Disclaimer: I don't won the X-Men or Weird Al, and I've given up hoping
*sniff*... So on with this not-so-long-awaited chapter!
**********************
Rogue screamed, and sat up.
"Rogue!" Bobby said, rushing to her side, "Rogue, what is it?"
Rogue looked around her. The other X-Men were sitting on the beach, some sleeping, others talking.
"Rogue," Bobby said, again, "What is it?"
"John..." Rogue said, "Where is he? Is he alright?"
"They took him," Bobby explained, "to that building we saw earlier," Bobby paused, "What happened before?"
"I tried to get John to come with us, but he grabbed my hand," Rogue told Bobby, "And I think... I think I killed him."
Bobby looked at her, concerned. Ray came up to them, followed by Amara and Kitty.
"What's all the screaming about?" Ray asked, in his usual bad- tempered manner.
"Rogue, are you alright?" Amara asked, giving Ray a dirty look.
"I'm okay now..." Rogue said, "I had a dream."
"And?" Ray said impatiently.
Amara stepped on his foot. Ray glared at her.
"It was one of John's memories," Rogue explained. She turned to Bobby, "I think you've been bunking with Ruben too long! His talent for making things worse is rubbing off on you!"
"What are you talking about?" Bobby asked, bewildered.
"Why couldn't you just leave John alone?" Rogue asked, nearly in tears, "No, you have to go and hurt him with everything!"
Ray gave her a strange look.
"I think she'll be fine," he grabbed Amara's arm and Kitty's shoulder and shoved them bodily away, back to where everyone else was.
"Rogue, what's wrong?" Bobby asked for the third time.
"In my dream," Rogue said, ignoring Bobby's concern, "There were some older kids picking on a girl. The girl in John's picture. John got angry and tried to make them stop. They just laughed at him, so he punched one of them. Another one grabbed him, and pushed his head into the swimming pool next to them. John tried to get out of the guy's grip, but he was, about, 4 years younger than the bullies. I was John, I was drowning with him. They almost killed him, Bobby! But they pulled him out of the water, and let him get his breath back. Then they laughed again, and one of them said: 'Did you like that, Allerdyce? Want to do it again?' They shoved him back into the water. They did that three times, Bobby."
Tears were brimming in Rogue's eyes. She stopped, the tears traveling down her cheeks. Then she continued.
"That memory ended, and it was years later. John was standing by himself and watching everyone having fun in the same swimming pool. He watched them for a long time, until they all left. But when he was going to leave, the same guys came up to him. They all surrounded him, and threw him into the water. Ever since the day they tortured him, John was terrified of drowning. So he could never learn to swim. When they threw him in the water, he just sank. John was so scared, he didn't know what to do. After a while he couldn't hold his breath anymore. He passed out. He woke up in a hospital," Rogue wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve, "Don't you understand now, Bobby?"
Bobby didn't say anything, he couldn't. He was stunned by what Rogue had just told him. He couldn't imagine John letting anyone laugh at him, bully him. John had used to be insolent and would drive Bobby crazy, while flirting with Rogue. The John he knew now was cold, stubborn, and distant. He had never shown a sign of being hurt, or afraid.
Bobby watched as Rogue got up and walked over to a small fresh-water spring. She splashed the cold water on her face, and walked over to the others.
**********************
The captive X-Men had been led to a room where the walls were lined with cells. The professor was put in one, his wheelchair chained to the wall.
"Oh, Charles," Jean whispered softly. Scott touched her shoulder, as a comforting gesture.
Logan, too, was thrown into a cell. He immediately extended his claws, and tried to cut through the bars. They just clanged off, and Logan snorted.
"Figures."
Hank, and Mr. Kamon were shoved into a cell together, Mr. Kamon muttering about respect, yet again.
The rest of them were escorted through a door, which led outside. The guards left them there, and returned inside.
"Now what?" Jean asked Scott, as Bear began singing 'God Bless America' to the tune of 'Beat It'.
"I think we should search the island for other inhabitants," Scott told her, "There's got to be some around here somewhere."
"Me home sweek home!" Bear sang.
Jean raised her eyebrows and looked at Scott. He shrugged. Jean picked up the singing furball, and followed Scott.
**********************
Wanda watched as she saw a gigantic sea creature with a long neck approach the island. It appeared to be pulling a number of life rafts. She gasped.
"What is it?" Crow asked.
"It looks like, I dunno, the Creature from the Black Lagoon!" Wanda said, "And it's pulling boats!"
"Anyone in them?"
"Yeah. Wait! Some of them are moving into different boats," Wanda said, "There's this one guy, there's a guard aiming a gun at him."
"What does he look like?" Crow asked.
"It looks like he has brown hair, but that's all I can tell from here..." Wanda said, "Now there's a whole bunch of, wait, what's happening?" Wanda saw the guy grab the hand of a girl in the other boat, and fall limp, "The guards, they got him."
"No!" Crow said.
"The others are leaving, they're going to the left!" Wanda grabbed Crow's hand, "Let's go catch up with them when they land!"
Crow nodded, and followed.
**********************
"Now what?" Kurt asked Rogue.
"I don't know..." Rogue sighed, "I need to think."
She turned around, to see Ray staring at a big red wolf.
"Roberto," Ray mumbled, "You've got to see this."
Roberto didn't hear him.
"Roberto!" Ray yelled, right in Roberto's ear, "You might want to see this!"
Roberto turned around, annoyed, and said, "What do you want, Crisp?" Then he caught sight of the wolf. His eyes widened, "Rahne!" he shouted joyfully.
The red wolf yelped happily, and leapt into his arms, licking his face.
"Rahne?" Rogue said, stunned. Rahne had left the institute a while ago, because her parents thought it was unsafe.
Out of the trees, two people emerged.
"Wanda!" Toad shouted, "You're alright!"
Wanda made a face.
"Who's that?" Crow asked.
"Toad," Wanda said, grimacing.
"Who's your friend?" Peitro asked, without much interest.
"This is Crow," Wanda said, introducing her companion.
Rogue grabbed her head, as a onrush of thoughts and memories attacked her mind.
"Rogue?" Amara asked, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Rogue said, "I'm... fine."
Amara shrugged, and gave Roberto and Rahne a strange look.
Rogue got up, and found Bobby.
"Hi, Rogue," Bobby said nervously.
"That girl," Rogue said, "Crow."
"Yeah?"
"Does she look familiar to you?" Rogue asked.
Bobby gazed at the newcomer, then said, "No."
"Bobby, you are hopeless," Rogue told him, sighing.
"Hey!" Bobby objected, "I'm not hopeless!"
Rogue rolled her eyes, "Are you sure you don't know who she is?"
Bobby stared at the dark-haired girl for a couple more minutes, then shrugged, "No clue."
"Bobby," Rogue said, "That's-"
Unfortunately for Bobby, something attracted Rogue's attention.
Rahne had sunk her teeth into Ray's leg. Ray grabbed her by the collar, and threw her as far as he could.
Roberto launched himself at Ray, pushing him over backward.
"Hey!" Ray said, "I didn't do anything! It was all her!"
He stood up, and brushed himself off.
"You're a jerk and a complete idiot!" Roberto said angrily, getting ready to punch Ray.
"Hey, at least I'm not like this!" Ray scooped Amara up into his arms, and plastered a nauseatingly love-sick look onto his face.
Everyone, excluding Roberto and Amara, cracked up.
Amara was wearing a look that combined surprise and disgust, "Ray! Put me down!"
Ray, shockingly, set her down on the ground gently.
"I do not do that!" Roberto said stubbornly.
"Actually," Kurt replied, "It is a very good imitation."
"Thanks a lot, blue boy."
"You're welcome," Kurt said, then added, "lover-boy."
While everyone tried to stop laughing, Roberto chased Kurt around, shouting insults and threats. Rahne seemed to be watching with interest, as Crow stroked her head.
"I've decided something," Toad told Nightmare, "Those guys are completely insane."
Nightmare shrugged.
Suddenly, there was a loud rumble.
"Like, what was that?" Kitty asked fearfully
"Relax," Lance said, "That's just his stomach," he jerked a thumb in Blob's direction.
"Yeah," Blob grumbled, "I'm hungry."
"Who cares?" Peitro told him, "It's not like we can magically make food appear. Unless that happens to be Slade's power."
Slade shook his head.
Shawn raised an eyebrow, "Didn't any of you bring food?"
"No," Blob answered regretfully.
"Too bad for you," Shawn said, reaching over his exhausted brother, grabbed a backpack. He opened it, and pulled out a candy bar, "Hungry, Aaron?"
Aaron groaned, and rolled over in the sand.
"Guess not," Shawn said thoughtfully. He unwrapped the candy bar, and shoved the wrapper back into the bag. He caught Blob staring at him, "Hey, I can't litter. Bad for the environment," He took a large bite from the bar of chocolate.
"Ewww..." Kitty said, "Blubber brain's, like, *drooling!*"
She edged away from the salivating Blob.
We're not getting anywhere, Rogue thought, her conversation with Bobby forgotten.
"Okay, everyone!" Rogue said. No one paid her the slightest bit of attention, "Everyone sit down and shut up!" Rogue yelled, her Southern accent showing through more than usual.
Everyone looked at her, astonished. Kurt fell out of the tree he had been hiding from Roberto in. Shawn paused in devouring his candy bar, his mouth hanging open. Blob turned around to face Rogue so quickly, he splattered the saliva that had been sliding down his chin over everyone.
"Ewww!" Kitty shrieked, "That's, like, so totally disgusting!"
"Is it just me," Nightmare whispered in Gambit's ear, "or does she say that a lot?"
"Which one, 'like' or 'eww'?" Gambit muttered back.
Nightmare didn't have a chance to answer, Rogue had begun to talk again.
"We need to come up with a plan," Rogue said.
"Yeah, like what?" asked Lance.
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you!" Rogue said, exasperated.
"I ain't got a clue where we are and what we aren't doing," Lance said.
"It's a good thing you're not in the X-Men," Shawn said, before Rogue could respond.
"Yeah? Why not?" Lance asked.
"If Scott heard you say 'ain't', he'd probably kill you," Shawn said, and Aaron tried to contain laughter for the second time in about two minutes.
Lance snorted, and rolled his eyes.
"Anyway," Rogue said, annoyed, "We need to rescue the Professor and everyone else!"
"Yeah," Toad said, "Wait, what am I agreeing for? Wanda's here," He thought this over, "Hey! We can go home now!"
Gambit caught him in mid-hop, "Remember, Magneto gave us an order to repay Charles Xavier for his help before, Crapaud."
"Huh?" Toad said, "Speak English, man."
"All I said was your name," Gambit shook his head, and muttered a couple curses in his native language as Toad looked confused, "You know... Toad, Crapaud."
"Yeah, whatever." Toad gave his colleague a strange look.
"As I was saying," Rogue gritted her teeth, and thought, Why do I have to be stuck with these idiots? "We need a plan. Now!"
"I think we should split up into groups," Shawn suggested.
"And take on different parts of the island," Aaron continued.
"And do whatever we're supposed to be doing here," Shawn finished.
"Good idea!" Ruben agreed.
"For once, the freaks are making sense," Ray said, "It might actually work. That way we can cover the whole island, and not miss anything."
"What are we, like, supposed to do, anyway?" Kitty asked.
"Wherever your group goes, look for other mutants and soldiers," Rogue said, hoping that this plan would work, "If you find a soldier, try to get him to tell you where everyone is. With a mutant." Rogue thought, unsure, "I guess leave them alone until we can get out of here, or you could ask them to help. I think I'll assign the groups."
There were audible groans.
"Don't complain," Rogue said, "I'm not stupid enough to make matches like, say, Ray and Roberto."
"I don't know about that," Ray muttered.
Amara overheard, and kicked him, "Ray!"
"Group 1 can be Aaron, Shawn, Rahne, Roberto, and Toad," Rogue said, as Shawn gave Aaron a high-five.
"Toad?" Roberto muttered.
"Group 2 is Amara, Ruben, Ray, Slade, and Peitro."
"Hey!" Ray complained, "How come we get two of them?"
"Slade doesn't count," Rogue said.
Slade shrugged when everyone turned to look at him.
"Group 3," Rogue continued before Ray could complain again, "Jess, Gambit, Crow, Wanda, and Nightmare. I'm sure you can handle all of them, right, Jess?"
Jessica nodded.
"I don't plan on being any trouble," Crow told her seriously.
"That's good, 'cause I've got a couple of tricks up my sleeve, if you know what I mean," Jess winked at Slade, who grinned. Not like that was anything unusual.
"Number 4," Rogue said, "Evan, Pillbug, Peter, Paste, and Jamie," there were no complaints, so she resumed, "5 will be Lance, Kitty, Allen, and Kurt. Bobby, Sam, Blob, Locust, and yours truly will be in Group 6."
"Figures," Ray said, "She puts herself with her boy-"
Ray broke off, so that he could dodge Amara's fist. Roberto laughed.
"Shut up," Ray snapped, and Amara kicked him, which made Roberto laugh harder.
"Anyway," Rogue said, deciding that ignoring Ray and Roberto was a good plan, probably the best she had ever come up with, "We'll all go different ways, except some of us will go to the building. Group 2, 3, and 6 can go to the building. 4 and 5 can go different ways into the forest. 2 can head that way," Rogue indicated a rocky path that inclined upward.
"How come we have to go up a hill?" Roberto complained, sounding slightly like Ray had minutes before.
"Because you need the sun to use your power, and once the sun comes back up, that way will be the most lighted," Rogue said.
"Oh," Roberto said, "Right."
Ray smirked, "Nice one."
Roberto tackled him.
"Right," Rogue gave the fighting boys a peculiar look, "We should get started, then."
After Peter and Gambit had pulled Roberto off of Ray, the groups split up, heading where they had been assigned.
**********************
"Tinkle, tinkle libble stah!" Bear sang off-key and at the top of his lungs.
"Can you shut him up?" Scott asked for what must have been the millionth time.
"Up abub the..." Bear thought, "abub the..."
"No," Jean said, resignedly, "I can't."
"I forgets," Bear announced, then began singing again, this time 'Ode To A Superhero', "Peter Parka was pebbleful, he came from the Shire. Mary Jean still woulda notice him eben if his hair came from wires!"
"I think he's been hanging around Ruben too much," Scott groaned.
"I'll second that," Jean said.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a round, armored thing shot out of nowhere, colliding with Scott's stomach. Scott flew backward.
"You idiot!" a familiar voice said from the trees, "That's Scott!"
Evan stepped out, where they could see him.. He had spikes protruding from his arm.
"Hey, Dr. Grey. Sorry about that."
The round, armored ball unrolled, becoming Pillbug.
"I am deeply sorry," he said, as though he were a tour guide describing the scenery.
"Does he...?" Scott said, with a hand to his stomach.
"Always talk like that?" Paste said, "Yeah."
"What are you guys doing here anyway?" Jean asked.
"Magneto's orders," Pillbug said, with the annoying tour guide 'accent'.
"Anyway, we're trying to do something or other, and well..." Evan was obviously confused with his instructions.
"Do you know where the others are?" Peter asked, looking down on everyone.
"Yeah, in that building, we'll show you."
Scott led everyone back the way they came.
"Normy's a kabillionaire skyentist, who neber had time for his scum! Then something went blewy, and before ya knew he was trying to kill Obi Wan!" Bear sang loudly.
**********************
Roberto looked up at the sky. The sun still wasn't up enough for him to use his power. He hoped that he wouldn't need to use it before the sun was in the right position.
"What are we supposed to be doing, anyway?" Toad asked.
"Weren't you paying attention?" Aaron raised an eyebrow.
"No," Toad said.
"Me neither."
"I think we're supposed to be looking for someone or something like that," Shawn guessed.
"Brilliant!" Aaron cheered, "I never would have guessed!"
"No surprise there," Roberto muttered.
Abruptly, Shawn stumbled forward, falling from a overhang towards a raging river. Aaron morphed at the speed of something a little slower than light. He flapped his strong wings and dived towards his brother.
Aaron caught him in his talons, crying a long note. Despairing and jubilant, painful and soothing, the cry wrenched at the listener's hearts.
Shawn put his feet back on the ground.
"Whoa..." he said, looking at his brother, "I didn't know you could do that!"
The griffin tossed its head, crying again, with the same results.
"That's totally freaky, man," Toad whined, covering his ears.
The griffin shrunk back into the form of Aaron.
"Why didn't you tell me you learned to do that?" Shawn asked.
"I wanted it to be a surprise," Aaron said, "I've been reading up on them and stuff."
"Phew..." Shawn looked down into the river, "I don't feel too good," he sat down, "Now what?"
Roberto had been standing, stunned at what he had just seen and heard. Now, he resumed the position of leader, and looked around for some way to make their way across. Seeing nothing useful, he turned to Aaron. He opened his mouth to say something, then realizing how pale the shape- shifter was. The strain of becoming something that complex had taken its toll on the twin. Roberto closed his mouth, and looked at the others.
"Any ideas?" he asked them.
"Why don't we use shifty-boy and get over there?" Toad inquired.
Aaron looked excited and worried at the same time. Before he could volunteer, Roberto spoke up.
"I don't think he'll be able to carry us all over, even if he takes a couple trips."
Rahne, who had lost interest in their conversation, growled and leapt up, trying to catch a butterfly. She missed, and got tangled in some vines.
Roberto moved to help her out, but after untangling the lycanthropic mutant, he realized that she hadn't been stuck in vines, but a thick wire. It led down the rock face like a long black snake fading into the distance.
Roberto grinned as he looked at the sun. It had finally come into position.
"What?" Toad asked, "What's so great?"
"We're not going over the river," Roberto informed the others, "We're going down to it."
"How do you imagine we do that?" Toad asked sarcastically, "Jump?"
"Climb," Roberto pointed to the wire.
Toad made a strangled noise, "Climb?"
Roberto ignored Toad. He became shrouded in flames, a black silhouette. He lifted Rahne with ease, and lowered himself down the rock with one arm, the other carrying Rahne.
Aaron took a deep breath, as if he were going to dive into deep water, and shifted back into the griffin's form. Shawn climbed onto his back, and they took off, following Roberto.
Toad watched everyone leave him alone. He looked around.
"Maybe I can stay here," he said to himself. He took another look at the path they had taken. It was surrounded by thick forests. The leaves rustled like a forewarning. It was extremely quiet except for the rushing of the river below. Spooky.
"Or not," Toad walked over to the wire. He pouted, "Why me?"
**********************
The three groups heading toward the massive building had finally reached their destination.
"So, genius, how're we getting in?" Ray asked, and evaded Amara's fist.
Rogue looked at the solid wall of the building. A metal door was set into it, locked.
"Let me help, mademoiselle," Gambit offered. With a finger, he drew a circle on the door beside the doorknob. The circle glowed green, and exploded with a bit more noise than needed. Gambit put his hand through the hole, and turned the doorknob. The door swung open.
"Apr(s vous," Gambit said, with a sweep of his hand.
"Merci beaucoup," Rogue said, causing Gambit to look delighted.
Ray rolled his eyes, "Speaking a language we all understand, for the most part, anyway, let's get going already!"
They walked into a hallway lined with doors just like the one Gambit had opened for them.
"Now we can split up into our groups," Rogue informed them.
Ray tested one of the doors. Locked. Before Gambit could help, or anyone could say anything, Ray stepped back from the door.
Clenching his fists, Ray held his hands up. Streams of blue electric energy flew from them. The streams hit the door, engulfing it in electricity. To everyone's surprise, the door opened soundlessly.
"What're all you staring at?" Ray asked them, walking into the room, "Don't touch that door," he warned the others, "Unless you want to be fried."
The rest of Group 2 followed Ray into the room. That left groups 3 and 6. Gambit opened two more doors, and the groups parted.
**********************
"Whoa," Sam said, looking at the room group 5 had walked into.
It was huge, full of shelves, tables, and cabinets. The shelves and cabinets were all sizes, made from different sorts of materials. They held jars, vials, and other sorts of equipment.
"What is all this?" Rogue asked.
"I dunno," Blob said, picking up a jar full of green liquid.
"Don't touch anything, stupid!" Locust snapped at Blob, who quickly set the jar back down.
Bobby walked up to a desk that had nothing except for a lamp on top of it. He sat down in the chair and spun around. While he spun he pointed to a cabinet.
"What's in there?" he asked, his finger continuing to spin with the rest of his body.
"In where?" Sam asked, looking at his friend.
Bobby stopped the chair. He looked around, then pointed to the cabinet, "What's in that one?"
Sam tried to open the cabinet's doors. They didn't budge.
"Locked," he stated.
Blob walked in front of the cabinet, and ripped the doors off.
"I was thinking more of trying to pick the lock, but that'll work," Sam said.
They peered into the cabinet.
"Ugh," Bobby said, pushing Locust away, "Your breath stinks."
"I wonder why," Locust muttered to himself. His power enabled him to breathe plague and disease into the air.
"There's only a china box," Sam said, disappointed.
Rogue, however, was intrigued. She picked up the box and carried over to the desk Bobby had sat back down at.
"You gonna open it?" Sam asked, now looking at a vial of liquid changing color.
"I guess," Rogue gently lifted the lid from the delicate box.
Inside, there was a crumpled piece of paper and a key. Rogue unfolded the paper. In neat, orderly handwriting , it read:
Manovra 236
Dopo l'iniezione, l'oggetto sarà indebolito. L'oggetto può essere
trasferito 'alla cellula di sonno '. Il processo di tempo e di vita di allora accadrà. e note e la spiegazione sul congelamento continueranno alle
prossime pagine.
Rogue read the paper again. It was definitely in another language.
"Hey, can any of you read this?" Rogue waved the paper at the others.
Sam looked over her shoulder, "No."
"Me neither," Bobby said, as the members of the Brotherhood shrugged.
Rogue pocketed the paper, and Bobby picked up the key. He stuck it in the keyhole of one of the drawers in the desk. He turned it, and there was a soft click.
Bobby pulled open the drawer. He flicked through the files. They were labeled with the letter X then a number.
"What are those?" Blob questioned.
"Files, dummy," Locust said, with an evil grin.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Sam asked.
Locust gave Sam a weird look, still with the smile.
Rogue took a file from the drawer. She opened the folder. There were papers inside, held together with a paperclip. The one on the top read:
X68
Slade, Kevin
'Slade'____________________________________________________________
DETAINED Update: Runaway; residence unconfirmed Update: Brotherhood Affiliations: None Update: Brotherhood of Mutants
Date Of Birth: Unknown
Place Of Birth: Los Angeles, CA
Height: 5"7'
Weight: 127 lbs
Hair: Blond
Eyes: Blue
Remarks: Mutant X68 is known to be overly optimistic, and has not shown any sign of aggression. X68 has no known living family members. Update: The departure of X68 was unexpected and recapture is imminent.
Mutant Abilities: Mutant X68 is able to project images into the minds of others. If the illusions become too strong, the person envisioning them could be injured. The process weakens and also could injure Mutant X68.
WEAKNESSES: Mutant X68 is vulnerable when projecting images.
CAUTIONS: National Security Threat Level
Security Threat Level: High
Mutant X68 is unable to control his illusions, causing injury to himself and his victim. The illusions could also spread to anyone nearby and unprotected. SHOULD BE CONSIDERED DANGEROUS.
Paper-clipped to the page was a photo. It featured Slade with a slight smile playing around his lips.
"What is it?" asked Sam.
"A file," Rogue told him, "On Slade. His name's actually Kevin."
Sam took the paper and read it. He handed it to Bobby, "So that's his power."
"And it's why he doesn't use it," Rogue said. She turned back to the drawer. Pulling out a few more folders, she explained, "We might need to show these to the Professor when we find him."
Bobby nodded, then said, "We better keep going," he locked the drawer again, and put the key in his pocket. He pointed to a door on the other side of the room, "That way."
**********************
Gambit opened the door, and walked inside. There were four doors, including the one they had just come if from. In the center of the room, there was a 'cage'. Gambit sighed.
"What is it?" Crow asked, dreading the answer.
"It's a fighting ring," Gambit said.
"What's it for?" Wanda asked.
"It's used like a dog fighting ring. You know, they make those poor dogs fight each other. If they lose, they get punished or killed," Crow said sadly, "It's like that. Except for mutants."
"That's disgusting!" Wanda said.
Crow nodded. Gambit's red eyes were angry.
Nightmare spoke up, "Someone's coming."
The five mutants quickly hid in places around the room. A door opened beside the one they had entered. Four people emerged form the shadows.
"Come on, this is a shortcut," one woman said.
"That's what you said before, and it took us two hours to get to the meeting," a man said.
"Yeah, by then the meeting was over," another man said.
"Fine, you find your way by yourself!" the woman stalked off.
"Now look what you did!" the third man said, "We'll never find our way now!"
"Exactly," the first man said, "That was the whole point."
Man number two grinned, "Those meetings are boring anyway."
The three men turned back the way they came, and the door clicked shut.
Jess moved out of the place where she had been hiding, and picked up a piece of paper.
"What's that?" Wanda asked.
"I don't know," Jess turned the paper over, "It has a drawing on it."
She handed the paper to Wanda. Wanda looked at it. The drawing had been sketched onto it with pencil. A square with a circle in the middle took up a corner of the paper. The rest of it had a picture of a scorpion drawn in detail, tail poised to strike.
"Wonder if it actually is supposed to mean something," Jess said.
"Probably not," Nightmare said, bored, "Let's go."
Jess nodded, and opened the only of the four doors that hadn't been opened in their presence. She looked inside, and saw a filthy room lined with cells.
"Anyone in here?" she asked.
"Over here," a voice called.
Jess walked towards to voice, while calling for the others to enter the room.
"Hello, Jessica," Professor Xavier said.
Jess ran her hands over the bars of the cell.
"Figures," she said, "Adamantium."
Then, she quickly and agilely pulled herself to the top of the cell. Between the bars and the ceiling, there was a small gap. Jessica squeezed herself through the gap.
"I woulda done that," Logan said, not about to be taken as an idiot, "but as you can see, I happen to be built slightly different than you."
The corners of Xavier's mouth twitched.
Jessica stood on a place about two feet in front of Xavier's wheelchair. Then she knelt down an pried a stone loose from the floor, leaving a gaping hole. She turned to the others.
"You guys find a way to get everyone out. I have something to do," and with that, Jess slipped down into the dark hole.
Logan raised his eyebrows, "*That* was helpful."
Gambit touched the hinges of Logan's cell door. He closed his eyes, and the hinges glowed green. Gambit stepped away. With an explosion, the door swung open, hanging on the strong lock
"Your turn," Gambit said.
"I thought it was adamanta-whatsit," Mr. Kamon grumbled.
"The hinges aren't. Must be getting careless," Gambit shrugged.
Wanda put her hands out in front of her. A blue stream of light emitted from them, and enveloped the professor's door. The blue light ripped the door from its hinges.
Logan extended his left-hand claws, and used them to cut through the chain holding the professor's wheelchair to the wall.
"Next," Wanda said, and collapsed against the wall. Crow touched her arm worriedly.
Gambit looked at Nightmare, who shrugged.
"What am I supposed to do?"
Gambit looked thoughtful, then said to Hank, "Check the floor in the same spot as your professor's. See if you have an entrance the tunnel. Then, you can come through this one," he pointed to the hole Jess had created.
Hank found the same stone in the floor, and lifted it with ease. Sure enough, there was a hole leading into an underground tunnel.
Mr. Kamon entered the hole first, with Hank following. As Mr. Kamon tried to pull himself up, Gambit stretched out a hand to help.
"Don't put your filthy hands on me!" Mr. Kamon shouted, and cracked his cane down onto Gambit's hand. He lifted himself out of the tunnel, and Hank leaped out after him.
"Now what?" Wanda asked.
"The students," Xavier asked, "are they alright?"
"Yeah," Wanda replied, then said, "Wait, except for one."
"Yes?" the Professor now sounded worried.
"I don't know who."
Hank put a blue hand on Xavier's shoulder, "What did the student look like?"
"He had brown hair, and was shorter than me," Wanda shrugged, "It was from far off."
The professor nodded, while entering her mind to access the memory.
"John," he said, "he was captured by soldiers."
Logan snorted, "Scott'll be pleased."
Xavier ignored Logan, and continued, "We need to finish what Rogue has started. But I will just slow you down. Mr. Kamon, would you be so kind as to accompany me outside, and away from this area?"
Mr. Kamon grunted, he was too busy inspecting his cane for any damage from when he had hit Gambit's hand, which was bruising horribly.
**********************
"Kitty!" Kurt exclaimed, as Kitty tripped for the third time, "Can't you find your center of balance or something?"
"Like, I'm just not good at this freaky forest thing," Kitty explained half-heartedly.
"Do you realize how slow we're going?" Kurt complained.
"Like, I'm sorry, Kurt! I can't walk any faster!" Kitty said.
"I know," Kurt apologized, "I just think we're not getting anywhere."
"We're not really trying to go anywhere anyway, dude," Allen said.
"Why don't we just head over to that clearing," Lance suggested, pointing.
"Dude, what's a-" Kitty put a hand over Allen's mouth.
"That sounds good," she said.
The small group made their way into the bright area. As they approached, they noticed a huge tree in the middle of the clearing.
"Dude, guys, it has eyes!" Allen exclaimed when they became close to it.
"What are you, like, talking about?" Kitty asked.
"Trees don't have eyes, Allen," Kurt told their friend.
"This one does," Lance said, grabbing Kitty, and pulling her back.
Just at that moment, a branch swooped down and crashed into the ground where Kitty had been moments before.
"Uh... Nice tree..." Kurt said.
The tree's red eyes followed their movements as they stared at it, dumbfounded.
"Dude, Kurt, that tree's not nice," Allen said, and a cascade of fruit fell onto his head, burying him.
"Allen!" Kitty said.
Allen oozed out from under the apples, "Dude..."
Lance stretched his hands out in front of him, and his eyes rolled up into his head, as usual. The ground trembled and lurched. But the tree stood still, scarlet eyes narrowed maliciously.
"I think we'd better leave the freaky tree alone, Lance," Kurt said, grabbing Lance by the arm and backing away.
They turned and ran from the 'freaky' tree. But because their backs were turned, they did not see the tree shrink down into a person and race off in another direction.
**********************
Ray looked around the room, disappointed. The room was completely empty. There wasn't even a chair or a desk in it.
"Figures," he said, starting to walk into the room, "We get the room with-"
Ray didn't finish what he had been saying. Because as he stepped forward, panels in the walls, floor, and ceiling slid away. From the spaces they created, different sized artillery and weapons emerged from them.
"Oh crap," Ray muttered under his breath.
The young X-Men and their companions prepared to face the deadly- looking weaponry. Amara's hands became engulfed in flame. Ray shot a beam of electricity at a large gun that had swiveled around to point directly at him. The electricity smashed into the gun, which exploded, sending pieces of metal flying everywhere.
Ruben dodged the bullets and pieces of metal, wishing he had a more useful power. Peitro ran in circles, creating a huge whirlwind that drew in the flying pieces of metal, and ripping a few of the smaller artillery from the walls.
Slade had not moved from where he had been when the room attacked them. The weapons moved by him as if he didn't exist. Not a single laser, bullet, or other item came near him as he watched the fight before him, not moving at all.
Amara hurled a fireball at something that looked like a giant mace. The fireball and the mace collided in mid-air. The mace flew backward, smashing into the wall and through multiple machines.
Ruben was nearly plastered with some kind of sticky goop, but he ducked out of the way with it missing him by less than an inch.
"Stand still," Slade called over to Ruben.
"Are you crazy?" Ruben asked him.
"Maybe, but I'm alive," Slade responded, "Stop moving."
Ruben raised his eyebrows, but followed Slade's instruction. Almost at once, the artillery completely ignored him, and attacking Ray, Amara, and Peitro.
"Hey, guys!" Ruben yelled excitedly, "Stop moving!'
"What?" Ray asked, "Are you out of your mind?"
"Don't answer that," Amara said quickly.
"Quit jumping around," Slade said, "It attracts their attention."
Amara ceased moving. She stood rooted to the ground, and grabbed Pietro by the arm, who obliged resentfully.
Ray, however, must have taken a pledge to ignore anything Ruben said. He continued to attack the machines, which had forgotten about the others and directed their attacks on him alone.
"Ray!" Amara cried, as a round orb landed by Ray's feet, "Look out!"
Ray kicked the orb, and it flew across the room, exploding. Amara then tackled him. She pinned him to the ground, sitting on him. The machines slowly withdrew back into the walls.
"Idiot," Peitro muttered.
**********************
Yay! New readers! Yay! 17 reviews! Yay! *blinks* Okay, the songs bear was trying to sing are: Ode to a Superhero (by Weird Al) and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (by someone else). I don't own either of them. Er... that's it, I guess...
BobbyD12- Yay! You got a name! And you're special, because... umm... Because I said so! I command you to REVIEW! Bwahahahahaha! ... yeah.
Now I will use my special Jedi power, ordering all of you to REVIEW!!!!
**********************
Rogue screamed, and sat up.
"Rogue!" Bobby said, rushing to her side, "Rogue, what is it?"
Rogue looked around her. The other X-Men were sitting on the beach, some sleeping, others talking.
"Rogue," Bobby said, again, "What is it?"
"John..." Rogue said, "Where is he? Is he alright?"
"They took him," Bobby explained, "to that building we saw earlier," Bobby paused, "What happened before?"
"I tried to get John to come with us, but he grabbed my hand," Rogue told Bobby, "And I think... I think I killed him."
Bobby looked at her, concerned. Ray came up to them, followed by Amara and Kitty.
"What's all the screaming about?" Ray asked, in his usual bad- tempered manner.
"Rogue, are you alright?" Amara asked, giving Ray a dirty look.
"I'm okay now..." Rogue said, "I had a dream."
"And?" Ray said impatiently.
Amara stepped on his foot. Ray glared at her.
"It was one of John's memories," Rogue explained. She turned to Bobby, "I think you've been bunking with Ruben too long! His talent for making things worse is rubbing off on you!"
"What are you talking about?" Bobby asked, bewildered.
"Why couldn't you just leave John alone?" Rogue asked, nearly in tears, "No, you have to go and hurt him with everything!"
Ray gave her a strange look.
"I think she'll be fine," he grabbed Amara's arm and Kitty's shoulder and shoved them bodily away, back to where everyone else was.
"Rogue, what's wrong?" Bobby asked for the third time.
"In my dream," Rogue said, ignoring Bobby's concern, "There were some older kids picking on a girl. The girl in John's picture. John got angry and tried to make them stop. They just laughed at him, so he punched one of them. Another one grabbed him, and pushed his head into the swimming pool next to them. John tried to get out of the guy's grip, but he was, about, 4 years younger than the bullies. I was John, I was drowning with him. They almost killed him, Bobby! But they pulled him out of the water, and let him get his breath back. Then they laughed again, and one of them said: 'Did you like that, Allerdyce? Want to do it again?' They shoved him back into the water. They did that three times, Bobby."
Tears were brimming in Rogue's eyes. She stopped, the tears traveling down her cheeks. Then she continued.
"That memory ended, and it was years later. John was standing by himself and watching everyone having fun in the same swimming pool. He watched them for a long time, until they all left. But when he was going to leave, the same guys came up to him. They all surrounded him, and threw him into the water. Ever since the day they tortured him, John was terrified of drowning. So he could never learn to swim. When they threw him in the water, he just sank. John was so scared, he didn't know what to do. After a while he couldn't hold his breath anymore. He passed out. He woke up in a hospital," Rogue wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve, "Don't you understand now, Bobby?"
Bobby didn't say anything, he couldn't. He was stunned by what Rogue had just told him. He couldn't imagine John letting anyone laugh at him, bully him. John had used to be insolent and would drive Bobby crazy, while flirting with Rogue. The John he knew now was cold, stubborn, and distant. He had never shown a sign of being hurt, or afraid.
Bobby watched as Rogue got up and walked over to a small fresh-water spring. She splashed the cold water on her face, and walked over to the others.
**********************
The captive X-Men had been led to a room where the walls were lined with cells. The professor was put in one, his wheelchair chained to the wall.
"Oh, Charles," Jean whispered softly. Scott touched her shoulder, as a comforting gesture.
Logan, too, was thrown into a cell. He immediately extended his claws, and tried to cut through the bars. They just clanged off, and Logan snorted.
"Figures."
Hank, and Mr. Kamon were shoved into a cell together, Mr. Kamon muttering about respect, yet again.
The rest of them were escorted through a door, which led outside. The guards left them there, and returned inside.
"Now what?" Jean asked Scott, as Bear began singing 'God Bless America' to the tune of 'Beat It'.
"I think we should search the island for other inhabitants," Scott told her, "There's got to be some around here somewhere."
"Me home sweek home!" Bear sang.
Jean raised her eyebrows and looked at Scott. He shrugged. Jean picked up the singing furball, and followed Scott.
**********************
Wanda watched as she saw a gigantic sea creature with a long neck approach the island. It appeared to be pulling a number of life rafts. She gasped.
"What is it?" Crow asked.
"It looks like, I dunno, the Creature from the Black Lagoon!" Wanda said, "And it's pulling boats!"
"Anyone in them?"
"Yeah. Wait! Some of them are moving into different boats," Wanda said, "There's this one guy, there's a guard aiming a gun at him."
"What does he look like?" Crow asked.
"It looks like he has brown hair, but that's all I can tell from here..." Wanda said, "Now there's a whole bunch of, wait, what's happening?" Wanda saw the guy grab the hand of a girl in the other boat, and fall limp, "The guards, they got him."
"No!" Crow said.
"The others are leaving, they're going to the left!" Wanda grabbed Crow's hand, "Let's go catch up with them when they land!"
Crow nodded, and followed.
**********************
"Now what?" Kurt asked Rogue.
"I don't know..." Rogue sighed, "I need to think."
She turned around, to see Ray staring at a big red wolf.
"Roberto," Ray mumbled, "You've got to see this."
Roberto didn't hear him.
"Roberto!" Ray yelled, right in Roberto's ear, "You might want to see this!"
Roberto turned around, annoyed, and said, "What do you want, Crisp?" Then he caught sight of the wolf. His eyes widened, "Rahne!" he shouted joyfully.
The red wolf yelped happily, and leapt into his arms, licking his face.
"Rahne?" Rogue said, stunned. Rahne had left the institute a while ago, because her parents thought it was unsafe.
Out of the trees, two people emerged.
"Wanda!" Toad shouted, "You're alright!"
Wanda made a face.
"Who's that?" Crow asked.
"Toad," Wanda said, grimacing.
"Who's your friend?" Peitro asked, without much interest.
"This is Crow," Wanda said, introducing her companion.
Rogue grabbed her head, as a onrush of thoughts and memories attacked her mind.
"Rogue?" Amara asked, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Rogue said, "I'm... fine."
Amara shrugged, and gave Roberto and Rahne a strange look.
Rogue got up, and found Bobby.
"Hi, Rogue," Bobby said nervously.
"That girl," Rogue said, "Crow."
"Yeah?"
"Does she look familiar to you?" Rogue asked.
Bobby gazed at the newcomer, then said, "No."
"Bobby, you are hopeless," Rogue told him, sighing.
"Hey!" Bobby objected, "I'm not hopeless!"
Rogue rolled her eyes, "Are you sure you don't know who she is?"
Bobby stared at the dark-haired girl for a couple more minutes, then shrugged, "No clue."
"Bobby," Rogue said, "That's-"
Unfortunately for Bobby, something attracted Rogue's attention.
Rahne had sunk her teeth into Ray's leg. Ray grabbed her by the collar, and threw her as far as he could.
Roberto launched himself at Ray, pushing him over backward.
"Hey!" Ray said, "I didn't do anything! It was all her!"
He stood up, and brushed himself off.
"You're a jerk and a complete idiot!" Roberto said angrily, getting ready to punch Ray.
"Hey, at least I'm not like this!" Ray scooped Amara up into his arms, and plastered a nauseatingly love-sick look onto his face.
Everyone, excluding Roberto and Amara, cracked up.
Amara was wearing a look that combined surprise and disgust, "Ray! Put me down!"
Ray, shockingly, set her down on the ground gently.
"I do not do that!" Roberto said stubbornly.
"Actually," Kurt replied, "It is a very good imitation."
"Thanks a lot, blue boy."
"You're welcome," Kurt said, then added, "lover-boy."
While everyone tried to stop laughing, Roberto chased Kurt around, shouting insults and threats. Rahne seemed to be watching with interest, as Crow stroked her head.
"I've decided something," Toad told Nightmare, "Those guys are completely insane."
Nightmare shrugged.
Suddenly, there was a loud rumble.
"Like, what was that?" Kitty asked fearfully
"Relax," Lance said, "That's just his stomach," he jerked a thumb in Blob's direction.
"Yeah," Blob grumbled, "I'm hungry."
"Who cares?" Peitro told him, "It's not like we can magically make food appear. Unless that happens to be Slade's power."
Slade shook his head.
Shawn raised an eyebrow, "Didn't any of you bring food?"
"No," Blob answered regretfully.
"Too bad for you," Shawn said, reaching over his exhausted brother, grabbed a backpack. He opened it, and pulled out a candy bar, "Hungry, Aaron?"
Aaron groaned, and rolled over in the sand.
"Guess not," Shawn said thoughtfully. He unwrapped the candy bar, and shoved the wrapper back into the bag. He caught Blob staring at him, "Hey, I can't litter. Bad for the environment," He took a large bite from the bar of chocolate.
"Ewww..." Kitty said, "Blubber brain's, like, *drooling!*"
She edged away from the salivating Blob.
We're not getting anywhere, Rogue thought, her conversation with Bobby forgotten.
"Okay, everyone!" Rogue said. No one paid her the slightest bit of attention, "Everyone sit down and shut up!" Rogue yelled, her Southern accent showing through more than usual.
Everyone looked at her, astonished. Kurt fell out of the tree he had been hiding from Roberto in. Shawn paused in devouring his candy bar, his mouth hanging open. Blob turned around to face Rogue so quickly, he splattered the saliva that had been sliding down his chin over everyone.
"Ewww!" Kitty shrieked, "That's, like, so totally disgusting!"
"Is it just me," Nightmare whispered in Gambit's ear, "or does she say that a lot?"
"Which one, 'like' or 'eww'?" Gambit muttered back.
Nightmare didn't have a chance to answer, Rogue had begun to talk again.
"We need to come up with a plan," Rogue said.
"Yeah, like what?" asked Lance.
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you!" Rogue said, exasperated.
"I ain't got a clue where we are and what we aren't doing," Lance said.
"It's a good thing you're not in the X-Men," Shawn said, before Rogue could respond.
"Yeah? Why not?" Lance asked.
"If Scott heard you say 'ain't', he'd probably kill you," Shawn said, and Aaron tried to contain laughter for the second time in about two minutes.
Lance snorted, and rolled his eyes.
"Anyway," Rogue said, annoyed, "We need to rescue the Professor and everyone else!"
"Yeah," Toad said, "Wait, what am I agreeing for? Wanda's here," He thought this over, "Hey! We can go home now!"
Gambit caught him in mid-hop, "Remember, Magneto gave us an order to repay Charles Xavier for his help before, Crapaud."
"Huh?" Toad said, "Speak English, man."
"All I said was your name," Gambit shook his head, and muttered a couple curses in his native language as Toad looked confused, "You know... Toad, Crapaud."
"Yeah, whatever." Toad gave his colleague a strange look.
"As I was saying," Rogue gritted her teeth, and thought, Why do I have to be stuck with these idiots? "We need a plan. Now!"
"I think we should split up into groups," Shawn suggested.
"And take on different parts of the island," Aaron continued.
"And do whatever we're supposed to be doing here," Shawn finished.
"Good idea!" Ruben agreed.
"For once, the freaks are making sense," Ray said, "It might actually work. That way we can cover the whole island, and not miss anything."
"What are we, like, supposed to do, anyway?" Kitty asked.
"Wherever your group goes, look for other mutants and soldiers," Rogue said, hoping that this plan would work, "If you find a soldier, try to get him to tell you where everyone is. With a mutant." Rogue thought, unsure, "I guess leave them alone until we can get out of here, or you could ask them to help. I think I'll assign the groups."
There were audible groans.
"Don't complain," Rogue said, "I'm not stupid enough to make matches like, say, Ray and Roberto."
"I don't know about that," Ray muttered.
Amara overheard, and kicked him, "Ray!"
"Group 1 can be Aaron, Shawn, Rahne, Roberto, and Toad," Rogue said, as Shawn gave Aaron a high-five.
"Toad?" Roberto muttered.
"Group 2 is Amara, Ruben, Ray, Slade, and Peitro."
"Hey!" Ray complained, "How come we get two of them?"
"Slade doesn't count," Rogue said.
Slade shrugged when everyone turned to look at him.
"Group 3," Rogue continued before Ray could complain again, "Jess, Gambit, Crow, Wanda, and Nightmare. I'm sure you can handle all of them, right, Jess?"
Jessica nodded.
"I don't plan on being any trouble," Crow told her seriously.
"That's good, 'cause I've got a couple of tricks up my sleeve, if you know what I mean," Jess winked at Slade, who grinned. Not like that was anything unusual.
"Number 4," Rogue said, "Evan, Pillbug, Peter, Paste, and Jamie," there were no complaints, so she resumed, "5 will be Lance, Kitty, Allen, and Kurt. Bobby, Sam, Blob, Locust, and yours truly will be in Group 6."
"Figures," Ray said, "She puts herself with her boy-"
Ray broke off, so that he could dodge Amara's fist. Roberto laughed.
"Shut up," Ray snapped, and Amara kicked him, which made Roberto laugh harder.
"Anyway," Rogue said, deciding that ignoring Ray and Roberto was a good plan, probably the best she had ever come up with, "We'll all go different ways, except some of us will go to the building. Group 2, 3, and 6 can go to the building. 4 and 5 can go different ways into the forest. 2 can head that way," Rogue indicated a rocky path that inclined upward.
"How come we have to go up a hill?" Roberto complained, sounding slightly like Ray had minutes before.
"Because you need the sun to use your power, and once the sun comes back up, that way will be the most lighted," Rogue said.
"Oh," Roberto said, "Right."
Ray smirked, "Nice one."
Roberto tackled him.
"Right," Rogue gave the fighting boys a peculiar look, "We should get started, then."
After Peter and Gambit had pulled Roberto off of Ray, the groups split up, heading where they had been assigned.
**********************
"Tinkle, tinkle libble stah!" Bear sang off-key and at the top of his lungs.
"Can you shut him up?" Scott asked for what must have been the millionth time.
"Up abub the..." Bear thought, "abub the..."
"No," Jean said, resignedly, "I can't."
"I forgets," Bear announced, then began singing again, this time 'Ode To A Superhero', "Peter Parka was pebbleful, he came from the Shire. Mary Jean still woulda notice him eben if his hair came from wires!"
"I think he's been hanging around Ruben too much," Scott groaned.
"I'll second that," Jean said.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a round, armored thing shot out of nowhere, colliding with Scott's stomach. Scott flew backward.
"You idiot!" a familiar voice said from the trees, "That's Scott!"
Evan stepped out, where they could see him.. He had spikes protruding from his arm.
"Hey, Dr. Grey. Sorry about that."
The round, armored ball unrolled, becoming Pillbug.
"I am deeply sorry," he said, as though he were a tour guide describing the scenery.
"Does he...?" Scott said, with a hand to his stomach.
"Always talk like that?" Paste said, "Yeah."
"What are you guys doing here anyway?" Jean asked.
"Magneto's orders," Pillbug said, with the annoying tour guide 'accent'.
"Anyway, we're trying to do something or other, and well..." Evan was obviously confused with his instructions.
"Do you know where the others are?" Peter asked, looking down on everyone.
"Yeah, in that building, we'll show you."
Scott led everyone back the way they came.
"Normy's a kabillionaire skyentist, who neber had time for his scum! Then something went blewy, and before ya knew he was trying to kill Obi Wan!" Bear sang loudly.
**********************
Roberto looked up at the sky. The sun still wasn't up enough for him to use his power. He hoped that he wouldn't need to use it before the sun was in the right position.
"What are we supposed to be doing, anyway?" Toad asked.
"Weren't you paying attention?" Aaron raised an eyebrow.
"No," Toad said.
"Me neither."
"I think we're supposed to be looking for someone or something like that," Shawn guessed.
"Brilliant!" Aaron cheered, "I never would have guessed!"
"No surprise there," Roberto muttered.
Abruptly, Shawn stumbled forward, falling from a overhang towards a raging river. Aaron morphed at the speed of something a little slower than light. He flapped his strong wings and dived towards his brother.
Aaron caught him in his talons, crying a long note. Despairing and jubilant, painful and soothing, the cry wrenched at the listener's hearts.
Shawn put his feet back on the ground.
"Whoa..." he said, looking at his brother, "I didn't know you could do that!"
The griffin tossed its head, crying again, with the same results.
"That's totally freaky, man," Toad whined, covering his ears.
The griffin shrunk back into the form of Aaron.
"Why didn't you tell me you learned to do that?" Shawn asked.
"I wanted it to be a surprise," Aaron said, "I've been reading up on them and stuff."
"Phew..." Shawn looked down into the river, "I don't feel too good," he sat down, "Now what?"
Roberto had been standing, stunned at what he had just seen and heard. Now, he resumed the position of leader, and looked around for some way to make their way across. Seeing nothing useful, he turned to Aaron. He opened his mouth to say something, then realizing how pale the shape- shifter was. The strain of becoming something that complex had taken its toll on the twin. Roberto closed his mouth, and looked at the others.
"Any ideas?" he asked them.
"Why don't we use shifty-boy and get over there?" Toad inquired.
Aaron looked excited and worried at the same time. Before he could volunteer, Roberto spoke up.
"I don't think he'll be able to carry us all over, even if he takes a couple trips."
Rahne, who had lost interest in their conversation, growled and leapt up, trying to catch a butterfly. She missed, and got tangled in some vines.
Roberto moved to help her out, but after untangling the lycanthropic mutant, he realized that she hadn't been stuck in vines, but a thick wire. It led down the rock face like a long black snake fading into the distance.
Roberto grinned as he looked at the sun. It had finally come into position.
"What?" Toad asked, "What's so great?"
"We're not going over the river," Roberto informed the others, "We're going down to it."
"How do you imagine we do that?" Toad asked sarcastically, "Jump?"
"Climb," Roberto pointed to the wire.
Toad made a strangled noise, "Climb?"
Roberto ignored Toad. He became shrouded in flames, a black silhouette. He lifted Rahne with ease, and lowered himself down the rock with one arm, the other carrying Rahne.
Aaron took a deep breath, as if he were going to dive into deep water, and shifted back into the griffin's form. Shawn climbed onto his back, and they took off, following Roberto.
Toad watched everyone leave him alone. He looked around.
"Maybe I can stay here," he said to himself. He took another look at the path they had taken. It was surrounded by thick forests. The leaves rustled like a forewarning. It was extremely quiet except for the rushing of the river below. Spooky.
"Or not," Toad walked over to the wire. He pouted, "Why me?"
**********************
The three groups heading toward the massive building had finally reached their destination.
"So, genius, how're we getting in?" Ray asked, and evaded Amara's fist.
Rogue looked at the solid wall of the building. A metal door was set into it, locked.
"Let me help, mademoiselle," Gambit offered. With a finger, he drew a circle on the door beside the doorknob. The circle glowed green, and exploded with a bit more noise than needed. Gambit put his hand through the hole, and turned the doorknob. The door swung open.
"Apr(s vous," Gambit said, with a sweep of his hand.
"Merci beaucoup," Rogue said, causing Gambit to look delighted.
Ray rolled his eyes, "Speaking a language we all understand, for the most part, anyway, let's get going already!"
They walked into a hallway lined with doors just like the one Gambit had opened for them.
"Now we can split up into our groups," Rogue informed them.
Ray tested one of the doors. Locked. Before Gambit could help, or anyone could say anything, Ray stepped back from the door.
Clenching his fists, Ray held his hands up. Streams of blue electric energy flew from them. The streams hit the door, engulfing it in electricity. To everyone's surprise, the door opened soundlessly.
"What're all you staring at?" Ray asked them, walking into the room, "Don't touch that door," he warned the others, "Unless you want to be fried."
The rest of Group 2 followed Ray into the room. That left groups 3 and 6. Gambit opened two more doors, and the groups parted.
**********************
"Whoa," Sam said, looking at the room group 5 had walked into.
It was huge, full of shelves, tables, and cabinets. The shelves and cabinets were all sizes, made from different sorts of materials. They held jars, vials, and other sorts of equipment.
"What is all this?" Rogue asked.
"I dunno," Blob said, picking up a jar full of green liquid.
"Don't touch anything, stupid!" Locust snapped at Blob, who quickly set the jar back down.
Bobby walked up to a desk that had nothing except for a lamp on top of it. He sat down in the chair and spun around. While he spun he pointed to a cabinet.
"What's in there?" he asked, his finger continuing to spin with the rest of his body.
"In where?" Sam asked, looking at his friend.
Bobby stopped the chair. He looked around, then pointed to the cabinet, "What's in that one?"
Sam tried to open the cabinet's doors. They didn't budge.
"Locked," he stated.
Blob walked in front of the cabinet, and ripped the doors off.
"I was thinking more of trying to pick the lock, but that'll work," Sam said.
They peered into the cabinet.
"Ugh," Bobby said, pushing Locust away, "Your breath stinks."
"I wonder why," Locust muttered to himself. His power enabled him to breathe plague and disease into the air.
"There's only a china box," Sam said, disappointed.
Rogue, however, was intrigued. She picked up the box and carried over to the desk Bobby had sat back down at.
"You gonna open it?" Sam asked, now looking at a vial of liquid changing color.
"I guess," Rogue gently lifted the lid from the delicate box.
Inside, there was a crumpled piece of paper and a key. Rogue unfolded the paper. In neat, orderly handwriting , it read:
Manovra 236
Dopo l'iniezione, l'oggetto sarà indebolito. L'oggetto può essere
trasferito 'alla cellula di sonno '. Il processo di tempo e di vita di allora accadrà. e note e la spiegazione sul congelamento continueranno alle
prossime pagine.
Rogue read the paper again. It was definitely in another language.
"Hey, can any of you read this?" Rogue waved the paper at the others.
Sam looked over her shoulder, "No."
"Me neither," Bobby said, as the members of the Brotherhood shrugged.
Rogue pocketed the paper, and Bobby picked up the key. He stuck it in the keyhole of one of the drawers in the desk. He turned it, and there was a soft click.
Bobby pulled open the drawer. He flicked through the files. They were labeled with the letter X then a number.
"What are those?" Blob questioned.
"Files, dummy," Locust said, with an evil grin.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Sam asked.
Locust gave Sam a weird look, still with the smile.
Rogue took a file from the drawer. She opened the folder. There were papers inside, held together with a paperclip. The one on the top read:
X68
Slade, Kevin
'Slade'____________________________________________________________
DETAINED Update: Runaway; residence unconfirmed Update: Brotherhood Affiliations: None Update: Brotherhood of Mutants
Date Of Birth: Unknown
Place Of Birth: Los Angeles, CA
Height: 5"7'
Weight: 127 lbs
Hair: Blond
Eyes: Blue
Remarks: Mutant X68 is known to be overly optimistic, and has not shown any sign of aggression. X68 has no known living family members. Update: The departure of X68 was unexpected and recapture is imminent.
Mutant Abilities: Mutant X68 is able to project images into the minds of others. If the illusions become too strong, the person envisioning them could be injured. The process weakens and also could injure Mutant X68.
WEAKNESSES: Mutant X68 is vulnerable when projecting images.
CAUTIONS: National Security Threat Level
Security Threat Level: High
Mutant X68 is unable to control his illusions, causing injury to himself and his victim. The illusions could also spread to anyone nearby and unprotected. SHOULD BE CONSIDERED DANGEROUS.
Paper-clipped to the page was a photo. It featured Slade with a slight smile playing around his lips.
"What is it?" asked Sam.
"A file," Rogue told him, "On Slade. His name's actually Kevin."
Sam took the paper and read it. He handed it to Bobby, "So that's his power."
"And it's why he doesn't use it," Rogue said. She turned back to the drawer. Pulling out a few more folders, she explained, "We might need to show these to the Professor when we find him."
Bobby nodded, then said, "We better keep going," he locked the drawer again, and put the key in his pocket. He pointed to a door on the other side of the room, "That way."
**********************
Gambit opened the door, and walked inside. There were four doors, including the one they had just come if from. In the center of the room, there was a 'cage'. Gambit sighed.
"What is it?" Crow asked, dreading the answer.
"It's a fighting ring," Gambit said.
"What's it for?" Wanda asked.
"It's used like a dog fighting ring. You know, they make those poor dogs fight each other. If they lose, they get punished or killed," Crow said sadly, "It's like that. Except for mutants."
"That's disgusting!" Wanda said.
Crow nodded. Gambit's red eyes were angry.
Nightmare spoke up, "Someone's coming."
The five mutants quickly hid in places around the room. A door opened beside the one they had entered. Four people emerged form the shadows.
"Come on, this is a shortcut," one woman said.
"That's what you said before, and it took us two hours to get to the meeting," a man said.
"Yeah, by then the meeting was over," another man said.
"Fine, you find your way by yourself!" the woman stalked off.
"Now look what you did!" the third man said, "We'll never find our way now!"
"Exactly," the first man said, "That was the whole point."
Man number two grinned, "Those meetings are boring anyway."
The three men turned back the way they came, and the door clicked shut.
Jess moved out of the place where she had been hiding, and picked up a piece of paper.
"What's that?" Wanda asked.
"I don't know," Jess turned the paper over, "It has a drawing on it."
She handed the paper to Wanda. Wanda looked at it. The drawing had been sketched onto it with pencil. A square with a circle in the middle took up a corner of the paper. The rest of it had a picture of a scorpion drawn in detail, tail poised to strike.
"Wonder if it actually is supposed to mean something," Jess said.
"Probably not," Nightmare said, bored, "Let's go."
Jess nodded, and opened the only of the four doors that hadn't been opened in their presence. She looked inside, and saw a filthy room lined with cells.
"Anyone in here?" she asked.
"Over here," a voice called.
Jess walked towards to voice, while calling for the others to enter the room.
"Hello, Jessica," Professor Xavier said.
Jess ran her hands over the bars of the cell.
"Figures," she said, "Adamantium."
Then, she quickly and agilely pulled herself to the top of the cell. Between the bars and the ceiling, there was a small gap. Jessica squeezed herself through the gap.
"I woulda done that," Logan said, not about to be taken as an idiot, "but as you can see, I happen to be built slightly different than you."
The corners of Xavier's mouth twitched.
Jessica stood on a place about two feet in front of Xavier's wheelchair. Then she knelt down an pried a stone loose from the floor, leaving a gaping hole. She turned to the others.
"You guys find a way to get everyone out. I have something to do," and with that, Jess slipped down into the dark hole.
Logan raised his eyebrows, "*That* was helpful."
Gambit touched the hinges of Logan's cell door. He closed his eyes, and the hinges glowed green. Gambit stepped away. With an explosion, the door swung open, hanging on the strong lock
"Your turn," Gambit said.
"I thought it was adamanta-whatsit," Mr. Kamon grumbled.
"The hinges aren't. Must be getting careless," Gambit shrugged.
Wanda put her hands out in front of her. A blue stream of light emitted from them, and enveloped the professor's door. The blue light ripped the door from its hinges.
Logan extended his left-hand claws, and used them to cut through the chain holding the professor's wheelchair to the wall.
"Next," Wanda said, and collapsed against the wall. Crow touched her arm worriedly.
Gambit looked at Nightmare, who shrugged.
"What am I supposed to do?"
Gambit looked thoughtful, then said to Hank, "Check the floor in the same spot as your professor's. See if you have an entrance the tunnel. Then, you can come through this one," he pointed to the hole Jess had created.
Hank found the same stone in the floor, and lifted it with ease. Sure enough, there was a hole leading into an underground tunnel.
Mr. Kamon entered the hole first, with Hank following. As Mr. Kamon tried to pull himself up, Gambit stretched out a hand to help.
"Don't put your filthy hands on me!" Mr. Kamon shouted, and cracked his cane down onto Gambit's hand. He lifted himself out of the tunnel, and Hank leaped out after him.
"Now what?" Wanda asked.
"The students," Xavier asked, "are they alright?"
"Yeah," Wanda replied, then said, "Wait, except for one."
"Yes?" the Professor now sounded worried.
"I don't know who."
Hank put a blue hand on Xavier's shoulder, "What did the student look like?"
"He had brown hair, and was shorter than me," Wanda shrugged, "It was from far off."
The professor nodded, while entering her mind to access the memory.
"John," he said, "he was captured by soldiers."
Logan snorted, "Scott'll be pleased."
Xavier ignored Logan, and continued, "We need to finish what Rogue has started. But I will just slow you down. Mr. Kamon, would you be so kind as to accompany me outside, and away from this area?"
Mr. Kamon grunted, he was too busy inspecting his cane for any damage from when he had hit Gambit's hand, which was bruising horribly.
**********************
"Kitty!" Kurt exclaimed, as Kitty tripped for the third time, "Can't you find your center of balance or something?"
"Like, I'm just not good at this freaky forest thing," Kitty explained half-heartedly.
"Do you realize how slow we're going?" Kurt complained.
"Like, I'm sorry, Kurt! I can't walk any faster!" Kitty said.
"I know," Kurt apologized, "I just think we're not getting anywhere."
"We're not really trying to go anywhere anyway, dude," Allen said.
"Why don't we just head over to that clearing," Lance suggested, pointing.
"Dude, what's a-" Kitty put a hand over Allen's mouth.
"That sounds good," she said.
The small group made their way into the bright area. As they approached, they noticed a huge tree in the middle of the clearing.
"Dude, guys, it has eyes!" Allen exclaimed when they became close to it.
"What are you, like, talking about?" Kitty asked.
"Trees don't have eyes, Allen," Kurt told their friend.
"This one does," Lance said, grabbing Kitty, and pulling her back.
Just at that moment, a branch swooped down and crashed into the ground where Kitty had been moments before.
"Uh... Nice tree..." Kurt said.
The tree's red eyes followed their movements as they stared at it, dumbfounded.
"Dude, Kurt, that tree's not nice," Allen said, and a cascade of fruit fell onto his head, burying him.
"Allen!" Kitty said.
Allen oozed out from under the apples, "Dude..."
Lance stretched his hands out in front of him, and his eyes rolled up into his head, as usual. The ground trembled and lurched. But the tree stood still, scarlet eyes narrowed maliciously.
"I think we'd better leave the freaky tree alone, Lance," Kurt said, grabbing Lance by the arm and backing away.
They turned and ran from the 'freaky' tree. But because their backs were turned, they did not see the tree shrink down into a person and race off in another direction.
**********************
Ray looked around the room, disappointed. The room was completely empty. There wasn't even a chair or a desk in it.
"Figures," he said, starting to walk into the room, "We get the room with-"
Ray didn't finish what he had been saying. Because as he stepped forward, panels in the walls, floor, and ceiling slid away. From the spaces they created, different sized artillery and weapons emerged from them.
"Oh crap," Ray muttered under his breath.
The young X-Men and their companions prepared to face the deadly- looking weaponry. Amara's hands became engulfed in flame. Ray shot a beam of electricity at a large gun that had swiveled around to point directly at him. The electricity smashed into the gun, which exploded, sending pieces of metal flying everywhere.
Ruben dodged the bullets and pieces of metal, wishing he had a more useful power. Peitro ran in circles, creating a huge whirlwind that drew in the flying pieces of metal, and ripping a few of the smaller artillery from the walls.
Slade had not moved from where he had been when the room attacked them. The weapons moved by him as if he didn't exist. Not a single laser, bullet, or other item came near him as he watched the fight before him, not moving at all.
Amara hurled a fireball at something that looked like a giant mace. The fireball and the mace collided in mid-air. The mace flew backward, smashing into the wall and through multiple machines.
Ruben was nearly plastered with some kind of sticky goop, but he ducked out of the way with it missing him by less than an inch.
"Stand still," Slade called over to Ruben.
"Are you crazy?" Ruben asked him.
"Maybe, but I'm alive," Slade responded, "Stop moving."
Ruben raised his eyebrows, but followed Slade's instruction. Almost at once, the artillery completely ignored him, and attacking Ray, Amara, and Peitro.
"Hey, guys!" Ruben yelled excitedly, "Stop moving!'
"What?" Ray asked, "Are you out of your mind?"
"Don't answer that," Amara said quickly.
"Quit jumping around," Slade said, "It attracts their attention."
Amara ceased moving. She stood rooted to the ground, and grabbed Pietro by the arm, who obliged resentfully.
Ray, however, must have taken a pledge to ignore anything Ruben said. He continued to attack the machines, which had forgotten about the others and directed their attacks on him alone.
"Ray!" Amara cried, as a round orb landed by Ray's feet, "Look out!"
Ray kicked the orb, and it flew across the room, exploding. Amara then tackled him. She pinned him to the ground, sitting on him. The machines slowly withdrew back into the walls.
"Idiot," Peitro muttered.
**********************
Yay! New readers! Yay! 17 reviews! Yay! *blinks* Okay, the songs bear was trying to sing are: Ode to a Superhero (by Weird Al) and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (by someone else). I don't own either of them. Er... that's it, I guess...
BobbyD12- Yay! You got a name! And you're special, because... umm... Because I said so! I command you to REVIEW! Bwahahahahaha! ... yeah.
Now I will use my special Jedi power, ordering all of you to REVIEW!!!!