Sych77: You got the joke! Yes! Commander Geordi is the engineer in Star Trek who wears a visor similar to Scotts. That's the connection, also a little Patrick Stewart referral :D Another Aurora Logan shipper?
Calandra: She's unlikely to take it well.. But 'm glad you liked the chapter. I love the whole Scott/Logan thing too! They've not argued in a while but now it's just a lame bitchfest, lol.
Blix: Lol, you like seeing Logan suffer huh?
THE WEBSITE IS UP! INCLUDING A POLL ABOUT LOGAN AND PLOT, HILARIOUS QUOTES,INFORMATION ON MADELINE AND THE SENTINELS, AND SNAPSHOTS OF THE X-MEN IN THEIR DAY-TO-DAY LIFE LIVING AS SIMS!
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Chapter 23The sky was still awash with a dark indigo above the United Kingdom. Visions of the faint stars could be seen out of the bars of a prison cell. A figure sat down quietly in the dark, exhaling a slow sigh as she glanced around slowly at the dark cell. The shadows draped over the entire cell like a deadly fog. The milky moonlight only managed a few poor beams to glisten upon the cold bars of the prison. She shuffled gently on her bed, rolling over to stare up at the ceiling. A hand toyed idly with the neck of her prison clothes, a habit she'd grown accustomed to, a nightly sabotage of her fingernails upon thread.
The clothing consisted of a dark navy overall then buttoned up from her midriff right to the collar her neck. At least it kept her warm in the bare prison cell. She turned her head slightly upon the pillow. A rather ridiculous pillow at that, instead of feeling soft and warm it felt as if it were a sack of rocks. However, her eyes now stared out at the barred window. Strips of moonlight filtered down through the vertical strips of bars, masking her face in an odd design. Her eyes sparkled of a bright aqua blue, certain defiance still in them, not yet chided away by her time in the prison.
There didn't appear to be anything remotely odd about her, not really. Save for the spillage of shiny hair over that same lumpy pillow. Her hair was a strong and deep shade of violet and it shined in the rays of the moon's glow. She lay still watching that window, waiting for something.
Soon she would be out of here. She should never have been put here in the first place. Bloody officials made up some allegation and locked her up. She knew why they did it though. They were scared. Scared because she spoke the truth. Humans fear what they don't understand. They don't understand the truth. They don't understand how to react. They don't understand her.
But ultimately, they feared her and her reality. They would much rather live in blissful sounding lies than open their eyes to the real horrifying truth. The truth she wanted to reveal. Her courage got her arrested. The Government knew what she was going to spill.
Then, the long drone of silence was destroyed as a few cells down an almighty crash exploded echoingly down the corridor. That was her cue! She spun off the bed, dragging her coat over the prison overalls. She had no personal possessions with her, only the necklace she hid inside her clothes. So she was speedily at the barred door, pressing her forehead to the shockingly cold bars as she waited.
A dark figure ran through the corridor towards her cell, cheers and eruptions came from other prisoners at what was obviously some escape plan. Cries jeered the air and begs of release, which were ignored. The figure stopped in front of her jail cell and a ghostly looking face reflected her, eyes weak, hair aged, "Come, Elisabeth," said the voice urgently, surpassing a power his appearance didn't achieve. His hands outstretched, hovering at the metal bars of the door before prising them apart. His hands never touched the metal, but they still moved willingly by some unseen force. Soon they had parted enough for the slim bodied female to slip through and together the pair ran through the corridor between the cells.
"This might not work!" her voice echoed to him. Accent smoothly British.
But her male companion shook his head, "I can handle the metal, but you need to get us through this wall!"
Elisabeth sighed softly before her hands outstretched as she ran, readying for the dead end ahead of them. Her palms enveloped in a purple aura before the light glowed brighter and streamed forth to come in contact with the wall. The brick crumbled defeatedly as the light hit them, the force destroying the wall to leave a decent sized hole for their exit.
"Good!" cried the man as he hopped over the scattered bricks to land outside in the frost-licked grass. Together they sprinted down the grassy banking, jogging over mounds of dirt in the raised parts of the downhill slope. Voices began sounding from the prison, questions and alarmed cries only just piercing the night air.
The pair had disappeared like fleeing shadows in the deep darkness.
Gambit cast a wry glance around the jet as he sat in his buckled seat. The journey was taking its time and he was becoming increasingly fidgety. He turned his head slowly to glance to where Siren sat beside him. Then he turned his eyes to glance slowly ahead at the next row where Logan and Aurora sat, and then at the front, controlling the jet, were Scott and Storm. He blew a rather bored sigh out of his lips and pulled a card out of his sleeve. He leant back slowly in his seat, stretching out his bent knees as he relaxed, now twirling the card in his fingers slowly.
Aurora leant over a little to Logan, speaking again for the first time since they got on the Jet, "Don't you think you ought to talk to me?" she asked in a quiet and calm voice.
Logan slowly lifted his head off the lean on his palm and turned his eyes upon her, "What do you want me to say?" he questioned bitterly.
"Well I don't know!" cried Aurora, that gentle tone becoming louder and less secretive, "You're the one that should decide that!"
A few eyes glanced her way at the raised voice. Logan just growled quietly, "Now is not the time to talk, alright? Later."
"Oh no, please, do go on," said Gambit as he leant closer to the back of Aurora's seat. There was a smile on his face that most certainly not there for Logan's benefit, "Dis is the most entertainment we've had in the past hour."
"Shut it, Cajun," snarled Logan, swivelling his hard glare upon the red-eyed thief.
Gambit let out a soft sigh, muttering to Aurora quietly with a false roll of his eyes, "See what I have ta put up with, Miss Aurora?"
"Don't talk to her!" barked Logan, his hand rapidly flying down to unclip his belt so he could rage over there and complete some silent threats.
"Logan!" came a warning voice from Siren.
But Storm called from the front, "Don't you touch that!" she exclaimed, "We're landing!"
Logan muttered angrily to himself as he dropped his hand back down in his lap. His swivelled his head back towards Gambit and Aurora, eyes still narrowed on the male, "Don't push me, LeBeau."
Gambit just smirked all the wider, eyes watching Logan with a mischievous glint as he leant back in the seat. His gaze was thoughtful and cunning.
With another snarl Logan turned away from the man and instead focused his steely glare on the chair in front of him where he could see part of Storm as she readied the controls for landing. Out of the large window he could see the crisp blue sky above them, a sheer wash of pastel blue. At Scott's next words of warning, the plane began to dip gently as it lowered towards the ground.
"We're landing in the North of the Amazon," said Storm as she watched out of the window, "We have rough coordinates from the Professor at where the base will be within a perimeter, we'll find it on foot."
"Hold on everybody," said Scott as he leant forth, carefully directing the Jet downwards into a small clearing of the jungle, "Almost there.." the blue sky through the window was replaced by a sudden and vast mass of greenness. The treetops rustled and swayed around the Jet. But as it lowered, looming darkness came upon them as they could see through the thick foliage that made up the rest of the Jungle.
And sure enough, within the next few seconds a mild jerk through the plane signalled that they had safely made contact with the jungle floor. All around the jet, seatbelts were eagerly unclasped as X-Men began to rise and stretch their limbs. But a warning voice called through the mild buzz of chatter that had began, "No one go outside," eyes turned upon Scott as he stood at the front of the Jet with his arms positioned in an authoritive fold, "We need a briefing before we set foot into this wilderness."
The chatter quickly silenced and everybody turned to look at Scott in wait. Gambit did his ritual of fidgeting with a card whilst Logan calmly folded his arms and glared at Scott like he was some annoying smudge on a prized vehicle.
"We have been preparing all week for this mission," said Scott, scanning his eyes slowly across the watching group, "We still have another few hours before the sun sets, we can cover a short distance together to get closer North and then set up camp for the night."
"Why can't we just sleep in here, huh?" asked Gambit as he finally turned his eyes from his playing card and upon the mutant leader.
Scott sighed quietly as if the question was ridiculous, "Because we need to find this place as soon as possible. We have an hour to cover some distance. We cannot waste such precious time." Gambit said no more, so Scott continued. "As I was saying, we shall set up camp for tonight and then I'll set about explaining the task and how we shall we covering ground."
"What about the Jet?" said Logan slowly as he frowned across to Scott, "If they have aerial transport they'll notice this great thing. Hell, they'll probably pick it up on radar."
But Scott smiled knowingly, "I have already solved that problem, Logan. You see, Charles and I installed an Image Inducer into the jet a few weeks back which enables us to make the jet invisible to the naked eye." He nodded his head gently, "Yes, it will be picked up on radar, but that's why I parked us so close to the small cliff behind us. The radar cannot distinguish us from the rocks, we'll be ignored."
"Right.." murmured Logan to himself as he looked around at the group, he was getting bored.
"Is there any questions?" asked Scott to the team as he walked closer to them. Everybody shook their head to dismiss his question. "Alright, change into your kit."
Aurora quickly looked at Scott, "Er.. Scott, where do we change?" she looked around the Jet, it was a wide-open space, nothing to hide behind.
"Improvise," said Gambit softly, "I'll block you from view, mon chere.."
"No, Remy," interrupted Scott glancing slowly over to Siren, "The women can change first and we'll wait outside then swap."
Whilst everyone nodded their head in agreement at the sensible plan, the disappointment in Gambit's eyes was all too obvious.
Aurora was sat on the floor of the jet, tightly fastening up the thick black boots. Scott was already dressed, walking around and checking everybody had dressed suitably. "Tuck your trousers into your socks," he informed to Aurora as he passed by, "Don't let insects and spiders climb up your legs." Aurora's face visibly paled at his words and she quickly set about following his instruction. Logan pulled the lightweight jacket of his body, fingers testing the material before he remained quietly satisfied and put it on over the white vest. Everybody wore identical outfits. Light coloured clothing was worn because Scott insisted that they didn't need any form of camouflage in such a deep jungle. He also informed that the lighter the better because it would keep everyone cooler rather than if they wore dark clothing.
Everybody wore a cotton vest that was strapped over shoulders; this was then tucked into long and sturdy cream trousers that were lightweight but reassuringly thick at the same time. A jacket of the same cream material was then over the vest, a large neck to protect then from the sun.
Whilst Storm proceeded to clip some items to her belt, she walked across the jet; then grabbing her backpack off the floor and hurling it round upon her shoulders, securely fastening the useful strap around her waist that eased the weight. As everybody proceeded to prepare themselves there was a tense air in the Jet.
"I talked about important tips in the meeting we had last week," said Scott as he pulled his own backpack on his shoulders, "Remember, drink at least half a pint of water every hour when you're walking, dehydration is a killer."
"The canteens are filled now," said Storm as she looked around at everyone, "Bobby chilled them very deeply so they should keep cold for a while."
Scott nodded gently to Storm before looking over the rest, "Even though we're walking together. Everybody please keep your X-Transceiver turned on. If anyone gets lost we need to contact you."
"And on that note," added Storm, "If you do get lost, shout. Wolverine or Aurora will hear you."
Logan nodded his head idly at the words before he turned towards the controls at the front of the jet and pressed down the button for the stairs, "Right, let's get moving." The X-Men slowly turned towards the stairs and filed them down quietly. Scott took up the rear, glancing around to make sure they hadn't left anything behind.
Logan's senses were bombarded as he stepped out into the humid air. The wild stench of wilderness was forced into his nose, and there was a unique taste to the air. His large boots lightly crinkled the dense foliage beneath his feet, mixes of plant life swirling around in a dangerous mass over the damp soil. As his head rose he could see the towering trees that disappeared so far up that the tops of the branches were a mere blur. The highest points swayed in the upstairs wind. A breeze that didn't reach the suffocating layer below. He heard the rest of the X-Men gather around him, each one staring at the new environment. Slowly he turned towards them, giving a small grin to himself. He wasn't sure why, but he was enjoying this already. There was a real freedom to be felt here. His history of longing for endless wilderness had come true. There was no restriction. He could survive here better than he could in the middle of New York City.
"Wow.." he heard someone comment and he turned to look at what they were observing. Only.. he couldn't see it. The jet had disappeared.
He laughed quietly and stretched out his hand, waving it around before he heard a small clunk as his hand made impact with one of the legs, "Good.." he observed idly as he glanced to Scott who smirked slowly, holding a small device to Logan. "The Image Inducer?" asked Logan, to which Scott nodded.
"Cool.." murmured Aurora quietly as she looked up at where the Jet was, squinting her eyes as if to try and pinpoint it out.
But the audience to the new trick was quickly disturbed as Scott trudged through the team, leading them on, "Come on, let's get moving. It'll be dark soon and I'd like to find a water source."
Obligingly the X-Men began walking behind him. They exited the clearing and disappeared down a natural trail that winded narrowly through the looming plant life. Logan took up the rear of the line whilst Aurora walked by Scott, helping him to direct with the compass. "Go North West," he heard her say, "I can hear running water that way," Logan listened himself as he walked behind Storm. He could hear it too.
"The other side of the rocks!" he called through the line, "We'll walk round, we'll be there by nightfall!"
"Alright!" said Scott loudly from the front, now turning to the right as they walked on through the density of the jungle.
Logan clutched the straps of his backpack as he walked, idly following the bobbing white haired head in front of him. He was very much engrossed in his surrounding, inhaling the unusual scents of the air, ears tuned in to the distant screeches of various animal life. He could also hear small monkeys running through the trees above, branches rustling as they dashed through, most of the mutants below oblivious to their extra company. Logan smiled quietly to himself as his eyes spied a small face looking from a branch ahead. He had followed the sounds. His face spread to a smirk as he saw the small monkey, which quickly disappeared with a loud screech and bounded across into the depths of the tall and spindly tree.
He adjusted the earpiece gently in his ear; just realising he hadn't turned it on and quickly did so. He raised a brow as the sounds came through, he could just hear faint breathing from each mutant as they faintly gasped for the muggy air as they trudged deeper into the lush jungle, delving into what was literally, the unknown.
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I know that there are two very different bits to this chapter, but both are necessary! P