Chapter Sixteen:
Sid Malloy walked through the dark hanger a few steps ahead of Xavier's humming wheelchair. His hands were curled into fists, and Sid fought the urge to take the small lump of glass from his pocket. Manipulating it was a nervous habit, one he was not really trying to break, but this was certainly not the situation to be distracted by the call of the glass.
Sid privately thought it was the most perfect of substances.
Glass, clear and strong, but also could be beautiful and pliable. Glass was more liquid than solid he felt, simply a liquid of the highest viscosity; one only he had complete power over. From the largest buildings to the smallest of microchips, all relied on glass to exist, and he had control over that.
So, why did he feel so helpless now? This entire compound was singing, as he sensed the glass around him. And, he was also in the presence of Charles Xavier, one of the most powerful mutants in the world.
Sid sighed with frustration, adjusting the tattered remains of his expensive suit. He would have ditched the coat all together if it was not so cold.
Xavier regarded the young man curiously as he walked. There was so much going on in Sid Malloy's thoughts, he could have made up for the minds of all the missing soldiers. It was as if a great debate was constantly raging within Sid, and the Professor wondered what part of him would eventually win out.
When they reached the middle of the hanger, Xavier stopped and closed his eyes.
"Just a moment, Mr. Malloy," the Professor said. Sid turned around and watched as Xavier placed his fingers on his temples.
"I'm going to contact Cyclops...and the others," Xavier said and sighed, "All the others..."
***
To those within this compound who can hear me...
Follow the call of my mind to find the way out...
***
Every mutant inside Stryker's base heard Xavier's psychic message.
Although, not everyone listened to what he had to say.
Gambit stopped suddenly as Xavier's voice filled his mind. He glanced around, expecting to see the older gentleman wheel around the corner, but all he found were the others looking as surprised as he was.
Nightcrawler grinned with relief, "It's the Professor."
Raising one hand to her head, Rebecca frowned as she listened.
"Whoa," she said softly, "That's a weird feeling. Almost like..."
Her eyes widened, as she felt Sid's presence in the compound with Xavier, an echo of her brother in the Professor's mind.
From a short distance ahead, Pyro was staring darkly over at the two X-Men. He knew Xavier's voice well enough to have recognized it right away, but he felt himself wanting to shrink away from it. He had no interest in being under the Professor's watchful eye, and mind, again.
Toad was glaring angrily at the floor as the Professor message passed through his mind. He had hated the feeling of telepathic interaction since Xavier had taken control of his mind outside the Westchester Train Station almost two years ago. It had been violating, an intrusion into his private thoughts. Those invasive feelings caused unwanted memories to surface, and Toad now struggled to keep them locked away.
"My brother's with him," Rebecca said and her voice drew Toad back to reality. She was grinning at the blue X-Man and then began to walk forward again. Rebecca paused by Toad and Pyro and urged them on.
"Let's go...they're in that front hanger you were talkin' about," she said quickly, "It's this way..."
"You don't know that," Toad said.
"No, she's right," Pyro said, earning a glare from his teammate, "That's the way me and Sabertooth came in..."
"Great...then we're agreed...let's go," Rebecca said, still grinning, but looked anxious to finally be out of this place, "My feet are freezing..."
"Just a moment," Nightcrawler said and the others watched as he closed his eyes as in prayer.
Excellent, they all felt Xavier's voice say again, We must leave this place as soon as possible.
Nightcrawler opened his eyes and smiled bashfully. The others were staring at him in confusion
"Sorry," he said, "I spoke to the Professor, telling him we found you, Remy, and the others, and that we are on our way out. You just heard his answer back."
Rebecca grinned again shook her head, "Too weird. But a lot easier than cell phones, I guess."
"Oui, mais," Gambit began, looking slightly concerned, "You must be very careful, no? What if you were thinking about something...private..."
"Private?" Rebecca repeated doubtfully, and then began to walk forward, "I don't wanna know, Remy…"
***
Cyclops paused in his stride as the Professor's voice filled his mind.
"Logan!" he called. Wolverine continued to run after Sabertooth and did not turn around.
"I heard him!" Wolverine called back, "That's not gonna stop those two little guys from getting' torn open if they get caught."
Cyclops frowned as Logan ran on but focused on speaking to Xavier first.
Professor, Logan and I are tracking two unknown mutants being chased by Sabertooth. They were telekinetic, and attacked us and him. We're in pursuit…
***
The twin telekinetic mutants ran down the hall, a short distance ahead of Sabertooth. They spun quickly around one dark corner and looked at each other desperately.
"Max…" the lighter-haired twin said between deep breaths, "What do we do?"
"Don't worry, Jack," the dark-haired twin replied, "We just have to focus again…"
A roar echoed toward them from down the hall. Jack shook his head doubtfully.
"My head really hurts…" he said and Max nodded.
"Mine does, too," he agreed, and wiped his lip absently, as a trickle of blood ran from his nose.
The pair was barely thirty years old, but their expressions now seemed decades younger. They were two of the original six survivors of the Lot experiments, artificially created mutants, with very unstable powers.
Suddenly, they met each others gaze as a voice echoed in their minds.
To those within this compound who can hear me...
Follow the call of my mind to find the way out...
They heard Xavier's words, and identical frowns covered their faces.
"There is no way out…" Jack said.
A roar echoed again, much closer, and the twins glanced back fearfully.
"Let's run…" Max said and pulled his brother along, who also now had a nosebleed.
Their powers were more than unstable. Over the long years under experimentation, their powers were slowly killing them.
***
Magneto was walking, with Mystique at his side, toward the front hanger once again. The disks containing the information from the compound's computers were safely secured within one deep pocket of his personally constructed uniform.
When he felt Mystique's hand grip his arm tightly, he paused and frowned. Her eyes were wide and, after a moment, she glanced up at him calmly.
"Xavier is here," she said, "He just called out to anyone who could hear him, directing them to the exit."
Magneto nodded, "Very well. Charles knows we are here, and he will be expecting us to find him in that hanger."
He glanced back the cold hall in the direction they had come from. He wondered again about the source of the ice that had destroyed the information room.
"Quickly, now, my dear," he said and they began to walk forward again.
***
There was one individual, however, who was not a mutant…yet, had heard Xavier's words.
The storm and snow outside became more intense as the stranger raged through the shadows and ice beneath the mountain. He felt as the other mutants answered back, beginning to make their way to the hanger…to find the way out…
The stranger moved toward the front hanger, and took form on the grated levels overlooking where Xavier was sitting in his silver wheelchair.
The Sentinel had successfully incapacitated both of Xavier's followers who could have interfered with the storm and ice around them. Yet, the others may still escape under Xavier's leadership.
His previous conversation with the good Professor had been brief. This time, he expected Xavier would have more to say…