Disclaimer: I own the bad plot unfolding here and no more than that...
Star-of-Chaos I know, sometimes I just feel very naughty. And you'll have to wait for the answer even more, just see...
Dark Elf3 I write the way I talk, imagine a conversation with me or even worse; me giving a lecture or something. Chaos ensured. Could you pass on some snow to my place? I could use a vacation, but all we have here is watery, dirty, snowy, rainy stuffy. *sigh* *nagging voice * I wanna make a snow man! :)
Leann A real kid's friend, our Cajun. And of course a talented thief…Those two things somehow just don't combine the way they should, do they?
Caliente Eh, I think you're on the wrong type of fanfic-flow there...Wolverine bringing in a pet Cajun...somehow that sounds a bit off. ;) I mean, yeah, the story started with that, but the actual Story (with capital s) started at the point where Bishop made his entrance and told the x-men had /will have died in the future. :) Anyway, yes I know about the fight, sorry, but I just wanted to post something. Don't want to keep anyone waiting too long. See the pathetic excuse, there? :)
Streetwise Girl I was having a perfectly fine day, but then you started threatening me and now...nah, still having a good day. Here's an update, so now you can like me still.
Ishandahalf Remy, although very happy with the points, wonders if he could trade the points for aspirins. :) The x-men had to loose, because…well read the story and you might find out why Remy was considered the traitor.
Saddlydeprived My fic causes disobedience, ey? Ha, ha, good! And of course I'll continue, you reviewed...:)
Epona tas had a bit of it...but I agree evo has nothing of the sort...grrrrr. But here I'm making up for that. :)
Peace215 What a coincidence; I couldn't have done it better myself either! :D I heard they cancelled it cos it got too gloomy and dark. But that was the nicest bit of it...I'll never get it...Anyway, hope you like this chapter too.
_shadow (review chap 1) Accents? With s? As in more than one? Wow. Didn't know I did that...I'm better than I thought. Don't go too mad, though, might be bad for someone else's health...
Chere Well, I can't disagree on the weird bit. ;) But is that really a bad thing? I'm weird. But that's okay, we need weirdo's to make the rest of the people feel sane.
A/N Shortest chapter ever. But I wanted a cliffhanger, hang with me, okay?
*********************************************
''Professionalism''
Fissie
Storm was the first to wake from her coma. She found herself trapped with her hands in restraints above her head. She opened her eyes and saw the rest of the team in similar position. They were all trapped like that, hanging on the wall of a large round room. In the middle of the room was a large cylindrical device, blocking the view to her fellow x-men on the opposite side.
She heard a load groan; Wolverine was also waking up. But something was wrong. He kept on screaming and groaning in pain.
''Wolverine!'' She exclaimed.
Wolverine couldn't respond. The pain he was in was unbearable.
Scott woke up to the loud screams. He noticed his visor was gone, so he didn't dare opening his eyes. ''What is it?''
Wolverine managed to speak a few pained words. ''Can't...hea-healing...factor...argh...gone.''
''What?'' Rogue was suddenly wide-awake too.
''He says his healing factor is gone.'' Scott clarified.
Beast woke up too and understood the situation quickly. ''Which means the adamantium bones in his body and his claws are killing him.''
Kitty woke up too and decided to step out of her constraints, which should be simple enough. She tried. ''I can't phase through!''
Slowly everyone else woke up too. Jean tried to establish a telepathical link with...anyone. But she couldn't. ''I can't contact anyone.'' The same kind of sound came from all x-men. They're powers seemed to be gone.
Scott carefully opened his eyes. ''Our powers, they're gone!'' Always perceptive, isn't he?
''Someone....give...the man a...fucking..nobel...prize.'' Wolverine spat.
Beast assessed the situation. ''I suspect the cylinder in the middle of the room is the cause of our current deficiency.''
''Why?'' Jean asked from the other side.
''I can clearly distinguish 'Mutant power restriction cylinder, prototype VI' in big black letters on a yellow surface on this device in our midst.''
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Gambit kept on crawling through the vent system. Suddenly he spotted a big room with a large cylindrical device in the middle through a small hole. He saw his teammates, trapped with restraints on the wall. The restraints seemed as seamless as his own collar. No way he could ever get them off, at least not in this drug-hazed state. The x-men didn't sound very happy. Didn't look very peachy either, especially Wolverine.
He heard Beast words with slight difficulty. ~Mutant power restriction cylinder? 'F I disconnect dat device, dey'll be able t' get out easy.~ It seemed like a good idea.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
''Prototype? Zat doesn't sound too good.'' Kurt was not happy about the situation.
Rogue looked over at a small paper filled table at her side. ''That's cos you haven't seen these notes yet.'' She read them aloud. '' 'Attempt three; currently active. Attempt one; failed, result in two escapes. Assumed short-circuit in restraints. Attempt two; failed, result in death of subjects. Assumed short-circuit M.P.C.'.''
''Deaz of subjects?'' Kurt was not happy at all.
''I am afraid that we are 'attempt three'. I believe that we have been chosen to be guinea pigs.''
''Zat doesn't sound good at all.''
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
So, a short-circuit in the cylinder's electrical wiring had caused the death of certain subjects. ~Hmmm. Maybe I better find de electric lock t' de restraints, den. Don' wan' kill dem.~ He crawled out of the vent system, to a space between floors, right above the room his teammates were in. He spotted a loose steel plate and pulled it off. This was it, the mainframe of that room. A great mesh of wires unfolded before him. Remy started to scatter through the mesh with absolute orderliness to assess the type of circuit he was dealing with.
~Let's see, dis looks familiar. Nothin' out o' de ordinary. ~ Happy with that finding, he continued his search. For five minutes.
~Why's dis connected to dis? Makes no sense. And dis...hmmm, maybe not so ordinary.~ The wires of the cylinder and the restraints ran through each other without apparent order. Remy couldn't make anything of it. ~Don' panic LeBeau. Dis maybe a weird system, but it still a system. Dat means dere's some logic in it. Find it.~ He tried to categorize the wires, he tried to remember if the read anything in the files he had stolen so long ago. Nothing came to mind and no logic appeared in the mesh of wires, lights, buttons, panels and more wires.
This was getting annoying. ~Merde.~ He banged his fist on the wall.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Any attempts to get out on behalf of all x-men failed. Beast no longer possessed the strengh he needed and non of the others had any way of escaping. The only one who had a useful tool that wasn't part of his mutancy was Wolverine, but the pain he was in made it impossible for him to extend his claws. All the poor man could do was try not to cry out in pain.
''What's that sound?'' Evan suddenly asked.
''What sound?'' Storm had not heard anything.
''Nothing. Must have been my imagination.''
''I hope so.'' Kurt was still not happy.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
The banging on the wall caused something inside the network to make a bit of a clicking sound.
~'Click'?~ he looked at the panel that had made that sound and saw no change in it. ~Whad'ya mean 'click'? I didn' ask f'r 'click'. Don' go clickin' on me!~ Remy was getting really frustrated and sighed for the umpteenth time this day. ~Were are de old days o' high tech laser systems? Least dey make sense.~
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
''Do you think zis is how ze X-men die?'' Kurt didn't want to know, but the question was nagging his brain.
''I do not know.'' Bishop stated. He had never known how the x-men died; he just had suspicions and knew the one who did it.
Kitty came up with an idea. ''But Xavier isn't here. He'll live, so this can't be, like, it.''
Scott wasn't convinced. ''Without us, it's easier to get to the professor. What will stop anyone?''
''Anyone? You mean Gambit.'' Bishop stated reluctantly.
''Still think it's him?''
''I do not know.'' Bishop had meant to say 'yes', but somehow even in this position, and with little prospects, part of his mind, refused.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Remy couldn't hear the conversation, just muffled words and loud groaning on Wolverine's behalf. On the bright side, he had narrowed the web of wires down to two. Two wires, a gray one and a red one. It was a very small bright side. Both seemed to lead to the restraints, although both also seemed to lie in an odd place to be able to cause a short-circuit in the restraints. They lay more in the direction of the cylinder and somehow Remy was afraid he might cause a short-circuit in the mutant power restriction device in stead. ~Gotta make a choice, but I don' particularly like de odds.~ He knew he had little choice, he had to get the x-men out of there as soon as possible, before the real testing began, before anyone noticed he had escaped, before anything bad happened to those children... He was sweating more than a composed thief ever should, but he couldn't help it. He wiped the sweat of his forehead. ~Remy, jus' pick a wire.~ He scolded to himself. ~Famous last words dose...~ He contemplated the set up one last time. ~Alright, let's be professional bout dis. 'F y' can' beat dem, make de next best rational choice.~ He sighed. ~Here goes...Ini mini miny mo.~ His finger pointed at the grayish wire. ~Gray it is.~ He took the steel panel he had lifted off before and placed it between his legs. He took the gray wire and placed it on the sharp edge of the plate...
*************************************************
A/N Evil is my middle name. Hope you liked it, will repost if you don't!
On next: Will it have been the right color? What if it's not?
Review and find out...