Disclaimer: If you sue me, I'll give you a nickel, my rubber ducky, and
some sticky thing I found under my bed. But not my X-Men stuff. Over my
dead body...
**********************
When Rogue entered the room, she immediately began to look around the room. Then, realizing that the action was not hers, she smothered it.
The room was dim, but Rogue could plainly see what was in the room. Lining the walls were tubes reaching from floor to ceiling. And inside of them-
"Jubilee!?" Sam exclaimed.
Sure enough, Jubilation Lee was confined in a tube to their right. Sam, Bobby, and Rogue moved closer, looking up into their friend's face.
Jubilee's eyes were closed, and she was breathing evenly and deeply, as though asleep.
"Must be the sleepy-thing Mr. McCoy was talking about," Sam said.
"Yeah, but how do you turn it off?" Rogue demanded.
Bobby looked at a computer whose wires ran into the tube containing Jubilee. He pressed a green button. The computer screen lit up.
"Password," it said in a annoyed voice.
"Uh..." Bobby thought.
"Forget the stupid password," Logan said. He extended a set of his claws and slashed the computer's wires.
The cylindrical tube around Jubilee vanished, and she toppled forward. Logan caught her in his arms.
"Blob, you carry her!" Rogue said.
Blob took Jubilee's unconscious body from Logan.
Sam looked into another tube, "Hey, look! It's-"
Logan pushed him aside. He cut through the wires to the tube Sam was looking at. The tube vanished, but the person inside did not fall.
Warren Worthington III stretched his wings to their full extent, "Thank you."
"No problem," Lagan replied.
Warren stepped forward, and reached a panel in the wall, "The main computer," he said, pulling the panel aside, "I saw them use it."
No one asked who he was referring to. They already knew.
Warren continued, "I think I can make it dissolve all of the tubes at once. Il nostro futuro."
The last few words he spoke must have been the password, because the computer monitor turned from green to black. White lettering typed itself onto the screen.
Warren turned all of his attention to the computer, straining his mind to remember what had taken place days before. He typed words onto the screen, commands to release the mutants from their confinements.
After what felt like hours, but was probably just minutes, all of the tubes vanished. Some of the tubes' inhabitants toppled forward, still asleep, others remained upright.
Suddenly, the lights went out. Then, a small glow lit up the area around Blob.
Jubilee screamed, and the glow disappeared, as Blob dropped her onto the floor. A few moments later, the sparks reappeared in Jubilee's hands. Colorful light played around the floor.
"That is not something you want wake up to every morning," Jubilee said seriously. She looked around, "What are you guys doing here?"
"We'll explain later," Rogue said.
Bobby flicked the light switch. Nothing happened.
"Where's Ray when you actually need him?" Bobby groaned.
"You want Ray around?" Jubilee asked, amazed, "This must be bad!"
Bobby fiddled with the light switch again. This time, the lights lit up, illuminating the room. He looked around, "Where'd all the people go?"
Logan surveyed the room. All of the mutants that they had released from the tubes had disappeared.
"Strange..." Logan sniffed the air, "We've got company."
Armed soldiers burst through the door following Logan's words. They made a circle around the mutants. Logan extended his claws, causing some of the soldiers to jump.
A man in a white lab coat stepped forward, lighting a cigarette, "What do you think you'll accomplish by letting the most dangerous mutants we've got escape?"
"Jubilee's dangerous?" Sam asked.
Jubilee glared at him, "Once we get out of this, you are so dead."
"I take it back," Sam said, trying to hide behind Bobby.
The man raised his eyebrows, "Are you going to answer me?"
"No," Logan said bluntly.
"What are you going to do now?" the man asked, "Fight, and you'll put the kids into danger. We wouldn't want that, now would we?"
Logan glared at the man, knowing that what he said was true. If he tried to fight, the soldiers would not hesitate to harm any of them.
"So will you go quietly?" the man asked, gesturing to one of the soldiers.
The soldier pointed his gun at Bobby, prepared to shoot.
For Rogue, these men had gone too far. She stepped forward, glaring at the white-coated man.
His cigarette burst into flame, startling everyone, including Rogue. She had been planning on touching the man to knock him out, but John's power had taken over. Then, she realized that she could barely control the fire.
The flames leapt to engulf the man who was aiming his gun at Bobby. One of the other soldiers poured at bucket of water over the burning man, extinguishing the blaze.
The lab-coated man looked puzzled, "How did you do that?" he questioned.
Rogue was silent.
"How could you have the same power as-" the man broke off, pulling a radio from his pocket, "Thompson. Get X112. What? What do you mean-"
The man's face grew angry, "Do you know what you've done? That mutant is dangerous. I don't care what you do, just get him. Yes, kill the mutant if necessary. No, I don't care what he says! Just do it!"
Most of this conversation was lost to the group around the man, but Bobby had realized what was happening. He walked next to Rogue, and whispered into her ear.
"John's still alive," he muttered.
Her eyes widened, "But, I thought, I mean, didn't I-"
Bobby interrupted, "I'll explain later, but how're we going to get out of this?"
Then, he noticed Jubilee. She had stolen one of the soldiers' black hats, and was now casually flirting with them.
Rogue grinned, "Forget it, Jubes has everything under control."
While Jubilee had the young soldiers' attention, Logan moved forward. He snuck up to the man, who was engrossed in the conversation with Thompson. Logan extended a set of claws and stabbed them into the man's radio.
The man's eyes widened as he took in the scene around him. His soldiers didn't notice, they were busy with Jubilee. Logan grabbed the man's shirt and lifted him off the ground.
"What was that all about?" he growled.
"What are you talking about?" the man asked innocently.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about! What was this 'Thompson' telling you?"
"One of the mutants escaped, he killed two of my men," the man said nervously, his eyes searching for an escape route.
"Which one?" Logan demanded.
"X112."
"What's that supposed to mean? What was the kid's name?" Logan looked ready to rip the guy's head off.
"Name? I don't-" the man broke off at the look on Logan's face.
"You don't know?!" Logan roared, "What kinda place you runnin' here?"
The soldiers had heard Logan's shouts. They turned to see their leader being threatened by a man with knives built into his hands. They gaped at the pair for a few seconds, then one of them grabbed the kid closest to him.
"Hey, leggo of me!" Sam objected.
The other soldiers followed suit, capturing Rogue, Bobby, and Locust. They were too afraid of Blob, and Jubilee had danced out of their reach.
"Jubilee, do something!" Bobby said.
Jubilee picked up a sphere on a table nearby. Turning her 'borrowed' hat around her head, so it was backwards, she tossed the sphere.
"Pikachu, I choose you!" she shouted.
The sphere smashed into the face of the soldier holding Bobby. The soldier fell to the ground, unconscious.
"No more morning cartoons for you," Sam muttered.
"Hey, it worked!" Jubilee protested.
She kicked Sam, which triggered his mutant power. Sam 'cannon-balled' himself and the soldier holding him through the ceiling. Sam poked his head down, frowning. He was fine. The soldier, although, wasn't so lucky. He was laying, limp, on the ground beside Sam.
"Um... He doesn't look so good..." Sam informed the others. Locust took this opportunity to breathe in his soldier's face. The man promptly collapsed to the floor.
Rogue elbowed the soldier grasping her shoulder in the stomach. He released her, hands to his stomach.
"Let's go," Logan said, and the kids nodded. Then he turned to the man he held prisoner, "Tell your troupe of clowns to back off, bub."
The man nodded, and his men backed away from the young mutants.
"Good," Logan began dragging the man with him out the door. The kids followed.
"Wait," the man persisted, "You can't take me with you!"
"Why not?" Logan snarled, "What's your name anyway?"
"James Deavor."
"So, Deavor, where's this escaped kid?"
"He broke out of the basement, he was heading towards cells."
Logan led the group in the direction Deavor indicated.
Rogue gasped, "Bobby!" she exclaimed, "I know why he's going there!"
"What?"
"The whole reason John came with us," Rogue whispered, "was so he could rescue someonee!"
"Who?"
"Don't you remember? The only person he still cares about... " Rogue hinted.
"You got me. John cares about somebody?"
Rogue sighed, exasperated, "Kerri!"
"Kerri's a mutant?" Bobby asked, surprised.
"Yeah, she's-"
Logan interrupted, "Quiet back there! There's bound to be someone around," He glared at Deavor.
There was an explosion up ahead.
"Jubilee," Logan groaned.
They found Jubilee standing amidst piles of melted rubble.
"It wasn't me," Jubilee said innocently.
"Sure it wasn't," Logan grumbled, "And don't give me the puppy-dog eyes." "Rats," Jubilee muttered, "Must be the creepy atmosphere, Wolvie, you could never resist them before."
**********************
"Smooth move," Peitro told Amara.
Ray shifted, uncomfortable underneath on the hard ground, and with Amara perched on top of him. Amara jabbed him with her elbow.
"Stop moving!" she hissed at him, "Do you want to become the same size and texture of yesterday's dog crap?"
"Not to mention the smell," Peitro smirked.
Ray glared at Peitro, "Shut up, you lousy-"
Amara put her hand over his mouth, "What do we do now?"
The movement-triggered machines were hidden now, but as soon as one of them moved too much, the deadly weapons would attack.
"On the ground, now!" A voice said.
The young mutants looked up. Across the room, was a group of soldiers.
"I already am," Ray said loudly, shooting daggers at Amara.
"Move over here, and don't try anything stupid!" the soldier called over to them.
"First get down, then come over," Peitro raised an eyebrow, "make up your mind."
But he obliged resentfully, as the soldiers drew out their artillery. Amara helped Ray to his feet.
"Don't worry about the machines," Slade told them, "they've been shut down."
"Obviously," Peitro said, but he looked relieved as they walked towards the unwelcome crowd.
The soldiers surrounded the mutants immediately, making sure that none could escape.
"What do you want?" Ray asked.
His question was ignored. A soldier spoke up, "Who are you?"
"We're the X-Men," Amara replied proudly.
"Titles won't help ye now, lassie," another man said, "You're in our hands now."
"Oh, really?" Ray stepped forward, "I really don't think so, leprechaun."
"What makes you think that?"
Ray grinned, "Well, there's always this."
Ray reached out his hand, and shot a powerful bolt of electricity at the Irishman. The force of the electricity caused the man to fall over, but in his surprise, he fired his gun into the air. The bullet sliced through a thick wire that held a piece of machinery above them. Obeying the law of gravity, the machine hurtled down towards the ground. Right above Amara.
Ray didn't even think twice. He threw himself at Amara, pushing her away from under the machine's path with seconds to spare. Ray, lying on his back, saw for a split second the device plunging towards him. And in that second, he didn't regret what he had done.
Amara screamed as the machinery hit the ground. She lowered herself to the floor. Ray lay motionless, almost completely covered by the smashed metal. Tears dripped onto his face.
'He's not moving! He's...No!' Amara's mind rejected the thought, Ray's not dead, he can't be!'
Amara wiped the tears from her eyes as the soldiers reformed their circle around them. She automatically moved into a fighter's stance, balls of fire erupting around her hands.
"Now I wouldn't do that, lassie," the Irishman said, pulling himself off the floor, "Didn't you see what happened to your hasty friend?"
"Ruben, blind them!" Slade murmured.
Ruben nodded. He moved behind Amara, then suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of light. When the light faded, Ruben looked around. His light hadn't fazed the soldiers one bit. How strange.
The Irishman grinned, tapping his eyewear, "Specially designed for all types of light, laddie. Nothing can harm our eyes through these."
Ruben sighed. Why did he have to be stuck with the useless power?
"You tried," Slade said, and took a deep breath, "Now it's my turn."
Ruben looked at him quizzically, but Slade had closed his eyes and hadn't noticed. Ruben put a hand on Amara's shoulder. She extinguished the flames in her hands, and threw herself into Ruben's arms, sobbing.
Ruben blinked. One second he had been trying to get Amara's attention, and the next she was crying into his shoulder, soaking his shirt.
He patted her on the back nervously, and whispered, "Slade's doing something... I think he's going to use his power."
Amara nodded, and let go of Ruben, tears streaking her face. Her eyes, widened, and she pointed at one of the soldiers. Ruben looked.
Blood was staining the man's uniform, and he fell to the ground. Suddenly, another soldier started running, towards the door. Once he reached it, he slumped to the floor.
The next moment was total chaos. The soldiers were bleeding, running, and blasting away at thin air.
"What's happening?" Peitro asked.
Then, he noticed Ruben was wandering around, heading straight towards a wall as if it didn't exist. Peitro sped over to him.
"What're you doing?" he asked, pulling Ruben away.
Ruben's eyes looked right through him. Peitro gasped as Ruben punched him in the stomach. Ruben chuckled.
"What's up with you?" Peitro slapped Ruben across the face.
Ruben's eyes focused, "Ouch."
He looked around, "Whoa, what happened to that 'Lucky Charms' guy?"
Peitro followed his gaze. The soldiers were scattered around the room, and they were either dying or lucky enough to be past that stage.
Slade lay in the middle of them. Ruben crouched next to him, but Slade didn't stir. But judging by his ragged breathing, he'd live.
"What happened?" Ruben asked.
Peitro shrugged, "These idiots were threatening us," Peitro sped around to the other side of Ruben, "Then all of a sudden they weren't. Probably on the account of all of them are dead."
"That's interesting."
"What do we do now?" Peitro asked.
"We're not leaving them," Amara glared at Peitro as if he had suggested it.
"Of course not," Ruben said, "I think Slade will be okay."
Amara nodded, looking at the floor.
Peitro inspected the twisted remains of the machine that had crushed Ray.
"Do you think we could move this?"
"We could try," Ruben said, glad for something to do.
The three mutants each lifted a side of the machine. Straining, they slowly moved to the side.
"It's slipping!" Amara exclaimed.
Peitro ran over to her, helped her regain her grip, and raced back. All before his side of the machine began to fall.
"Thanks," Amara said, surprised.
Peitro didn't answer, he was concentrated on not dropping his side of the machine. He distinctly heard Ruben singing quietly.
"And I got a coffee mug, with my name right on it, in big bold letters, so everyone knows it's mine. Don't even touch it, cause... 'cause it doesn't belong to you! Now I'm watching you, so don't get funny!"
Peitro silently promised himself not to ask Ruben for advice on choosing CD's.
A few minutes later, they collapsed to the ground. They had managed to move the machine about a foot to the side.
Pathetic, Peitro thought, we move the thing a couple inches, and it's like we swam across the Atlantic Ocean. That guy's definitely roadkill.
"Ray?" Amara said softly into Ray's ear, "Ray, wake up!"
The only parts of his body that hadn't been underneath the machine were his head and left arm. His right arm was twisted into an impossible position.
"He's not asleep."
"Then he's..." Amara's voice faded away.
"He's not dead either," Slade said, his eyes still closed.
"Then what's wrong?" Amara asked quietly, as if she didn't want to know.
"A coma."
A tear trickled down Amara's cheek.
"I don't know how long he'll live," Slade turned towards her. Their eyes met.
"But can't people wake up from comas?"
"Sometimes," Slade told her, "But he's not going to make it without some medical attention, that's all I know."
Ruben sat down next to them, "I don't think we should move him. Maybe we should wait."
"For what?"
Ruben shrugged. Amara assumed that Ruben had supplied all the useful information that was possible from his mind. Her thought was backed up by the fact that Ruben was singing again.
"I'm climbing up, up the corporate ladder. Watch out, it's dog eat dog! Nose against the grindstone, it feels alright. Watch out, it's dog eat dog! Here we go..."
"Again..." Peitro moaned.
*********************
Jess made her way through the dark tunnel. Trailing her hand across the wet stone wall, she found that the pathway split into several different directions. Scrutinizing each of the different passages, she noticed a light coming from one of them. It illuminated the area dimly, so Jess was able to follow it easily.
As she drew closer, she found herself looking into a medium-sized room carved out of the rock. The wall were lined with filing cabinets and computers. A group of men viewed the files, or worked on the computers.
I have to get to the controls, Jess mused, But how? The only way to shut the whole place down was with one of the computers, the one in the middle.
Jess felt a drop of water fall onto her head. This gave her an idea. Maybe if she got the computers wet, they'd short-circuit. She put her hand on the wall again. Focusing her thoughts, Jess concentrated on pulling the moisture from the walls. To her surprise, nothing happened.
" Why don't you come out where we can see you," a voice called.
Jess reluctantly stepped into the light. She glared at the small group of men.
"We have some extraordinary sensors that detect mutations, and block their effects. Especially useful for this room, all the important documents are contained here," a man gestured towards the computers, "But unfortunately for you and your little friends, we know what's going on upstairs, if you get my drift."
Jess shrugged, as if she didn't care, but truthfully she was terrified. What would these people do to the others?
The man inspected some monitors, "I see that our troops are having a little trouble on their own. How about we give them a little help?" he smiled wickedly.
Jess shuddered, against her will. She knew what was coming next, and she was afraid. Not just for herself, but for every other mutant on the island. These men had tremendously advanced equipment designed for capturing and destroying mutants.
"You can't do this," Jess pleaded with the man, as he pressed a button on the console in front of him.
"What do you have to lose?" he asked, "This room blocks all kinds of mutant abilities, as well as any other type of thing that could harm something in here. You'll be fine."
Jess lunged at the man. Unfortunately, the other men grabbed her, pointing a gun in her face.
"We can't have you get in the way, now can we?" the man mocked her.
Jess looked at the monitors to her left. After registering what she saw, she stared into the man's eyes, and said solemnly, "I swear I won't forget this."
***********************
"Kitty!" Kurt shouted.
"Help me!" Kitty cried. Suddenly, she had phased right through the ground, and she couldn't stop.
Lance grabbed for her hand, but his fingers clenched on air, "What is this?"
Kurt tried to move over to help, but he teleported into a tree. Trying again, he found himself a couple yards away from the others. He felt drained, teleporting was taking a lot out of him, even if he had only teleported a short distance. How strange.
Lance saw Kurt disappear, and looked to Allen for help. He, too was gone.
"Dude," said a voice by Lance's feet, "This is totally crazy! I'm shrinking! Well, either that, or this dude's growing... hey, I'm feeling sort of wiped out, maybe I should take a break..."
"Allen, get back up here!" Lance said, as he saw Kitty suddenly become farther away.
Allen didn't respond, he had already passed out.
"The earth's rotation!" Kitty exclaimed, "It's, like, moving without me!"
She didn't voice aloud the fact that the earth was also revolving around the sun, and she might find herself floating around in space.
Lance's eyes rolled up into his head, and the ground began to shake. Lance struggled to control his powers, worsening the headache that was creeping up on him.
***********************
Amara glanced down at her watch. To her surprise, she found that it had melted. Even more surprising, she found that she had involuntarily activated her powers, and becoming her namesake, Magma. She had set herself aflame from head to toe, and found that she couldn't extinguish the flames. They didn't hurt her, however, but for some reason she wasn't comfortable in her 'suit' of flames.
Ruben stared at Amara. Then he shrugged, figuring she was bored. But when he looked around the room, it looked unnaturally bright. He caught a glimpse of his hand. It had lit up with a fierce light. When Ruben inspected himself, he found that the rest of him was giving off light, too. The light was blinding for anyone but Ruben, but still he couldn't see anyone else in the room. He concentrated, trying to put out the light. He was unsuccessful, and found himself tiring. He had an intense pain in his head. He collapsed onto the floor, letting the cool darkness wash over him, more welcome than ice-cold lemonade on the summer solstice.
**********************
Roberto looked around, "Shawn? Shawn, where are you?"
A voice from the air spoke, "I'm right here!"
"Stop playing games, we need to find our way through here! This place is a maze!"
Shawn's voice sounded confused, "I can't!"
"You can't what?" Toad asked, rounding a corner in the maze of trees and bushes.
"I can't make myself visible again!"
Roberto moved his hand through the air until he found Shawn, "Try again."
Nothing happened.
"Umm. Roberto?" Shawn asked, "Why are you powering up?"
To Roberto's amazement, he found that he was, indeed, glowing the same way he did when using his power. But when he tried to halt the procedure, he was unable to.
Shawn cried out, "My power is burning my energy! I-"
Then it was quiet.
"Toad?" Roberto tried to call out, but he couldn't find his voice.
The silence was overpowering, and Roberto lost consciousness, only to emerge into murderous dreams of pain.
**********************
Rogue collapsed to the ground, voices of the people she had imprinted running through her mind. Distantly, she heard someone screaming her name.
"Rogue!" Bobby cried, as he saw her fall.
But no one could run to help. Bobby also lay on the ground, his skin ice-flesh. He had coated every surface with a thick layer of ice and snow. Logan lay bleeding next to him, revisited by every wound he had ever received. Jubilee's firecrackers were exploding, burning her and everything else around them. Sam had cannon-balled through the wall and beyond. The others were all out of Bobby's eyesight.
**********************
Wanda blinked in the sudden light. A troop of soldiers now stood with them inside the room. She raised her hands, which were quickly enveloped by the blue substance that seemed to be liquid turned light.
A voice crackled to life from one of the soldiers radios, "The mutants have been taken care of."
The young soldier looked confused, "What? They're still here."
There was an exasperated sigh, "Circuit Eradication Rout Enhanced Backup Run One."
"Oh."
"The wave should reach them all shortly."
Wanda stood her ground. What had the radio declared? That they were taken care of? With something called the circle-whatsit? Something was not right.
Crow heard it all, knew what was happening. But before she could warn the others, the wave hit them. She fell to her knees, her energy seeping painfully out of her though her eyes. The blindfold that she wore absorbed all that it could hold, stained dark. Crow tried to hold it back, but the pain was too intense. The blindfold was gone, energy flowing more freely now.
Wanda was engulfed in her blue 'lights'. Her powers were pulling, tearing her apart. She strained to hold herself together.
Just a little bit longer, a corner of her mind called, Hold on a little bit longer.
The voice was cut off by a stronger, harsher one, Look at the big, tough Scarlet Witch now. She's no stronger than any of them. I stopped her just as easily as the rest. Look at them, pitiful. All dying, dead. It wasn't so hard.
"Please!" Wanda pleaded with the voice, begged it to stop tormenting her, "Go away!"
Hold on, the soft voice whispered, Just a little longer. Serenity will win out.
That was the last thing Wanda heard.
*********************
Jessica watched the screens of the hidden cameras. Watched the mutants fall one by one. She turned back to the man, who was sitting at his desk with a pleased smirk.
That was it. Seeing the man's satisfaction in killing hundreds of people because they were different set her off.
In an instant, the rifle pointed at her lay in two. In another, Jess was on top of the man, who was no longer smirking.
"I told you stop," Jess hissed, "You had your chance. You threw it away."
The man opened his mouth, but stopped at the look on Jess's face. He found no mercy.
In a flash of silver, Jess killed him. She turned the other men, who stood, stunned, in the corner.
"Don't move, don't talk, and don't aggravate me," Jess said pointedly, gesturing to the razor-sharp metal fins that protruded from her forearms. They began at the wrist, ended at the elbow.
Jess turned from the skittish men, and used the jagged fins to start reducing the machine to shreds. With every stroke, Jess felt blood seeping out from the wound her fins had inflicted. The room she was in was designed to neutralize mutant powers. But she could not leave until she destroyed the thing that had hurt her friends. The sharp bits of shredded metal cut into her arms. Slowly, her rage subsided from a blind frenzy to a pounding ache in her head.
Jess looked around her. She saw blood and wreckage. She had done her job. Jess ran from the room, tearing down the long, narrow passageways. After what seemed like no time at all, Jess came to the spot where she had entered the tunnels. She pulled herself out of the damp hall, and back above ground. She retracted her fins, and felt the wounds begin to heal rapidly.
Now to find the survivors.
*********************
Logan looked around at the damaged room. Warren lay, prone, on the ground behind Bobby. Rogue, the last one to fall, was ahead. But they all lay still, unmoving.
Logan heard Bobby stir, but continued to take a head count. One was missing. But judging by the hole in the ceiling, Sam was upstairs.
Bobby groaned. No training session had ever been this bad. Not even the time when Scott decided they all needed to give Level 10 a try. Every molecule of his body was on fire. What did he do to deserve this?
Bobby pried his eyes open. The scene he registered before him was nothing like his room in the mansion. Slowly, the realization that he wasn't in the mansion dawned on him. As he saw that every surface was coated in ice, he remembered that his powers had gone haywire.
He suddenly remembered that Rogue was in trouble. Bobby turned his head quickly, stifling the cry of pain that threatened to surface. He saw Rogue's body lying a few yards away. Bobby pulled himself onto his hands and knees, scrambling over to Rogue despite the agonizing pain that screamed at him to stop.
"She's okay," Logan called to the boy.
Bobby breathed a sigh of relief, "What happened?"
Logan shrugged, "Some sort of device that was designed to kill us."
"Then why didn't it?"
"Because I destroyed it," Jess said.
"Jess!" Bobby's eyes widened at the sight of the blood covering her body, "Are you alright?"
"Peachy."
Logan suppressed a grin.
"Is everyone alright?" Jess looked around at them all.
"They'll live," Logan replied.
Warren stumbled to his feet, flexing his wings experimentally. A few moments later, almost everyone was back on their feet. Everyone except Blob, who was conscious, just having trouble getting up.
"Rogue, are you okay?" Bobby asked worriedly.
"I'll be fine," Rogue told him, although she wasn't too sure herself.
Logan surveyed the room again. Bobby was pestering Rogue to make sure she was unhurt, Locust was grumbling about humans, Blob was still trying to sit up, and Warren had flown through the hole Sam had created to see if he was all right. Jess stood patiently, knowing that Logan was watching her, and waiting for him to approach.
Logan groaned inwardly, knowing that if he didn't ask, he'd never know.
Curiosity killed the Wolverine, a voice muttered. It sounded to close to Professor Xavier's for comfort.
Logan made a mental note to check if old Charley was developing a cruel sense of humor, and walked up to Jessica.
"Yes?" she asked innocently.
Logan grimaced, he hated it when she did that. Now that he thought about it, she was a lot like him.
"No games, kid," Logan growled, "You know what I want."
Jess paused, pretending to rack her brain, "No, I don't think I do."
"Do you want me to spell it out for you? Wait, no, forget I asked that," Logan added hurriedly as he saw the grin on Jess's face, "Just tell me, kid."
"Fine, fine," Jess sighed, "Yes, I'm like you. I'm exactly like you. Look at me," she commanded.
Jess raised her arms, and extended her fins. She smiled grimly at the stares her friends were giving her.
"Logan, we were a part of a project. Where mutants were trained to kill. We were kept in the Sleeping Cell. They tested on you, first. When you rebelled, they hoped that we would cooperate. When we didn't, they"
She broke off as she heard voices.
"This way!" Warren directed.
The group broke off at a run, heading down the hall, away from the voices that quickly became muffled.
"What now?" Bobby panted.
"We find your friend John," Jess said quickly, "We have to stop him before..."
"Before what?" Bobby asked.
Jess looked at him for a moment, then turned away, "Before he does something he may regret."
Bobby gave her a questioning look, but Jess offered no more information. He followed her down the hall, along with the rest of them.
Rogue looked around at the group. They looked terrible. One of Warren's wings was dragging along the ground behind him. Jess and Logan were covered in blood. Sam was being half-carried by Blob. Locust was limping and still muttering about humans.
"Rogue, are you-" Bobby began.
"Bobby, for the last time, I am fine!" Rogue glared at him with intense hatred.
Bobby looked stunned, "Sorry."
Rogue saw the hurt in his eyes. She burst into tears.
"I-I'm sorry, Bobby. I didn't m-mean to."
Bobby put his arms around her and whispered into her ear, "I know. It's not your fault."
Rogue's head shot up as a commotion started up ahead. It seemed that Blob had accidentally stepped on Warren's trailing wing.
Locust was struggling not to laugh at him. Warren had been pulled backward, and had fallen onto his back. That also meant he was laying on top of his injured wing.
"Oops," Blob stared, and said genuinely, "Sorry."
Jubilee turned to him, "Good job, you giant lard ball!"
Logan put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. Jubilee fell silent.
Logan helped Warren to his feet again. Warren nodded his thanks. They continued down the hall. Warren, gasped for breath, as if he was running a marathon. He winced with each step, his wing dragging behind him.
When the group rounded the corner, Rogue gasped. The hallway had been burned, and parts of the rubble were still flaming. They stared at the demolished corridor with amazement.
"You looking for me?" A weak voice asked from behind them.
*******************************
Spheksophobia- *cringes* Aaaaghh! I'm sorry! I won't hurt your Scotty-kins! I won't do it ever again! Anywho... Yay! OSE's back! *does stupid dance* Yay! You're my favorite reviewer, cuz you come back just for me! Yay! *smiles stupidly*
BobbyD12: Okay, okay, you're my OTHER favorite reviewer. Looky, I made Bobby do something smart! Looky, I made Bobby and Rogue have a few 'mushy' lines! Happy? Good.
**********************
When Rogue entered the room, she immediately began to look around the room. Then, realizing that the action was not hers, she smothered it.
The room was dim, but Rogue could plainly see what was in the room. Lining the walls were tubes reaching from floor to ceiling. And inside of them-
"Jubilee!?" Sam exclaimed.
Sure enough, Jubilation Lee was confined in a tube to their right. Sam, Bobby, and Rogue moved closer, looking up into their friend's face.
Jubilee's eyes were closed, and she was breathing evenly and deeply, as though asleep.
"Must be the sleepy-thing Mr. McCoy was talking about," Sam said.
"Yeah, but how do you turn it off?" Rogue demanded.
Bobby looked at a computer whose wires ran into the tube containing Jubilee. He pressed a green button. The computer screen lit up.
"Password," it said in a annoyed voice.
"Uh..." Bobby thought.
"Forget the stupid password," Logan said. He extended a set of his claws and slashed the computer's wires.
The cylindrical tube around Jubilee vanished, and she toppled forward. Logan caught her in his arms.
"Blob, you carry her!" Rogue said.
Blob took Jubilee's unconscious body from Logan.
Sam looked into another tube, "Hey, look! It's-"
Logan pushed him aside. He cut through the wires to the tube Sam was looking at. The tube vanished, but the person inside did not fall.
Warren Worthington III stretched his wings to their full extent, "Thank you."
"No problem," Lagan replied.
Warren stepped forward, and reached a panel in the wall, "The main computer," he said, pulling the panel aside, "I saw them use it."
No one asked who he was referring to. They already knew.
Warren continued, "I think I can make it dissolve all of the tubes at once. Il nostro futuro."
The last few words he spoke must have been the password, because the computer monitor turned from green to black. White lettering typed itself onto the screen.
Warren turned all of his attention to the computer, straining his mind to remember what had taken place days before. He typed words onto the screen, commands to release the mutants from their confinements.
After what felt like hours, but was probably just minutes, all of the tubes vanished. Some of the tubes' inhabitants toppled forward, still asleep, others remained upright.
Suddenly, the lights went out. Then, a small glow lit up the area around Blob.
Jubilee screamed, and the glow disappeared, as Blob dropped her onto the floor. A few moments later, the sparks reappeared in Jubilee's hands. Colorful light played around the floor.
"That is not something you want wake up to every morning," Jubilee said seriously. She looked around, "What are you guys doing here?"
"We'll explain later," Rogue said.
Bobby flicked the light switch. Nothing happened.
"Where's Ray when you actually need him?" Bobby groaned.
"You want Ray around?" Jubilee asked, amazed, "This must be bad!"
Bobby fiddled with the light switch again. This time, the lights lit up, illuminating the room. He looked around, "Where'd all the people go?"
Logan surveyed the room. All of the mutants that they had released from the tubes had disappeared.
"Strange..." Logan sniffed the air, "We've got company."
Armed soldiers burst through the door following Logan's words. They made a circle around the mutants. Logan extended his claws, causing some of the soldiers to jump.
A man in a white lab coat stepped forward, lighting a cigarette, "What do you think you'll accomplish by letting the most dangerous mutants we've got escape?"
"Jubilee's dangerous?" Sam asked.
Jubilee glared at him, "Once we get out of this, you are so dead."
"I take it back," Sam said, trying to hide behind Bobby.
The man raised his eyebrows, "Are you going to answer me?"
"No," Logan said bluntly.
"What are you going to do now?" the man asked, "Fight, and you'll put the kids into danger. We wouldn't want that, now would we?"
Logan glared at the man, knowing that what he said was true. If he tried to fight, the soldiers would not hesitate to harm any of them.
"So will you go quietly?" the man asked, gesturing to one of the soldiers.
The soldier pointed his gun at Bobby, prepared to shoot.
For Rogue, these men had gone too far. She stepped forward, glaring at the white-coated man.
His cigarette burst into flame, startling everyone, including Rogue. She had been planning on touching the man to knock him out, but John's power had taken over. Then, she realized that she could barely control the fire.
The flames leapt to engulf the man who was aiming his gun at Bobby. One of the other soldiers poured at bucket of water over the burning man, extinguishing the blaze.
The lab-coated man looked puzzled, "How did you do that?" he questioned.
Rogue was silent.
"How could you have the same power as-" the man broke off, pulling a radio from his pocket, "Thompson. Get X112. What? What do you mean-"
The man's face grew angry, "Do you know what you've done? That mutant is dangerous. I don't care what you do, just get him. Yes, kill the mutant if necessary. No, I don't care what he says! Just do it!"
Most of this conversation was lost to the group around the man, but Bobby had realized what was happening. He walked next to Rogue, and whispered into her ear.
"John's still alive," he muttered.
Her eyes widened, "But, I thought, I mean, didn't I-"
Bobby interrupted, "I'll explain later, but how're we going to get out of this?"
Then, he noticed Jubilee. She had stolen one of the soldiers' black hats, and was now casually flirting with them.
Rogue grinned, "Forget it, Jubes has everything under control."
While Jubilee had the young soldiers' attention, Logan moved forward. He snuck up to the man, who was engrossed in the conversation with Thompson. Logan extended a set of claws and stabbed them into the man's radio.
The man's eyes widened as he took in the scene around him. His soldiers didn't notice, they were busy with Jubilee. Logan grabbed the man's shirt and lifted him off the ground.
"What was that all about?" he growled.
"What are you talking about?" the man asked innocently.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about! What was this 'Thompson' telling you?"
"One of the mutants escaped, he killed two of my men," the man said nervously, his eyes searching for an escape route.
"Which one?" Logan demanded.
"X112."
"What's that supposed to mean? What was the kid's name?" Logan looked ready to rip the guy's head off.
"Name? I don't-" the man broke off at the look on Logan's face.
"You don't know?!" Logan roared, "What kinda place you runnin' here?"
The soldiers had heard Logan's shouts. They turned to see their leader being threatened by a man with knives built into his hands. They gaped at the pair for a few seconds, then one of them grabbed the kid closest to him.
"Hey, leggo of me!" Sam objected.
The other soldiers followed suit, capturing Rogue, Bobby, and Locust. They were too afraid of Blob, and Jubilee had danced out of their reach.
"Jubilee, do something!" Bobby said.
Jubilee picked up a sphere on a table nearby. Turning her 'borrowed' hat around her head, so it was backwards, she tossed the sphere.
"Pikachu, I choose you!" she shouted.
The sphere smashed into the face of the soldier holding Bobby. The soldier fell to the ground, unconscious.
"No more morning cartoons for you," Sam muttered.
"Hey, it worked!" Jubilee protested.
She kicked Sam, which triggered his mutant power. Sam 'cannon-balled' himself and the soldier holding him through the ceiling. Sam poked his head down, frowning. He was fine. The soldier, although, wasn't so lucky. He was laying, limp, on the ground beside Sam.
"Um... He doesn't look so good..." Sam informed the others. Locust took this opportunity to breathe in his soldier's face. The man promptly collapsed to the floor.
Rogue elbowed the soldier grasping her shoulder in the stomach. He released her, hands to his stomach.
"Let's go," Logan said, and the kids nodded. Then he turned to the man he held prisoner, "Tell your troupe of clowns to back off, bub."
The man nodded, and his men backed away from the young mutants.
"Good," Logan began dragging the man with him out the door. The kids followed.
"Wait," the man persisted, "You can't take me with you!"
"Why not?" Logan snarled, "What's your name anyway?"
"James Deavor."
"So, Deavor, where's this escaped kid?"
"He broke out of the basement, he was heading towards cells."
Logan led the group in the direction Deavor indicated.
Rogue gasped, "Bobby!" she exclaimed, "I know why he's going there!"
"What?"
"The whole reason John came with us," Rogue whispered, "was so he could rescue someonee!"
"Who?"
"Don't you remember? The only person he still cares about... " Rogue hinted.
"You got me. John cares about somebody?"
Rogue sighed, exasperated, "Kerri!"
"Kerri's a mutant?" Bobby asked, surprised.
"Yeah, she's-"
Logan interrupted, "Quiet back there! There's bound to be someone around," He glared at Deavor.
There was an explosion up ahead.
"Jubilee," Logan groaned.
They found Jubilee standing amidst piles of melted rubble.
"It wasn't me," Jubilee said innocently.
"Sure it wasn't," Logan grumbled, "And don't give me the puppy-dog eyes." "Rats," Jubilee muttered, "Must be the creepy atmosphere, Wolvie, you could never resist them before."
**********************
"Smooth move," Peitro told Amara.
Ray shifted, uncomfortable underneath on the hard ground, and with Amara perched on top of him. Amara jabbed him with her elbow.
"Stop moving!" she hissed at him, "Do you want to become the same size and texture of yesterday's dog crap?"
"Not to mention the smell," Peitro smirked.
Ray glared at Peitro, "Shut up, you lousy-"
Amara put her hand over his mouth, "What do we do now?"
The movement-triggered machines were hidden now, but as soon as one of them moved too much, the deadly weapons would attack.
"On the ground, now!" A voice said.
The young mutants looked up. Across the room, was a group of soldiers.
"I already am," Ray said loudly, shooting daggers at Amara.
"Move over here, and don't try anything stupid!" the soldier called over to them.
"First get down, then come over," Peitro raised an eyebrow, "make up your mind."
But he obliged resentfully, as the soldiers drew out their artillery. Amara helped Ray to his feet.
"Don't worry about the machines," Slade told them, "they've been shut down."
"Obviously," Peitro said, but he looked relieved as they walked towards the unwelcome crowd.
The soldiers surrounded the mutants immediately, making sure that none could escape.
"What do you want?" Ray asked.
His question was ignored. A soldier spoke up, "Who are you?"
"We're the X-Men," Amara replied proudly.
"Titles won't help ye now, lassie," another man said, "You're in our hands now."
"Oh, really?" Ray stepped forward, "I really don't think so, leprechaun."
"What makes you think that?"
Ray grinned, "Well, there's always this."
Ray reached out his hand, and shot a powerful bolt of electricity at the Irishman. The force of the electricity caused the man to fall over, but in his surprise, he fired his gun into the air. The bullet sliced through a thick wire that held a piece of machinery above them. Obeying the law of gravity, the machine hurtled down towards the ground. Right above Amara.
Ray didn't even think twice. He threw himself at Amara, pushing her away from under the machine's path with seconds to spare. Ray, lying on his back, saw for a split second the device plunging towards him. And in that second, he didn't regret what he had done.
Amara screamed as the machinery hit the ground. She lowered herself to the floor. Ray lay motionless, almost completely covered by the smashed metal. Tears dripped onto his face.
'He's not moving! He's...No!' Amara's mind rejected the thought, Ray's not dead, he can't be!'
Amara wiped the tears from her eyes as the soldiers reformed their circle around them. She automatically moved into a fighter's stance, balls of fire erupting around her hands.
"Now I wouldn't do that, lassie," the Irishman said, pulling himself off the floor, "Didn't you see what happened to your hasty friend?"
"Ruben, blind them!" Slade murmured.
Ruben nodded. He moved behind Amara, then suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of light. When the light faded, Ruben looked around. His light hadn't fazed the soldiers one bit. How strange.
The Irishman grinned, tapping his eyewear, "Specially designed for all types of light, laddie. Nothing can harm our eyes through these."
Ruben sighed. Why did he have to be stuck with the useless power?
"You tried," Slade said, and took a deep breath, "Now it's my turn."
Ruben looked at him quizzically, but Slade had closed his eyes and hadn't noticed. Ruben put a hand on Amara's shoulder. She extinguished the flames in her hands, and threw herself into Ruben's arms, sobbing.
Ruben blinked. One second he had been trying to get Amara's attention, and the next she was crying into his shoulder, soaking his shirt.
He patted her on the back nervously, and whispered, "Slade's doing something... I think he's going to use his power."
Amara nodded, and let go of Ruben, tears streaking her face. Her eyes, widened, and she pointed at one of the soldiers. Ruben looked.
Blood was staining the man's uniform, and he fell to the ground. Suddenly, another soldier started running, towards the door. Once he reached it, he slumped to the floor.
The next moment was total chaos. The soldiers were bleeding, running, and blasting away at thin air.
"What's happening?" Peitro asked.
Then, he noticed Ruben was wandering around, heading straight towards a wall as if it didn't exist. Peitro sped over to him.
"What're you doing?" he asked, pulling Ruben away.
Ruben's eyes looked right through him. Peitro gasped as Ruben punched him in the stomach. Ruben chuckled.
"What's up with you?" Peitro slapped Ruben across the face.
Ruben's eyes focused, "Ouch."
He looked around, "Whoa, what happened to that 'Lucky Charms' guy?"
Peitro followed his gaze. The soldiers were scattered around the room, and they were either dying or lucky enough to be past that stage.
Slade lay in the middle of them. Ruben crouched next to him, but Slade didn't stir. But judging by his ragged breathing, he'd live.
"What happened?" Ruben asked.
Peitro shrugged, "These idiots were threatening us," Peitro sped around to the other side of Ruben, "Then all of a sudden they weren't. Probably on the account of all of them are dead."
"That's interesting."
"What do we do now?" Peitro asked.
"We're not leaving them," Amara glared at Peitro as if he had suggested it.
"Of course not," Ruben said, "I think Slade will be okay."
Amara nodded, looking at the floor.
Peitro inspected the twisted remains of the machine that had crushed Ray.
"Do you think we could move this?"
"We could try," Ruben said, glad for something to do.
The three mutants each lifted a side of the machine. Straining, they slowly moved to the side.
"It's slipping!" Amara exclaimed.
Peitro ran over to her, helped her regain her grip, and raced back. All before his side of the machine began to fall.
"Thanks," Amara said, surprised.
Peitro didn't answer, he was concentrated on not dropping his side of the machine. He distinctly heard Ruben singing quietly.
"And I got a coffee mug, with my name right on it, in big bold letters, so everyone knows it's mine. Don't even touch it, cause... 'cause it doesn't belong to you! Now I'm watching you, so don't get funny!"
Peitro silently promised himself not to ask Ruben for advice on choosing CD's.
A few minutes later, they collapsed to the ground. They had managed to move the machine about a foot to the side.
Pathetic, Peitro thought, we move the thing a couple inches, and it's like we swam across the Atlantic Ocean. That guy's definitely roadkill.
"Ray?" Amara said softly into Ray's ear, "Ray, wake up!"
The only parts of his body that hadn't been underneath the machine were his head and left arm. His right arm was twisted into an impossible position.
"He's not asleep."
"Then he's..." Amara's voice faded away.
"He's not dead either," Slade said, his eyes still closed.
"Then what's wrong?" Amara asked quietly, as if she didn't want to know.
"A coma."
A tear trickled down Amara's cheek.
"I don't know how long he'll live," Slade turned towards her. Their eyes met.
"But can't people wake up from comas?"
"Sometimes," Slade told her, "But he's not going to make it without some medical attention, that's all I know."
Ruben sat down next to them, "I don't think we should move him. Maybe we should wait."
"For what?"
Ruben shrugged. Amara assumed that Ruben had supplied all the useful information that was possible from his mind. Her thought was backed up by the fact that Ruben was singing again.
"I'm climbing up, up the corporate ladder. Watch out, it's dog eat dog! Nose against the grindstone, it feels alright. Watch out, it's dog eat dog! Here we go..."
"Again..." Peitro moaned.
*********************
Jess made her way through the dark tunnel. Trailing her hand across the wet stone wall, she found that the pathway split into several different directions. Scrutinizing each of the different passages, she noticed a light coming from one of them. It illuminated the area dimly, so Jess was able to follow it easily.
As she drew closer, she found herself looking into a medium-sized room carved out of the rock. The wall were lined with filing cabinets and computers. A group of men viewed the files, or worked on the computers.
I have to get to the controls, Jess mused, But how? The only way to shut the whole place down was with one of the computers, the one in the middle.
Jess felt a drop of water fall onto her head. This gave her an idea. Maybe if she got the computers wet, they'd short-circuit. She put her hand on the wall again. Focusing her thoughts, Jess concentrated on pulling the moisture from the walls. To her surprise, nothing happened.
" Why don't you come out where we can see you," a voice called.
Jess reluctantly stepped into the light. She glared at the small group of men.
"We have some extraordinary sensors that detect mutations, and block their effects. Especially useful for this room, all the important documents are contained here," a man gestured towards the computers, "But unfortunately for you and your little friends, we know what's going on upstairs, if you get my drift."
Jess shrugged, as if she didn't care, but truthfully she was terrified. What would these people do to the others?
The man inspected some monitors, "I see that our troops are having a little trouble on their own. How about we give them a little help?" he smiled wickedly.
Jess shuddered, against her will. She knew what was coming next, and she was afraid. Not just for herself, but for every other mutant on the island. These men had tremendously advanced equipment designed for capturing and destroying mutants.
"You can't do this," Jess pleaded with the man, as he pressed a button on the console in front of him.
"What do you have to lose?" he asked, "This room blocks all kinds of mutant abilities, as well as any other type of thing that could harm something in here. You'll be fine."
Jess lunged at the man. Unfortunately, the other men grabbed her, pointing a gun in her face.
"We can't have you get in the way, now can we?" the man mocked her.
Jess looked at the monitors to her left. After registering what she saw, she stared into the man's eyes, and said solemnly, "I swear I won't forget this."
***********************
"Kitty!" Kurt shouted.
"Help me!" Kitty cried. Suddenly, she had phased right through the ground, and she couldn't stop.
Lance grabbed for her hand, but his fingers clenched on air, "What is this?"
Kurt tried to move over to help, but he teleported into a tree. Trying again, he found himself a couple yards away from the others. He felt drained, teleporting was taking a lot out of him, even if he had only teleported a short distance. How strange.
Lance saw Kurt disappear, and looked to Allen for help. He, too was gone.
"Dude," said a voice by Lance's feet, "This is totally crazy! I'm shrinking! Well, either that, or this dude's growing... hey, I'm feeling sort of wiped out, maybe I should take a break..."
"Allen, get back up here!" Lance said, as he saw Kitty suddenly become farther away.
Allen didn't respond, he had already passed out.
"The earth's rotation!" Kitty exclaimed, "It's, like, moving without me!"
She didn't voice aloud the fact that the earth was also revolving around the sun, and she might find herself floating around in space.
Lance's eyes rolled up into his head, and the ground began to shake. Lance struggled to control his powers, worsening the headache that was creeping up on him.
***********************
Amara glanced down at her watch. To her surprise, she found that it had melted. Even more surprising, she found that she had involuntarily activated her powers, and becoming her namesake, Magma. She had set herself aflame from head to toe, and found that she couldn't extinguish the flames. They didn't hurt her, however, but for some reason she wasn't comfortable in her 'suit' of flames.
Ruben stared at Amara. Then he shrugged, figuring she was bored. But when he looked around the room, it looked unnaturally bright. He caught a glimpse of his hand. It had lit up with a fierce light. When Ruben inspected himself, he found that the rest of him was giving off light, too. The light was blinding for anyone but Ruben, but still he couldn't see anyone else in the room. He concentrated, trying to put out the light. He was unsuccessful, and found himself tiring. He had an intense pain in his head. He collapsed onto the floor, letting the cool darkness wash over him, more welcome than ice-cold lemonade on the summer solstice.
**********************
Roberto looked around, "Shawn? Shawn, where are you?"
A voice from the air spoke, "I'm right here!"
"Stop playing games, we need to find our way through here! This place is a maze!"
Shawn's voice sounded confused, "I can't!"
"You can't what?" Toad asked, rounding a corner in the maze of trees and bushes.
"I can't make myself visible again!"
Roberto moved his hand through the air until he found Shawn, "Try again."
Nothing happened.
"Umm. Roberto?" Shawn asked, "Why are you powering up?"
To Roberto's amazement, he found that he was, indeed, glowing the same way he did when using his power. But when he tried to halt the procedure, he was unable to.
Shawn cried out, "My power is burning my energy! I-"
Then it was quiet.
"Toad?" Roberto tried to call out, but he couldn't find his voice.
The silence was overpowering, and Roberto lost consciousness, only to emerge into murderous dreams of pain.
**********************
Rogue collapsed to the ground, voices of the people she had imprinted running through her mind. Distantly, she heard someone screaming her name.
"Rogue!" Bobby cried, as he saw her fall.
But no one could run to help. Bobby also lay on the ground, his skin ice-flesh. He had coated every surface with a thick layer of ice and snow. Logan lay bleeding next to him, revisited by every wound he had ever received. Jubilee's firecrackers were exploding, burning her and everything else around them. Sam had cannon-balled through the wall and beyond. The others were all out of Bobby's eyesight.
**********************
Wanda blinked in the sudden light. A troop of soldiers now stood with them inside the room. She raised her hands, which were quickly enveloped by the blue substance that seemed to be liquid turned light.
A voice crackled to life from one of the soldiers radios, "The mutants have been taken care of."
The young soldier looked confused, "What? They're still here."
There was an exasperated sigh, "Circuit Eradication Rout Enhanced Backup Run One."
"Oh."
"The wave should reach them all shortly."
Wanda stood her ground. What had the radio declared? That they were taken care of? With something called the circle-whatsit? Something was not right.
Crow heard it all, knew what was happening. But before she could warn the others, the wave hit them. She fell to her knees, her energy seeping painfully out of her though her eyes. The blindfold that she wore absorbed all that it could hold, stained dark. Crow tried to hold it back, but the pain was too intense. The blindfold was gone, energy flowing more freely now.
Wanda was engulfed in her blue 'lights'. Her powers were pulling, tearing her apart. She strained to hold herself together.
Just a little bit longer, a corner of her mind called, Hold on a little bit longer.
The voice was cut off by a stronger, harsher one, Look at the big, tough Scarlet Witch now. She's no stronger than any of them. I stopped her just as easily as the rest. Look at them, pitiful. All dying, dead. It wasn't so hard.
"Please!" Wanda pleaded with the voice, begged it to stop tormenting her, "Go away!"
Hold on, the soft voice whispered, Just a little longer. Serenity will win out.
That was the last thing Wanda heard.
*********************
Jessica watched the screens of the hidden cameras. Watched the mutants fall one by one. She turned back to the man, who was sitting at his desk with a pleased smirk.
That was it. Seeing the man's satisfaction in killing hundreds of people because they were different set her off.
In an instant, the rifle pointed at her lay in two. In another, Jess was on top of the man, who was no longer smirking.
"I told you stop," Jess hissed, "You had your chance. You threw it away."
The man opened his mouth, but stopped at the look on Jess's face. He found no mercy.
In a flash of silver, Jess killed him. She turned the other men, who stood, stunned, in the corner.
"Don't move, don't talk, and don't aggravate me," Jess said pointedly, gesturing to the razor-sharp metal fins that protruded from her forearms. They began at the wrist, ended at the elbow.
Jess turned from the skittish men, and used the jagged fins to start reducing the machine to shreds. With every stroke, Jess felt blood seeping out from the wound her fins had inflicted. The room she was in was designed to neutralize mutant powers. But she could not leave until she destroyed the thing that had hurt her friends. The sharp bits of shredded metal cut into her arms. Slowly, her rage subsided from a blind frenzy to a pounding ache in her head.
Jess looked around her. She saw blood and wreckage. She had done her job. Jess ran from the room, tearing down the long, narrow passageways. After what seemed like no time at all, Jess came to the spot where she had entered the tunnels. She pulled herself out of the damp hall, and back above ground. She retracted her fins, and felt the wounds begin to heal rapidly.
Now to find the survivors.
*********************
Logan looked around at the damaged room. Warren lay, prone, on the ground behind Bobby. Rogue, the last one to fall, was ahead. But they all lay still, unmoving.
Logan heard Bobby stir, but continued to take a head count. One was missing. But judging by the hole in the ceiling, Sam was upstairs.
Bobby groaned. No training session had ever been this bad. Not even the time when Scott decided they all needed to give Level 10 a try. Every molecule of his body was on fire. What did he do to deserve this?
Bobby pried his eyes open. The scene he registered before him was nothing like his room in the mansion. Slowly, the realization that he wasn't in the mansion dawned on him. As he saw that every surface was coated in ice, he remembered that his powers had gone haywire.
He suddenly remembered that Rogue was in trouble. Bobby turned his head quickly, stifling the cry of pain that threatened to surface. He saw Rogue's body lying a few yards away. Bobby pulled himself onto his hands and knees, scrambling over to Rogue despite the agonizing pain that screamed at him to stop.
"She's okay," Logan called to the boy.
Bobby breathed a sigh of relief, "What happened?"
Logan shrugged, "Some sort of device that was designed to kill us."
"Then why didn't it?"
"Because I destroyed it," Jess said.
"Jess!" Bobby's eyes widened at the sight of the blood covering her body, "Are you alright?"
"Peachy."
Logan suppressed a grin.
"Is everyone alright?" Jess looked around at them all.
"They'll live," Logan replied.
Warren stumbled to his feet, flexing his wings experimentally. A few moments later, almost everyone was back on their feet. Everyone except Blob, who was conscious, just having trouble getting up.
"Rogue, are you okay?" Bobby asked worriedly.
"I'll be fine," Rogue told him, although she wasn't too sure herself.
Logan surveyed the room again. Bobby was pestering Rogue to make sure she was unhurt, Locust was grumbling about humans, Blob was still trying to sit up, and Warren had flown through the hole Sam had created to see if he was all right. Jess stood patiently, knowing that Logan was watching her, and waiting for him to approach.
Logan groaned inwardly, knowing that if he didn't ask, he'd never know.
Curiosity killed the Wolverine, a voice muttered. It sounded to close to Professor Xavier's for comfort.
Logan made a mental note to check if old Charley was developing a cruel sense of humor, and walked up to Jessica.
"Yes?" she asked innocently.
Logan grimaced, he hated it when she did that. Now that he thought about it, she was a lot like him.
"No games, kid," Logan growled, "You know what I want."
Jess paused, pretending to rack her brain, "No, I don't think I do."
"Do you want me to spell it out for you? Wait, no, forget I asked that," Logan added hurriedly as he saw the grin on Jess's face, "Just tell me, kid."
"Fine, fine," Jess sighed, "Yes, I'm like you. I'm exactly like you. Look at me," she commanded.
Jess raised her arms, and extended her fins. She smiled grimly at the stares her friends were giving her.
"Logan, we were a part of a project. Where mutants were trained to kill. We were kept in the Sleeping Cell. They tested on you, first. When you rebelled, they hoped that we would cooperate. When we didn't, they"
She broke off as she heard voices.
"This way!" Warren directed.
The group broke off at a run, heading down the hall, away from the voices that quickly became muffled.
"What now?" Bobby panted.
"We find your friend John," Jess said quickly, "We have to stop him before..."
"Before what?" Bobby asked.
Jess looked at him for a moment, then turned away, "Before he does something he may regret."
Bobby gave her a questioning look, but Jess offered no more information. He followed her down the hall, along with the rest of them.
Rogue looked around at the group. They looked terrible. One of Warren's wings was dragging along the ground behind him. Jess and Logan were covered in blood. Sam was being half-carried by Blob. Locust was limping and still muttering about humans.
"Rogue, are you-" Bobby began.
"Bobby, for the last time, I am fine!" Rogue glared at him with intense hatred.
Bobby looked stunned, "Sorry."
Rogue saw the hurt in his eyes. She burst into tears.
"I-I'm sorry, Bobby. I didn't m-mean to."
Bobby put his arms around her and whispered into her ear, "I know. It's not your fault."
Rogue's head shot up as a commotion started up ahead. It seemed that Blob had accidentally stepped on Warren's trailing wing.
Locust was struggling not to laugh at him. Warren had been pulled backward, and had fallen onto his back. That also meant he was laying on top of his injured wing.
"Oops," Blob stared, and said genuinely, "Sorry."
Jubilee turned to him, "Good job, you giant lard ball!"
Logan put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. Jubilee fell silent.
Logan helped Warren to his feet again. Warren nodded his thanks. They continued down the hall. Warren, gasped for breath, as if he was running a marathon. He winced with each step, his wing dragging behind him.
When the group rounded the corner, Rogue gasped. The hallway had been burned, and parts of the rubble were still flaming. They stared at the demolished corridor with amazement.
"You looking for me?" A weak voice asked from behind them.
*******************************
Spheksophobia- *cringes* Aaaaghh! I'm sorry! I won't hurt your Scotty-kins! I won't do it ever again! Anywho... Yay! OSE's back! *does stupid dance* Yay! You're my favorite reviewer, cuz you come back just for me! Yay! *smiles stupidly*
BobbyD12: Okay, okay, you're my OTHER favorite reviewer. Looky, I made Bobby do something smart! Looky, I made Bobby and Rogue have a few 'mushy' lines! Happy? Good.