DISCLAIMER: I do not own the X-Men or Survivor.
"You're going to miss it!" Jubilee bounced up and down a bit at the foot of the stairs. She didn't want to lose her seat, but she'd been sent to call the rest of the people down. Jean-Paul flew down the stairs, stopping with a rush of air.
"I could have still made it in time."
Jubilee rolled her eyes. "You're lucky we invited you to this."
He smiled. "Couldn't have kept it from me."
"Yeah, you're right. Is Rogue coming down?"
"She said she doesn't want to see this episode."
"Fine. Then you have to go get the chips. Seeya." Jubilee ran into the living room to claim her seat, but Jean-Paul was already sitting there with the chips in his lap. She grumbled and climbed onto the couch, as the show started.
"This week, on Survivor: Genosha, our mutant castaways are faced with a unique challenge when their powers are negated and they-along with everyone else- must live off the land for five days. Who will break down? Who will emerge victorious?"
"One guess." The whole room turned as Rogue walked past the room and offered her comments. A loud jingling noise was heard, and she crossed the doorway again, carrying her keys. "Ah'm going to Harry's."
There were a few nods, and general silence, until Jean-Paul decided to ask.
"What's up with her? She doesn't get voted off this week, does she?"
Jubilee's eyebrows shot up, and she started to talk, before Jean clamped her mouth shut. "We aren't allowed to tell."
"So many secrets." Jean-Paul held up the bowl. "Anyone want these?"
No one answered him, since the show had started up again.
"Fine, ignore me." He grabbed a handful of chips and started to eat them.
"This machine will negate any superhuman powers within a fifty mile range. Earlier, we had Warren demonstrate." Jeff Probst was grinning, as usual, oddly ecstatic to be there, as he pressed a button and Warren, who had been flapping his wings theatrically, suddenly got still, his wings folding up against his back.
"Unlike earlier models, there are no side effects, the process is entirely pain free and safe. In moments, our castaways will be separated, sent to different sides of the island. Once there, they must survive for as long as possible without the aide of their powers, and with no food and water. At the end of five days, whoever is in the best shape will win immunity."
The castaways were a mix of different emotions. Some of the flatscans were obviously happy that the playing field would be somewhat leveled, some (most noticeably the women) were worried about their mutant friends. The mutants, too, had different expressions on their faces. Some were quizzical, some were downright scared. But none of them really knew what would happen. The same expressions coursed across the faces of the group viewing at the Xavier Institute. Mostly students that particular night (quite a few of the team members were out on a mission), some people didn't know about the X-Men's different run-ins with maniacs wielding power negating devices. Those that did had a sudden idea as to why Rogue chose not to watch that particular night.
She raised her hand once they'd finished with their whole little schpiel. Raising an eyebrow, Jeff pointed to her. "Anna?"
"If Ah choose not to participate in this challenge, will Ah be automatically kicked off?"
He looked over towards the director who was standing near a cameraman, then nodded. "Yes."
"Damn." She turned around and walked into the woods, leaning against a tree. After a few minutes, she returned, wiping something away from her eyes. "Okay."
Within half an hour, they were all moved to the far side of the island, away from their camps. The machine had been switched on, and the cameras were rolling. Trying her best to claw through the underbrush, Rogue was getting very angry with the cameraman.
"Can't you follow someone else around for a little bit?"
He grinned and shook his head, and she moved on, struggling a bit more than normally. Her anger rising again, she spun and faced him once more.
"You're really enjoying yourself here, aren't you? You like seeing me in pain, you sadistic sonofa—OW!" She grabbed her foot and looked down. Sure enough, she'd stepped on a very sharp rock and was bleeding. She pointed to her foot and started to cry. "Ah'm bleeding! You see what you made me do! Ah'm bleeding now!"
She sat down, somewhat fascinated. "Ah'm bleeding..." The cameraman quickly lost interest and moved on to find another castaway to shadow, laughing as he left.
"Ah hear that laughing! When my powers come back, Ah'm gonna kick your ass!" She realized that he was long gone, and looked up into one of the other cameras that were stationed around the island. "Anyone got a band-aid?"
"Boo hoo! I need a band-aid!" Marty laughed as he took another swig of his beer. "That's why chicks never win this show. They're too weak." He wasn't normally one to watch reality TV, but recently, he'd discovered the joy of watching Survivor while drinking with his buddies. Normally, his jokes went over quite well, but for some reason, they weren't too happy about that particular one. He turned to find out why and came nose to nose with the very woman who he was making fun of moments earlier.
"You want to say that again, sugar?"
He looked over at his friends, who were grinning, and laughed. "Yeah, I want to say it again. You're a freakin' crybaby. You're too weak, and I hope you get voted off."
She nodded silently and reached towards him, prompting Harry to clear his throat and point towards the door. Rolling her eyes, she picked the man up by the front of his shirt and walked outside, where she chucked him nearly forty feet. Somewhat calmed down, she returned to the bar and sat down, ordering a bourbon. When Harry handed the glass over, he gestured to the television.
"Want me to change it?"
"Nah, that's okay. Let these slobs have their fun."
Shrugging, Harry smiled and reached under the bar, handing her the entire bottle with a wink. "I know you can hold it."
"Thanks."
She turned back to the television, somewhat interested in seeing what all they cut from the episode. She frowned and suddenly wished that alcohol had more of an effect on her, as the commercial ended.
"Wait up, y'all! Ah cut my foot and it hurts like a bleep!"
"Oh, suck it up, superhero."
"Katie, if you weren't standing up on that hill, Ah'd be killing you right now."
"Or trying at least."
Rogue groaned and poured herself another glass, as Marty staggered back into the bar. Spinning in her seat, she glared at him as the television showed Sarah entering the confessional.
"I'm kind of worried... You know, you'd think that Anna would be scariest when she's able to pound you into the pavement with one hand tied behind her back and blindfolded. But no, at least then you know what's going on. I had to help her crack open a coconut today. A coconut! Two days ago, she'd have been able to do that with one hand. She and Jean have been at each other's throats constantly. I guess they're so used to having the powers that they have a hard time without them. Katie doesn't seem to mind a bit about the lack of powers. But she didn't really use them every day like they did. I wonder how Bobby's doing... from what I've heard, he hasn't even had to drink warm water for years."
Sure enough, the camera shifted to the other side of the camp, where the guys had decided to go it solo. Bobby was sitting in a tree, in nothing but a pair of swim shorts, panting. Below him, Malachi was throwing rocks at the tree.
"Hey Iceface! While you're up there, you want to throw down some bananas?"
"No! It's too hot to move!"
The trees started to rustle in the wind, and he stood up, trying to catch as much of the breeze as possible. Realizing that Malachi wasn't going to leave until he got some bananas, he reached out and knocked down a few bushels of bananas, then jumped out of the tree, landing somewhat shakily on the ground.
"I'm going swimming."
Malachi waved as Bobby left and gathered the bananas, making sure to walk past all of the other guys on his way back to his little camp area, and wave the bananas in their faces.
"Hey, Daniel. I've got food. Good luck finding some for yourself."
"Shove your food up your bleep, you bleepbleep"
"Such hostility... oh, look it's Tallon! Tallon! Look at the food I have!"
Tallon wasn't very enthusiastic either, and ended up tripping Malachi and taking one of the bushels, then returning to Daniel's side.
"We've got to do something about him, Danny-boy. Want a banana?"
"Sure, thanks mate. Yeah. That fella needs to be put in his place. All of a sudden, he's got a big head."
"How're you doing? You know, without..."
"Powers? Well, they weren't very good on a deserted island anyways, you know? No machines. Except back when we were stationed near the old labs. Lots of stuff to use there."
"Right. Well, I'm going to give you some free advice. Stay away from the pool that's over in that clearing there. Bob has decided to go skinny-dipping and doesn't seem to care who sees him."
"Thanks."
Rogue laughed at the bar, getting a few odd looks from the other patrons, and some scared looks from Marty and his friends. She looked over at them and tried to explain. "It's because Bobby is so...oh forget it." Rolling her eyes, she went back to watching the show.
At the mansion, Bobby was getting a lot of strange looks. He sipped his beer and shrugged. "It was hot."
"Hey, you. Yeah, behind the camera guy. Ah don't care about all that 'breaking the fourth wall' crap. You gotta get me outta this challenge. Ah'll do anything."
A collective cat-call went up from the males watching the show (and a few of the females, too). Remy grinned, trying to hide the fact that he didn't like where this was going. Luckily for him, the camera shifted again and a familiar blue-skinned mutant stepped out of the forest, looking incredibly confused.
"What the crap!" Scott dropped his milk and leaned in to get a better look. He couldn't see the colors, but the figure looked familiar. "Is that…"
"Mystique." Kurt confirmed it.
Jean laughed. "I guess they didn't tell the camera crew about the power dampeners."
There was no audio over the shot, probably because it seemed like every other word coming from Mystique's mouth was inappropriate for a network television audience. The chow cut to commercial, promising more of the unexpected visitor after the break. The group shifted and stretched, and a little beeping noise let them know that Cerebro had picked up on hostile mutant activity. The professor raced downstairs and the rest of them tensed up, following quickly. By the time they reached the hallway outside the chamber, he had finished and emerged with a smile.
"Mystique and the Brotherhood are attacking the CBS affiliate in town. Any volunteers to stop her?"
They looked around, and Remy shot up his hand. He didn't really want to stay and see what "Ah'll do anything" ended up being. Darting off to get changed, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Less than two minutes later, Remy, Polaris, Psylocke, and Kitty were in the Blackbird, heading towards New York.
"Hehe… Remy feels like a pimp."
Two icy glares and one wink were returned to him. He smiled and revved the plane's engine, then landed on top of the building. They all got out, Polaris and Shadowcat flying down to the first floor, and Remy picking the lock on the stairs on the roof. "After you, Betsy."
She curtsied pleasantly and jumped into the stairwell, not even bothering to use the stairs themselves. Remy closed the door behind him and followed suit.
It didn't take them long to locate the floor on which the Brotherhood was making their attack. The explosions and thuds made it pretty clear. Betsy had already entered the fray and Remy ducked in silently behind her, hoping to stay in the shadows until he could assess exactly what was going on. Soon, Kitty and Polaris were also engaging the Brotherhood, and he took note of who all seemed to be there. Avalanche was trying to throw Kitty off-balance, and Toad was backed into a corner, with Polaris slowly caging him in using various metal things that were lying around the room. He looked around for Psylocke and found her stalking a person who looked a lot like a roadie. He knew better, though. The rest of the room seemed to be deserted. He watched the girls, trying to figure out who needed the most (if any) help.
"Looking for something, Stripling?"
Remy wheeled around and came face to face with Exodus. Smiling, he extended his hand. "Bonjour, Exodus! What brings y' to de city tonight?"
Exodus narrowed his eyes and didn't respond, so Remy kept talking. "You doin' de dirty work for Mystique now, too? T'ought your only alliance was wit' ol' bucket head?"
"It is. I owe this woman nothing, and Magneto everything."
Remy whistled. "Yet, y' get dragged along t' dis little party."
"I do not participate, except perhaps to squash you like an insect."
Remy's smile got wider. "Which is exactly why she brought you along, non?"
Exodus' eyes sparked a little bit, and he began to get angry. "How dare you speak to me like that!"
"It just strikes me as odd dat you'd be out here doin' somet'in for her, makin' her t'ink dat you work for her when y' really work for your main man Mags."
Nostrils flaring, Exodus growled. "I could kill you with just a thought."
Remy shrugged. "I suppose. Adieu."
He vaulted over the bench that he was hiding behind and threw a charged card at Mystique. Polaris had completely caged Toad, and Kitty had Phased Avalanche part of the way through the floor, delaying him enough for Polaris to form a cocoon of metal around him as well. Now Psylocke, Gambit, and Shadowcat were all circling around Mystique.
"You're outnumbered." Betsy pointed out the obvious.
"Thanks for the heads up." Shifting back to her true form, Mystique crossed her arms, seemingly unfazed by the fact that she was the only person on her team left to fight, whereas all four of the X-Men had barely broken a sweat.
"What's the point of this, Mystique?" Kitty's eyes were narrowed, and she meant business.
"No point." Mystique shrugged. "I just felt like it."
"Um… what?" Polaris had joined them and was confused.
"As I said, I just felt like it. I'm sure you were watching. I never signed a release for my image to be used. I could sue. But suing isn't fun. Besides, The boys were getting restless." She smiled at Polaris. "Thanks for taking care of them for me."
The X-Men flew home in a state of confusion. "What just happened?" Kitty rubbed her head.
"She's nuts. That's what just happened." Polaris sipped her coffee. "But at least we got to go to Starbucks."
By the time they got back to the mansion, the show was over for the week. They walked into the room.
"Please tell me that one of you recorded it?" Kitty was a bit upset that she missed the challenge.
"Yeah, but it's not worth watching… they just showed Mystique walking away again and then the main parts of the challenge and then Malachi getting voted off, and then Rogue dancing because they turned off the dampener…" Bobby yawned.
"…Dancing?" Remy was intrigued.
At the bar, the show had ended, and Marty and his friends looked over at her. "Nice dance."
She glared and finished off the bottle of bourbon, then paid Harry. Swiveling in her chair again, she smiled sweetly. "You want an encore presentation?"
Marty's friends whooped and cheered, and she grabbed him by the wrist and headed out of the bar. The crowd followed, but they were too late to see the action, and instead found their friend stuffed into a garbage can, groaning. Towards the end of the driveway, a motorcycle was tearing out of the parking lot.
A/N: Sorry it took so long, I've been suffering from the world's worst case of writer's block. Not to be confused with my one-shot, "Writer's Block," which you should all go read. Hehe... yeah, I plugged the story. So, yeah. And on top of the writer's block, I've been working on setting up my rpg (check my profile for a link, since this isn't letting me do it here...) so that's taken a lot of time, too. Hopefully, though, I'll be able to post the next chapter sometime soon! Oh, and review!