Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 13
Chapter 5: Don't Blow It
Monet St Croix had been huddled up in the branches of a tree for two hours, unsure what she should do. She'd thought she had it all planned out until the moment the clones had heard the clasp fall to the ground. She wished she hadn't been so stupid as to have put it in her hair in the first place.
If only I hadn't changed this would NEVER have happened, she fretted, she glanced from the tree towards the estate as she absently played with a lock of her long silky black hair. She was lost, she had no idea how to handle the situation. She didn't want to rush in throwing her fists left and right and murder any more of them, no matter how terrible what they had done was.
All the instructors are right, I do things without thinking and don't consider the consequences, I should have planned this out properly before I rushed in. She thought of how many times during training sessions she'd rushed in and done what she wanted and always came out looking good. Sheer luck, nothing more, but now it seemed that luck had ran out.
Despite what she'd thought, she found that the instructors had been right all along. Training sessions and actual missions were quite different, and she as a student should have known her place and left the real missions to Sean and Moira.
But hope was not completely lost, she realised. There were other ways into to the mansion and the subbasements without needing to go through the front door or the windows. She drew her breath, all was not lost.
I can't give up yet, she thought, frowning. Right now I AM their only hope.
Rogue placed down another pile of bricks near John Proudstar, "how long have you been in this place?" she asked curiously.
"Almost two years, I think, I have lost track of time. The first six months I was using a stone to scrape off the number of days on the wall, but after a while, it seemed pointless, as I am sentenced to life in here."
"What did you do?" Rogue asked.
"I stopped the murder of a mutant by an angry mob of humans," John sighed, "it's a funny thing, really. When I saved his life, I forfeited my own."
Rogue looked at him, "if you'd known back then that you'd end up in here for doing that…would you still save him?"
John smiled, "absolutely."
"You'd make a good X-Man," Rogue smiled a little also, "We could use a guy like you in our team…" she added and flew back down to grab some more bricks from the pile to bring up again. "My powers feel limited," she huffed breathlessly, she took her hair in her hands and twisted it, slipping it beneath the back of her coveralls to keep it out of her way.
"They will be," John nodded, "they got guards and clones all over the place controlling the MX2Beetles."
"The WHAT?" Rogue raised an eyebrow, she wiped the sweat from her brow. The heat in Genosha was staggering. She'd once thought nothing could be hotter than summer in Mississippi, but now she had learned otherwise. Her coverall was already soaked with sweat so that it clung to her uncomfortably.
"The thing on your neck," John replied, "it's called the MX2beetle. It's feeding MX2 into your bloodstream, and in the smallest dose it will limit your powers instantly – the more limited they are, the easier they are to keep tabs on. In a normal dose you'll be powerless in seconds."
"What's MX2?" Rogue asked, she wiped the sweat off her brow with the sleeve of her coveralls and took a few deep breaths, trying to cool down.
"MutantX2," John said grimly.
Rogue let out a little gasp, "I thought that went out of circulation seven years ago…" she chewed her lip.
"It did…but it's back…" he stated, "more powerful than ever, and it can be controlled more easily too…" John explained, "a wise man I shared a cell with a year ago told me that his thoughts were that something in MutantX2 prepares the body for the electrical surges that the clones throw off at us every once in a while, and that while the pain will stay the same, the body will remain more immune to it – which explains why so many of us have survived so many shocks."
Rogue despaired, "this place is a living nightmare…" she felt like breaking down and crying, "how can people actually TREAT us this way…? Isn't this a violation of human rights?"
"Does a mutant even have human rights anymore?" John asked thoughtfully, "The government doesn't seem to think so really, they're behind it all as far as I can tell although we can only go by what the others learned before they were thrown in here. But way I see it, this has to be the Government, otherwise I don't see where the funding for this would come from…government has wanted rid of Mutants since day one, and now it looks like this is their way of doing so," he continued to press down bricks as he talked to her.
Rogue stared in disbelief over the hundreds of mutants who were working over the site. Further away she could see Logan, Piotr and Scott helping construct framework for the building, Logan and Piotr helping place heavy steel girders while Scott used his optic blasts on a fine laser like setting from his optic visor to meld the joins together perfectly. She searched further through the mass of mutants and spotted Ororo, using her powers to create small rain clouds to bring water down to mix cement.
Rogue wondered where the Professor was, and if he was alright. There didn't seem to be anything the Professor could participate in here, and that couldn't be a good thing.
"BACK TO WORK!" Rogue heard a yell, and a jolt of electricity surged through her sending her shaking, she fell onto the platform, trembling still. Her body felt as if several pins and needles were rattling around inside of her afterwards, and she lay there for moments, trying to recover.
John knelt down and helped her up, "are you alright?"
"Yes…" Rogue sat up, she clamped her hand on her neck, the pain most intense there, "just a little frazzled…" she pulled herself up, "I better get back to work…" she groaned. She glanced around to try and spot the clone who had done this to her, but saw no sign of
"Let me give you some advice, Rogue…" John said softly, he picked up a brick from the pile near Rogue's leg, "don't stop to think, think while you work, if you need to talk, talk while you work," he explained, "don't let them catch you off guard, agree with everything they say despite it goes against everything you ever believed in."
Rogue nodded, listening, she flew down to the pile of bricks on the ground, picked up a load, and came back up to the tower. "Any more advice?" she asked sadly.
"Don't mess with the clones. They've messed up so many people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and happened to annoy them…" John stated. "And most importantly," he added as he lay some cement down on the wall and slapped the brick down hard, "never show them your weakness…because they'll take full advantage of it."
"They already know my weakness," Rogue said sheepishly.
"And that is?" John asked.
Rogue sighed, "that I'm in love with Remy LeBeau. And the problem is…they're all a part of him."
Kitty found Jean in the large laundry room folding prison uniforms, Jean looked tired, and bruised, she'd obviously put up a fight and suffered. Her cheek was pink and swollen, her lip cut. "Thank god you're safe," Kitty rushed to hug her quickly.
"I'm glad you're okay too," Jean moved back, "have you seen the others?"
"No, you and Ororo are the only ones I've seen," Kitty explained, "me and Rogue are in the same cell."
"I saw Logan and Scott being taken outside," Jean said, "the clones have been leading everything so far."
"Your powers are negated?" Kitty asked.
"Another new girl?" Lorna asked, "one of the X-Men too?" she stepped over.
Kitty gestured to Lorna, "Jean, this is Lorna, Lorna, this is Jean," she gestured back to Jean.
Jean sighed, "both telepathy and telekinesis are completely negated, I can't do a thing with my powers," she stated to Kitty.
"Crap," Kitty winced, she'd hoped it might be different with Jean, but it seemed that she too was in the same bind.
"Well…yeah," Lorna nodded, she pretended to be working by taking some uniforms out of the dryer, "telepaths are always sent to the laundry or kept in their cells," she admitted, "we figure it's because they'd be a threat to this place if they can send a telepathic S.O.S out further than Genosha."
Kitty sighed, "there must be a way out of here."
Lorna leaned close to Kitty and whispered, "if you're smart, you won't talk about trying to make escapes in here…the ones who do get taken by the clones and shoved into solitary for a week."
"That doesn't sound so bad…" Kitty gave a shrug, not fully understanding the consequences of being caught planning escape.
"You don't GET it," Lorna whispered, and her bright green eyes became wide and dangerous, "solitary is a tiny little cell – like a closet, only smaller. You're boxed in, so tight you can barely move. There's no sounds or light, its so dark…And it's hot…so hot…" her eyes glistened with tears, "I've been in there…it's…its like a nightmare you can't get out of..." she looked away, "a few of us who went into solitary went mad…totally insane…if you're smart…you won't let yourself end up that way."
"BACK TO WORK," the voice of one of the clones hollered over an intercom and everyone in the laundry room felt a sharp jolt of electricity.
"GEEZ!" Kitty sucked in a breath of pain, "there has GOT to be a way to disable this…" she winced.
"Yeah, try and be electrocuted to death," Lorna said. "I've seen people die in here trying…just…make the most of it right now..." she kept her voice so low Kitty had to strain to hear it, "the X-Men are the only hope for ALL of us…please don't blow it."