From Villains to Heroes
Tales of the Freedom Force.
Prelude to the Force
The events that hurtled the unknowing mutant villain's toward the stardom and status as heroes began like any other day, and went like any other mission, though it all turned horribly wrong.
The Blob was seated on the old sofa, within The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants headquarters, which he took up entirely. While Munching on a subway sandwich he asked rather grotesquely, "So Dom, who's you rather have, Storm or Cyclops' girl? Me, I'd go for Storm, she's tough and rough how I Like'm!" He was wearing his uniform, which besides being stretched in ways god never Intended, was covered in crumbs and tomato bits from his sandwich.
Avalanche shrugged, digging through the small fridge that he'd saved money to buy, hoping there was at least one beer left somewhere in there. "Personally, I think if you're going for tough, you should try Rogue. I mean, your never going to get to touch any of them, so why not pick her?"
"Hey! Your not answering, and I don't think you stand a chance either. Just because my power makes me a little bigger... Hey, Croc Hunter, what do you think?" The giant blob said, turning his head to look at Pyro, dressed as a typical Australian beach bum, who happened to be reading a book, disinterested.
The Blob was about to give up on the question and return to his sandwich, when St. John replied, not bothering to look up from his book, "'El, personally I wouldn't mind bein with that Grey girl, ee'd communicate real well, we share the same interest in literature, and she'd know what I'm thinkin without my havin' to explain every ittle detail" he said calmly, then turning a page in his book.
"Yeah, and your not mentioning her best feature," Avalanche said, giving up on the beer and going for a glass of water.
"Yeh, she's got the biggest set o- Hi Mystique..."Fred said with a snicker, promptly cutting himself off upon hearing the door slam open. Mysique was the only one who would slam the door, everyone else stressed to keep the place a secret and crept in, the exception being Destiny, who knocked politely and softly.
"Suit up boys - Fred, clean up – we've got a mission, we have to move fast, Destiny sees the X-men showing up, briefing on the way. Filled your pack John" She half barked, throwing Pyro his flamethrower, which he caught with a grunt, Mystique had quite an arm. She was back out the door before anyone could respond.
Within two minutes the three Mutants were ready to go, The Blob jumping in the back of the truck they used for getting around, Pyro in the driver's seat, and Avalanche in cramped the back seat. Mystique was already in passenger's seat, Destiny in the back with Dom. Pyro started the truck and was off, not waiting for anyone to get secure.
"We're going to the University," Mystique started, Pyro nodding and planning a fast route. "The scientists working there are a team doing mutant research, and they have developed a machine that causes a X gene to permanently develop within whoever's hooked up to it. We need that machine, and it's blue-prints. If any of you damage those, it will cost your head. After blob get's it out, tear down the building, there are plenty of gadgets there that work against mutants.
"There will most likely be some form of robotic guard system's, and the police will likely show up. Xavier is coming with Wolverine and Storm; it's unknown what others. Take out whatever you need and remember that speed is the goal here, no play. ETA 45 minutes, I want us there in ten." She finished, preparing herself for her own part. There would be no espionage here; she just had to find the blueprints.
They Rammed through the small gate, nobody pausing to notice there was no guard on duty, pulling up to the loading dock for the lab, everyone hopping out with the exception of Destiny, who seemed to be sleeping.
"Whoah, I'm feeling a bit skinnier guys, I think I need to eat more..." The Blob said, giving the first indication that something was wrong.
"Police are Coming, Pyro handle them, Avalanche, get the door down," Mystique said, preparing to get in and out fast, her gun out and ready to take any droids that there might be.
Pyro decided to get a good fire going for anybody arriving, and put enough pressure on his glove to give about 5 feet of flame. Is shot out, and dissipated, not taking any form or life of it's own. "Blimey, Power dampener's, everyone back in the truck! Avalanche get the wheel!" Pyro said, running and jumping in the back of the truck, Mystique joining him. The truck was still running, and Avalanche pulled beside The Blob, who now appeared to be melting, his mutant induced weight quickly absolving. His skin drooped off oh him in sheets; he was having trouble breathing, his own skin blocking his airway. Mystique quickly pulled him into the truck, having no problem now that he was much lighter.
As they sped away from the loading dock, an armored Humvee passed them, Pyro not hesitating to shoot a stream of fire at it's wheels, immobilizing it. A continuous stream of bullets and fire issued from the back of the truck, Pyro and Mystique doing their best to immobilize the armored trucks that seemed to be intent on only blocking the sides of the road from them.
Soon they saw why, there was a tank where the broken gate had been, blocking the way. The Brotherhood had discussed the situation, beforehand, Pyro leapt upon it past the barrel, and started a cover fire as Mystique worked on the hatch, they planned to hijack the machine.
Though Pyro was deprived of his power, that didn't stop him from shooting a cascade of fire from his Flamethrower, making anyone close enough to shoot extremely reluctant to get out of their vehicles. That came to an abrupt stop as his flamethrower ran out of gas, and before he could say a warning to Mystique; there was a barrage of Sedative darts, making a pincushion out of them both, and it all blacked out.
Mystique slowly came to, surrounded by a bluish cell, clearly power dampener's everywhere; she couldn't change her eye's color, and felt it. Somewhere down the hall there was the sound of someone doing hard work, Pyro, she guessed from the way his breath came. She sat up, a camera in the corner carefully watching her. There was some cold food at the door, which she quickly took to eating, as she was ravenously hungry.
Some time later she heard footsteps in the hall outside the door, she quickly leapt in her cot and shut her eyes, wanting to appear asleep. She heard the heavy door slide open, and then close, to her dismay, she had hoped they'd do something stupid and leave it open or the time being.
A Blonde woman in a pink suit top, and matching skirt strode into the cell, her stride all business. "Raven Darkholme, I've been looking forward to your awakening. You've been asleep for almost a month since the capture, they went a little heavy on sedatives. I'm Valerie Cooper," the woman spoke, her voice clearly not in any mood to mess around, "As you know, you have enough felony charges in this country alone to put you away for thousands of years. Despite that, I'm willing to make a deal with you."
"Talk." Mystique spat coldly, well aware of how many charges there were against her, and she didn't really care.
"Our government has had very much trouble with groups like yours, you strike out of nowhere and there's nothing short of a nuclear blast in our arsenal that could take your... team," Val said, being careful to add that compliment before adding what she was getting to. "Though we've managed to rap you after months of planning, and we could very well have none of you ever see the light of day again. However, we could use your team, there are other mutant groups that we need to combat, and there always seems to be circumstances somewhere that could benefit more from your biology than our technology. So we are asking you, would you rather spend the rest of your life in a solitary jail cell, or become a group – Of super hero's really- and live the good life, all needs paid for always? Or the alternative, you in jail and mass round up of mutants everywhere, and neutralization" The last word seemed to ring through the cell, it was clear what it meant.
"I agree, but I can't speak for the rest of my team." Mystique spat again, half hoping they'd say no.
"They all said they'd comply with your decision. Allerdyce took the opportunity to pay his taxes even, and ordered a weight set, and then cut his hair, it was a huge surprise to us, and they all seemed to know what you would say. I can't figure out Allerdyce though, we thought we knew his mind back and forth, but he's declined every book offered, been obsessed with the weights..." Val said, suddenly becoming a little more conversational, feeling a connection to Mystique's attitude to her position as a woman and a commander. "By the way, your being moved to your new base, chop-chop, you'll see your team on the way." She was out again before mystique had the chance to speak.
On the way to their awaiting helicopter, she saw her team, blob back to fat, Pyro's hair cut short and standing up. It was clear that he had been working out, he was broad shouldered now, not the skinny aussie she had known. "John, what was with the weights?"
The Master of fire replied with a sly smile, "Well, when you woke up, if you has said no, they would have had us all shipped off to prison. My plan was to take out the guards using some weights like a hammer, take out the power dampeners, and have Blob or Avalanche make a new exit for us. But good on you, I always wanted to be a Super Hero."
Mystique was speechless. She'd just dedicated all their lives to the whims of the government.
Might as well make the best of it she thought, boarding the helicopter, starting a new chapter in all of their lives.