Disclaimer: Okay, still don't own X-Men and I'm defiantly not making any money off of this so no one sue. You won't get nothing but a headache. Oh, but I do own Ebony. Yay me.
Authors Note: Everyone, y'all need to go and read Mercury Dream's stuff. It's really, really, really, really, really good. (Did I mention really?) A Rogue's Touch and All Grown Up are my favorites. So go read her stuff to. Now, quickly! Okay, more notes. This is taking place after Rogue absorbed Jean when Jean's powers grew and it's mentioned here but I'm not going into it. And I am in no way really following the story line of Evolution from TV. I'm just adding parts of the television story into mine to kinda tie them together more. And I apologize for the lack of anything really happening in the last chapter, but filler is just what it is. Hopefully this chapter will be better. Thanks all and enjoy. And I'm sorry about the tardiness of this chapter but hopefully the length will make up for it. I really meant to get it up sooner, but was struck with an excess of things to do over the break and then two finals this last week. And then next week is my official finals week where cramming, working and testing will take place so no guaranteed updates right now. I'll try my best but no promises.
'text' internal speech
dreams
Wandering Souls
Chapter 24: Shopping, Boys & the Metal Menace
"Like it's gonna be so great," Kitty went on as the girls sat around the kitchen table on an early Saturday morning. They had all just finished an early morning danger room session and had showered and dressed for the day. "I'm on the dance committee so it should be totally awesome."
"Why would anyone want to be on a dance committee?" Wanda asked as she hexed her knife, letting it butter her toast for her.
"To make sure it doesn't suck," Jubilee responded shoveling a mouthful of chocolate cereal into her face.
"Lahke it's gonna matter that yer on the committee Kit," Rogue stated, picking at her poppy muffin (AN I love those things…sorry.). "Do ya really think there gonna listen to ya?"
"Of course they will," Jean stated matter-of-factly.
"Besides, we'll like, never know if they will if we don't like, try," Kitty finished as she rose to put her bowl into the sink. "Anyway, I was like, totally thinking we could all go to the mall and dress shop today. We've only got like, two weeks before the dance."
"Is that all?" Amara asked filling her nails.
"Is what all luv?" John asked as he, Remy, Kurt and Scott entered the room.
"Apparently we only have two weeks to buy a dress for a stupid school dance that is guaranteed to put us all to sleep," Wanda stated.
"So, Evan hasn't asked you yet?" Kurt said smirking as he grabbed a bagel from the box on the counter.
"I don't see what that has to do with anything," Wanda huffed finding new fascination with her hands.
"Dat remind Remy," Remy said grabbing a mug of coffee and sitting next to Rogue. "What do y' say chere? Y' wanna go to de dance wit' Remy?"
"Ah don't know Swamp Rat," Rogue said, as she rested her chin in her hand, staring at him. "What's in it fer meh?"
"Well," he scratched his chin as if pondering the answer, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Y' git ta look at dis handsome face."
"Is that it?" Rogue replied amused as she watched him give her his best puppy dog pout. "Ah suppose, but ya have ta wear a tux."
"Anything for y' mon ange," Remy replied kissing her gloved palm before sipping his coffee slowly.
"It's settled then. We can, like all go shopping today," Kitty declared, a giddy expression in her eyes.
"Oh joy," Wanda replied sarcastically leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.
"Are you sure you're up to it?" Scott asked Jean softly, a worried look on his face as he watched her.
"I'm fine Scott. Really," Jean reassured him, looking lovingly into his eyes. It'd been two weeks since the pep assembly and one since Jean's powers grew out of her control and the X-Men, specifically Rogue and Scott, had to help her. "Besides, the Professor and I have been working on my control so I should be okay. Don't worry so much."
"I can't help it," Scott replied, brushing a stray hair from her eyes.
"So when do we leave then mates?" John asked as he manipulated a fireball Amara had created for him into a blooming rose.
"Let me just tell the others and Kurt, you call Amanda. We'll like, make a day of it. Shopping, lunch, everything," Kitty said, growing more excited by the minute.
Rogue and Wanda looked at one another, fear in their eyes.
"Gawd help us," Rogue stated as the two Goths shuddered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rogue settled into the back seat of the van in between Remy and Wanda as Kurt headed towards the mall parking lot. Kitty sat huffed in the passengers seat next to him, arms crossed over her chest as she fumed over not being allowed to drive. Jubilee, Piotr and Evan sat in the middle seat lost in their own conversations, ignoring Kitty's complaining. Scott and Jean had taken Amara and John in Scott's sports car and were going to pick Amanda up on the way.
"I still like, don't see why I couldn't drive," Kitty stated, glaring at the holographic image of a German boy covering her normally blue friend.
"Because girl," Evan said leaning over and sticking his head between the two front seats. "We all want to live." He pulled back and turned to Wanda, winking at her. She shot him a glare in return, debating for a few moments on hexing his seatbelt.
"Give it a rest Keety," Kurt replied as he entered the malls lot and began the search for a parking space.
"Listen to him p'tite," Remy said as Kurt parked the van next to Scott's waiting car and opened the door. "It not worth it non?" he offered Rogue his hand and helped her out of the vehicle as Evan jumped out after her.
"Allow me beautiful," he said to Wanda, offering her his hand as well.
Wanda glared at him and jumped out of the van on her own, her red coat billowing around her. "I don't need your help," she growled as she walked quickly to catch up with Rogue and the others, leaving a rather dumbfounded and wounded looking Evan behind.
They all gathered together in the front entrance of the mall, watching the throngs of shoppers go by as they mapped out a plan for the day.
"Okay, so like, we'll all go dress hunting while you guys go get your tux's and we'll like meet in the food court at 1:30," Kitty said looking around the group.
"Don't y' belle filles need our help?" Remy asked, snaking his arm playfully around Rogue's waist. "Dose dress's zip in de back non?" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at his girlfriend causing her to roll her eyes.
"Remy's got a point blokes," John said rubbing his hands together. "You Shelia's are gonna need experienced hands in there."
"We'll manage," Jean stated, kissing Scott's cheek before releasing his hand and walking over to join the girls.
"Ya boys have fun," Rogue said placing a gloved hand over Remy's mouth, kissing it quickly before wriggling out of his arms. "And keep Rem's outta trouble," she added as the girls headed off towards the dress shop.
"Y' wound Remy chere," Remy called out to her as he and the boys headed in the opposite direction towards the suit rental shop.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Why does he have to be such an idiot!" Wanda growled as she flung another dress roughly to the side of the rack, causing the hanger to scream in protest.
"He's not an idiot sugah," Rogue replied pulling out a red and black lace corset dress for Wanda to try on. "They need some remindin' from tahme ta tahme," Rogue added as she continued to browse through the dresses.
"No, he's just male," Jubilee agreed as she took the yellow strapless dress to the front to pay for. It was long and ended in a full skirt with silver threat embroidered into dragons on the skirt.
"Have you tried talking to him Wanda?" Jean asked as she stood before the mirror in a pale lavender gown, that fell off her shoulders in sheer material before moving seamlessly into a silk material, ending in a straight a-line past her feet, a slit up the side to her knee.
"What would I say?" Wanda asked walking into the dressing room.
"Just like tell him to get off his butt and ask you already," Kitty said as she examined the baby blue spaghetti strapped dress she wore. It had sparkles splashed over it and ended in a full skirt. "That like, worked on Lance."
"He probably just figures you two are going together anyway," Amara added, a mango colored sleeveless dress accenting her skin, ending at her knees in a full skirt.
"You think?" Wanda asked coming out in the dress. It was long and fell off her shoulders into long flared red sleeves, ending in black lace with a red corset top and long skirt. The lacing on the top was black as well and a black lace overlay fell over the red of the skirt.
"That's probably the case," Amanda reassured her, a pale pink dress hanging over her arm.
"Ah wouldn't worry too much about it sugah," Rogue said pulling a black and hunter green dress of the rack and admiring it for a moment. It was made out of a fine silk and flowed off the shoulders and met in a v at the chest. The sleeves were long and would end just below her wrists in small flares, hiding her gloves. 'This is it,' she thought as she turned to look at Wanda. "'sides, the boys know why yer mad at him. So if he doesn't know now, he will by the end of the day."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I just don't get it man," Evan complained as he sat next to Remy in the dressing room. Most of them had already found their suits for the dance and were now just waiting on the Kurt and Piotr. "It's just like, all of a sudden she hates me."
"She don't hate y' mon ami. She jus' be mad is all," Remy replied shuffling a deck of cards idly.
"But why?" Evan asked, still unable to comprehend why Wanda was so mad at him.
"Well lets see mate, is there maybe something you're forgetting to do?" John asked flipping his Zippo lid repeatedly.
Evan looked blankly at them still unsure what they were getting at. (AN Okay, before people start hating me, Evan's not a complete moron. I'll explain why he doesn't get it in a minute.)
"Perhaps there something you forgot to ask," Piotr added in as he looked at his suit in the mirror, his expression emotionless.
"Like what dude?" Evan asked, at his wits end.
"Have you asked her to the dance yet?" Scott asked exasperated.
"No, am I supposed to?" Evan asked confused.
"Duh dude," Kurt said spinning in his new suit, a satisfied expression on his face.
"Why y' think y' not supposed to ask her mon ami," Remy asked, stopping mid shuffle, a confused expression now on his face.
"Well, who else would I be going with dude?" Evan asked seriously. "I just figured she assumed we were going together and I didn't need to ask her."
"Man, you never have dated before have you mate?" John asked as he stopped flipping his lighter and stared at the younger boy. "Cause that isn't how Sheila's work. Even one's as hard as your little woman there."
"So that's what this is all about huh?" Evan said, a weight lifted from his shoulders. "So I'll just ask her and everything will be alright again."
With that all the boys burst into laughter.
"What now?" Evan asked exasperated.
"Dat ain't how it works mon ami," Remy replied wiping a tear from his eye.
"He's right dude," Kurt added from the dressing room. "You're gonna have to grovel."
"Yeah, flowers and the works," Scott finished as Kurt and Piotr came out to pay for their tux's.
"Oh man. Do we have time to stop at the flower shop before we meet the girls?" Evan asked throwing his head back and covering his face with his hands.
"Lead the way mate," John laughed, slapping Evan on the back as he rose from the chair.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So where to now Kitty?" Jean asked as the girls exited the dress shop with their purchases.
"Like, shoes of course," Kitty stated, as if the answer were obvious.
"Hey girls!" Risty's voice cut across the hall and the girls turned to see the purple haired Brit walking towards them.
"Oh hey Risty," Rogue waved, smiling at the sight of her new friend. "What are you up ta?"
"Just out shopping, how about you guys?" Risty asked, joining the group and looping her arm with Rogues.
"We're like shopping for the dance," Kitty said, irritated by the girls intrusion. There was something about Risty that Kitty didn't like and she knew she wasn't the only one. She'd heard Remy say some things about the girl that weren't exactly nice. But Rogue seemed to like her, and for her sake, Kitty would make an effort.
"Oh, well I don't want to intrude," Risty said pulling back her arm. "I'll catch you girls later then?"
"No join us," Rogue insisted. "It'll be fun."
"Are you sure?" Risty looked around at the rest of the group.
"More the merrier," Amanda smiled as they began heading down towards the shoe store.
"Great, I can't wait to see what you've bought for that little Cajun boy toy of yours," Risty said re-looping her arm with Rogues as they followed the group.
Wanda stood back glaring at the two of them. Something about Risty just wasn't right.
"Something wrong Wanda?" Jean asked, waiting for the young Goth.
"I don't trust her," Wanda growled, still glaring at Risty.
Jean let out a sigh and looked ahead at the group. "We don't really know her yet and shouldn't judge," she turned to Wanda, giving her a comforting look. "But I will tell you, you're not the only one. So come on, lets go keep an eye on her huh?"
"Okay," Wanda said and together the two hurried to catch up with their friends.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Man, thirty bucks for a dozen roses!" Evan complained as they exited the flower shop to head over to the food court. "What are they gold lined?"
"Yeah, but Wanda's worth it right?" Scott asked amused at the boys complaining. There were several other bouquets that Evan could have chosen from, but he went straight for the blood red roses, knowing they would be Wanda's favorite.
"Oh no doubt," Evan said as he smiled slightly.
"What time is it now mates?" John asked as he flipped his lighter. "I'm getting hungry."
"Big surprise," Piotr snorted as he walked silently next to the fire starter.
"What's that supposed to mean mate?" John asked threateningly.
"Let's not fight guys," Kurt said trying to play peacekeeper. "Besides, I'm hungry too."
"I've got 1:15 guys, so the girls shouldn't be much longer," Scott said finding a table near the edge of the eating area that should accommodate all of them and sitting down his bag.
"Good. I'm starving," Evan added as he flopped down in the seat and place the roses gently on the table.
The rest of the guys sat as well, Remy still shuffling his cards, playing the quiet observer as the guys argued. Suddenly a breeze blew past him, whipping his long bangs out of his face. "What de hell?" he asked as a silver haired speed demon appeared at the head of the table.
"Well. well, well, look what we have here? The X-Geeks and the traitors right out in the open," Pietro sneered as he leaned down over the table. "What'd the dog let you out for a walk?"
"Shove it Maximoff," Evan growled as he glared over at his girlfriends twin.
"What's wrong Daniels? Did I strike a cord?" Pietro asked whipping around behind Evan and pulling his chair from under him, causing Evan to end up on his ass.
"That's it," Scott said rising only to be knocked in the floor by a mild tremor passing through the mall. Everyone turned to see Lance, Freddie and Toad standing near the table.
"Take a seat Summers," Lance challenged, his hand balled into a fist.
"Yeah yo, don't get up," Toad said jumping to the middle of the table.
"Ugh! Still don't bathe mate?" John asked, wrinkling his nose and flicking his Zippo open, igniting it. "Maybe I can burn that stuff off," he said pulling a fireball into his hand and laughing wildly.
"John no," Piotr stated placing a hand on his friends shoulder. "Not here. To many innocent."
"So?" John asked looking around at the scared faces.
"So we're X-Men now." Piotr stated as he glared at the Brotherhood.
"He's right. Ve can't fight them here," Kurt said as he stood near the table watching as Lance and Scott and Evan and Pietro squared off. "Und they know that."
"Haha, you guys have gone soft," Blob stated as he stared at his former teammates. "Let's finish them."
"Sure 'bout dat mon ami?" Remy said crouching on a table near blob, shuffling his cards effortlessly as he watched the people around them head for exits. 'Good, keep runnin' he thought as he charged and uncharged random cards as he shuffled. "Cause from what Remy see, y' be out numbered non?"
"Yeah, but we're also bigger," Blob said raising his leg and bringing it down hard, causing the floor to shake and crack and sending John on his ass.
"Damnit! You'll pay for that mate," John yelled as he climbed to his feet.
Meanwhile on the floor above the girls ran to the balcony, being drawn to the commotion down in the food court. They peered over and saw the Brotherhood challenging the boys.
"This isn't good," Jean said as she looked down at the situation. "This is bound to have drawn some attention."
"You don't think they'll, like, send the Sentinels do you?" Kitty asked as she looked at Jean with concern.
"I don't know Kitty, but we need to get them out of here before they do something stupid," Jean said looking to Amanda and Risty. "Could you guys take our bags?"
"Sure Jean," Amanda replied, taking most of the bags into her arms.
"Thanks. X-Men let's move," Jean said as she rose herself in the air in a psychic field to float down to the boys.
"See y'all down there," Rogue added, taking to the air.
"My brother seems to ruin all my fun," Wanda growled as she headed towards the escalator, the air around her crackling with energy. Amara and Jubilee followed behind.
"Be careful you guys," Kitty added before phasing through the floor and floating to the ground.
"Y'all ain't havin' fun wit out us are ya?" Rogue asked as she hovered in the air behind Remy and Piotr who were facing off against Blob.
"Hello brother," Wanda said, taking her place next to Evan. "Oh how I've missed you."
"Wanda this doesn't concern you," Pietro stated, still glaring at Evan.
"Oh but I think it does when you're threatening my boyfriend," she replied, the air around the continuing to crackle as Evan let the bones emerge from his skin.
The other girls took position around the remaining X-Men.
"Like, you can stop this now Lance and we can all like, walk away," Kitty said walking up next to Scott.
"Oh come on Pretty Kitty, we're just having some fun," Lance said as the floor began to shake and the expression on Lance's face changed slightly, from amusement to confusion.
"She said stop Lance," Jean exclaimed landing next to Scott.
"Don't look at me Red, I ain't responsible this time," Lance replied as the ground continued to shake.
On the balcony, Amanda looked up through the skylight and saw the head of one of the giant robots looking down through the glass. She dropped the bags and ran over to the edge. "SENTINELS!" she screamed down to her friends as the glass broke. Risty reacted, grabbing Amanda and pulling her underneath a table.
"Surrender mutants," the robot commanded as it glared menacingly down at them.
"I hope you're happy Quicksilver," Evan stated, turning his attention to the new distraction.
"Oh this isn't over Daniels," Quicksilver replied glancing up at the new threat. "Just postponed."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"This is amazing," Meranda said as she looked at the screen before her. "I always wondered what my DNA looked like now," she breathed as Hank rotated the image for her. The two sat down in his lab in the med wing of the Institute, looking at the images Hank had managed to create from some blood samples he'd taken when Meranda had arrived.
"It really is quite fascinating," Hank agreed, although, he wasn't looking at the screen but rather at Meranda's pale face.
"Have you figured out how they managed to avoid the radiation sickness killing me yet?" Meranda asked turning to look into his rich brown eyes. It was getting harder and harder for her to ignore his obvious attraction towards her and a part of her didn't want to. He was, after all, pretty cute for a big blue guy with fur. But she was still so confused about Logan. She sighed internally as she flashed him a brilliant smile.
Hank pulled himself from his reverie and returned to the task at hand. "Well, I believe that is why they used Logan's healing ability first. So that you're body would recover from the sickness."
"Ah," Meranda replied as she turned back to the DNA strand, noticing all the different colored areas that Hank had coded. He had spent a great deal of time mapping her DNA for her and now, thanks to his efforts, she could see every added piece that Townshend and his monsters had stolen from someone else to give to her. "You know, I never thanked you for doing this for me. I owe you big."
"Oh no Sergeant, it was my pleasure," Hank said as he began to walk back to his computer console.
"How many times I gotta tell ya Hank," Meranda said rising and walking up next to him, placing a delicate hand on his massive arm. "It's Meranda."
Hank looked up into her eyes for a moment, getting lost in the green sparkle of them, before placing his hand over hers. "Forgive me Meranda."
"Nothing to forgive Henry," Meranda smiled at him, not moving her hand. "And I do owe you big," she leaned forward slightly, their faces millimeters apart before a voice cut through the room, causing the two to pull away from each other.
"Sorry to interrupt but we got trouble," Logan growled.
"What is it my friend?" Hank asked turning to look at the other man.
"It's the kids. Sentinels are descending on the mall. Some kind of Mutant attack. It's all over the news," Logan answered, letting his worry for Rogue over cloud the feelings of jealousy that were playing at his mind.
"Oh god," Meranda's hand shot to her mouth for a moment. "If those things get a hold of the kids…" her voice trailed off as fear filled her eyes.
"Then the Governments got them," Logan finished for her, mutual concern for their only daughter passing between them. "Storm is already getting ready and Chuck is going with us too."
"You should go then," Henry stated, understanding their desires to keep the children, and especially Rogue, from harms way. "Tell Charles that I'll stay hear and set up for any injuries."
"Thanks Hank," Meranda said already running from the room to change into her uniform. Logan grunted once at the other man before leaving as well to prepare the jet.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What do we do Scott?" Jean asked as they looked up at the Sentinels descending on the mall.
"Kurt, you port up there and get Amanda and Risty out of here," Scott began barking out orders to his team, wishing he'd brought his backup visor from the glove compartment. "Get them out to the X-Van, they should be safe there. The rest of you, we've got to draw the Sentinels attention away from here. It's too crowded."
"And don't forget out bags," Jubilee added causing everyone to glare at her. "What? I've been looking everywhere for that dress!"
"Aye aye captain," Kurt replied porting and landing behind Risty and Amanda. "Come," he said placing a hand on Risty's shoulder and wrapping his tail around Amanda's waist, teleporting them, and to Jubilee's satisfaction their bags, to safety. "Call ze Professor," Kurt whispered to Amanda, cupping her cheek and kissing her softly before porting back to his friends.
Inside the mall was utter chaos as shoppers ran for cover from the giant robots and the mutant teens.
Rogue flew straight up into the air, through the busted skylight and stopped directly before the robot. "Y'all don't wanna mess wit them. Why don't ya try meh," she said as she rammed fist first through the center of the nearest robot, destroying its machinery.
Meanwhile in the Mall….
"Jean, get us up there then you and Jubilee and Shadowkat stay here and get these people out," Scott said as he looked towards the opening in the ceiling that Rogue had just flown through. "Quicksilver, you think you could help them?"
"Who made you boss Summers?" Pietro challenged before Lance cut him off.
"Save it Maximoff," Avalanche growled. "It's them or those," he pointed towards the machines
"Fine," Quicksilver growled. "Ladies, try to keep up."
Kurt ported down next to Colossus, Pyro, Toad and Magma grabbing onto them. "Let's go," he said porting outside with them.
"Alright guys, hold on," Jean said as she locked onto Cyclops, Avalanche and Gambit with her mind and floating them towards the hole in the roof as Kurt ported back in to retrieve Blob, Scarlet Witch and Spyke.
Gambit looked around quickly as soon as his feet touched the roof, inspecting the area and taking in every detail. There were a total of six Sentinels, not including the one Rogue had already incapacitated. Magma and Pyro were busy creating and throwing fireballs at one, trying to melt its circuitry. Colossus was busy with Blob lifting one into the air to use as a bat against another one. He noticed that Toad and Kurt were busy keep the another distracted and Kurt also was busy porting out innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire. Avalanche and Scott immediately went into action as the ground began to rumble, throwing the fourth one off balance enough for Scott to blast it clear in the chest. Scarlet Witch and Spyke were working on the fifth one, Spyke sending spikes into it's body while Scarlet Witch hexed anything she could, including the machines foot, to slow it down as it shot energy beams and green blobs at them. Which left the last one which was directly below the roof where Remy stood, and Rogue who was now tangled up in a large metal rope like projection jutting from it's hand. She struggled against it, her strength causing the metal to creek in frustration.
"Surrender mutant," the machine repeated as it's grip on her tightened.
Gambit removed his bow staff, pressing the buttons to extend it before poll vaulting over the edge of the building and landing on the things shoulder. "Gambit don' t'ink so homme," he yelled as he sent a charge into the things shoulder enough to make the whole block hum. "Maybe y' git yer own fille next time non?" With that he jumped down as Rogue broke free and the things arm blew, barely slowing it down. Gambit landed in a tuck and roll, launching several glowing cards at the creature as Rogue landed safely next to him as he continued to launch cards at the creatures. "Y' alright p'tite?"
"Fahne sugah. Jus' tired. One of em hit meh with a energy blast or somet'in'. Ah'll be alraght though. Ah don't know how we're gonna stop em though," she said resting her hands on her knees as she looked up at the beast. "The others aren't doin' much bettah either." All around them the X-Men and Brotherhood were fighting their hearts out against the giant metal monsters, while trying to avoid being captured, but it seemed like to no avail. Toad was already down and Magma and Pyro were running out of power. Remy too was almost out of cards and it seemed like the robots might just have them beat.
"Y' t'ink y' can blast through another one mon amore?" Gambit asked as he pulled out his last deck of cards, cursing himself for not bringing more.
"Ah don't know. Ah'm pretty tired," Rogue replied as she stood up a bit more and gave him a hopeful look. "But Ah can try."
"Non p'tite, don't hurt y'self." Gambit stated turning to look at her for a bit.
"Ah can do it Rems," she whispered as she took to the air. "Jus' catch meh if Ah fall," she yelled down at him as she swerved in and out of the machines fire, heading for its chest.
"Always mon amore," Remy whispered back as he began to draw it's fire towards him.
'And I thought I was crazy,' Carol Danvers voice echoed in Rogue's mind as she speed towards the second Sentinel. 'But this? You're way too weak and you know it.'
'He promised to catch meh,' Rogue replied as she picked up speed. 'And Ah can do this. Someone has ta stop them.'
'Yeah, but who said it had to be you?'
'Ah did, now shut up and help.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolverine, Storm and Ebony stood near the door of the Blackbird as Charles piloted it expertly towards downtown Bayville.
"I knew it was a bad idea to let those kids go shopping alone," Wolverine growled as he pulled his gloves tighter over his hands.
"What were you gonna do hold their hand in Victoria's Secret?" Ebony asked as she adjusted the zipper on her uniform before throwing open the doors. "What's done is done. Now all we can do is save those kids," she finished as she and Storm took to the air.
Wolverine growled after them before turning to Xavier. "Your gonna have to get me lower Chuck, preferably right over one of those walking tin cans."
"Consider it done old friend," Charles shouted back over the roar of the wind around them as he lowered the jet as much as he dared. "Then I shall go retrieve our wounded."
"Alright Chuck just make it fast," Wolverine replied as he dropped onto a Sentinels head, claws barred.
"Hey Storm, I feel like making snow angels, how about you?" Ebony called to the other woman.
"Consider it done my friend," Storm replied as the wind whipped around her, the air dropping dramatically in temperature and her eyes clouding over to a pure white.
"Good, you do that, and I'll save my daughter," Ebony replied as she watched Rogue dive head first through the body of a sentinel.
The world spun slightly as Rogue's body blasted through the other side of the iron giant she faced. But she was successful. It's CPU was crushed in her right fist. 'Now if only the world would stop spinnin,' she thought as she felt herself begin to fall and then abruptly stop.
"I've got you sugar," Meranda's voice whispered into Rogue's ear as she caught her mid plummet. "You did your part baby now rest, and let us finish up," she continued as she landed on the ground before Remy, passing Rogue into his arms. "I'm trusting you to take care of my baby and get her out of here safely," Ebony stated as she looked at the boy. "Don't let me down." With that she took back to the air.
Remy watched her for a moment before looking down at Rogue, sleeping lightly in his arms. She stirred slightly, groaning. "Dere, dere chere. Ah've got y'," Remy whispered as he made his way quickly to the Blackbird, boarding and laying Rogue on a bed in the back.
"What happened to her?" Charles asked as he wheeled closer to them.
"She flew thru deux of dem t'ings," Remy said as he looked at the others in the plane. Amara was laying on a seat, John hovering over her. Wanda was helping Evan into a seat, asking if anyone had any milk on board, and Toad was unconscious, lying on the floor near the back and Kurt stood nearby, nursing a bleeding shoulder as Kitty and Jubilee helped care for the injured and Jean loaded their vehicles into the cargo hold of the jet. "She told Remy dat one of dem hit her wit a electric blast an dat it made her tired. She gonna be alraght Professor?"
"Yes I'm sure she will be," Charles said comfortingly as he offered Remy fresh cards. "Now please go help the others."
"Oui," Remy replied, kissing her hair before heading out the door, accepting the cards and diving into the fray. Three sentinels lying useless on the ground. (AN Wanda and Evan finished theirs off and then the two Rogue took out.)
Wolverine started at the head of the Sentinel that Magma and Pyro had been fighting and sliced his way down, clean through the thing like a tin can. Meanwhile, Storm helped Colossus and Blob by striking the machine with lightening as the two boys began to pull in opposite directions on it's legs. Cyclops and Lance were still busy with the one which left Ebony facing off against the last one. She stood almost toe to toe with it, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.
Gambit ran up next to her, charging a card. "Y' need some help?"
"No Remy I don't think so," Ebony said as she looked around. "But the others might," she smiled at him as she brought her hands out to the side, a psychic field forming around them as blobs of green goo flew down at them and bounced off the shield.
"Surrender now Mutant."
"I hate being rushed," Ebony replied, more to herself than anyone else as she brought her hands together and a sonic wave blasted from them, taking the machine out at the knees.
Gambit shook his head slowly before heading over to Scott and Lance, adding his cards to their fire power. They were all getting tired from the excess use of their power and the machines unwillingness to give up. Finally, with a loud creek, the last one fell and the X-Men and Brotherhood looked around, exhaustion and satisfaction written over their faces.
The two groups stared at each other for a moment before anyone spoke.
"We should get going before they send more," Scott stated as he looked at Lance.
"Yeah, Freddie, get Toad will ya?" Lance said as he walked over to Kitty who had come out of the jet. "You okay Pretty Kitty?"
"Yeah, I'm like fine," she replied.
"Good," he leaned forward and kissed her deeply, cupping her head in his hand. It was a few moments before Logan came up and cleared his throat loudly, his claws popping out of his hand threatening. The two parted and Lance followed the others to the jeep.
"Come on guys," Meranda said looking around at the Kids and other adults. "Let's go home."
Authors Note: And this chapter is done! YAY! Sorry it took forever to get up. It took 3 days to write and I'm sorry if the ending sucks but it's 1:30 on day three and yeah. So no shout outs today, but thanks so much to my reviewers. Especially Mercury Dream cause you made me laugh again hon. (Let's pretend that the Risty in my story does have a decent English accent.) Take care all and hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner rather than later. But hey, at least this one was REALLY long. (12 pages to be exact.) Enjoy all.
Authors Note: Everyone, y'all need to go and read Mercury Dream's stuff. It's really, really, really, really, really good. (Did I mention really?) A Rogue's Touch and All Grown Up are my favorites. So go read her stuff to. Now, quickly! Okay, more notes. This is taking place after Rogue absorbed Jean when Jean's powers grew and it's mentioned here but I'm not going into it. And I am in no way really following the story line of Evolution from TV. I'm just adding parts of the television story into mine to kinda tie them together more. And I apologize for the lack of anything really happening in the last chapter, but filler is just what it is. Hopefully this chapter will be better. Thanks all and enjoy. And I'm sorry about the tardiness of this chapter but hopefully the length will make up for it. I really meant to get it up sooner, but was struck with an excess of things to do over the break and then two finals this last week. And then next week is my official finals week where cramming, working and testing will take place so no guaranteed updates right now. I'll try my best but no promises.
'text' internal speech
dreams
Wandering Souls
Chapter 24: Shopping, Boys & the Metal Menace
"Like it's gonna be so great," Kitty went on as the girls sat around the kitchen table on an early Saturday morning. They had all just finished an early morning danger room session and had showered and dressed for the day. "I'm on the dance committee so it should be totally awesome."
"Why would anyone want to be on a dance committee?" Wanda asked as she hexed her knife, letting it butter her toast for her.
"To make sure it doesn't suck," Jubilee responded shoveling a mouthful of chocolate cereal into her face.
"Lahke it's gonna matter that yer on the committee Kit," Rogue stated, picking at her poppy muffin (AN I love those things…sorry.). "Do ya really think there gonna listen to ya?"
"Of course they will," Jean stated matter-of-factly.
"Besides, we'll like, never know if they will if we don't like, try," Kitty finished as she rose to put her bowl into the sink. "Anyway, I was like, totally thinking we could all go to the mall and dress shop today. We've only got like, two weeks before the dance."
"Is that all?" Amara asked filling her nails.
"Is what all luv?" John asked as he, Remy, Kurt and Scott entered the room.
"Apparently we only have two weeks to buy a dress for a stupid school dance that is guaranteed to put us all to sleep," Wanda stated.
"So, Evan hasn't asked you yet?" Kurt said smirking as he grabbed a bagel from the box on the counter.
"I don't see what that has to do with anything," Wanda huffed finding new fascination with her hands.
"Dat remind Remy," Remy said grabbing a mug of coffee and sitting next to Rogue. "What do y' say chere? Y' wanna go to de dance wit' Remy?"
"Ah don't know Swamp Rat," Rogue said, as she rested her chin in her hand, staring at him. "What's in it fer meh?"
"Well," he scratched his chin as if pondering the answer, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Y' git ta look at dis handsome face."
"Is that it?" Rogue replied amused as she watched him give her his best puppy dog pout. "Ah suppose, but ya have ta wear a tux."
"Anything for y' mon ange," Remy replied kissing her gloved palm before sipping his coffee slowly.
"It's settled then. We can, like all go shopping today," Kitty declared, a giddy expression in her eyes.
"Oh joy," Wanda replied sarcastically leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.
"Are you sure you're up to it?" Scott asked Jean softly, a worried look on his face as he watched her.
"I'm fine Scott. Really," Jean reassured him, looking lovingly into his eyes. It'd been two weeks since the pep assembly and one since Jean's powers grew out of her control and the X-Men, specifically Rogue and Scott, had to help her. "Besides, the Professor and I have been working on my control so I should be okay. Don't worry so much."
"I can't help it," Scott replied, brushing a stray hair from her eyes.
"So when do we leave then mates?" John asked as he manipulated a fireball Amara had created for him into a blooming rose.
"Let me just tell the others and Kurt, you call Amanda. We'll like, make a day of it. Shopping, lunch, everything," Kitty said, growing more excited by the minute.
Rogue and Wanda looked at one another, fear in their eyes.
"Gawd help us," Rogue stated as the two Goths shuddered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rogue settled into the back seat of the van in between Remy and Wanda as Kurt headed towards the mall parking lot. Kitty sat huffed in the passengers seat next to him, arms crossed over her chest as she fumed over not being allowed to drive. Jubilee, Piotr and Evan sat in the middle seat lost in their own conversations, ignoring Kitty's complaining. Scott and Jean had taken Amara and John in Scott's sports car and were going to pick Amanda up on the way.
"I still like, don't see why I couldn't drive," Kitty stated, glaring at the holographic image of a German boy covering her normally blue friend.
"Because girl," Evan said leaning over and sticking his head between the two front seats. "We all want to live." He pulled back and turned to Wanda, winking at her. She shot him a glare in return, debating for a few moments on hexing his seatbelt.
"Give it a rest Keety," Kurt replied as he entered the malls lot and began the search for a parking space.
"Listen to him p'tite," Remy said as Kurt parked the van next to Scott's waiting car and opened the door. "It not worth it non?" he offered Rogue his hand and helped her out of the vehicle as Evan jumped out after her.
"Allow me beautiful," he said to Wanda, offering her his hand as well.
Wanda glared at him and jumped out of the van on her own, her red coat billowing around her. "I don't need your help," she growled as she walked quickly to catch up with Rogue and the others, leaving a rather dumbfounded and wounded looking Evan behind.
They all gathered together in the front entrance of the mall, watching the throngs of shoppers go by as they mapped out a plan for the day.
"Okay, so like, we'll all go dress hunting while you guys go get your tux's and we'll like meet in the food court at 1:30," Kitty said looking around the group.
"Don't y' belle filles need our help?" Remy asked, snaking his arm playfully around Rogue's waist. "Dose dress's zip in de back non?" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at his girlfriend causing her to roll her eyes.
"Remy's got a point blokes," John said rubbing his hands together. "You Shelia's are gonna need experienced hands in there."
"We'll manage," Jean stated, kissing Scott's cheek before releasing his hand and walking over to join the girls.
"Ya boys have fun," Rogue said placing a gloved hand over Remy's mouth, kissing it quickly before wriggling out of his arms. "And keep Rem's outta trouble," she added as the girls headed off towards the dress shop.
"Y' wound Remy chere," Remy called out to her as he and the boys headed in the opposite direction towards the suit rental shop.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Why does he have to be such an idiot!" Wanda growled as she flung another dress roughly to the side of the rack, causing the hanger to scream in protest.
"He's not an idiot sugah," Rogue replied pulling out a red and black lace corset dress for Wanda to try on. "They need some remindin' from tahme ta tahme," Rogue added as she continued to browse through the dresses.
"No, he's just male," Jubilee agreed as she took the yellow strapless dress to the front to pay for. It was long and ended in a full skirt with silver threat embroidered into dragons on the skirt.
"Have you tried talking to him Wanda?" Jean asked as she stood before the mirror in a pale lavender gown, that fell off her shoulders in sheer material before moving seamlessly into a silk material, ending in a straight a-line past her feet, a slit up the side to her knee.
"What would I say?" Wanda asked walking into the dressing room.
"Just like tell him to get off his butt and ask you already," Kitty said as she examined the baby blue spaghetti strapped dress she wore. It had sparkles splashed over it and ended in a full skirt. "That like, worked on Lance."
"He probably just figures you two are going together anyway," Amara added, a mango colored sleeveless dress accenting her skin, ending at her knees in a full skirt.
"You think?" Wanda asked coming out in the dress. It was long and fell off her shoulders into long flared red sleeves, ending in black lace with a red corset top and long skirt. The lacing on the top was black as well and a black lace overlay fell over the red of the skirt.
"That's probably the case," Amanda reassured her, a pale pink dress hanging over her arm.
"Ah wouldn't worry too much about it sugah," Rogue said pulling a black and hunter green dress of the rack and admiring it for a moment. It was made out of a fine silk and flowed off the shoulders and met in a v at the chest. The sleeves were long and would end just below her wrists in small flares, hiding her gloves. 'This is it,' she thought as she turned to look at Wanda. "'sides, the boys know why yer mad at him. So if he doesn't know now, he will by the end of the day."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I just don't get it man," Evan complained as he sat next to Remy in the dressing room. Most of them had already found their suits for the dance and were now just waiting on the Kurt and Piotr. "It's just like, all of a sudden she hates me."
"She don't hate y' mon ami. She jus' be mad is all," Remy replied shuffling a deck of cards idly.
"But why?" Evan asked, still unable to comprehend why Wanda was so mad at him.
"Well lets see mate, is there maybe something you're forgetting to do?" John asked flipping his Zippo lid repeatedly.
Evan looked blankly at them still unsure what they were getting at. (AN Okay, before people start hating me, Evan's not a complete moron. I'll explain why he doesn't get it in a minute.)
"Perhaps there something you forgot to ask," Piotr added in as he looked at his suit in the mirror, his expression emotionless.
"Like what dude?" Evan asked, at his wits end.
"Have you asked her to the dance yet?" Scott asked exasperated.
"No, am I supposed to?" Evan asked confused.
"Duh dude," Kurt said spinning in his new suit, a satisfied expression on his face.
"Why y' think y' not supposed to ask her mon ami," Remy asked, stopping mid shuffle, a confused expression now on his face.
"Well, who else would I be going with dude?" Evan asked seriously. "I just figured she assumed we were going together and I didn't need to ask her."
"Man, you never have dated before have you mate?" John asked as he stopped flipping his lighter and stared at the younger boy. "Cause that isn't how Sheila's work. Even one's as hard as your little woman there."
"So that's what this is all about huh?" Evan said, a weight lifted from his shoulders. "So I'll just ask her and everything will be alright again."
With that all the boys burst into laughter.
"What now?" Evan asked exasperated.
"Dat ain't how it works mon ami," Remy replied wiping a tear from his eye.
"He's right dude," Kurt added from the dressing room. "You're gonna have to grovel."
"Yeah, flowers and the works," Scott finished as Kurt and Piotr came out to pay for their tux's.
"Oh man. Do we have time to stop at the flower shop before we meet the girls?" Evan asked throwing his head back and covering his face with his hands.
"Lead the way mate," John laughed, slapping Evan on the back as he rose from the chair.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So where to now Kitty?" Jean asked as the girls exited the dress shop with their purchases.
"Like, shoes of course," Kitty stated, as if the answer were obvious.
"Hey girls!" Risty's voice cut across the hall and the girls turned to see the purple haired Brit walking towards them.
"Oh hey Risty," Rogue waved, smiling at the sight of her new friend. "What are you up ta?"
"Just out shopping, how about you guys?" Risty asked, joining the group and looping her arm with Rogues.
"We're like shopping for the dance," Kitty said, irritated by the girls intrusion. There was something about Risty that Kitty didn't like and she knew she wasn't the only one. She'd heard Remy say some things about the girl that weren't exactly nice. But Rogue seemed to like her, and for her sake, Kitty would make an effort.
"Oh, well I don't want to intrude," Risty said pulling back her arm. "I'll catch you girls later then?"
"No join us," Rogue insisted. "It'll be fun."
"Are you sure?" Risty looked around at the rest of the group.
"More the merrier," Amanda smiled as they began heading down towards the shoe store.
"Great, I can't wait to see what you've bought for that little Cajun boy toy of yours," Risty said re-looping her arm with Rogues as they followed the group.
Wanda stood back glaring at the two of them. Something about Risty just wasn't right.
"Something wrong Wanda?" Jean asked, waiting for the young Goth.
"I don't trust her," Wanda growled, still glaring at Risty.
Jean let out a sigh and looked ahead at the group. "We don't really know her yet and shouldn't judge," she turned to Wanda, giving her a comforting look. "But I will tell you, you're not the only one. So come on, lets go keep an eye on her huh?"
"Okay," Wanda said and together the two hurried to catch up with their friends.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Man, thirty bucks for a dozen roses!" Evan complained as they exited the flower shop to head over to the food court. "What are they gold lined?"
"Yeah, but Wanda's worth it right?" Scott asked amused at the boys complaining. There were several other bouquets that Evan could have chosen from, but he went straight for the blood red roses, knowing they would be Wanda's favorite.
"Oh no doubt," Evan said as he smiled slightly.
"What time is it now mates?" John asked as he flipped his lighter. "I'm getting hungry."
"Big surprise," Piotr snorted as he walked silently next to the fire starter.
"What's that supposed to mean mate?" John asked threateningly.
"Let's not fight guys," Kurt said trying to play peacekeeper. "Besides, I'm hungry too."
"I've got 1:15 guys, so the girls shouldn't be much longer," Scott said finding a table near the edge of the eating area that should accommodate all of them and sitting down his bag.
"Good. I'm starving," Evan added as he flopped down in the seat and place the roses gently on the table.
The rest of the guys sat as well, Remy still shuffling his cards, playing the quiet observer as the guys argued. Suddenly a breeze blew past him, whipping his long bangs out of his face. "What de hell?" he asked as a silver haired speed demon appeared at the head of the table.
"Well. well, well, look what we have here? The X-Geeks and the traitors right out in the open," Pietro sneered as he leaned down over the table. "What'd the dog let you out for a walk?"
"Shove it Maximoff," Evan growled as he glared over at his girlfriends twin.
"What's wrong Daniels? Did I strike a cord?" Pietro asked whipping around behind Evan and pulling his chair from under him, causing Evan to end up on his ass.
"That's it," Scott said rising only to be knocked in the floor by a mild tremor passing through the mall. Everyone turned to see Lance, Freddie and Toad standing near the table.
"Take a seat Summers," Lance challenged, his hand balled into a fist.
"Yeah yo, don't get up," Toad said jumping to the middle of the table.
"Ugh! Still don't bathe mate?" John asked, wrinkling his nose and flicking his Zippo open, igniting it. "Maybe I can burn that stuff off," he said pulling a fireball into his hand and laughing wildly.
"John no," Piotr stated placing a hand on his friends shoulder. "Not here. To many innocent."
"So?" John asked looking around at the scared faces.
"So we're X-Men now." Piotr stated as he glared at the Brotherhood.
"He's right. Ve can't fight them here," Kurt said as he stood near the table watching as Lance and Scott and Evan and Pietro squared off. "Und they know that."
"Haha, you guys have gone soft," Blob stated as he stared at his former teammates. "Let's finish them."
"Sure 'bout dat mon ami?" Remy said crouching on a table near blob, shuffling his cards effortlessly as he watched the people around them head for exits. 'Good, keep runnin' he thought as he charged and uncharged random cards as he shuffled. "Cause from what Remy see, y' be out numbered non?"
"Yeah, but we're also bigger," Blob said raising his leg and bringing it down hard, causing the floor to shake and crack and sending John on his ass.
"Damnit! You'll pay for that mate," John yelled as he climbed to his feet.
Meanwhile on the floor above the girls ran to the balcony, being drawn to the commotion down in the food court. They peered over and saw the Brotherhood challenging the boys.
"This isn't good," Jean said as she looked down at the situation. "This is bound to have drawn some attention."
"You don't think they'll, like, send the Sentinels do you?" Kitty asked as she looked at Jean with concern.
"I don't know Kitty, but we need to get them out of here before they do something stupid," Jean said looking to Amanda and Risty. "Could you guys take our bags?"
"Sure Jean," Amanda replied, taking most of the bags into her arms.
"Thanks. X-Men let's move," Jean said as she rose herself in the air in a psychic field to float down to the boys.
"See y'all down there," Rogue added, taking to the air.
"My brother seems to ruin all my fun," Wanda growled as she headed towards the escalator, the air around her crackling with energy. Amara and Jubilee followed behind.
"Be careful you guys," Kitty added before phasing through the floor and floating to the ground.
"Y'all ain't havin' fun wit out us are ya?" Rogue asked as she hovered in the air behind Remy and Piotr who were facing off against Blob.
"Hello brother," Wanda said, taking her place next to Evan. "Oh how I've missed you."
"Wanda this doesn't concern you," Pietro stated, still glaring at Evan.
"Oh but I think it does when you're threatening my boyfriend," she replied, the air around the continuing to crackle as Evan let the bones emerge from his skin.
The other girls took position around the remaining X-Men.
"Like, you can stop this now Lance and we can all like, walk away," Kitty said walking up next to Scott.
"Oh come on Pretty Kitty, we're just having some fun," Lance said as the floor began to shake and the expression on Lance's face changed slightly, from amusement to confusion.
"She said stop Lance," Jean exclaimed landing next to Scott.
"Don't look at me Red, I ain't responsible this time," Lance replied as the ground continued to shake.
On the balcony, Amanda looked up through the skylight and saw the head of one of the giant robots looking down through the glass. She dropped the bags and ran over to the edge. "SENTINELS!" she screamed down to her friends as the glass broke. Risty reacted, grabbing Amanda and pulling her underneath a table.
"Surrender mutants," the robot commanded as it glared menacingly down at them.
"I hope you're happy Quicksilver," Evan stated, turning his attention to the new distraction.
"Oh this isn't over Daniels," Quicksilver replied glancing up at the new threat. "Just postponed."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"This is amazing," Meranda said as she looked at the screen before her. "I always wondered what my DNA looked like now," she breathed as Hank rotated the image for her. The two sat down in his lab in the med wing of the Institute, looking at the images Hank had managed to create from some blood samples he'd taken when Meranda had arrived.
"It really is quite fascinating," Hank agreed, although, he wasn't looking at the screen but rather at Meranda's pale face.
"Have you figured out how they managed to avoid the radiation sickness killing me yet?" Meranda asked turning to look into his rich brown eyes. It was getting harder and harder for her to ignore his obvious attraction towards her and a part of her didn't want to. He was, after all, pretty cute for a big blue guy with fur. But she was still so confused about Logan. She sighed internally as she flashed him a brilliant smile.
Hank pulled himself from his reverie and returned to the task at hand. "Well, I believe that is why they used Logan's healing ability first. So that you're body would recover from the sickness."
"Ah," Meranda replied as she turned back to the DNA strand, noticing all the different colored areas that Hank had coded. He had spent a great deal of time mapping her DNA for her and now, thanks to his efforts, she could see every added piece that Townshend and his monsters had stolen from someone else to give to her. "You know, I never thanked you for doing this for me. I owe you big."
"Oh no Sergeant, it was my pleasure," Hank said as he began to walk back to his computer console.
"How many times I gotta tell ya Hank," Meranda said rising and walking up next to him, placing a delicate hand on his massive arm. "It's Meranda."
Hank looked up into her eyes for a moment, getting lost in the green sparkle of them, before placing his hand over hers. "Forgive me Meranda."
"Nothing to forgive Henry," Meranda smiled at him, not moving her hand. "And I do owe you big," she leaned forward slightly, their faces millimeters apart before a voice cut through the room, causing the two to pull away from each other.
"Sorry to interrupt but we got trouble," Logan growled.
"What is it my friend?" Hank asked turning to look at the other man.
"It's the kids. Sentinels are descending on the mall. Some kind of Mutant attack. It's all over the news," Logan answered, letting his worry for Rogue over cloud the feelings of jealousy that were playing at his mind.
"Oh god," Meranda's hand shot to her mouth for a moment. "If those things get a hold of the kids…" her voice trailed off as fear filled her eyes.
"Then the Governments got them," Logan finished for her, mutual concern for their only daughter passing between them. "Storm is already getting ready and Chuck is going with us too."
"You should go then," Henry stated, understanding their desires to keep the children, and especially Rogue, from harms way. "Tell Charles that I'll stay hear and set up for any injuries."
"Thanks Hank," Meranda said already running from the room to change into her uniform. Logan grunted once at the other man before leaving as well to prepare the jet.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What do we do Scott?" Jean asked as they looked up at the Sentinels descending on the mall.
"Kurt, you port up there and get Amanda and Risty out of here," Scott began barking out orders to his team, wishing he'd brought his backup visor from the glove compartment. "Get them out to the X-Van, they should be safe there. The rest of you, we've got to draw the Sentinels attention away from here. It's too crowded."
"And don't forget out bags," Jubilee added causing everyone to glare at her. "What? I've been looking everywhere for that dress!"
"Aye aye captain," Kurt replied porting and landing behind Risty and Amanda. "Come," he said placing a hand on Risty's shoulder and wrapping his tail around Amanda's waist, teleporting them, and to Jubilee's satisfaction their bags, to safety. "Call ze Professor," Kurt whispered to Amanda, cupping her cheek and kissing her softly before porting back to his friends.
Inside the mall was utter chaos as shoppers ran for cover from the giant robots and the mutant teens.
Rogue flew straight up into the air, through the busted skylight and stopped directly before the robot. "Y'all don't wanna mess wit them. Why don't ya try meh," she said as she rammed fist first through the center of the nearest robot, destroying its machinery.
Meanwhile in the Mall….
"Jean, get us up there then you and Jubilee and Shadowkat stay here and get these people out," Scott said as he looked towards the opening in the ceiling that Rogue had just flown through. "Quicksilver, you think you could help them?"
"Who made you boss Summers?" Pietro challenged before Lance cut him off.
"Save it Maximoff," Avalanche growled. "It's them or those," he pointed towards the machines
"Fine," Quicksilver growled. "Ladies, try to keep up."
Kurt ported down next to Colossus, Pyro, Toad and Magma grabbing onto them. "Let's go," he said porting outside with them.
"Alright guys, hold on," Jean said as she locked onto Cyclops, Avalanche and Gambit with her mind and floating them towards the hole in the roof as Kurt ported back in to retrieve Blob, Scarlet Witch and Spyke.
Gambit looked around quickly as soon as his feet touched the roof, inspecting the area and taking in every detail. There were a total of six Sentinels, not including the one Rogue had already incapacitated. Magma and Pyro were busy creating and throwing fireballs at one, trying to melt its circuitry. Colossus was busy with Blob lifting one into the air to use as a bat against another one. He noticed that Toad and Kurt were busy keep the another distracted and Kurt also was busy porting out innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire. Avalanche and Scott immediately went into action as the ground began to rumble, throwing the fourth one off balance enough for Scott to blast it clear in the chest. Scarlet Witch and Spyke were working on the fifth one, Spyke sending spikes into it's body while Scarlet Witch hexed anything she could, including the machines foot, to slow it down as it shot energy beams and green blobs at them. Which left the last one which was directly below the roof where Remy stood, and Rogue who was now tangled up in a large metal rope like projection jutting from it's hand. She struggled against it, her strength causing the metal to creek in frustration.
"Surrender mutant," the machine repeated as it's grip on her tightened.
Gambit removed his bow staff, pressing the buttons to extend it before poll vaulting over the edge of the building and landing on the things shoulder. "Gambit don' t'ink so homme," he yelled as he sent a charge into the things shoulder enough to make the whole block hum. "Maybe y' git yer own fille next time non?" With that he jumped down as Rogue broke free and the things arm blew, barely slowing it down. Gambit landed in a tuck and roll, launching several glowing cards at the creature as Rogue landed safely next to him as he continued to launch cards at the creatures. "Y' alright p'tite?"
"Fahne sugah. Jus' tired. One of em hit meh with a energy blast or somet'in'. Ah'll be alraght though. Ah don't know how we're gonna stop em though," she said resting her hands on her knees as she looked up at the beast. "The others aren't doin' much bettah either." All around them the X-Men and Brotherhood were fighting their hearts out against the giant metal monsters, while trying to avoid being captured, but it seemed like to no avail. Toad was already down and Magma and Pyro were running out of power. Remy too was almost out of cards and it seemed like the robots might just have them beat.
"Y' t'ink y' can blast through another one mon amore?" Gambit asked as he pulled out his last deck of cards, cursing himself for not bringing more.
"Ah don't know. Ah'm pretty tired," Rogue replied as she stood up a bit more and gave him a hopeful look. "But Ah can try."
"Non p'tite, don't hurt y'self." Gambit stated turning to look at her for a bit.
"Ah can do it Rems," she whispered as she took to the air. "Jus' catch meh if Ah fall," she yelled down at him as she swerved in and out of the machines fire, heading for its chest.
"Always mon amore," Remy whispered back as he began to draw it's fire towards him.
'And I thought I was crazy,' Carol Danvers voice echoed in Rogue's mind as she speed towards the second Sentinel. 'But this? You're way too weak and you know it.'
'He promised to catch meh,' Rogue replied as she picked up speed. 'And Ah can do this. Someone has ta stop them.'
'Yeah, but who said it had to be you?'
'Ah did, now shut up and help.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolverine, Storm and Ebony stood near the door of the Blackbird as Charles piloted it expertly towards downtown Bayville.
"I knew it was a bad idea to let those kids go shopping alone," Wolverine growled as he pulled his gloves tighter over his hands.
"What were you gonna do hold their hand in Victoria's Secret?" Ebony asked as she adjusted the zipper on her uniform before throwing open the doors. "What's done is done. Now all we can do is save those kids," she finished as she and Storm took to the air.
Wolverine growled after them before turning to Xavier. "Your gonna have to get me lower Chuck, preferably right over one of those walking tin cans."
"Consider it done old friend," Charles shouted back over the roar of the wind around them as he lowered the jet as much as he dared. "Then I shall go retrieve our wounded."
"Alright Chuck just make it fast," Wolverine replied as he dropped onto a Sentinels head, claws barred.
"Hey Storm, I feel like making snow angels, how about you?" Ebony called to the other woman.
"Consider it done my friend," Storm replied as the wind whipped around her, the air dropping dramatically in temperature and her eyes clouding over to a pure white.
"Good, you do that, and I'll save my daughter," Ebony replied as she watched Rogue dive head first through the body of a sentinel.
The world spun slightly as Rogue's body blasted through the other side of the iron giant she faced. But she was successful. It's CPU was crushed in her right fist. 'Now if only the world would stop spinnin,' she thought as she felt herself begin to fall and then abruptly stop.
"I've got you sugar," Meranda's voice whispered into Rogue's ear as she caught her mid plummet. "You did your part baby now rest, and let us finish up," she continued as she landed on the ground before Remy, passing Rogue into his arms. "I'm trusting you to take care of my baby and get her out of here safely," Ebony stated as she looked at the boy. "Don't let me down." With that she took back to the air.
Remy watched her for a moment before looking down at Rogue, sleeping lightly in his arms. She stirred slightly, groaning. "Dere, dere chere. Ah've got y'," Remy whispered as he made his way quickly to the Blackbird, boarding and laying Rogue on a bed in the back.
"What happened to her?" Charles asked as he wheeled closer to them.
"She flew thru deux of dem t'ings," Remy said as he looked at the others in the plane. Amara was laying on a seat, John hovering over her. Wanda was helping Evan into a seat, asking if anyone had any milk on board, and Toad was unconscious, lying on the floor near the back and Kurt stood nearby, nursing a bleeding shoulder as Kitty and Jubilee helped care for the injured and Jean loaded their vehicles into the cargo hold of the jet. "She told Remy dat one of dem hit her wit a electric blast an dat it made her tired. She gonna be alraght Professor?"
"Yes I'm sure she will be," Charles said comfortingly as he offered Remy fresh cards. "Now please go help the others."
"Oui," Remy replied, kissing her hair before heading out the door, accepting the cards and diving into the fray. Three sentinels lying useless on the ground. (AN Wanda and Evan finished theirs off and then the two Rogue took out.)
Wolverine started at the head of the Sentinel that Magma and Pyro had been fighting and sliced his way down, clean through the thing like a tin can. Meanwhile, Storm helped Colossus and Blob by striking the machine with lightening as the two boys began to pull in opposite directions on it's legs. Cyclops and Lance were still busy with the one which left Ebony facing off against the last one. She stood almost toe to toe with it, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.
Gambit ran up next to her, charging a card. "Y' need some help?"
"No Remy I don't think so," Ebony said as she looked around. "But the others might," she smiled at him as she brought her hands out to the side, a psychic field forming around them as blobs of green goo flew down at them and bounced off the shield.
"Surrender now Mutant."
"I hate being rushed," Ebony replied, more to herself than anyone else as she brought her hands together and a sonic wave blasted from them, taking the machine out at the knees.
Gambit shook his head slowly before heading over to Scott and Lance, adding his cards to their fire power. They were all getting tired from the excess use of their power and the machines unwillingness to give up. Finally, with a loud creek, the last one fell and the X-Men and Brotherhood looked around, exhaustion and satisfaction written over their faces.
The two groups stared at each other for a moment before anyone spoke.
"We should get going before they send more," Scott stated as he looked at Lance.
"Yeah, Freddie, get Toad will ya?" Lance said as he walked over to Kitty who had come out of the jet. "You okay Pretty Kitty?"
"Yeah, I'm like fine," she replied.
"Good," he leaned forward and kissed her deeply, cupping her head in his hand. It was a few moments before Logan came up and cleared his throat loudly, his claws popping out of his hand threatening. The two parted and Lance followed the others to the jeep.
"Come on guys," Meranda said looking around at the Kids and other adults. "Let's go home."
Authors Note: And this chapter is done! YAY! Sorry it took forever to get up. It took 3 days to write and I'm sorry if the ending sucks but it's 1:30 on day three and yeah. So no shout outs today, but thanks so much to my reviewers. Especially Mercury Dream cause you made me laugh again hon. (Let's pretend that the Risty in my story does have a decent English accent.) Take care all and hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner rather than later. But hey, at least this one was REALLY long. (12 pages to be exact.) Enjoy all.