Chapter Twenty-Four
Cyclops glanced around at the approaching force and called out to Sid again.
"Jump down," he cried, "We have to get out of here!"
Sid turned and looked down at him. His eyes were blazing with fury. Had Cyclops seen Rebecca in the house earlier before the first explosion, he would have known she and this man were kin.
"I can't!" he shouted, "You don't understand! They have my sist…"
Sid's words were cut off as a barrage of bullets littered his chest. He choked as blood bubbled into his throat and fell backwards onto the ground. Cyclops knelt next to him and Sid began reaching towards the ruined cars… towards the broken glass…
Cyclops looked up at the troops in a sudden rage. They kill…why do they always kill? Jean had died because of people like this; hateful, pointless prejudice that only murdered and kept murdering. Cyclops stood and reached for his visor, he turned the beam to its highest setting and prepared to fire on the approaching men.
***
Wolverine walked toward the helicopter and Magneto smiled at him viciously.
"Welcome back to the war, soldier," he said condescendingly and Wolverine growled.
"You caused this," he spat, "Not them this time. You. Luckily, we got a little girl now who can tell us what Xavier can't pull from your mind."
Magneto stared at him with insulting pity, though noted his words thoughtfully.
"Now, now, my boy," he chided, "I did not construct the monster before you. But…rest assured…I'll find out who did. And then these toys will be a thing of the past…"
Wolverine leveled his claws at him, "You're not goin' anywhere, bub."
Magneto sighed with boredom and held one hand toward the growling man.
"Really, Wolverine," he said, "How do you plan to stop us?"
Wolverine froze in place as Magneto took control of his adamantium skeleton and, strangely, the X-Man did not struggle.
Magneto frowned curiously, and then spoke aloud.
"Mystique, prepare for departure."
There was no answer, and he frowned. Looking back, he saw Mystique's cold yellow eyes staring forward, at Logan. She did not move, even as he said her name again.
On the other side of the aircraft, Sabertooth also sat in perfect stillness, the sneer frozen on his face. All around Magneto, the world fell silent, except for the whirring blades of the helicopter and the steady steps of the Sentinel.
He lowered the hand pointed at Wolverine and stepped off the aircraft. Every living person around him had been stopped in their tracks, and he heard a new sound approaching.
"Charles…" he said and gazed upward as another small craft lowered from the sky. In the front windows, he could see the pale face of Rogue staring out at him angrily. The expression was similar to Logan's, a little of the Wolverine left over inside of her.
There was a burst of air, and a soft sound.
Bamf.
In a cloud of blue smoke, Xavier and Nightcrawler appeared before him.
The Sentinel took another step and Magneto smiled.
"Hello, old friend," Xavier said without good humor, "This ends now."
The Sentinel took another step and Magneto shook his head.
"No, I don't think so," he replied, and pointed to the sky, "Look up, Charles. This is what they'll use next time they attack your school. It has already gathered three, one of yours, one of mine, and an innocent. Remember Stryker's plans, his ultimate work, and know he was not the only one with such goals."
Without another word, Magneto spun and leapt aboard the helicopter. Nightcrawler glanced down toward the Professor.
"I could stop him, if you would like," he said softly and Xavier shook his head.
"No," he said sadly, and then glanced at the bleeding man at Cyclops's feet, "I'm afraid we have more dire needs at the moment."
The helicopter lifted to the air, just as the Sentinel swiped on large fist toward it. It missed and gazed upward as Magneto flew away. Charles looked up at the machine with eerie calmness. He had no control over this device, and it began to march away slowly, passing the still soldiers and ignoring the other mutants. Its task was complete…for now and it was heading back to its creator.
Xavier released the other X-Men from his hold and Wolverine stumbled forward in confusion. He straightened his shoulders as he noticed the immobile troops and glanced back at the Professor with annoyance.
"I hate when you do that," he said and marched to his companions.
***
Cyclops stood over the wounded mutant and examined the bullet impact sights gravely. The pool of blood on the grass was spreading rapidly and he doubted the man would live.
Sid tried to speak, reaching for the broken glass feebly. He mouthed the word but Cyclops did not understand.
Glass… he thought loudly, I need glass…GIVE ME GLASS!
I hear you, a voice rang in Sid's head, Don't be afraid.
"Scott," Xavier's voice called, "Bring him here."
"Professor, he's wounded, we can't move him," Cyclops replied, but Xavier shook his head.
"Trust me."
Cyclops put his hands underneath Sid's shoulders and pulled him closer to the ruined pile of automobiles. To his surprise, tinkling pieces of broken glass began to move toward the bleeding mutant.
Sid closed his eyes as the glass filled his wounds and felt the microscopic particles forming with his own, making new skin…new blood.
After few moments, Sid opened his eyes and looked up at the upside down blue face of Nightcrawler, who was smiling happily.
"He is alive!" he exclaimed and Sid began to sit up slowly. The molecules of the glass were still being changed into living cells, but he did not have time to wait for his body to heal.
"My…I…" he coughed and Xavier looked at him sternly.
Speak in your mind, he sent and Sid nodded.
It took my sister, and two others, we have to stop it, Sid sent back.
Xavier looked toward the machine as it moved away, and frowned deeply. This new devilry was not created from Stryker's work alone. There was something else…
Mary had said they had to fear the General. Could Stryker have lived? That's what Magneto was going to find out…
Suddenly, the machine began to fold in on itself and once again became a hovering disk, and disappeared into the night sky.
"Ready the jet, Scott," Xavier said, "Kurt and I will go with you and Logan. Rogue can take the wounded back to the mansion. We will track the path of that device and find out where it came from."
Sid struggled to his feet, "I'm coming with you then…"
Xavier turned to the mutant, "I think you should see our doctor…"
He paused as Sid reached toward one cracked windshield; the glass streaming into his body threw the holes in his suit. After another moment, he stood firmly and his hard blue eyes were filled with rage.
"I don't need a doctor," he said darkly, and Xavier regarded him silently.
Sid smiled charmingly, a practiced skill but his eyes did not change, "Either I go with you… or I go on my own. We'll race…it'll be fun…"
There was a tremble in Sid's voice, and Xavier heard a strange ferocity there that did not seem to go along with his otherwise debonair appearance. Something of the fury he saw, something just a little mad…
"Fine," the Professor said, "I'm Charles Xavier."
"I know…" Sid said arrogantly, "I'm Sid…let's go…"
Storming past the others, Sid headed toward the small jet quickly.
Logan glanced at Xavier and laughed, "Ok, then."
The X-Men headed off in separate directions, one team returning to the mansion, the others following Magneto, and the Sentinel.
***
Author's note: Three chapters in a day. Aren't Thursdays great? We're supposed to start getting a big snow storm tomorrow, so if I don't have work, I'll have time to get the rest of this book down. Oh, Canada send some of that weather down this way! :-)
Oh, did you know BAMF isn't in MS Word spell checker? Neither is adamantium. The things you learn when writing fan fic… :-)