The Truth Hurts
Chapter XXXVI: The Truth Shall Set You Free
By: Michelle
DISCLAIMER: For this chapter, I combined quotes from the comics, X-men Evolution: Ascension II, and X-men: Bloodlines. It was just to hard to footnote each individual quote. I don't own any of them. I just used them for my own evil intentions. LOL :P
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At the top of the stairway, they looked around seeing three tunnels.
"Which one?" Jubilee asked looking around.
Wolverine inhaled the air. He could smell them. He looked at the burn marks on the wall and water on the floor. "Iceman is down the right tunnel, with Pyro not far behind. GO."
Jubilee and Colossus nodded and ran down the left tunnel.
Wolverine could smell Storm's scent drifting from the middle tunnel. Damnit, Mystique is after her. He paused hearing Graydon and the F.O.H. making their way up the stairs. Shit. After seeing Sabretooth fall, he knew he had a better chance with Mystique and headed down the middle tunnel.
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"Hello Mutter." Graydon said as he stopped a few feet in front of her. He gave her one of the most sinister smiles he possessed. "You look surprised to see me."
"I'm more surprised that you are still alive." Mystique remained silent as she studied the son she hated most. "I should have killed you long ago, when I realized you would never be a mutant."
"Yes…well." Graydon just smiled in agreement. "Maybe you should have done the same thing to your first born son."
"You mean Kurt." Mystique laughed. "That was an entirely different matter. I tried to kill Kurt for a means of self-preservation."
Graydon eyed her hard, waiting for her explanation. That's it Mutter. The Truth shall set you free.
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Rogue looked up to see Gambit smiling weakly at her. She could tell by the way his eyes were slowly dulling that he was trying to fight it. "Do you think you can stand by yourself?"
"Gambit dink so." He replied and leaned one hand on the wall.
She watched as he took his arm from around her shoulder to hold his injured side as he leaned on the wall. "We need to get out of here."
"Then, what are we waiting for?" Iceman snapped at them. "He's got legs. He can walk." Gambit is so full of shit. He's just pretending to be hurt so Rogue can drool all over him.
Gambit sucked in a breath. He hated looking to weak and helpless "Come on." He used the wall to help him keep his balance. As he walked forward, he began talking to keep his mind off the pain. "Where's dickless?"
Worried Gambit might fall, Rogue stayed near him. "He ran off after he hurt you and Bobby." She answered then looked at Iceman who was angry with her. "I couldn't stop him."
"It's not ya fault, Chere."
"So you're saying it's my fault." Iceman said as he turned and walked towards Gambit.
"Bobby, he didn't say it was." Rogue came to his defense. "What's your problem?"
"HE IS." Iceman yelled causing his face to turn a light shade of blue and the tunnel grow colder as he pushed Gambit against the wall.
"Look mon ami." Gambit said as he pulled out a deck of cards from his back pocket. "Dis ain't de time or de place for Gambit ta kick ya ass."
"Stop it both of you. Please." Rogue put herself in the middle of the two to keep them from fighting. "We have bigger problems to worry about. Graydon…"
"Actually." They all turned to see Pyro walking towards them. "Graydon's the least of your worries." He said as he hummed a ball of fire in their direction.
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"I've been many women in my time. Some rich, some poor." She said as she shifted her body. "Rich I prefer."
Graydon held is composure as she shifted into a beautiful baroness with tan skin and long flowing brown hair.
"I worked my way up the social ladder by marrying Christian Wagner, a German baron." She explained. "I didn't love him, but he was worth the money he had. He gave me everything I ever wanted, except a child."
Wagner. Graydon sucked in a deep breath. Please, Lord give me strength.
"So, I found other ways to get what I wanted." She smiled at the thought of Kurt's father with her on the church alter. "But during my pregnancy, Christian grew suspicious. He didn't trust me." She turned and walked way a few feet. "So I sent him on a permanent business trip."
Graydon gulped knowing what was next. Stand beside me Lord, for I am afraid.
"My life was perfect, until Kurt was born." She turned shifting back into her demoness form. "He blew both our covers. The neighbors were not pleased, so I ran with him to the waterfall."
Graydon remained silent eagerly listening, despite how painfully it was.
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Wolverine turned the corner of the room he tracked their scents in. Storm sat on the floor looking like she been through shit. Mystique was pouring her guts out to the man she assumed was Graydon. With his keen sense of smell, he knew better.
Storm slowly stood up as she watched Mystique spill the truth about Kurt. She didn't know how he was staying so strong. How is this not eating him inside? It was hurting her to watch it happen. She stepped forward only to be stopped by her teammate.
"Darlin', don't." Wolverine placed a hand on her shoulder. "He's gotta do this himself." He said as she backed down. He knew it was something that had to be worked out on its own, even though the truth hurt.
Storm glanced at Wolverine who reeked of blood and sweat. "I know." She fought back the tears. "I just don't want him to go through it alone."
Wolverine gently squeezed her shoulder. "He knows he's not alone."
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Kitty sighed thankfully as she and the professor looked at Magneto's lair. I thought we'd never get here. It was like an obstacle course or something. And I thought the Danger Room was bad. She brushed leaves out of her hair. Well, that's the last time I phase through a tree.
Professor Xavier concentrated hard. "The F.O.H are already inside." He turned to his student. "Shadowcat, phase us through the door."
"OK." Kitty concentrated hard as she walked through the thick steal walls pushing Xavier's wheelchair."
Xavier looked around the room. Well at least we are on flat ground now. He rolled forward with Kitty following him. Seeing the crimson puddle on the floor, he rolled around it and looked at the bullet shells on the floor. Hunt the mutants down…….I want all of them dead. He could feel all the hatred from the F.O.H. invading the tunnels.
"Eeewww." Kitty complained since she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. "Like what is this?" It's like getting all over my uniform.
"Blood."
I think I'm going to be sick. Kitty thought as she walked over to Xavier. That was so gross. Then, she looked at the floor noticing the trail of bloody footprints. "Professor."
"Sabretooth." He replied. "And I don't think he is in a good mood either." He said feeling the hatred of Graydon flowing through him.
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Graydon took a deep breath as he listened to more, ignoring his girlfriend and friend who were listening in.
"Before they arrived, I shifted my body into a farmer." She admitted. "I told them that I already threw the demoness over the cliff and took her child." She could hear their cheers in the depths of her mind. "They cheered, wanting more. So I gave it to them."
Graydon felt like his heart was smashed into a million pieces
"I dropped him off the cliff." She smiled to herself as she slowly reached for her pistol. "I sacrificed his life to save my own. I never gave it a second thought"
Not only has she stabbed me in the back, but she has twisted the knife so the wound won't close. Graydon was so crushed inside that he didn't have the will to react. But it was her next words that allowed his anger to take control.
"And you know what, I never regretted. Not even once." She aimed the pistol at his head.
BAMF
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All three of them dodged the fireball heading in their direction. It was a universal conclusion that Pyro was pissed.
Gambit hit the floor again, not helping the pain he was in. Merde. He struggled to get up again.
Rogue didn't know what to do. She hated feeling so powerless. Her head was spinning in mass confusion as she sat up from her position on the floor.
Iceman threw shards of ice at him. Then, he jumped in the air and slide across an ice slide he created.
Pyro just laughed as he melted the shards into thin air. Dumbass. "I'm not letting you get away this time Drake." He directed his flames at the ice slide.
Unable to freeze the slide fast enough, Iceman slipped on the slick surface. He fell landing on his ankle the wrong way. As an instinct, he grabbed the throbbing ankle and looked up at his former friend knowing it could be his end.
Pyro smiled at his fallen adversary as he formed to fireballs in his hands. He was ready to throw them, but felt a glowing card against his neck.
"Dat ain't being such a good idea." Gambit said as he pushed the card tighter to Pyro's neck.
"So you're going to blow me up." Pyro smiled. "You know, I doubt Magneto would appreciate the redecoration."
"So don't give Gambit de excuse too." He replied.
"Oh I won't." Remembering the fuel tanks on his back, Pyro backed Gambit up against the wall.
Merde. Gambit's eyes widened as he felt a sharp pain run through his body. Now dizzy from the pain, he release his hold on Pyro and dropped the glowing card.
As soon as he felt his release, Pyro rushed away.
KABOOM.
Unable to react fast enough to avoid his own explosion, Gambit lost his footing and fell to the floor.
Two down, one to go. Pyro turned around to find Rogue as his next target.
Rogue glanced at Bobby and Remy. My heroes. She thought to herself as she faced Pyro in hand to hand combat. More like glove to hand combat if you ask me.
Pyro hated to admit it, but Rogue was fighting pretty good. She must be training with Wolverine. He thought as the few blows he received felt like steel hitting him. No matter. I've been training with Magneto and Mystique. We don't necessarily fight fair.
Rogue felt incredibly powerful as she fought Pyro. She was getting good hits on him and was blocking just the same. John throws such wimpy punches. She thought to herself. It feels like I'm being hit with a feather. Maybe someone should tell him his training with Magneto sucks. She back flipped out the way causing a few items to fall out of Gambit's trench coat.
Enough of these games. Using his fireballs, he blasted one her way. The force from it hit her hard, causing her to fly up against the wall. He smiled in victory as she fell to the floor.
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BAMF
Mystique could believe her eyes as Graydon disappeared into thin air. No. It can't be. He's not a mutant. She felt the pistol being swiped from her hand as she realized what had actually happened.
"It was no fault of his own." Kurt aimed the gun at her shocked expression. "Don't look so surprised Mutter. As far as deceptions go, this wasn't all that complicated." He reminded her of the band around his wrist.
"You used your image inducer to fool me." She wanted to die inside. "To pose as Graydon." She sucked in a deep breath. "Why?"
"Zimple explaination Mutter." He replied with a thick German accent. "You zend a shape shifter to catch a shape shifter-technological vonders notvithztanding."
"Kurt listen to me." She pleaded as he glared at her with hatred. "I didn't want you to find out this way. You must believe me." She said still seeing the pistol aimed in her direction. "When I learned you were alive, I wanted you to believe your mother was better than the person that I become. I wanted……"
"Alls I ever vanted vas the truth." He answered as his hand shook and his eyes burned with tears.
Storm's eyes filled with tears as she saw the love of her life breakdown. As she allowed the tears to fall, rain began to fall outside.
It was a rare occasion to see any of the X-men cry. Gambit always denied if you caught him in the act. Wolverine magically had something in his eye. Kurt was a different story. She had seen him cry on very few occasions, but never like this. It was killing her. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and tell him that everything was going to be alright.
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Rogue hit the wall hard, but she wasn't in any pain. Asshole. She slowly got up; thankful she had Gambit's trench coat protected her from Pyro's flames.
Damn. Pyro thougtas he watched her get up as if she was invulnerable. Time for some real action.
Rogue's eyes widened as Pyro created a dragon out of fire. She glanced to the left to see Iceman limping to help her. Then, she glanced to the right to see a stubborn Gambit holding his side as he painfully made his way over to help her.
Pyro's smile was enough to send shivers for their spines. He was known for his monster fireballs, but the idea of him creating and controlling a dragon out of fire was beyond scary.
Rogue's heart pounded in her chest as the fiery beast turned to gaze at them. Maybe Magneto trained him better than I thought.
Gambit's first instinct was to chuck a handful of cards at the beast. Like that would do any good. He thought remembering his explosions would only fuel the fire. I ain't gonna give it any more power than it has.
Oh shit. Iceman sent a stream of ice in the direction of the beast, but realized it was useless considering the ice was melted long before it reached the creature. Well, I always wanted to be cremated when I died.
Pyro watched as the sweat glistened on his target's bodies. The dragon advanced, but died just as quickly as it did. What the fuck?
"Problems John?"
Pyro turned as he heard the familiar voice of Jubilee waving Gambit's wire cutters in her hand. Then, he saw Colossus fist and that was the last thing he saw before falling to the ground.
"Hey guys." Jubilee smiled to her thankful friends. "You missed us."
"You have no Idea."
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"Kurt, I'm sorry." Mystique said as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I never wanted to hurt you. I was young and scared. Your real father abandoned me when I told him the news. I loved him and he didn't want us." She raised a hand to her eyes to wipe away some of the tears. "I did what I had to do to survive." She said truthfully. "And after I found out you were alive, I wanted to be there for you, but Margali and your father would never give me the chance to say I was sorry." She looked deeply into Kurt's golden eyes. "I'm sorry for everything I did to you."
"Zave it Mystique." The tears flowed down his cheeks. He wanted to believe her, but everything she ever seemed to say to him was a lie. "Even you don't believe your own lies." He flung the pistol hard behind her and it skid across the floor. He couldn't take it anymore as he dropped to his knees. "Just leave me alone."
Mystique walked slowly over to him and reached out to touch him, but she hesitated and pulled her hand back. "I love you, my son." She said softly and turned around.
I forgive you Mutter. Kurt tightened his eyes allowing more tears to fall. I forgive you.
"How touching Mutter?" Graydon said as he stepped out of the shadows with her pistol. "And after all this time, I thought you were just a cold hearted bitch." He gave her his most sinister looking smile. "Oh, that's right. You are."