Chapter X


The hollow clack of the gun's empty chamber echoed throughout the control room. Pietro, who had been expecting death was as stunned as Erik was by the gun's emptiness. Erik managed to recover his wits quickly and even gave a small smile. He reached into his jacket for a new clip, but Pietro had already brought his own gun up and fired.
The sound of a shot roared in the empty control room. Father and son stared into each other's eyes and then Erik slumped to the floor, his empty pistol slipping from his nerveless grasp. Pietro pulled himself to his feet and walked over to Erik, who's breathing was shallow and irregular. Even when he was seconds from death Erik managed a smile, which chilled Pietro to his soul. "Well done Pietro," Erik whispered. "I didn't think you had it in you." A thin trickle of blood slid down his chin. "You really are my son."
"I am not your son," Pietro said flatly.
Erik laughed, a horrible gurgling sound that told Pietro his father's lungs were already filling up with fluid. "Still, you have to get out of here before the whole place comes down around you." Erik shuddered slightly. "I may still have some measure of revenge," he murmured, before shuddering again and then finally becoming still.
Pietro turned his back on his father's corpse and limped away, leaving his father's corpse amidst the ruins of the room where he had attempted to murder millions of people.

The man known as the Wolverine, most feared of all assassins, was in a world of pain. He had managed to drag himself from the châteaux all the way to the landing field where he collapsed to the floor. He clutched at his stomach where X23 had plunged her knife into him. Anyone else would have succumbed to the pain by now but Wolverine was not 'anyone'. He managed to pull a small hypodermic needle from his belt and plunged it into his stomach. Instantly the pain in his stomach subsided. He was just lucky that X23 hadn't utilised poison.
He reached into his pocket and pulled a small device out of it. He punched a key code into it and then sagged back against the floor. "Come on Chuck…"

Remy and Rogue quickly found Kitty's cell and unlocked it. Kitty was shocked to see them but she didn't pause to ask questions. They only had three minutes to get out before the châteaux would self-destruct. They hurried past Raven's corpse and down the hall until they came to a junction. Here Remy came to an abrupt halt. "Do either of you know which way we should go now?"
Rogue shrugged and Kitty shook her head. Remy sighed. "I guess we'll just have to guess." He looked at both ways in the junction. One way was to carry on straight down the corridor they were already on, whilst the other was to turn right up a flight of stairs. After a few mere seconds he nodded. "We'll go right."
After several dozen steps they came to another corridor, devoid of people as before. They advanced into the corridor and cautiously looked around. They were rewarded for their observations when Kitty found a lift that said 'LANDING FIELD' next to a button. They all clambered into the lift and hit the button. After three seconds the lift doors closed and lift smoothly began its upward journey.

Pietro limped up a flight of stairs, unsure as to how to get out of the châteaux. For the first time he felt the icy claw of terror grip him. What if Kitty couldn't find a way out? He couldn't bare the thought of her buried under tons of rubble it the châteaux self-destructed. Infused with a new purpose Pietro increased his speed as fast as his injured leg would allow him. He continued to climb a long flight of stairs knowing that he needed to find Kitty before this place came down on top of them.
Unfortunately he was heading in completely the wrong direction.

The lift came to a smooth stop and the doors opened. Remy, Rogue and Kitty tumbled out and looked around. They were in a small room and through the window they could see the landing field.
We made it! Remy could almost have cried in relief. Despite everything, we made it!
The three hurried outside and were suddenly seized in a maelstrom of activity. Men ran in each and every direction, each one trying to get away from the châteaux. Apparently Erik hadn't thought it necessary to train his men in an evacuation drill, with the result that men were just leaping onto any vehicle they could find, often fighting several others to get on it, and those who could not get a vehicle merely ran as fast as they humanly could.
Rogue ran over to an open topped four-wheel drive, whose engine was stalling and the driver was desperately trying to coax it to life. Rogue grabbed the driver and pulled him out of his seat and took his place. "Come on!" she shouted to the other two, who joined her swiftly. Rogue tried to start the engine, but it stalled again. "Come on!" she swore at the jeep, kicked the floor and suddenly the engine started. "Yes!" was about to slam her foot on the accelerator when Kitty suddenly stopped her. "What about Pietro?" Kitty asked, her face tight with anxiety.
Rogue chewed her bottom lip. She didn't like to say it, but… "Kitty, Pietro's got less than a minute to get out of there. The odds of that happening are…"
"Never quote me the odds!" Kitty cut her off. "We have to go back for him!"
"Kitty the only thing we do by returning to the châteaux is put ourselves in danger." Remy spoke up from the other side of Kitty. "There's nothing you or I can do about Pietro now."

Pietro waited nervously as the lift slid to halt. He had suddenly realised that he was going the wrong way and, despite the pain in his leg, had run to the nearest lift. He had punched in 'LANDING FIELD' and the he hoped that the lift had got him here quickly enough. Well at least I won't know if it hasn't.
Pietro hurried out of the lift and limped across to the door that led to the Landing Field. Outside, he thought he could glimpse Kitty, Remy and Rogue and hope surged through his sould.
"Warning!" the mechanical voice rang out and Pietro knew what was coming. "Self-destruct in three, two, one, zero!"

"No!" Kitty said and jumped down from the jeep. Remy shook his head and followed her but neither had gone more than half a dozen paces when a huge explosion knocked them both off their feet. They were stunned slightly but both regained their feet in time to see the châteaux explode as if something huge was smashing the walls out from the inside. Huge chunks of masonry smashed to the ground around them and they quickly retreated to the jeep where Rogue slammed her foot on the accelerator. The jeep sped twenty metres away and then they turned to watch as dust from the châteaux's explosion billowed out, polluting the clear Swiss air. Despite their watering eyes and their itching throats, only one thought was on their minds. Pietro had still been inside when the châteaux had exploded.

Hope you like Chapter 10 Ishandahalf. Thanks for the review for Chapter 9 and 11 should be up soon. Meanwhile, keep the reviews coming!