing rock. Rogue, still running, heard this, and she didn't bother to hide the smirk covering her face.
*
She knew that leering, grinning face would haunt her dreams tonight. How could he be so - triumphant - when carrying a hostage who looked very ill? It looked as if she hadn't eaten since she disappeared. So it was probably true.
Storm continued to look up into the face of Sabretooth. She was pale, even under her cocoa coloured skin, and she seemed unable to move. She tried to say something to Nightcrawler, to reassure him maybe, but all that came out was a load of meaningless jumble. In the end, it was Nightcrawler who was doing the reassuring.
"Storm?" He asked quietly, gently tapping her on the shoulder. "Are you ok?" He was concerned about her; her bright blue eyes were wide with shock and she continued to look up at the three mutants.
"Y - yes, thank you, I am fine." She replied weakly, breaking her gaze with the hairy mutant above them. Though she looked anything but. Her hands were still shaking, and it looked like her legs were going to collapse any minute.
'I bet if a fly were to crash into her she would fall over,' Nightcrawler thought, and usually, he would have laughed out loud, or smiled at least; but under the circumstances, he did neither. Instead, he looked back up to the Pirate ship, and saw something that angered and upset him more than when he first saw Magneto, Sabretooth and Rogue before.
Sabretooth, who had been throwing Rogue in the air and catching her before Magneto told him to stop, had done it again when Magneto wasn't looking. And he missed. She tumbled, almost over the side of it into the water. Luckily Sabretooth reached out and caught her in the nick of time, but had he not - Nightcrawler growled. He actually growled. This sudden, fierce noise made Storm jump; she quickly turned her head to look at him and was surprised at the clear anger and hurt written across his face.
"MAGNETO!" he yelled. "Give me back my SISTER!!!!!" (3)
It was so loud - it echoed round the entire canal; everyone heard it. Logan, who was climbing up the rocks near the cave, which was holding the X- men team, could hear and smell the anger in him. The X-men in the cave all turned their heads, shocked, towards the direction of their usually calm team mate. The approaching New Recruits, Brotherhood (being led by Tabby) heard it, and looked around themselves asking each other, "Was that Kurt?!" Remy, over behind the climbing rock, wondering whether to run after Rogue, or stay where he was, heard it. And Rogue, currently running towards the nearing ship, screeched to a halt as she heard the angry cry of her new found brother. 'Uh-oh.' She thought, and carried on running, though she wasn't sure she could last much longer. She could feel herself getting a bit more light headed, but still she carried on. She had to.
"Ah, young Nightcrawler." Magneto looked down upon the two mutants standing on the ground below the ship. "What was that - give you back your sister? You're not even related, I believe." (4)
"With blood or without, she's still my sister." Nightcrawler answered, quietly but deadly. At this comment Mystique gave a loud sniff. Sabretooth prodded her in the back as if to tell her to remind herself that currently she was Rogue, not Mystique.
"Touching. Very touching. But I'm afraid you won't be getting this back - " he gestured at the figure in Sabretooth's arms, " - until you give us that." He pointed to the packet in Storm's shaking hands. His gaze made Storm shudder even more, and she almost dropped the packet. Nightcrawler took it off her, and held it above his head.
"Take it zen!" he demanded.
Magneto raised an eyebrow. "I don't have telekinesis, Mr Wagner."
"I know zat," Nightcrawler snapped back; he didn't have time for a stupid old man like Magneto, powerful as he may be. Then he did something he should've done a while ago. He teleported up to the top of the ship and reached for his sister. Sabretooth quickly pulled Mystique out of the way of the teenager's reaching grasp and Magneto snatched the package of money out of his three-fingered hand.
"Zere! You have ze money! Now I vant my sister!"
Sabretooth smirked maliciously, and growled, "Sure." Nightcrawler knew he was planning something; sure enough, Sabretooth raised Mystique, still in Rogue's body, high above his head. Nightcrawler didn't move, just watched, alarmed. Then suddenly, Sabretooth gave an almighty roar and threw Mystique off the side!
Mystique screamed, though it was more of a muffled shriek as her mouth was gagged. Nightcrawler yelled in distress - no way was he going to lose her - and made out to be about to port, but before he did, he saw 'Rogue' stop in mid-air and float safely to the ground. He ported down to the edge, where Storm was stood, arms out in front of her, eyes white like they always were when she used her powers. Nightcrawler ported to where his mother (in form of his sister) was, and back to the ground where himself and Storm previously were, careful not to touch her skin.
Storm peered into the metamorph's face, as did Nightcrawler. Mystique decided to pretend to be in a faint because of the fall so had her eyes closed. She felt strong arms embracing her, and heard Nightcrawler's accented voice whisper, "It's all right, sis. You're ok now." Strong feelings of guilt and happiness hit her; though she was mostly responsible for their ruined childhood, they'd both managed to be together again and be proper brother and sister. She felt the beginnings of tears prickling behind her closed eyelids, and was glad she had her eyes closed.
Nightcrawler picked Mystique up and told Storm to put her hand on his shoulder. She did so, and they ported to the safe, unseen caves where the other X-men were previously.
*
"Rogue!"
Shadowcat ran from the mouth of the cave to near the back where three of her team mates were stood, one of them carrying the limp form of another. On seeing this, she squealed,
"Oh my gosh! Is she ok?"
Everyone in the cave at that point crowded round Storm and Nightcrawler, who was carrying who he, and everyone else, believed to be his unconscious sister. Then Nightcrawler spoke, solemn, as he had uncharacteristically (AN ooh! Long word!) been from the first time he heard his sister was missing.
"She will be fine. But you vill all have to leave and do your part of the plan now."
Everyone nodded, and ran to the front of the cave. Nightcrawler lay 'Rogue' down on the floor and joined the others at the front. Meanwhile Mystique, who had got sleepy from closing her eyes for a while, and didn't have much sleep tonight anyway, drifted away into a deep sleep. Unfortunately, when she was asleep, she didn't have any control over her power, so she couldn't stay in a disguise. Uh-oh. But as everyone was peeping out the front of the cave, nobody noticed her change into her real self.
"Ok," Cyclops started, "Shadowcat, Jean, Iceman - you need to stop Magneto from escaping. Iceman, form an ice slide that will get you down there. Storm - you fly above them and make it cloudy so Magneto can't spot them. Spyke, Magma, Gambit and I will go round that way - " he pointed down to the ground, "and attack him from a different angle."
"Err - Cyclops? Gambit's not here." Nightcrawler pointed out.
"What?!" Cyclops looked around, and sure enough, there wasn't a Cajun present. Cyclops growled in frustration. "I KNEW he was too quiet! I knew it! He's a trouble maker, and we shouldn't have trusted him."
"Scott, calm down." Jean told him. "We should really go now."
"Ok." He replied, "Kurt - you sure you'll be all right on your own?"
"I'm not on my own. I have Rogue."
"Ok then. X-men - go!" The mutants crept out of the mouth of the cave, leaving Kurt Wagner standing there alone. But not for long.
"Whatcha doin' on your own, elf?"
Kurt jumped at the sudden voice, then stared down at the figure trying to pull itself up into the cave in amazement. "Volverine? Vhere on earth have you been?"
"Same place as Rogue, an' it wasn't nice." He clambered up, his muscled forearms straining. Kurt held out a hand to help him up, but Wolverine shook his head and stood up. "Just climbed those rocks." He pointed to the rocks that lead up to the cave opening. "I needed to tell you all something important, but when I got here, you'd all gone. Except you."
"And Rogue!" Kurt added.
"And that's just the problem." Wolverine said. Kurt frowned - what the hell was he on about? Shouldn't he at least be happy that Rogue was safe?
"Vhat do you mean?!" Kurt angered slightly. "She is safe!"
"She's safe because me an' Gumbo rescued her."
"Nein! Storm and I rescued her! She is over in that corner!" Kurt pointed, though not actually looking at the body whom he was pointing at. Wolverine peeped over his arm, and frowned.
"Have you seen what you're pointing at elf?"
Kurt turned around, not really seeing why he was doing so, because he knew Rogue was lying there - he put her there himself. So, naturally, he was shocked at what sight did meet his eyes.
With medium-length red hair, tiny black clothing and most importantly, blue skin, this could be no other than the sleeping form of his own mother - Mystique.
"Mystique?!" She stirred, awoken by his sudden loud cry. She sat up and gently smiled at him, before realising the situation - her cover was blown.
"Damn."
*
Whoo. Long chappie for me! Anyway -
1 - I love that expression! I always try to use it when possible coz I think its really funny! Lol
2 - At that point, Tabby wouldn't have known that no one was inside. Just so you know. ^_^
3 - Kind of like when he yells "Give me back my inducer!" at Toad in The Toad, the witch and the Wardrobe.
4 - I know I've written Magneto a bit OOC ish here. It's more like the Magneto from the movie. He's groovy in that! Nicking off with people's blood . . . ^_~
Anyway, I'll try to get this up as soon as I can. But please review! Ya know ya wanna. :p
DB
xxx