Chapter 10
RageThe sounds of the ocean waves breaking through the main support beams of the platform creates an ominous feeling to those who might have berthed their ships to pass the storm. Nearby, a large piece of the rusted metal falls from the platform followed by a splash as Wolverine finished slashing his way through the blockade made from crisscrossed rods of metal that lead to the other side of the platform. Thirty minutes have passed since Wolverine and Storm landed the X-Jet over the surface of the water.
"Magneto is nowhere to be found." Storm shouted a bit as she hovered a few feet around the platform.
"He's here and I can almost smell him." Wolverine spoke in his normal tone of voice as he scanned the area.
Storm was looking at the readings of a portable monitor, which is connected wirelessly to the X-Jet's sonar equipment as it scans the ocean floor. Somehow they found nothing that the echo might pick up.
The sound of the rotor wash cutting through the air caught Storm's attention as she looked to her right, looking towards the vague figure of the Velocity. It was now three miles from the oil platform as Storm placed her hand over the radio earpiece and hailed the incoming bird.
"Professor," Storm's voice crackled slightly in the cockpit, "it seems that Wolverine has picked up Magneto's scent but there's nothing in here that would be sturdy enough to hold his base."
"Perhaps it's somewhere below the ocean." The professor said.
"We tried scanning the ocean floor. So far there is nothing under there." Storm replied.
"Very well. We're now three minutes from the platform." The professor ended the transmission.
The Velocity tipped its nose downwards and begins a slow dive towards the oil platform. As it hovers five feet towards the helicopter pad, the doors slid open and everyone jumps off the bird. Storm was surprised to see Cyclops and Rogue in the same space as she landed on solid ground.
Rogue was the first to approach Storm to ask, "Where's Derek?"
"He's probably not here." Storm answered when Wolverine slashed his way to the launch pad.
"He's here. I can smell his cologne somewhere." Wolverine said as he sniffed in the air.
Professor Xavier programmed the chopper on autopilot before stepping out with the help of Nightcrawler who teleported him to the helicopter pad. The added weight of another living being plus his wheelchair has started the support beams and girders of the helicopter pad to groan under the weight as Wolverine ordered everyone to step away from the pad. The metal platform begins to slant into a sudden drop as the groaning stress of metal pierced through the rusted oil platform before falling into the ocean. Since the Velocity has no special equipment for landing on water, the professor pulled out a remote controller and pressed the button. The chopper begins to rotate towards the direction of New York and vanished into the horizon.
It was strange indeed as the professor scans the area that goes well beyond the sea. Even with the help of Cerebro why would Derek's mental signature lure them in the middle of the Atlantic if his stand-alone mental powers were unable to detect his presence?
"Something's not right." The professor mumbled as he shut his eyes before returning to the attention of the group. "Everyone, return to the X-Jet for now while I figure out a plan."
Everyone shuffled towards the X-Jet floating on the surface of the ocean. After Wolverine closed the hatch from the inside, a strange high-pitched sound begins to emanate all around the jet that made everyone froze on where they stood. The professor could have sworn he has seen and felt what might come afterwards and so did the rest as they all shifter their sights towards Nightcrawler, who was just as baffled from the sound and sworn that he has nothing to do with it. Almost every one of the X-men has experienced Nightcrawler's ability to teleport from one place to another when they cling to him. But this one was different in some ways. The humming inside the jet slowly grew louder. Everyone felt debilitated as the strange force that feels like they were being torn apart by the fabric of space. A powerful smell of sulfur hangs in the air and their vision begins to ripple right before their eyes. The strange phenomenon ended after ten seconds and the cockpit plunged into darkness before the lights automatically turns itself on.
"Is everyone okay?" The professor called as he looks at them and most of them gave a verbal answer while clutching on their midsection from the nausea. It was until Nightcrawler's turn to break the silence as his jaw drops open, pointing out towards the direction of the cockpit.
"Look!"
The professor turns his wheelchair around and his eyes begin to widen. Surrounding the jet are groves of forestland and the jet was right in the middle of a large clearing lighted by the ghostly moon. He reached out towards the GPS scanner and after typing the command to know their location he froze. They were all in the middle of the Black Forest in Germany. His eyes shook from left to right in rapid succession, too engrossed on the knowledge of their location when he felt something surging at the back of his mind, feeling the presence of another mind somewhere nearby as he looks through the windows.
"He's here." The professor muttered and ordered everyone out of the jet. Kurt and Professor Xavier were the first out in the open in his usual teleportations as everyone exited through the door. Even under the full moon, the area was still shrouded in darkness as everyone scanned the surrounding area. The professor could still feel a mind's presence as he moved the joystick of his wheelchair and rolled towards the back of the jet. Two men stood at the edge of the clearing where Professor Xavier recognized Magneto levitating above the ground. The other man on the ground wore a dark hood and cloak.
"You shouldn't have meddled, Charles." Magneto shouted from across.
"Magneto!" The professor shouted. "What are you planning to do with Derek?"
"This doesn't concern you Charles." Magneto said as he moved a few feet from the hooded man. "Ever since Apocalypse was released from his stasis chamber he has become more powerful than you could ever imagine." Then his voice turns cold. "My fight is not with you, Charles. You are welcome to join me but don't force me to destroy you."
The rest of the X-Men stood their ground and preparing for a confrontation as Magneto hovered even closer towards them.
"You have no right to involve Derek in this. I want you to return him to us." Professor Charles shot Magneto an angry stare.
Magneto stayed where he was hovering for one minute. With a small smile he answered, "As you wish. Derek?"
The hooded man raised his hand over the cowl and pulls it back, revealing Derek's face. He was still wearing Cyclops's clothes minus the sweater and his hair was let down. But the only thing that changed in him is the way he was looking at them, as cold and as fierce as they have never seen. Rogue saw this as she prepared to run straight to him.
"Derek!" Rogue shouted.
Behind Derek appeared the rest of Magneto's men. Standing next Derek was Gambit as he handed him a whole deck of playing cards. Closing his eyes, Derek begins to concentrate the power he was absorbing from Gambit and instantly the deck in his hand glowed with explosive energy.
"Look out!" Wolverine screams towards the group. "Iceman! Put up a shield now!"
Without warning, Derek threw the cards towards them. Iceman unleashes a shower of ice in front of the group as it instantly forms into a huge wall while Professor Charles and Jean held up their hands and creating an invisible force shield behind the wall of ice. But one thing that they forgot to consider is that Derek could amplify the absorbed powers as the cards exploded on the force shield. Each card has the explosive strength of ten pounds of C-4, enough to level Times Square to ashes. The combined explosion caused the ground to quake from the shock wave and a huge cloud of smoke covered half of the clearing.
The winds from the north blew over the clearing and taking with it the black cloud from Derek's attack. Every one of the X-Men was now lying down on the ground and shaken from the explosion including Professor Xavier and his wheelchair lying in pieces. Only a couple of feet away from the blast radius, Nightcrawler managed to teleport away from the blast and taking Rogue and Cyclops along with him and hid within the forest.
"Ve haff to do something." Nightcrawler whispered as he continued to watch towards the clearing.
"Maybe if I could get close to Derek and stun him with one shot…" Cyclops suggested when Rogue reaches out towards Cyclops's arm and grabbed him.
"Don't even think about it." Rogue was staring hard at Cyclops.
"Wake up, Rogue! I don't think Derek's gonna listen to any one of us, not even to you!" Cyclops shouted.
The two were locked into a fierce argument when Magneto shouted once again.
"Don't even try anything foolish, Cyclops." Magneto warned. "Walk away now and I'll make sure that Charles and your friends are spared."
Cyclops clenched his teeth as he revealed himself from his hiding place.
"You're sick, you know that?" Cyclops growled. "Going so low to brainwash Derek like that."
Magneto glided towards the edge of the clearing where Cyclops was and smiled at him.
"I did nothing of the sort." Magneto said. "Mastermind has found something interesting locked up in Derek's mind so I thought of fanning the flames. No mind alterations on my behalf I assure you."
Cyclops begins to grit his teeth even harder as Rogue and Nightcrawler appeared from their hiding place as well. There was no other way around the situation as Magneto hovered over them.
Risking a chance to take at least Magneto down, Cyclops reached his hands towards the button on the left side of his visor when several screams broke out from where Derek was standing. Magneto swung around only to find his men lying on the ground and unconscious with Derek standing over them.
"We're all in trouble now, Magneto." Rogue said as she stares at Derek, now with his increased hatred towards mutants that continue to fuel his rage.
For the first time a strange hollow sensation begins to develop on Magneto's gut as raised his hands towards the wrecked X-Jet and lifting it above Derek's head. But Derek met Magneto's power with overwhelming force as he levitated and releases his own magnetic field. It caused to X-Jet to cease its movement. Locked in a contest of magnetic strength the two combatants unleash, the force was too much for Magneto to control as the jet hurled dangerously close. Magneto grits his teeth and begins to grunt, summoning every ounce of his powers until the jet slams against Magneto with near bone-crushing force and falls to the ground.
"I… hate… you… all…" Derek breathed through his teeth and his face was twisted with rage. As soon as Magneto lost consciousness, Derek hovered back to solid ground and the humming of magnetism disappeared altogether. There were only four people left and Derek was bent on destroying Cyclops, Rogue and Nightcrawler as the three stared at the fallen Magneto.
"We have no choice, Rogue." Cyclops said as he prepared himself. "Your powers doesn't affect him at all and me and Nightcrawler are the only ones who could fight him."
Rogue remained silent and was too stunned to listen to Cyclops as she slowly sinks to the ground while the two rushed at Derek. Cyclops fires a powerful beam through his visors as Nightcrawler teleported behind Derek to restrain him. As the beam closes in, Derek suddenly teleports away from Nightcrawler's grasp, making him take the force of the beam that sent him flying off and stumbling to the ground. Much of his uniform was tattered into ribbons.
Cyclops has no time to check on Nightcrawler as he faces Derek and watched his eyes glow with energy. The only thing left for Cyclops to do was fire his beam with full force at Derek. Another beam also shot right out from Derek's eyes and the two beams collided, trying to overpower each other. Removing the combat visors, Cyclops grunted and planted his feet to the ground as the beam was unleashed with uncontrolled force, but Derek's beam begins to intensify in strength as it slowly begins to move Cyclops's beam back. Mustering all his strength Cyclops released the most powerful beam he could unleash. It was all too late when Derek's beam intensifies almost twenty times in power and size that Cyclops was blown away and skidded across the clearing and rendered unconscious.
Author's Notes:
Just two more chapters, people, in celebration of over 1000 hits who read my stories (and didn't even throw a friggin' bone for me boohoohoohoo!)
Oh well, here are today's sponsors:
Mourneblade1179: Hey man! Thanks for following up on my stories : ) Glad to see that you're still alive and kickin!
Nettlez: And to my favorite British babe! I'm just happy that you're ever as faithful in reading and leaving me reviews, luv: ) Just thought that a bog standard writer like meself is honored to have you as a reader.
Two more chapters, people, and I'll even throw in a special sneak preview of my second installment in the Rogue and Vaine Saga, one whole chapter for you to enjoy!