I am really not enjoying all this busyness because it's keeping me away from doing the things that I really want to. So right now I'm shirking my editor duties for the school newspaper to update this story. Heh, don't even care.
As for what's currently up, RR and J are going back to the Institute to discover some less than pleasant things. Let's see how they fair. But first, my long-overdue review replies!
Ishandahalf: if I hadn't snuck my chapters out, I wouldn't have them--not one! I hate CompUSA. To think I was going to exclude that one part with Remy sneaking under the belly of the plane... X2P3: It sucked without my laptop but I had a family desktop to use--yet it just wasn't the same. Wanna see some new recruits? Here you go. Sweety8587: Like a movie--glad you think so! Whilst writing I always picture it like a movie. Calls for nice visualizations. Flowerperson: poor me is right, not begging for pity or anything--just truth. But the worst is over for now. If Rogue died this story would sure suck. Ha. Loneraven: Oh my God!! I feel your pain--I'd feel utterly horrible at having an entire novel being deleted. I can completely relate, friend. RogueCajunOzsgrl: Funny you sould say so, I thought it was VERY cliche when I put the switching-places-with-Napes but hell, what are you gonna do? Kendokao: WILL Remy come through for us? Or will he be rash? Will be make a bad choice? Stay tuned and find out. Freak87: Haha, man, I love your reviews. Always so funny and with much insight. Evil Knivel Remy? Must be, what with that stunt he pulled! I wonder if that was even physically possible... Oh yes, a spin-off on Napes, definitely. We'll delve into what courses he'll be taking, when he'll acquire his bachelors degree and his first job interview--oh, the suspense, the angst! SickmindedSucker: Her uncle is a bastard. But a poor bastard, really. GreenFairyGirl88: I'll never get tired of complaining about the computer troubles, but I'll stop. And you're welcome. Enchanted light: It's so comforting to see that some things have not changed (no sarcasm intended). Totally Obsessed47: thank you, thank you, okay. Just me: Oh, I'll hate with you! Why won't it let you load? Damn site...I'd email the chapter to you if I knew what your email address was! I hope you got into it somehow. I love your excitement, love the fervor, love you! Tsugath: a new reviewer, cool! But cliff hangers are so so wonderful... Hell yeah, God, if I hadn't, this story would have experienced some SEVERE delays. Shockgoddess: Best closing lines? Good, bc it wasn't even going to be there in the original writing. Thank god for editing, right? How cool (bc there is no better word) that I can make muscles tense up with my words! Blackrougefillie: That good, huh? --smiles-- You're too kind, but please, don't stop. Hell yeah Annabel's waking up. And she has her own idea on what is going to go down. Cd lover: Rogue and Gambit are going to have to keep their own for a bit yet--until Annabel can get her senses together. But in the meantime, worry over what R,R, and J are dealing with in this chapter. ;) Nai-Pants: The closing line wasn't even in the original writing--so glad I put it in. God, I hope nothing bad like that happens again either. But I'm careful this time, everything is on disks. Unless something happens to the disks...damn. Flame31: Always great to see a new reviewer. Huh, powerless X-Men, what a GREAT development for the storyline! Noooo... Skyangle2004: I completely understand with the whole deal with school and all. School sucks. Glad it's my senior year, but then I'll have four more years of ridiculously hard work at a college. Man... I'd love to try donuts too, now that I think of it.
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I kinda thought this was a funny title for the chapter 'cause you hear all that talk about "homeland security" with all the election hype going on. Those terrorists sure have stirred up the U.S..
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The very first thing anyone noticed was the dismembered gate. Ray noted the singed ends of wrought-iron stakes tossed helter-skelter over the pavement and exterior yard. Electricity cackled nervously in his hands. "Something bad went down," he gritted.
Despite the urgent situation, Roberto decelerated to a creeping twenty miles per hour.
Ray frowned irritably. The kid had committed nearly fifteen traffic violations on the way to the Institute, and now that they were there, he suddenly decided to be careful? "What, you slowing down?" Ray demanded.
"There's cars up front. I don't recognize them."
Jubilee grabbed the dashboard as she leaned forward, eyes narrowed in anxious concentration. "And they didn't bother to knock," she said in a tight voice. She pointed at the pieces of remaining front door.
The Lexus rolled up behind the foreign vehicles. Jubilee was the first out, hands balled in preparation of releasing bursts of firecrackling energy. Roberto and Ray followed, tensed for action, but the vehicles were empty.
"They're inside," Roberto said. "What do you think...?"
Ray's jaw tightened as he started up the front steps. Xavier's school was the one place where any mutant could be safe, the one place that offered unconditional help and understanding. He did not take lightly to the idea of somebody intruding with cruel intentions. Upon entering the foyer, he froze, an expression of bewildered shock on his face, "What the hell?"
Jubilee nudged past him to see, her dark brown eyes widening in their almond shape. "Who did this?" she hissed fearfully. "Why would they..." She grabbed Ray's arm by reflex, scanning the foyer nervously.
Black skid marks looped about the floor, ending at a motorcycle propped against the opposite wall. But it was not this that spooked them. The comatose forms of Hank, Kurt, Tabitha, and Wanda lay near the stairs. Each was tightly strapped to a gurney, ready for extraction. Roberto approached them first, kneeling beside Tabitha and brushing hair off her face. "They're okay, I think," he said. "In comas..." His words faded as foreign voices drifted into the foyer.
The three new recruits quickly dodged behind the staircase banister, hiding from view.
"...careful with these ones...delicate condition..."
"...gives a crap? Don't understand...filthy mutants anyway..."
"...because, idiot, you don't do the job right, Farrat won't pay."
They entered the foyer, five men carrying two stretchers with X-Men bound to them. They lay the gurneys beside Wanda. A chestnut-haired one picked the red glasses off one of the mutants' faces. He slid them on, grinning disdainfully, "What's some whacked-up scientist want with a bunch of muties anyway?"
"'Cause he's as messed as they are."
"Damn it, put those back and quit screwing around. Bodies don't haul themselves." The burly man reached for the stretcher handles but never grabbed them. Something with the likeness to a firecracker exploded before his fingertips, singing the tips of his nails and the surrounding flesh. He yowled in pain, "What the f--aaaagghhh!" A searing pain traveled throughout his blood veins, trembling and hot--like he was being electrocuted. He flailed about trying to escape his own skin, until he tripped over a gurney and knocked himself unconscious on the staircase banister.
The chestnut-haired one snatched his plasma gun. Before he could blast the little Asian girl he was tackled from behind by a dark-haired boy. The gun flew from his hands and clattered to the floor.
Careful about his comatose teammates, Ray shot bursts of cackling electricity at the intruders. He was met with a shower of plasma rays and quickly ducked out of aim. Jubilee hurriedly shot fireworks in his defense.
Roberto managed to swing a good punch at his adversary, knocking the man unconscious. He smirked--he didn't need his powers to beat up punks like these guys. Quickly, he snatched the plasma gun from the floor and fidgeted with the mechanisms. "Hell! How do you work this thing??" He did not notice the man approaching him with a taser. Suddenly his finger caught on a switch and a burst of angry photons bombarded his would-be attacker. With a dazed moan the goon collapsed.
Jubilee shrieked as she dove to the floor, receiving many friction burns on her hands. She shot up on all fours and furiously crawled out of the way of cannonading plasma beams. Ray came to her aid, fisted hands shooting strings of zigzagging energy. He fried one of the firearms and grinned with satisfaction as the heated metal scalded its bearer's hands. Jubilee saw her chance, sending a blast of shrieking light at the man. He was blinded senseless and thrown rearwards by the eruptive force.
Ray massaged the back of his neck. "Didn't expect that," he muttered. He began dragging one of the men towards the stairs while Roberto went to find some rope. Working together, they bound the intruders to the staircase banister.
"Have they all...been taken? All of them?" Jubilee's eyes traveled over the immobile forms--Scott, Hank, Tabitha, Kurt, Wanda, Lance... "Where are the others? Where's Amara and Jean and Rogue..."
Roberto was already moving towards the Med Bay. He led the way, bursting through the glass doors to the patient area. Roberto paused for a second, thinking he saw out of the corner of his eye a shadow dart from view. He looked around but saw nothing out of place. Several beds were empty, sheets rumpled and IV tubes hanging ineffectually. Three beds were occupied, two by official enemies.
Jubilee approached and brushed a strand of hair off the Amara's face. She glanced apprehensively at the snoozing forms of Pyro and Colossus. "Looks like a lot of stuff went down while we were gone," she said with a release of breath.
"Rogue and Jean," Ray said, looking around in bewilderment. "They wouldn't just leave..."
"Do you think they were already taken?" Roberto asked, frowning. "There might be more guys around."
Ray nodded, "Right. Jubes, keep an eye on the others. Roberto and I are going to check out the rest of the mansion."
Nobody protested. Ray took the west wing while Roberto ventured off to the east. Each crept through the corridors and rooms with a familiar step. They had the advantage; this was their home and they knew it better than any intruder. After much time of finding nothing, Ray proceeded back downstairs, scratching his head. Then he noticed the fork and knife-skewered kitchen door.
Holy...
He rushed into the kitchen, sneakers crunching over broken china and glass shards. A horrible fight must have broken out--either that or somebody went berserk with their mutant powers. Ray noticed the broken patio door, saw a figure lying on a tanning chair outside. No way. He ran to Jean's side, noticed the dried blood on her hands and her slumbering appearance. He cursed under his breath and picked her up, carrying her back to the foyer. As he lay her gently on the floor beside Scott, worry creased his brow. Who was going to be next? Where was Rogue?
Ray turned to their captives, seeing a few stir towards consciousness. He decided to question the first one that became fully awake. At the sound of footsteps he spun around.
Jubilee placidly emerged from the rec room.
"What were you doing?" Ray asked curiously. "I thought you were going to watch over Amara and the others." He waved his hand around at the X-Men still strapped to gurneys.
Jubilee blinked then said simply, "I was checking the area."
Ray sighed and massaged the back of his neck. "I found Jean on the patio," he said. "She's comatose like the others."
Jubilee had no reply, kept her eyes steady as she crossed her arms.
Ray was slightly unnerved at her neutral reaction. He assumed she was trying to remain calm. "I didn't see Rogue anywhere. Do you think anything happened to her?"
"I can't say," Jubilee stated. "There's no real way to know."
Ray frowned and wished she would show a little more concern. He looked at his comatose team mates. "Guess we should get these guys out of the stretchers. C'mon, help me lift Tabitha up." He turned around and bent at the knees, reaching down to grab one end of the stretcher. He waited for Jubilee to grab the other, but she didn't. The next thing he knew, her petite arm encircled his throat, wrapping him in a choking hold. He gagged in the struggle for air, shocked at her strength before realizing she was actually attacking him. Jubilee was trying to maim him--and she was succeeding.
"Jubes," he gasped, "what the f--" She was freakishly strong; he couldn't break her hold. He pulled at her slim arms in vain. Suddenly she released him, throwing him against the wall with shocking force. He slammed his head and crumpled to the floor in a daze. As the world swirled around him, noises and sights blended together into a confusing whirligig of sensations. When things cleared a bit he heard rushed footsteps and a feminine Asian face peered down at him in worry.
"Oh my God, Ray, are you all right? What happened?"
He glared angrily, shoving her aside. "Like you don't know!" he yelled, though it made his head hurt more. "What the hell's your problem, attacking me like that?"
Jubilee gaped at him, eyes wide, "What are you talking about?"
He pulled himself off the floor, rubbing his head. "You freaking out and trying to choke me to death!" he told her. "Why are you even denying it--I was there!"
"Because, you idiot," Jubilee shot back, her own temper flaring, "I didn't do anything! I was with Amara and just coming up here to check the others when I saw you lying on the floor like a dead dog! Now tell me what the hell really happened!"
Ray stared at her, eyes blazing. Tense energy cackled in his hands. He realized then that the Jubilee who had attacked him was very different from the one he presently glared at. The girl before had been eerily unemotional, facial expression ever constant. Ray rubbed his face in confusion. "I have no idea what's going on," he muttered. "But I swear you attacked me. Either that or somebody that sounds and looks just like you."
Jubilee huffed, "That's crazy. I don't have a twin or anything. Unless Mystique--"
"Gone, remember?"
"Oh, yeah...then who was it?" Jubilee wrinkled her nose in confusion and Ray knew for a fact it was not her earlier. "God, I am getting more and more creeped out."
Frustrated, Ray massaged his sore neck and headed for the stairs, "Have to find Roberto."
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Eerie emptiness--it was the first thing he noticed. Roberto shivered as he walked down the dark corridor. He had never experienced the Xavier Institute under such derelict conditions. The absence of numerous students and omnipresent noise was unsettling. Roberto was almost hoping to find an intruder to pummel, just to encounter another live being. Perusing the last room, he found nothing and nobody and decided to regroup with Ray and Jubilee. Thoughts swirled worriedly around Rogue and Jean as he headed for the stairs.
"There you are."
Roberto gave a start as Ray suddenly appeared around the corner. He frowned furiously, "Man, what's your problem, popping up in front of me like that?"
"Did I scare you."
Realizing his mistake, Roberto grew more irritated. "No," he said defensively. "Just caught me off guard is all, and that's not a good idea considering our situation right now."
Ray stared at him for a moment before saying, "Did you find anything?"
"No," Roberto sighed, walking past him in the direction of the stairs. "Where's Jubes?"
"Downstairs looking after the others, but we can't join her yet."
"Why not?"
"I have an issue to settle with you."
Roberto turned around curiously to be met in the face with a vicious punch. Stars exploded in his vision and he fell against a hall table, knocking over the flower vase. Groaning painfully, he was not given time to recover as Ray grabbed him by the shirt collar and slammed him against the opposite wall.
The world became a kaleidoscope of confusion. Roberto fought for composure, favoring his bloodied lip. When his vision cleared he saw Ray lifting the hall table to bash him with it. He dove out of the way as the table shattered in his previous location. Stumbling onto his feet, he tackled Ray from behind and they both went sprawling to the floor. Both fought for the upper hand in a heated wrestling match that Roberto was intent on winning. He didn't know why Ray was suddenly attacking him, but he wasn't about to be bested by him. They had their differences in the past, but was it really enough to incite a violent brawl?
Roberto elbowed Ray in the face and finally got the upper hand. He pinned the boy down by the arms and legs, digging his knee into the nape of his neck. "Look, Ray, I don't know what your problem is," he said breathlessly, words dripping blood, "but I'll tell you right now: you have serious anger management problems."
"Like I didn't already know."
Roberto's head snapped up and his eyes widened at seeing another Ray, identical to the one below him, standing in the corridor. "What--how--aagh!" He yelled as the attacker threw him off in his distraction.
"Get back here!" Jubilee appeared at Ray's side, blasting firecrackling energy at the imposter. Her efforts were futile; the shapeshifter moved with deft agility, running down the hall and crashing through the second story window. "Oh my God, he's suicidal!" Jubilee shrieked.
They ran to the window and peered down. The shrubs below appeared disturbed, several leaves shaken to the ground. There was no other sign of the imposter.
Ray, Roberto, and Jubilee exchanged worried glances. "Who the hell was that?" Roberto sputtered, wiping blood off his lip.
"Can't be Mystique for obvious reasons," Ray said. "How many shapeshifting mutants are there in this world anyway..."
Jubilee continued to peruse the ground below them. "That guy tricked us," she scowled. "He played us like--oh my God."
"What?" Ray and Roberto asked in alarm.
"I just saw..." Jubilee shook her head, squinting. "Under the trees, in the shadows...I thought I saw a pair of red eyes. They were staring right at us..." She shot the boys a fearful look.
Roberto scratched his head, "The mutant predator?"
"It's invisible, remember?" Ray pointed out. He fought the involuntary tremor that threatened to display his unease. "This is somebody else, and they went through a lot of trouble of bringing guys to come and kidnap the X-Men."
"But why would they do that?" Jubilee asked. "And how did they get past the security and oh, I totally forgot about Jean and Rogue..." She shook her head, long, black tresses swaying with the movement. "Is anybody else completely freaked out?"
Roberto suddenly said, "The men. Downstairs."
They were running the next second, hurrying to the first floor. Stumbling down the master staircase, they tensed from anticipation of using their powers. But it was not action they encountered. The X-Men were still strapped to gurneys, but a pile of tangled rope occupied the space their captives used to reside.
The boys cursed under their breaths. Jubilee began biting her nails, then uttered a very uncouth word after realizing she had just ruined her manicure.
"We're so stupid!" Ray exclaimed. "He must've come in through the front while we were up there speculating." He kicked a knot of rope in angry frustration.
"At least everyone is okay," Roberto said, after checking their friends. "We should figure this out later. Right now they need to be put back in the Med Bay."
Ray kept watch at the door while Jubilee and Roberto lifted the comatose X-Men back to the Med Bay. They settled the patients into beds, reading written instructions they found on Hank's desk on how to handle the IVs and monitors. When the task was done, they returned to the foyer and saw that Ray had gathered pieces of broken wood, hammering them over the doorway.
"Doesn't matter you know," Jubilee said as Roberto went to help him. "We still won't feel safe here." She didn't look at the reactions to her words, knowing they agreed. Shivering from nervousness, she left the foyer and headed back to the Infirmary. Her eyes kept a watchful gaze as she sat stiffly on a cot, making sure no harm would come to her friends.