It has been at least half a year since I updated this unpopular story...but now, here's a chapter with lots of action if that's what you readers enjoy...you know...all 0 of you readers...but have fun...
There was a moment of shock before the mass chaos ensued. Couches and tables were flipped as the mutants raced for the door.
"Someone get the professor!" Bobby shouted through the panic.
"It's alright," the professor's calm voice filled the minds of frantic mutants, "I am already aware of the situation. Please stay calm. We must only use force if absolutely necessary."
"Absolutely necessary?" Ray scoffed, "I'm pretty sure the only reason they're here is to kill us."
Everyone flowed through the hallways, separating and getting as far away from the living room as possible.
Down in the lower levels of the mansion, the X-Men were making their way from the medical center, followed by Magneto and Nucleo. Logan already had his claws out and Scott had exchanged his sunglasses with his visor. Tom was carrying a snoring Allen.
"Remember, we don't want to create an enemy for ourselves," Xavier warned.
"No offense, Chuck," Logan said sardonically, "But these guys probably aren't here for tea and crumpets."
"I'm going to have to concur with your feral beast," Magneto said coolly, "They will see no reason not to slaughter the entire population of this institute."
Nucleo hesitated before he spoke, "As much as I hate to say it, that is a good point. I can't see any way of making peace."
Xavier sighed, "Well, do what you must. I only feel that there must be a better way to solve this."
Packrat was roaming around the lower hallways of the school when a nearby door was blasted from its hinges. Afraid, but curious, Packrat crept to the smoldering doorway. Suddenly, a heavily armed man pushed through the smoke and immediately spotted Packrat.
"Freeze, mutie!" the man shouted.
"Brine not cold," Packrat said, backing away.
"I said freeze!" the man flicked a switch on his firearm. It emitted a short, high-pitched noise as it heated up.
"Not cold!" Packrat shouted, then turned around and scurried away down the hall.
The man fired a few inaccurate shots before shouting to his men.
"Get in here, men! Shoot to kill!"
Mike, Ben, and Pillbug were running down a hallway, when suddenly one of the windows shattered, spraying them with broken glass. The three mutants looked up to see five heavily armed men climbing through the window. The mutants hesitated only a moment before realizing the danger.
"Glad to see you could join us," Pillbug gave a cold smile before curling into his iron orb.
Two of the men pointed their weapons at the sphere just as it began rolling towards them. The two men opened fire, but realized their mistake soon afterwards. Pillbug had begun to roll towards them, building up speed. As the bullets collided with Pillbug's spinning metal shell, they ricocheted, spraying the men with their own ammunition. They were then knocked to the floor as Pillbug slammed into them.
Mike rubbed his hands together and soon felt the cool metal form between his palms. A large, shining disc began to take form in his hands. He held it up in front of him as two of the other men began firing on him. Out of the corner of his eye, Mike saw Ben quickly remove a flashlight from his belt. Turning it on, Ben raised his hand, a ball of light energy following it from the flashlight. Mike's assailants soon found themselves hurled against the wall by a big handful of illumination. Mike took this to his advantage and launched his metal disc like a frisbee, knocking two men out the broken window and taking the consciousness from another.
Pillbug had uncurled from his metal orb and was currently slamming one of the two remaining men's head into the floor. The other man, noticing Pillbug, quickly drew a small handgun from his belt, having lost his other weapon. The man on the floor had submerged into unconsciousness and Pillbug was getting to his feet. He looked up and frowned, looking into the business end of the remaining man's firearm. A slight grin appeared on the man's face as he aimed his pistol between Pillbug's eyes.
There was a sudden glint of light and the man dropped the gun, clutching his hand in agony. Mike moved his fingers together, creating another ninja star. Pillbug was back in his globe in an instant. The wounded man didn't even know what hit him as the steel sphere slammed into his knees, leaving him unable to walk.
"Let's get out of here," Ben gestured for the other two to follow him.
Bobby, Rogue, Louis, and Jubilee ducked behind a large potted plant in the hallway. A large group of armed men had swarmed through the windows and were coming after them.
"Is that your idea of a hiding spot?" Mosquito asked behind them.
"Follow us," Pyro gestured for them to stand, "We know where we're going."
"We LIVE here!" Jubilee said exasperated.
"Who cares!" Carl ran around the corner, "They're coming!"
Pyro ran off down the opposite hallway, Mosquito hovering after him, waving for them to follow. Carl and the students started after them, just as the men rounded the corner.
"There they are!" one of the men shouted, "Clark wants them dead! Fire at will!"
Pyro spun around at the end of the hallway.
"They're not going to make it," Mosquito said persistently, with a hint of sorrow, "We need to go while we can."
"No," Pyro hesitated, "They were my friends once."
Pyro ran back towards the men who were moving into position. Mosquito lingered for a moment, thinking about Pyro's change of heart. He shook his head and hovered after him.
"Down with the mutants!" one of the men screamed hysterically.
Bobby continuously created small ice walls, which could only withstand a few shots from the men.
"I can't keep this up for too much longer," Bobby sighed, "This is taking all the energy out of me."
Suddenly, a bat-shaped fireball flew past Bobby's head. One of the men fell to the ground, in flames. Several more fiery bats hurtled towards the attacking men who dove to the ground, eventually bursting into flame. One of the men quickly pulled out an ultramodern machine gun and opened fire. Before any of the students could react, an oncoming fire-bat swelled into a massive wall of fire. The man stopped firing as he watched all his previous shots disintegrate into the air as the wall of fire melted them instantly. His shock quickly changed to horror as he realized that the wall of fire had not stopped in its path. He was soon ablaze like his comrades.
The students got to their feet. Bobby approached Pyro.
"Hey, thanks, John," Bobby smiled at the former student.
"Yeah," John said uncomfortably and turned around, "Let's go."
Bobby started to speak to Pyro again, but Rogue caught his shoulder.
"Let him go, Bobby," she said softly, "He needs to deal with his feelings."
Bobby nodded and followed Pyro along with the others.
"DUCK!" Aaron and Shawn dropped to the floor as a series of gunshots rang out through the hallway.
Melanie and Steve followed the twins' lead and crouched on the floor. A group of armed men began to advance towards the students.
"We must fight!" Shawn shouted.
"No, wait!" Melanie grabbed Shawn's ankle, "We could die."
Shawn looked at his brother. The brothers seemed to ponder Melanie's words.
"She's right," Shawn said.
"Normally, I'd say you have your own reasons for that remark," Aaron said, "but this time I agree."
"So what do we do?" Steve asked urgently as the troops moved closer to them.
Shawn thought for a moment, "I've never tried this before."
"Tried what?" Aaron asked.
"Come closer," Shawn said to them, "I need to touch you."
"What!" Aaron stammered, "Shawn, you dirty beast, what's gotten into you?"
"Just come here!" Shawn commanded.
The other three mutants gathered around Shawn, who embraced them all in a tight hug.
"Uh, Shawn, this is real nice and all," Aaron said, perplexed, "But don't you think you're being a little emotional?"
"It worked!" Shawn said, excited.
The other three looked at him, bewildered.
"We're all camouflaged!" Shawn said joyfully.
"Whoa," Steve said, amazed, "He's right."
Suddenly, a door between the students and the oncoming men flew open. The hulking form of Hammerhead lumbered into the hallway.
"I've got an idea," Aaron exclaimed and transformed into a rat. Shawn's camouflage left him immediately. The rat scurried down the hallway and between Hammerhead's legs, reaching the first of the men. Without hesitating, Aaron leaped forward and bit down hard on the man's leg. The man screamed in surprise and pain while Aaron scuttled back to his friends.
"Now watch and…," Aaron transformed back into himself, "Well, maybe we shouldn't watch. This could get messy."
Sure enough, Hammerhead instantly caught the scent of the wounded man's blood. Moments later, Hammerhead was on top of the men, who were forced to endure the wild mutant's feeding frenzy.
"Ok, let's go," Aaron said..
Shawn, Steve, and Melanie shimmered back into sight as Shawn disabled his mutant power. The four students took off down the hallway, away from the gruesome scene behind them. They reached a staircase as they rounded the corner. They started to go down, but stopped quickly as a lone soldier approached them from the bottom of the stairs.
"Hey! Stop!" the man shouted, "You can't run forever!"
"He's right," Shawn said shrugging.
"What?" Melanie exclaimed.
"So we let him shoot us?" Steve asked incredulously.
"Now which one was it?" Shawn asked his brother, ignoring Steve.
"I think it was the fourteenth," Aaron said calmly, "That was the number of days Summers gave us cleaning duty for the Jell-O socks."
"Oh, that's right," Shawn said, musing, "That was a good one."
The soldier walked closer, keeping his gun focused on the mutants. Suddenly, the chandelier above the staircase gave a loud clunk and plunged down towards the soldier. The soldier looked up, alarmed. He let out a shriek and covered his head. A foot above the man's head, the chandelier abruptly stopped and rocketed back towards the ceiling. Realizing that he was safe, the man stood up and smiled maliciously.
"It looks like you're not so lucky after all," he said, lifting his weapon.
The soldier's face changed suddenly from malevolence to stunned pain as the chandelier collided with his head. He slumped to the floor unconscious.
"What just happened?" Steve scratched his head.
"Fourteenth step," Aaron said matter-of-factly, "Triggers the release of the chandelier, which is restrained by a high quality bungee cord, which when stretched, activates our scissor-slinger, which is timed to release the paper-cutting blades in such a way that the bungee cord is severed as the chandelier is propelled back up."
"Which basically means the chandelier falls on its second drop," Shawn finished, "Resulting in what you have just witnessed."
"I love us, Shawn," Aaron sighed happily.
"Oh, so do I," Shawn grinned, but then turned to Melanie, "But I love you too!"
Aaron paused for a moment before locking Steve into an embrace, "And I love you!"
There was an awkward moment as the Aaron restrained himself while the others stared at him.
"I, uh," Aaron stuttered, "I just thought it was appropriate for the moment."
"Um, right," Shawn started down the stairs, "We need to get out of here."
"This way!" Kurt ran down the hallway, followed closely by Kitty, Erin, and Chris. They were nearly to the other end, when Paste shot around the corner.
"You guys don't want to be going this way," he said, out of breath.
"What?" Kurt stopped in surprise, "Why not?"
"Why do you think, Smurf?" Zombie rounded the corner.
"Well," Kurt mumbled, embarrassed, "I guess I was just too stressed to think."
Kitty screamed.
"What's the matter?" Kurt asked, alarmed.
"Your hand's gone!" Kitty pointed at Zombie's left arm.
The students reacted while Zombie looked down at it indifferently. A moment later, Zombie's hand crawled around the corner. Zombie picked it up with his right hand and held it against his left wrist. In moments, his left hand had fused back onto his body.
"It happens," Zombie shrugged.
"So now what?" Erin asked impatiently.
"We're surrounded," Kurt said, fretting.
"So we fight," Paste said calmly.
The others stared at him.
"I've never been known to take things as serious as I should," Paste shrugged before he spun around and ran back around the corner.
The others looked at each other for a moment before Erin grinned, "It could be fun."
Erin dashed around the corner, the others following her. Paste had created a thick, gelatinous wall which the soldiers' bullets were unable to penetrate.
"This won't hold forever," Paste informed them, "I figure when they stop shooting, I can take this thing down and we'll attack."
"Me and Kitty can be the first wave," Kurt suggested, "We don't have to wait for you to take down the wall."
"Cool," Erin said, creating a pink bubble, "'Prolly don't need those gloves, bro."
With realization, Chris removed the mutation-inhibiting gloves. They all sat in silence waiting for the shooting to stop. Moments later, a muffled yell ordered the soldiers to cease.
"Wait for it," Paste said quietly.
The muffled voices seemed to be arguing about who should approach the makeshift wall.
"Ready?" Kurt looked at Kitty, who nodded, "Let's go!"
The unfortunate soldier chosen to approach the wall received a sudden shock as Kitty phased through the slime and landed a kick to his face. He stumbled backward only to trip over Kurt, who had teleported there moments before. Before the other men could react, Paste's wall vanished and a barrage of pink bubbles flowed through the hallway. The men leading the regiment were thrown from their feet as the bubbles collided with them.
One of the men left standing took aim at the girl whom the bubbles seemed to be emanating from. He was startled, however, when a hand grasped his firearm tightly. Pushing the figure away, he took aim once again, but was shocked to find that half of his gun was missing. He looked down as Chris stood up, the other half of the gun turning to dust in the mutant's hand. Before the soldier could react, Chris rammed his shoulder into the man's chest, driving him into a nearby wall. The soldier struck out desperately with his damaged weapon, hitting Chris on the side of the head. Chris stumbled backward, but recovered quickly. A kick to the man's head sent him careening through a window, showering the floor with broken glass.
The two remaining men both took different forms of action. One made a last frantic attempt to eliminate his adversaries, but was quickly foiled when Paste plugged his firearm with a glob of glue. The other man made a run for the nearest escape route. Erin released a particularly large bubble which easily took the retreating man to the floor where he lay unconscious.
"I love a good fight," Erin said, brushing herself off.
"Oh yeah," Kurt said sarcastically, "Those life-threatening situations really contribute to true happiness. Who needs money or fame when you can fight to the death?"
"We're almost out of here!" Ray called back to the other students. Kyle, Travis, Amara, and Cory trailed right behind Ray in their quest to exit the mansion. They were nearing their destination when a group of soldiers rounded the corner in front of them.
"Halt, mutants!" the group leader shouted, lifting his firearm, "Come quietly or we will have to take drastic measures!"
"Drastic measures," Ray muttered, "Measure this!"
The group leader was thrown backward from the electric shock that radiated from Ray's hands. The other men quickly drew their weapons, preparing to fire. As they fired off their first round, however, Amara simultaneously encased herself in flames, releasing a heat wave that littered the floor with melted bullets.
"This isn't good," Travis said to Kyle, who was now in his massive lizard form, known as Komodo, "We're surrounded."
Behind the five mutants, another group of soldiers was running towards them, drawing their weapons. The men slowed however, shivering. Travis glanced to his right where Cory had a death gaze locked on the men, who had begun to rub at their arms and legs. Travis took this to his advantage and created a shining, red ball of energy in his hands. He quickly hurled it at the shivering men. The orb burst on contact with the men in front scattering the whole group throughout the hallway.
The men blocking the exit had reloaded their guns. Komodo leaped over Ray and Amara, landing in front of the soldiers. His long tail quickly took two of the men off their feet. He lunged towards the middle of the group, the foremost of the men falling to the floor beneath his feet. The rest of the men didn't stand much of a chance against Komodo's massive form.
The other group, however, had risen once again, drawing their weapons. Cory tried to freeze them again, but the men were angry and more determined this time. They continued to advance towards them.
"Forget about them!" Ray shouted, "The exit's open!"
The students started for the door while the frigid men approached them, shaking their limbs to force blood to them. There was a sudden high-pitched war cry and the students spun around, looking for the source.
Bear was sliding down the banister wielding a box of matches, one unlit match clutched in his minuscule hand. The furry mass landed on the floor in front of the soldiers. With a tiny roar of triumph, Bear struck the match against the side of the matchbox, the match igniting immediately. The soldiers stared perplexed at the petite furball wielding the match threateningly. Their shock didn't last long, however, and they began lifting their firearms to aim at Bear. The students stood helplessly by the exit, too far away to get Bear to safety. Amara gasped and clutched Ray in terror, burying her face in his shoulder.
A quick movement from above made men and mutants alike flinch in surprise. The grinning form of Locust dropped from the ceiling, landing right behind Bear. The soldiers quickly raised their weapons, now aiming at Locust. The men were quick, but Locust was quicker. He scooped Bear into his arms, taking the lit match from his tiny paw. He drew a quick breath and exhaled heavily into the miniscule flame. As Locust's flammable breath made contact with the match, the flame expanded drastically to engulf the soldiers before him.
Locust spun around and ran towards the students, Bear still in his arms. As he reached the exit, he joined the students and they all ran from the building. As they ran across the lawn, they heard an explosion and a burning soldier hurtled over their heads.
"Evening, mes amis," Gambit said pleasantly, appearing from where the soldier had come from, "Mind if I join you?"
The students and Locust, joined by Gambit, continued to escape from the property of the Xavier Institute.
Well, that's just part one...eventually, part two will be uploaded...when it's finished...and hopefully that won't be another half a year...so we'll see...