Chapter 20
"Mimic?"
Illkune had taken them into a dark room with a spotlight in the center. There were airvents all around the wall, and the floor was a dark steel. Jim saw the familiar white poof in the corner.
"MIMIC!"
Illkune grabbed him and threw him against the others. "Look, lover boy. You want to take her home? You beat her. Can't beat her? Well, you die. Got that? Mimic, here's lunch."
"Oh you know how much I hate junk food," she chuckled.
There were no voices this time. Mimic was speaking in her own voice, which, surprisingly was nothing that they had ever heard before. She sounded human. She was instantly in front of them, cloaked by a strange-smelling purple cloud.
There was a white jewel on her forehead, and her eyes were gold, and they weren't nice. Illkune walked out of the room, smiling at his sister. Mimic immediately backflipped out of their reach, then took her usual stance.
Jim walked forward. "Look, Mimic, please. You're not gonna fight us, are you? We can't beat you."
"Look, bub. Maybe you can't, but we can."
"Wait, a minute, guys," Bobby said. "If we can't beat her, then you can't either. She has a healing power, and that pretty much rules you out. Plue, she's a lot faster than you."
Jim looked confused. "Since when did you get so...knowledgeable?"
"Since Wanda hit me upside the head with the chair..."
"Oh yeah."
"Well, anyway, name your powers."
They named their powers off, but then they all looked at Rogue.
"What?"
Bobby scratched his head. "You said your skin does that right?"
"Yeah?"
"Rogue, take your clothes off!" Bobby screeched.
"What?!!!" cried everyone.
"The less you have on the higher the chance she can be touched, right?"
Rogue slowly began to take off her clothes. She was left in her bra a pair of shorts. No one flinched or anything, but she was almost unbearably pale. Rogue walked slowly into the ring. Mimic had retired to the ceiling, bored from their discussion. Bobby turned toward the upside down figure and slowly crawled up the wall, watching her intently. Rogue walked out to the edge of the spotlight and looked up at her. They all stared at Bobby, waiting.
"Snidva?" he whispered, now on the ceiling with her.
She wasn't threatened by him at all. She looked smug if anything, overly confident, but then again, she had never lost a battle before in her life except to tranquilizer. But when he called her name, she didn't respond to it like anyone responded to their name.
"Come up here to face a swift death?" she sneered, dragging her claws along the metal.
"Mimic, don't you remember us?"
"No!"
Mimic slashed across his face with her nails, taking him by surprise by how hard the force was. Bobby fell off the ceiling and hit the floor, scrambling over to Jim before cowering at his feet and tearing up. Jim knelt down and rubbed his head. Mimic was on the ground again, standing behind the spotlight with her gold eyes flashing.
Kurt put his hand on Rogue's shoulder. "You are too slow. Let me help."
Rogue smiled, her eyes flashing with growing tears. Of course she was scared. The woman wore no gloves, just leather pants and vest. She wouldn't be hard to get skin off of.
"Okay, deal, blue boay."
Kurt grabbed her waist from behind. Jim turned to the others.
"We have to help as much as we can. Yo, you with the goggles, keep your eyes open. If she gets way to close, blast her with something that's not fatal. Red-head. You sit back and watch the show. Kitty...hmm. Get ready to run in there. Claws, get ready. Bobby, stay here. You couldn't hurt her if you wanted to."
Kurt teleported to the opposite edge of the spotlight. Mimic smiled at them from her safe point, her eyes slits and her teeth sharper than usual. She backed into the darkness.
"And so it begins," she whispered.
Rogue stretched her arms out, and Kurt was ready to teleport. Mimic suddenly melted into the floor, chuckling at them. Jim opened his eyes wide.
"Get away from there! Hurry!"
Before they knew it, their feet were in a liquid silver puddle. Mimic materialized out of nowhere, grabbing Rogue and Kurt's ankles and ripping them off the floor. Mimic's hands released them, and she hit the wall behind them. The black mutant's head shot towards Jim, and he suddenly was pushed over. Kurt grabbed Rogue and teleported to the other side. Mimic teleported closer to them, that evil smile still on her face. She crouched on the ground and stared for a while, before bursting forward and shoving her fist almost straight through the steel wall. Kurt let out a tiny whimper.
She sank into the floor again, and Kurt began teleporting randomly around the room. Jim warned him again, but there was a barrier over the entrance hall, and no sound came through. Rogue was ripped away from Kurt and slammed against the wall. At once she attached her hands to Mimic's body, but the creature just stared back and smiled, whipping her harder against the floor. Rogue let go and rubbed her head, a thin pond of blood appearing on the floor. Kurt came out of nowhere and wrapped his arms around Mimic's arms and neck.
"Rogue!"
"Claws! Kitty, get him in there!"
Logan touched Kitty's shoulder, and the slid through the barrier, Kitty rushed over to Rogue, and Logan replaced Kurt in the hold. Mimic's tail grabbed around his neck and squeezed. Mimic's arms got free, and she threw Logan into the wall. Logan's face went red in a painless grimace as she punched him in the stomach. She then retracted her fist, drawing a large spike out of Logan's stomach. She then grabbed hold of his neck and twisted it hard to the side. Logan collapsed on the floor, and Kurt was on her in an instant.
A swift kick to the head didn't seem to faze her, but he was safe until she grabbed a hold of his tail. Mimic yanked him down and grabbed him by his throat before bashing his head into the metal walls.
"Kurt! Rogue, get up! She's coming!"
Mimic grabbed Kitty by her arm and tossed her across the floor, leaving Rogue's body on the side. Mimic went for Kitty again, but found that there was an unusual weight on her tail. She turned around and saw two hands squeezing the end of her tail hard. Mimic's hand sharpened into a spike, and she rose it over her head and plunged it into Rogue's shoulder. The girl cried out, but she didn't let go. The spike vanished.
Mimic hit the floor on her knees, her eyes wide and shocked. She tried to get away, but Rogue wasn't letting go. She turned around and kicked Rogue in her ripcage, then in her head. She grabbed the girl and slung her against the floor, but Rogue didn't let go.
Mimic dropped again, and Rogue was suspended in her mind by the power that was rushing into her. Mimic's skin faded to white then it turned tan, and her hair turned brown. Her eyes darkened to a copper color, and her feet began to look more like Illkune's than hers. Rogue held onto her tail, but then she came out of her trance and crawled on top of the other mutant, wrapping her hands around her neck.
Mimic's human form was still nothing human, for no human had a tail, nor feet like that. Mimic suddenly stopped moving, her eyes dead and glazing. The barrier broke, and Rogue was thrown off of Mimic's body. Bobby rushed over to her and scooped her into his arms while the X-Men rushed to Rogue.
"She...killed her!"
"No, she's just unconscious. She'll be okay," Jim assured.
"Yeah, whatever! That's what you said when she stopped breathing!"
"Bobby, shut the hell up!"
Jim lifted Mimic over his shoulder, partially using telekinesis as she weighed more than she appeared to. Jim walked over to the door and kicked it.
"We're still living! Let us out."
The door opened, and they spilled into the hallway, most of them carrying a body. There was a man with a dark tan and white hair standing there, a shocked expression on his face.
"Oh my goodness! Do you idiots have a death wish? Come with me! The hospital wing."
What else could they do? They needed medical attention, some of them. Rogue was close to concussion, and nobody knew about Kurt or Kitty. The man indeed led them to the hospital wing, a room similar to the one they had found in except there were beds and more lights. The beds were strange though. They were lying down, of course, but they were filled with water. The man plucked Rogue out of Logan's arms and rested her in the closest one, fixing a mask over her nose and mouth. The tank closed, and filled itself all the way with water. They stood there in a very awkward silence.
"Mimic! What are you fools waiting for?!"
The docter each helped them into different beds, and Jim took his insomnia medicine, much to the others surprise. After he assured them it wasn't heroin, the doctor started talking.
"Forgive me. My name is Junian Apheros. I am head doctor here."
"Jim Winde."
"Bobby Nite."
"Lance Alvers."
They waited for a long time, most of the time in silence. Doctor Junian left the room frequently, but he did not make any threats to them. Bobby sat next to Mimic's tank, and he pointed out that she was changing again, back into what they were most familiar. Kitty was the first to come to. She started figiting in the liquid, screaming and rubbing her eyes. The tank drained itself and she took the mask off as it opened. She sat up and was scooped out by Dr. Apheros with a blanket in his arms. He put her in a chair and left her to shiver in her blanket. Kurt was next to regain consciousness, then Rogue.
"Why isn't she waking?" Bobby asked, rubbing the glass.
"She's probably just sleeping, now," said the doctor. "She's used to this kind of attention, and the tanks are a very comfortable place to sleep."
The door opened behind them, and some men came inside. Most of them looked a lot younger than the doctor did, but they had the same tan, and brown and blonde hair.
"What are they doing?"
"Mimic needs to have special care," said the doctor.
The men unhooked the tank and carried it out of the room. Bobby was about to spring after them, but a woman entered the room. Brown hair and brown eyes, she looked exactly like the Mimic did.
"Mimic?"
The woman looked up at Bobby and shook her head. Junian snapped his fingers.
"This is Professor Alkina Sidka of Aspen."
The woman looked exactly like the woman Mimic had turned into.
"You...and...? You and Snidva?" Bobby whimpered.
The Professor Sidka looked puzzled at first, then smiled gently. "Ah. No doubt you have seen me before. Snidva is an exact physical copy of me. I am her biological mother."
"Mimic?"
Illkune had taken them into a dark room with a spotlight in the center. There were airvents all around the wall, and the floor was a dark steel. Jim saw the familiar white poof in the corner.
"MIMIC!"
Illkune grabbed him and threw him against the others. "Look, lover boy. You want to take her home? You beat her. Can't beat her? Well, you die. Got that? Mimic, here's lunch."
"Oh you know how much I hate junk food," she chuckled.
There were no voices this time. Mimic was speaking in her own voice, which, surprisingly was nothing that they had ever heard before. She sounded human. She was instantly in front of them, cloaked by a strange-smelling purple cloud.
There was a white jewel on her forehead, and her eyes were gold, and they weren't nice. Illkune walked out of the room, smiling at his sister. Mimic immediately backflipped out of their reach, then took her usual stance.
Jim walked forward. "Look, Mimic, please. You're not gonna fight us, are you? We can't beat you."
"Look, bub. Maybe you can't, but we can."
"Wait, a minute, guys," Bobby said. "If we can't beat her, then you can't either. She has a healing power, and that pretty much rules you out. Plue, she's a lot faster than you."
Jim looked confused. "Since when did you get so...knowledgeable?"
"Since Wanda hit me upside the head with the chair..."
"Oh yeah."
"Well, anyway, name your powers."
They named their powers off, but then they all looked at Rogue.
"What?"
Bobby scratched his head. "You said your skin does that right?"
"Yeah?"
"Rogue, take your clothes off!" Bobby screeched.
"What?!!!" cried everyone.
"The less you have on the higher the chance she can be touched, right?"
Rogue slowly began to take off her clothes. She was left in her bra a pair of shorts. No one flinched or anything, but she was almost unbearably pale. Rogue walked slowly into the ring. Mimic had retired to the ceiling, bored from their discussion. Bobby turned toward the upside down figure and slowly crawled up the wall, watching her intently. Rogue walked out to the edge of the spotlight and looked up at her. They all stared at Bobby, waiting.
"Snidva?" he whispered, now on the ceiling with her.
She wasn't threatened by him at all. She looked smug if anything, overly confident, but then again, she had never lost a battle before in her life except to tranquilizer. But when he called her name, she didn't respond to it like anyone responded to their name.
"Come up here to face a swift death?" she sneered, dragging her claws along the metal.
"Mimic, don't you remember us?"
"No!"
Mimic slashed across his face with her nails, taking him by surprise by how hard the force was. Bobby fell off the ceiling and hit the floor, scrambling over to Jim before cowering at his feet and tearing up. Jim knelt down and rubbed his head. Mimic was on the ground again, standing behind the spotlight with her gold eyes flashing.
Kurt put his hand on Rogue's shoulder. "You are too slow. Let me help."
Rogue smiled, her eyes flashing with growing tears. Of course she was scared. The woman wore no gloves, just leather pants and vest. She wouldn't be hard to get skin off of.
"Okay, deal, blue boay."
Kurt grabbed her waist from behind. Jim turned to the others.
"We have to help as much as we can. Yo, you with the goggles, keep your eyes open. If she gets way to close, blast her with something that's not fatal. Red-head. You sit back and watch the show. Kitty...hmm. Get ready to run in there. Claws, get ready. Bobby, stay here. You couldn't hurt her if you wanted to."
Kurt teleported to the opposite edge of the spotlight. Mimic smiled at them from her safe point, her eyes slits and her teeth sharper than usual. She backed into the darkness.
"And so it begins," she whispered.
Rogue stretched her arms out, and Kurt was ready to teleport. Mimic suddenly melted into the floor, chuckling at them. Jim opened his eyes wide.
"Get away from there! Hurry!"
Before they knew it, their feet were in a liquid silver puddle. Mimic materialized out of nowhere, grabbing Rogue and Kurt's ankles and ripping them off the floor. Mimic's hands released them, and she hit the wall behind them. The black mutant's head shot towards Jim, and he suddenly was pushed over. Kurt grabbed Rogue and teleported to the other side. Mimic teleported closer to them, that evil smile still on her face. She crouched on the ground and stared for a while, before bursting forward and shoving her fist almost straight through the steel wall. Kurt let out a tiny whimper.
She sank into the floor again, and Kurt began teleporting randomly around the room. Jim warned him again, but there was a barrier over the entrance hall, and no sound came through. Rogue was ripped away from Kurt and slammed against the wall. At once she attached her hands to Mimic's body, but the creature just stared back and smiled, whipping her harder against the floor. Rogue let go and rubbed her head, a thin pond of blood appearing on the floor. Kurt came out of nowhere and wrapped his arms around Mimic's arms and neck.
"Rogue!"
"Claws! Kitty, get him in there!"
Logan touched Kitty's shoulder, and the slid through the barrier, Kitty rushed over to Rogue, and Logan replaced Kurt in the hold. Mimic's tail grabbed around his neck and squeezed. Mimic's arms got free, and she threw Logan into the wall. Logan's face went red in a painless grimace as she punched him in the stomach. She then retracted her fist, drawing a large spike out of Logan's stomach. She then grabbed hold of his neck and twisted it hard to the side. Logan collapsed on the floor, and Kurt was on her in an instant.
A swift kick to the head didn't seem to faze her, but he was safe until she grabbed a hold of his tail. Mimic yanked him down and grabbed him by his throat before bashing his head into the metal walls.
"Kurt! Rogue, get up! She's coming!"
Mimic grabbed Kitty by her arm and tossed her across the floor, leaving Rogue's body on the side. Mimic went for Kitty again, but found that there was an unusual weight on her tail. She turned around and saw two hands squeezing the end of her tail hard. Mimic's hand sharpened into a spike, and she rose it over her head and plunged it into Rogue's shoulder. The girl cried out, but she didn't let go. The spike vanished.
Mimic hit the floor on her knees, her eyes wide and shocked. She tried to get away, but Rogue wasn't letting go. She turned around and kicked Rogue in her ripcage, then in her head. She grabbed the girl and slung her against the floor, but Rogue didn't let go.
Mimic dropped again, and Rogue was suspended in her mind by the power that was rushing into her. Mimic's skin faded to white then it turned tan, and her hair turned brown. Her eyes darkened to a copper color, and her feet began to look more like Illkune's than hers. Rogue held onto her tail, but then she came out of her trance and crawled on top of the other mutant, wrapping her hands around her neck.
Mimic's human form was still nothing human, for no human had a tail, nor feet like that. Mimic suddenly stopped moving, her eyes dead and glazing. The barrier broke, and Rogue was thrown off of Mimic's body. Bobby rushed over to her and scooped her into his arms while the X-Men rushed to Rogue.
"She...killed her!"
"No, she's just unconscious. She'll be okay," Jim assured.
"Yeah, whatever! That's what you said when she stopped breathing!"
"Bobby, shut the hell up!"
Jim lifted Mimic over his shoulder, partially using telekinesis as she weighed more than she appeared to. Jim walked over to the door and kicked it.
"We're still living! Let us out."
The door opened, and they spilled into the hallway, most of them carrying a body. There was a man with a dark tan and white hair standing there, a shocked expression on his face.
"Oh my goodness! Do you idiots have a death wish? Come with me! The hospital wing."
What else could they do? They needed medical attention, some of them. Rogue was close to concussion, and nobody knew about Kurt or Kitty. The man indeed led them to the hospital wing, a room similar to the one they had found in except there were beds and more lights. The beds were strange though. They were lying down, of course, but they were filled with water. The man plucked Rogue out of Logan's arms and rested her in the closest one, fixing a mask over her nose and mouth. The tank closed, and filled itself all the way with water. They stood there in a very awkward silence.
"Mimic! What are you fools waiting for?!"
The docter each helped them into different beds, and Jim took his insomnia medicine, much to the others surprise. After he assured them it wasn't heroin, the doctor started talking.
"Forgive me. My name is Junian Apheros. I am head doctor here."
"Jim Winde."
"Bobby Nite."
"Lance Alvers."
They waited for a long time, most of the time in silence. Doctor Junian left the room frequently, but he did not make any threats to them. Bobby sat next to Mimic's tank, and he pointed out that she was changing again, back into what they were most familiar. Kitty was the first to come to. She started figiting in the liquid, screaming and rubbing her eyes. The tank drained itself and she took the mask off as it opened. She sat up and was scooped out by Dr. Apheros with a blanket in his arms. He put her in a chair and left her to shiver in her blanket. Kurt was next to regain consciousness, then Rogue.
"Why isn't she waking?" Bobby asked, rubbing the glass.
"She's probably just sleeping, now," said the doctor. "She's used to this kind of attention, and the tanks are a very comfortable place to sleep."
The door opened behind them, and some men came inside. Most of them looked a lot younger than the doctor did, but they had the same tan, and brown and blonde hair.
"What are they doing?"
"Mimic needs to have special care," said the doctor.
The men unhooked the tank and carried it out of the room. Bobby was about to spring after them, but a woman entered the room. Brown hair and brown eyes, she looked exactly like the Mimic did.
"Mimic?"
The woman looked up at Bobby and shook her head. Junian snapped his fingers.
"This is Professor Alkina Sidka of Aspen."
The woman looked exactly like the woman Mimic had turned into.
"You...and...? You and Snidva?" Bobby whimpered.
The Professor Sidka looked puzzled at first, then smiled gently. "Ah. No doubt you have seen me before. Snidva is an exact physical copy of me. I am her biological mother."