Disclaimer: Furor Paxx and VulgateOfEarth do not own the X-Men or any affiliates. All are the property of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc and its various affiliates and partners. Phoenix Malcolm, Haiden Malcolm and all irregular characters are the sole property of Furor Paxx and are being used with permission.
~~ Hank McCoy ~~
"I'm concerned about the well being of the others. We've gotten no word from any of them and then Kurt teleports back with Evan and Scott near death. I'm torn between staying here and waiting for anyone else who may drag themselves in and going out to find them." Dr. McCoy looked at the dozen students who were assembled before him. Earlier that morning, Kurt had teleported into the Infirmary cradling Evan in his arms and Scott with his tail. His grip had been so tight that he actually drew blood from Scott.
"I think we should wait a while longer. Besides, we have no idea what going on outside this room. The rest of the Institute could be crawling with soldiers, they might even be outside the door right now."
"Don't frighten everyone, Bobby. It's true that we don't know the condition of the rest of the Institute. We're safe in these lower decks, the Professor built them to withstand anything, especially an invasion of this sort."
"I know, but we have to maintain an aspect of reality down here. I mean, we're down here watching The Godfather while our people are getting their arms ripped off."
"Bobby." Hank warned.
"Look, I'm bored out of my mind. I want to help. Why'd I have to stay anyhow?"
"Because I need someone responsible to help me here. I thought that you were qualified, but I guess I was wrong. Make yourself useful and change Scott's IV and check Kurt's." Hank led the other students out of the Sick Room and left Bobby to his task.
Bobby replaced the IV for both of them and sat on the hard chair between them. "I wish one of you would wake up and tell us what's going on. Maybe we could help." He slowly reached a hand out to touch Scott's empty sleeve. "I guess that means you lost your watch too." He whispered and abruptly stood and walked to Evan's bedside. "You remember that time you fell off the ramp at the park? I thought you were dead, you fell so hard... now's when you shake your head and start laughing at me for being such a chicken." Bobby waited for a second, hoping against all hope that it really was just a bad joke and that Evan would sit up and laugh everything away.
He didn't and Bobby found himself pacing the length of the room when Hank got back. Neither said anything. They just waited and worried.
~~ Evan ~~
Part of him heard Bobby's plea and wanted desperately to answer. The other part just wanted to hide away in this blissful darkness forever.
But Evan realized it wasn't blissful and the dark was only an illusion. Behind that imagined wall was a tangle of emotions that he didn't want. Why was this happening? How had they been discovered?
Of course he knew. There was no way to deny it. Pheonix had told on them and from there things had gone sour. Why did she betray them?
I thought she was going to cooperate, for crying out loud. Why?
As Evan lay on the way too hard bed of the infirmary, he tried to piece as much together as he could. Pheonix was Haiden's sister, not the same person. Pheonix was the bad guy here, and Pheonix had played him for a fool. But, Evan thought, there's still all that information I found on the disks... It doesn't make any se-
Suddenly a bunch of pieces clicked. Evan remembered how he had thought the documents had been about two people the first time he read them. The names Pheonix and Haiden were used interchangably.
And different people wrote the documents. Evan groaned and his body contorted. What a mistake to make... he had led the X-Men to their demise.
But it can be fixed. It can always be fixed. The only question is how...
Back at the Institute, Hank and Bobby frantically worked over Evan's body. His spasm had jarred one of the IVs and pulled a needle out. Just when they thought it had passed and were replacing them, the spasm returned. The result was a broken needle, halfway embedded in Evan's mangled arm.
Think, Evan, think. There has to be something you can do.
Bobby looked at a computer monitor. "His brain waves are way up, doc. I'm no genius, but even I can tell that that's bad."
Hank spared a moment to glance at the screen. "This isn't good." He scuttled around the bed and hit a few keys on the keyboard. "It's like he's gone into hyperdrive... his body can't take this kind of abuse, not now."
"C'mon, Evan. Cut it out. It's not funny anymore." Bobby whispered.
Evan didn't hear this time. He was too engrossed in what was going on inside his head.
-- I have to get better. Have to find out what's going on. If I can do that, I can make a difference. --
"Bobby, I need you to-"
Hank's order was cut off by another tremor from Evan. Dozens of his signature spikes thrust their way through his skin and bristled there.
"Get down, Bobby. Slow and easy. Slide as close to the bed as you can." Hank whispered as he edged to where Scott and Kurt were. He eased Kurt off the bed and in the relative safety of its metal base and moved to do the same with Scott. Scott was closest to Evan and the dangerous, quivering spikes, and to be frank, Hank didn't have much faith in the metal base, not when it was so close. The problem was that Scott was hooked up to several IVs and monitors and it would take hours to detach him from them all. If Hank's guess was right, they barely had seconds.
"Bobby, after this, I want you to take Kurt and Scott, if you can, into the next room, don't come back in here until you're positive that its safe."
"Okay."
Hank McCoy watched Evan shudder and closed his eyes, knowing what came next. He covered Scott with his massive body and waited for the impact.
~~ Bobby ~~
{Skewp, skewp, skewp}
Bobby cringed at the sound of the bone projectiles flying in every direction.
{Clang, Fzzzzzz}
That was probably one of the monitors, he mused, and then jumped as three of them buried themselves in the tile right in front of him. And that was close, he added.
There was a multitude of pinging noises and stuff falling. Hank would have quite a time fixing it all up again. As soon as it got quiet, Bobby counted to two hundred and then peeked over the top of the bed.
The first thing he saw was a spike. He dived for the ground as fast as he could and waited for the last missile to fly. He waited for an eternity before he inched back up and looked again.
"No..."
The spike wasn't pointing outwards, and a pool of blood was soaked up by Evan's torn shirt.
"No... Doctor M-" Bobby looked up and right into the glazed eyes of the very same man he had been turning to for help. Three spikes dripped blood onto Hank's white lab coat.
"Oh, God, no." Bobby backed away, mind struggling to cope with the surreal scene before him. He tripped over the spikes in the floor and fell hard, scratching himself deeply in the glass from a broken monitor. "Just a bad dream. Very bad dream. No more weird foods right before bedtime." Bobby drew himself into a tight, shuddering ball. "Wake up.
Wake up. I wanna wake up."
~~
A/N Am I evil or what? You'll never guess who's next... My only problem is working Jean into a really horrible death. I hate her, but my muse just won't let her die...
P.S. Sorry, Evan fans, I probably broke your hearts this time around. I spent about three seconds crying before I figured out what happens next. Should I give you a hint? Sure... why not. Someone's gonna die soon...
You didn't really think it'd be that easy, right?
~~ Hank McCoy ~~
"I'm concerned about the well being of the others. We've gotten no word from any of them and then Kurt teleports back with Evan and Scott near death. I'm torn between staying here and waiting for anyone else who may drag themselves in and going out to find them." Dr. McCoy looked at the dozen students who were assembled before him. Earlier that morning, Kurt had teleported into the Infirmary cradling Evan in his arms and Scott with his tail. His grip had been so tight that he actually drew blood from Scott.
"I think we should wait a while longer. Besides, we have no idea what going on outside this room. The rest of the Institute could be crawling with soldiers, they might even be outside the door right now."
"Don't frighten everyone, Bobby. It's true that we don't know the condition of the rest of the Institute. We're safe in these lower decks, the Professor built them to withstand anything, especially an invasion of this sort."
"I know, but we have to maintain an aspect of reality down here. I mean, we're down here watching The Godfather while our people are getting their arms ripped off."
"Bobby." Hank warned.
"Look, I'm bored out of my mind. I want to help. Why'd I have to stay anyhow?"
"Because I need someone responsible to help me here. I thought that you were qualified, but I guess I was wrong. Make yourself useful and change Scott's IV and check Kurt's." Hank led the other students out of the Sick Room and left Bobby to his task.
Bobby replaced the IV for both of them and sat on the hard chair between them. "I wish one of you would wake up and tell us what's going on. Maybe we could help." He slowly reached a hand out to touch Scott's empty sleeve. "I guess that means you lost your watch too." He whispered and abruptly stood and walked to Evan's bedside. "You remember that time you fell off the ramp at the park? I thought you were dead, you fell so hard... now's when you shake your head and start laughing at me for being such a chicken." Bobby waited for a second, hoping against all hope that it really was just a bad joke and that Evan would sit up and laugh everything away.
He didn't and Bobby found himself pacing the length of the room when Hank got back. Neither said anything. They just waited and worried.
~~ Evan ~~
Part of him heard Bobby's plea and wanted desperately to answer. The other part just wanted to hide away in this blissful darkness forever.
But Evan realized it wasn't blissful and the dark was only an illusion. Behind that imagined wall was a tangle of emotions that he didn't want. Why was this happening? How had they been discovered?
Of course he knew. There was no way to deny it. Pheonix had told on them and from there things had gone sour. Why did she betray them?
I thought she was going to cooperate, for crying out loud. Why?
As Evan lay on the way too hard bed of the infirmary, he tried to piece as much together as he could. Pheonix was Haiden's sister, not the same person. Pheonix was the bad guy here, and Pheonix had played him for a fool. But, Evan thought, there's still all that information I found on the disks... It doesn't make any se-
Suddenly a bunch of pieces clicked. Evan remembered how he had thought the documents had been about two people the first time he read them. The names Pheonix and Haiden were used interchangably.
And different people wrote the documents. Evan groaned and his body contorted. What a mistake to make... he had led the X-Men to their demise.
But it can be fixed. It can always be fixed. The only question is how...
Back at the Institute, Hank and Bobby frantically worked over Evan's body. His spasm had jarred one of the IVs and pulled a needle out. Just when they thought it had passed and were replacing them, the spasm returned. The result was a broken needle, halfway embedded in Evan's mangled arm.
Think, Evan, think. There has to be something you can do.
Bobby looked at a computer monitor. "His brain waves are way up, doc. I'm no genius, but even I can tell that that's bad."
Hank spared a moment to glance at the screen. "This isn't good." He scuttled around the bed and hit a few keys on the keyboard. "It's like he's gone into hyperdrive... his body can't take this kind of abuse, not now."
"C'mon, Evan. Cut it out. It's not funny anymore." Bobby whispered.
Evan didn't hear this time. He was too engrossed in what was going on inside his head.
-- I have to get better. Have to find out what's going on. If I can do that, I can make a difference. --
"Bobby, I need you to-"
Hank's order was cut off by another tremor from Evan. Dozens of his signature spikes thrust their way through his skin and bristled there.
"Get down, Bobby. Slow and easy. Slide as close to the bed as you can." Hank whispered as he edged to where Scott and Kurt were. He eased Kurt off the bed and in the relative safety of its metal base and moved to do the same with Scott. Scott was closest to Evan and the dangerous, quivering spikes, and to be frank, Hank didn't have much faith in the metal base, not when it was so close. The problem was that Scott was hooked up to several IVs and monitors and it would take hours to detach him from them all. If Hank's guess was right, they barely had seconds.
"Bobby, after this, I want you to take Kurt and Scott, if you can, into the next room, don't come back in here until you're positive that its safe."
"Okay."
Hank McCoy watched Evan shudder and closed his eyes, knowing what came next. He covered Scott with his massive body and waited for the impact.
~~ Bobby ~~
{Skewp, skewp, skewp}
Bobby cringed at the sound of the bone projectiles flying in every direction.
{Clang, Fzzzzzz}
That was probably one of the monitors, he mused, and then jumped as three of them buried themselves in the tile right in front of him. And that was close, he added.
There was a multitude of pinging noises and stuff falling. Hank would have quite a time fixing it all up again. As soon as it got quiet, Bobby counted to two hundred and then peeked over the top of the bed.
The first thing he saw was a spike. He dived for the ground as fast as he could and waited for the last missile to fly. He waited for an eternity before he inched back up and looked again.
"No..."
The spike wasn't pointing outwards, and a pool of blood was soaked up by Evan's torn shirt.
"No... Doctor M-" Bobby looked up and right into the glazed eyes of the very same man he had been turning to for help. Three spikes dripped blood onto Hank's white lab coat.
"Oh, God, no." Bobby backed away, mind struggling to cope with the surreal scene before him. He tripped over the spikes in the floor and fell hard, scratching himself deeply in the glass from a broken monitor. "Just a bad dream. Very bad dream. No more weird foods right before bedtime." Bobby drew himself into a tight, shuddering ball. "Wake up.
Wake up. I wanna wake up."
~~
A/N Am I evil or what? You'll never guess who's next... My only problem is working Jean into a really horrible death. I hate her, but my muse just won't let her die...
P.S. Sorry, Evan fans, I probably broke your hearts this time around. I spent about three seconds crying before I figured out what happens next. Should I give you a hint? Sure... why not. Someone's gonna die soon...
You didn't really think it'd be that easy, right?