Authoress's note: god, sorry for the delay! I am so sorry! I've been busy. Exams, family stuff. Too much to do ... also, this chapter came out horribly cheesy and a bit weird; I wrote it sometime at school, never mind. Hope it isn't too bad. O.o
Reviewers' Response:
Pyromainiac – hello. Welcome to VR! Sorry you had to wait so long.
the littlest weasley – hehe, here ya are. Again, sorry for the delay.
chelsey-pudge - :happy sigh: I likey this awesomeness scale thingy
Pyro Lady – muahaha, cliffies are fun, aren't then? Well... sorry for the delay, but, after all, I AM only human-.-
xImmortalx - :feels priceless: hehe...
Rogue200315 – updating (albeit late)
Chapter 15: Kidnap
Amanda regained consciousness a few hours later, her head aching horribly and her body awkwardly positioned. She opened her eyes and raised her head to check her surroundings. She was in a small grey cell, the walls bare and the floor a hard, cold stone. She had been lying on her side, one hand twisted at an odd angle. She straightened it gingerly; it was not broken, but it hurt. She rubbed it repeatedly, slowly trying to get the blood flowing regularly again.
The room had a large heavy door, but of course it was locked. She frowned at it and sank to the floor, her thoughts gloomy. She had no idea where she was, no real idea who had kidnapped her – though the Brotherhood was number one suspect – and she was completely sore and tired.
There was a large hole-like window taking up one wall, barred and angry-looking. Amanda chanced a look out of it, her eyes widening at the sudden drop, waves crashing at the foot of a cliff hundreds of feet below. The cold November air blew through the hole, chilling her. She was still dressed in her costume – which was not very much at all. She slid down onto the floor as far from the window as she could, hugging her knees to her chest.
Several hours passed like this, and Amanda's thoughts became gloomier and gloomier as they went by. She tried to remember what Xavier had told her about the members of the Brotherhood – not much. She knew its members that had shown up at the Institute, and tried to remember what each of them had done. Magneto, Pyro and Mystique she knew, but there were still others. The shadow-kid, for one. He could be a problem. She'd seen him throwing his clouds of shadow around the room, obscuring everyone's view and making it hard to breathe. She had also seen him melt into the shadows – not just his own, but merging with the shadow of any object or person.
Next, there were the twins. She hadn't exactly seen what they could do; she had only seen one of them touching Pyro's shoulder at one point. Other than that, they were a complete mystery to her. Next. The woman in black leather. Amanda shivered at the thought of her. She truly scared her. What did she do? Intensify pain, it seemed, she though as she gingerly touched the bruise on her leg.
Other than that, there was just the blonde girl. Amanda wondered what she could do. Her ponderings on the Brotherhood finished, Amanda's thoughts returned to her gloomy state. From Scott and the professor, she had learned that the Brotherhood had set up their headquarters on some deserted base, located on a distant island somewhere miles and miles off into the ocean. She wondered if the X-Men were looking for her now. She thought of Logan and Kurt, and actually smiled for a second.
-X-
"They what!"
"They kidnapped her?" said Kurt, just as alarmed as Logan.
"Oh my," said Rogue. "Poor Manda... we have to get her out of there!"
"Yes," agreed Xavier. "We need to get her back. I don't think the Brotherhood will harm her; they merely want to draw us to them."
"Mein Gott. But why?" said Kurt, shaking his head. "What do they want with us?"
"Nothin' but a fight," growled Logan. He could still smell Mystique's scent in the gym.
"I'm not exactly sure what they want with us, Kurt. Nonetheless, we need to find her. Scott, Ororo, ready the jet." Cyclops and Storm nodded and headed towards the elevators to the lower levels. "Logan, find Hank." Logan nodded and went in search of the scientist. "Kurt?"
"I will come," he promised. "I think this could be a good opportunity to give the younger ones a chance, Herr Professor."
"Yes, I think you might be right. Go get ready. Rogue, Bobby, I want you to find Kitty and Melavina. I daresay they'll be glad to help out."
"Sure thing, professor." Rogue ran off to find the pair, Bobby in tow, while Kurt went to his room to get ready. The X-Men would be ready within fifteen minuets; enough time for him to get ready. He reached his room and kneeled on the floor, clasping his hands together and saying a quick prayer for Amanda. As an afterthought, he added a prayer for the X-Men as well.
-X-
Amanda had somehow managed to doze off on the cold stone floor; she was jerked awake at the sound of creaking metal. The door of the room opened, and Magneto strode in, accompanied by Mystique and the shadow-kid. She glared at the three of them, standing up and brushing herself off.
"Magneto," she said, her voice cold. "What're you doing here? What do you want with me?"
"Oh, nothing much just now, my dear," he replied nonchalantly, smiling at her. "Perhaps a few answers will do."
"I'm not telling you anything," she spat.
Magneto sighed. "We could go about this the hard way, you know. I was merely hoping you would cooperate."
"Cooperate, my ass," she muttered. She leaned against the cold wall. "Let me go."
"I have no doubts that your friends are on their way to save you even as we speak," Magneto said, not taking his eyes off her. "All I want is details, my dear. Nothing more. I know about the lower levels of the school; have no doubt about that. But I do not know everything. And you do."
-X-
"Buckle up, folks," said Scott as he expertly maneuvered the jet out of the basketball court. His tone was curt and strong, but everybody knew he was shaken. After all, it's not an easy thing to see your loved one back from the dead.
Next to him in the co-pilot's seat, Storm was already looking out a window, checking the weather and calling up winds to back their speedy flight, fog roiling beneath the jet to supply cover. Behind them sat Xavier, concentrating, eyes closed, trying to find any hint of Amanda. Behind them, Next to him sat Logan, still annoyed that he'd only gotten a few swipes at Mystique; he yearned for the opportunity to plunge his claws into her flesh. Kurt was silent, his eyes closed and his lips moving in silent prayer, while Hank was thinking up any reason for the Brotherhood to kidnap Amanda specifically.
In the back-seats sat Rogue and Bobby, with Kitty and Melavina next to them. The pair had been ecstatic at first, when Rogue had informed them that they would participate in the rescue-mission. They had giggled and squealed when they were given their uniforms, but had sobered up as soon as the jet took off; Amanda's life could very well rest on the outcome of the mission.
With those thoughts on their minds, the youngest members of the X-Men sat silent and thoughtful in their seats, going over plans and details in their heads.
"Mel?"
"What?"
"This is going to work, right?"
"Sure it is." Mel fiddled with her hair, braiding it and unbraiding and braiding it again. "Sure it is," she repeated. Kitty tried to smile, but found it somewhat difficult. Her thoughts turned to Amanda, and she resolved to do anything and everything she could to help get her friend out of there.
-X-
"I shall ask you again," Magneto said calmly. "How many children does Charles have in the school?"
"Why do you care?" she spat.
"Because I need to know, my dear. If I plan to eliminate my enemies – and I am afraid Charles is the strongest one of them – then I need to know this."
"You bastard!" Amanda launched herself at him, fists flying. Barely a foot away, she was jerked backwards, her arms held back by Mystique and the shadow-kid. Magneto drew a palm-sized ball of metal from his pocket, and before Amanda's widening eyes he smoothed it into a thin metal bar. He held it out on his palm, and it floated towards her, snaking around her wrists. Mystique and Shadowcaster let go.
Her hands held behind her back, Amanda lost her balance and hit the floor, hard. Magneto moved his fingers, and the makeshift cuffs separated, bringing her hands forward forcefully. He raised his hand, and the cuffs went with it, connecting again. Amanda let out an exclamation of pain as her arms were pulled over her head and she was held up in the air. Spots danced before her eyes.
"Well?" said Magneto.
"I am not – telling you – anything," she said through gritted teeth. Magneto sighed, lowering his hand. Amanda crashed to the floor again. Muffling another groan, she managed to ask, "What are you going to do with me?"
"Me? Nothing, my dear." Magneto turned to Shadowcaster. "Get the twins down here." Shadowcaster spared one last glance at Amanda, gave her a smirk and then disappeared, melting into the shadows. "I merely need your gifts."
"What for?"
"You will see."
A few minuets passed in silence. Amanda glared at Magneto, and then at Mystique. The woman simply looked back indifferently. Amanda found herself slowly developing an intense hatred for the woman, coupled with a strange curiosity. She wondered if she'd always been such a shade of blue. With a start, she realized how similar it was to Kurt's skin's colour. She wondered if there was any connection between the two of them. She hoped to God that there was not.
Footsteps drew her from her wonderings. The twins stepped in, looking exactly alike except for the length of their hair – one's was shorter and one's longer.
"Ah, Brian, Rick," said Magneto, smiling at the pair of them. "Are you ready for what I told you?" The pair of them nodded. The one with the shorter hair stepped forward. "I would like you to meet Brian, Amanda. He has earned the nickname 'Copycat' from his brother, because of his ability to copy other mutants' powers. In some ways, he is much like your friend Rogue; the only difference between them is that Brian here can control himself, and draw power from mutants at will, not unconsciously."
"Nice to meet you," Amanda spat dryly. "So you're going to copy my powers. What then?"
"Then, you should meet Rick. He has named himself 'Amplifier' for his ability to amplify mutants' powers. He also seems to trigger evolution in certain mutants; how, we are still not quite sure."
"Okay, okay, so you copy my powers, and then you amplify them. What do you plan to do with those amplified powers?"
"We intend to wipe out everybody."
"Wipe out everybody?" she repeated. "What do you mean, everybody?"
"I mean, we are going to kill all the humans on this planet. All except for the mutants. Though I might be forced to kill any mutants who oppose me."
"What!"
"Yes, my dear. I have realized my mistake from Liberty Island. My machine, which I presumed simply sped up the normal mutation process in any normal person, was not really working properly. My plan had been to make everybody equal. But I see now that this is impossible, and unfortunately so. So, I have to do something else." He motioned Brian closer.
"You really are crazy," she muttered.
"Perhaps," Magneto smiled at her. "But at least I know what I am doing."
"Do you, really?" she said, shaking her head. "You know something, Magneto?" Amanda steeled herself for what she was about to say. "You're just bitter. You are a sad, bitter old man, with too many bottled-up fears and anger. And you have a right to that anger," she said as his fixed his cold gaze upon her. "I saw the numbers on your arm. You're completely entitled to be angry for the crimes that were committed on behalf of your people. But you are no better." She continued quietly, despite the look on his face. No-one around spoke; no-one moved. Amanda went on. "What did you do three years ago? At Alkali Lake, what did you try to do?" she shook her head at the blank look on his face. "You tried to kill everybody! You tried to kill anybody who wasn't a mutant. Anybody who was different. Anybody who was not like you.
"You disgust me. Plain and simple, you really are a disgusting person. You were hurt as a child. You suffered injustice and ridicule, just because you were different by birth. Your family was murdered. But you got over that, didn't you? You've healed, with only scars to show for the horrors you went through. And then you turn right around and do exactly what they did!"
"What they did –" Magneto finally acknowledged her little speech.
"No, you shut up, Magneto," Amanda glared at him. "You shut up and you listen up. What they did was despicable, yes. But what you did was no better. You tried to murder anyone who wasn't a mutant – this is more than six million Jews here, Magneto, this is billions and billions of human beings – Jews among them, most probably! Whole families, women, children – completely innocent but for the crime of being born different – and you wanted to kill them.
"And before that, at Liberty Island? You wanted to turn everybody else into mutants. You wanted everybody to be like you. Sounds familiar? Because when you did that, at Liberty Island and at Alkali Lake, you were no better than them.
"You were – you are no better than all those Nazis back then in the Holocaust. You are no better than William Stryker and his men, experimenting on mutants and creating new ones. You are no better than anybody else, and I think it's about time you opened your eyes and realized what you're trying to do here. Sober up, Magneto." And with that, she turned away, while Magneto calmly stood up, marched to the door and opened it, only his slamming it behind him betraying his anger.
One eyebrow raised, Mystique took over. "Go on, do it," she said to Brian, pulling a small knife and handing it to him. Amanda's eyes widened. Slowly, Brian came forwards, kneeling next to her and taking hold of her arm. She struggled, but Rick came up and held her steady. With one swift motion, Brian made a thin cut in her arm, collecting a few drops of blood in a small glass vial and handing it to his brother, who placed it in his pocket. Amanda hissed as the knife cut across her arm, but otherwise remained silent.
When Brian stood up, Rick let go of Amanda, who narrowed her eyes at the pair of them. What now? What did they need her blood for?
Authoress's note: muahahahaha! God, I am evil, aren't I? I make you wait more than two weeks and then give you this crappy chapter... :sigh: I'm sorry :( I hope next the chapter (will be up by Saturday, I promise!) will make up for it...