Chapter 4: Karma
An old man sat in a park with a chessboard in front of him. He had no one to play with, he wanted no one to play with.
He had been Magneto, the Master of Magnetism. He had been that man until a few months ago, until the X-Men, until the Battle of Alcatraz, until the Cure. Now he was merely Erik Lensherr, an old man who had happened to survive the Holocaust.
But over the past few days he had felt a stirring. It was nothing huge, nothing that he could use. He could still not move metal. He could not even bend a spoon. But he could feel it again, all around him. He could feel it humming from cars, stores, buildings, architecture, even from children's braces and from surgical pens. It was small, and he was not yet ready to act out again.
All Eric Lensherr felt was anger, anger at the stupid, pathetic humans; and at their useless attempt to destroy mutant kind. An endeavor that they were not even capable of succeeding in, he thought mockingly, feeling his anger and hatred for the humans rise within him, almost overpowering him.
He glanced at a pawn, the one he needed to move to put his nonexistent companion in checkmate. With all of the power of his mind, with every particle of his being, he willed it to move forward. Not to move much, just to the next square was all he was concentrating on. It was all he desired.
The pawn moved smoothly across to the square, resting exactly where he wanted it to. His power was back, if only a small portion of it. But now that he had released it he felt it growing, multiplying and intensifying with every second.
And as he got up from the stone bench he stood straighter than he had without his powers. He was no longer a nameless member of the human flock; he was not some pathetic human. He was Magneto, and the humans were going to pay for everything they had done. It was time to take the battle to them.
xXx
Magneto strode into the prison where they kept the mutant prisoner's from Alcatraz. They were their most dangerous prisoners-Juggernaut, Multiple Man, Pyro and anyone else who were known to have been with Magneto's assault force.
Mystique was not there. First of all, she was now a human, or at least appeared to be human until the Cure wore off. Secondly, she had made a deal to avoid prison time in return for information about Magneto. He already knew about the deal, and didn't blame her for it. He had, after all, abandoned her.
The first of the guards came at him, a taser-baton at the ready. But Magneto was prepared for him. The electricity that ran alongside the baton suddenly sparked into his hand where it continued to writhe, growing in intensity. Then, when he was ready, he released the lighting.
It jumped from one guard to the next, chaining them together, holding them immobile. It continued until Magneto called off the assault. Every guard fell to the ground, each for his own reason. Some were merely tased, others were dead from heart and organ failure from the intense electrical bolt.
"Juggernaut thought you were human," the behemoth shouted from his cell, held immobile by locks and sedatives. Not the sedative would be of much use if he ever broke free. "And he doesn't remember you being able to control lighting. Your stuff was magnetism."
"My dear Juggernaut, I was human. But the Cure was temporary, and it had some interesting side affects. Some interesting, and rather beneficial, side affects. Now, why don't we get you out?" Magneto said, once again assuming the role of leader and commander. He raised his hands and began to release those who had fought beside him at Alcatraz.
"I think you may need some help there old man," Mystique smirked from the doorway, her hands on her hip. She was once again blue, and as deadly as she had been before the Cure. "We can settle old scores later," she added seeing his curious glance, "right now you and I want the same thing." And with that she began to undo the locks on Multiple Man's cell.
xXx
Rogue and Bobby stood in an alcove, kissing. Although the school was pretty lax there were still rules on public displays of affection, and they didn't feel like being interrupted.
Rogue had taken the Cure to do this, to touch people, to be able to kiss them. Very few people had understood why she had done what she had done. Bobby had, and Logan. Storm had been disappointed though, and however hard she tried she kept unconsciously telling Rogue that she just didn't belong here.
The other students were worse. They believed that by taking the Cure she had betrayed mutant kind. No one realized that her mutation was more curse than gift. She had been doomed to be forever alone, never able to touch. With her gift she would never have been able to kiss her prom date, or her husband. She wouldn't even have been able to do the things necessary to have a child. And even if she adopted she could never give him or her a hug when they needed it, or kiss when they skinned their knee.
Her gift had made her unique, but no one seemed to understand that it had also made her alone.
As she kissed Bobby she became aware of something strange, a tingling on her skin like snowflakes were brushing across it. She opened her eyes to see if he was messing with her with his power again but was shocked and scared to see him turning a disturbing blue-grey and barely breathing.
She immediately broke off contact, trying to limit the damage her curse was doing. She tried to push Bobby off but she wasn't wearing her gloves, and she suddenly realized that it had been ages since she had been to weight room for X-Men training, and that Bobby was a good deal heavier than he looked. He slumped against her and it took all of her concentration to just keep him from touching her bare skin.
To make matters worse no one was in the hallway. Bobby and her had a study hall and hadn't worried about being late. They had actually thought about blowing it off entirely since it was the last block of the day and no one took attendance in it anyways. Now they were trapped, cut off for more than an hour until a stray student or teacher came across them.
She couldn't scream, holding up Bobby was taking all the air in her lungs. Desperately she began to call out with her mind, hoping there was still a telepath in the school with enough power to here her cries.
xXx
Alice and Corey were sitting in Storm's class, trying very hard to pay attention to the lesson she was giving about Romeo and Juliet. Unfortunately both had read it several times outside of school, being one of their favorite plays. They had both done the work already and had nothing to do aside from hold each others hands.
As he tried not to fall asleep Corey began to get a vaguely scared feeling. Not that Storm would particularly care that they were slacking since they had finished the work. It took him a minute to realize that it wasn't his fear he was feeling, but someone else's. As he focused on the growing not in his stomach he discovered it was an S.O.S. A girl was crying out mentally for help because she had no other option.
He closed his eyes and squeezed Alice's hand, uncertain of what he was doing and wishing to communicate some of his fear to her. He felt her mind reaching out to his, trying to silently ask him what the matter was, but he was already gone, tracing the message back to its source.
His mind recoiled in shock when he realized it was the only non-mutant at the school, Rogue. Or she had been the only non-mutant at the school, but she wasn't any more. Her draining powers had returned at the worse possible moment, when she was kissing her boyfriend. And now she was stuck, unable to touch him to move him and knowing that if she did she could kill him.
Without realizing it he stood up while holding Alice's hand. Alice stood up and edged closer, wanting more than anything to know what was wrong. The kids in the class turned to look at them, and Storm turned from the board to stare at them quizzically.
Corey didn't care though. With Alice in tow he began to race down the aisle, knocking backpacks and notebooks out of his way with a simple wave of telekinesis.
"Corey, Alice," Storm called after the pair of teenagers, worried, "what's the matter?"
"Rogue's in trouble, her powers are back," Corey called, his voice thick and scared, showing how scared he was and how desperate he was to remain in control of his emotions in case he hurt someone with his power.
"Where is she?" Storm asked, realizing the danger Rogue posed, whether she meant to or not, if her powers came back without her knowledge.
"Near the café," Corey called, almost at the back of the old lecture room, "in an alcove with Bobby," he added, confirming Storm's worst fears.
Corey's face screwed up in concentration as he reached the door. Then, as suddenly as the two were there they were gone, vanished into thin air from the lecture room, leaving Storm and the class to wonder at this new mystery...and reappeared less than ten feet from Rogue.
"Thank god," she cried desperately, barely able to keep Bobby upright while keeping him from touching her skin. Of all the days that he had to wear a t-shirt and she had to wear a spaghetti strap this had been the day.
"Hold on, we'll get you out," Corey assured her, moving closer. He raised his hand and prepared to levitate Bobby away from the now untouchable girl. But before he could move her an inch a new wave of pain, fear and confusion washed over him from all directions and he collapsed to the floor.
"Oh god," he whimpered clutching his head, "make it stop." Tears of pain poured freely from his eyes as he rocked back and forth on the ground.
"What is it?" Alice asked, getting on her knees and laying a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him. The gesture did no good, and when she spared a glance at Rogue she could tell that the girl was barely able to keep Bobby up and away from her bare skin.
Possibilities raced through her mind of how she could handle this situation. If Corey had been able to levitate Bobby it would have been so much simpler, but now he was incapacitated as well.
I suppose I could turn Rogue to stone, but I don't think I could make her completely normal again. Or I could turn Bobby into a toad, that way he could just drop to the floor and Rogue wouldn't have to touch him. And she certainly wouldn't have to worry about kissing him anymore. But what should I do about Corey? I don't know what happened to him, but unless I do something I doubt anyone will be able to help him.
Then she realized the most obvious answer. All she had to do was temporarily bind all of their powers. Not for long, just for a few hours. That would give the adults time to take care of Bobby, help Rogue and find out what had made Corey collapse.
With a small wave of her hand she bound all of their powers. Corey stopped rocking on the ground and gingerly stood up, reaching out for her hand, a small gesture of comfort, as he did so.
They made their way over to where Rogue was slowly collapsing under Bobby's weight. Gingerly they lifted him off of her and laid him on the floor, being careful not to hit his head.
"Are you okay Rogue?" Corey asked, offering his free hand to her. She shied away like a horse shies away from a wolf.
"I can't touch you," she croaked, sobbing softly now that she didn't have to worry about keeping Iceman from touching her. "I'll kill you."
"Don't worry," Alice said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet, "I've bound the powers of every mutant in the general vicinity for several hours."
"That would explain why my head doesn't feel like an elephant is stepping on it anymore," Corey squeezed her hand, taking comfort in her presence. "Sorry," he glanced between Rogue and Bobby, barely able to see them through the haze of pain and fear that still clouded his mind, "about not being able to get him off of you. But the Cure just wore off a great many mutants, and most had reactions similar to yours. I wasn't prepared for the pain and fear."
All three turned as Wolverine, Storm and Angel raced down the hallway. Angel stooped to pick up Bobby while Logan gathered Rogue in his arms and cradled her against his chest as though she were a small child, not caring about his own safety since he didn't know about Alice's binding.
"What happened?" Storm asked, glancing between the unconscious Bobby, the sobbing Rogue and Corey nearly ready to drop, being held upright by Alice.
"Well, Bobby and I were kissing and suddenly I started draining him. It was after classes ended and no one was around. I couldn't put Bobby down because I didn't have my gloves and anyway I moved him I would've killed him, so I sent out a message to any telepath who might have heard it…," Rogue began, sobbing gently into Logan's chest.
"Which is when I got it," Corey interjected, ready to tell his part of the story. "I was in Storm's class when I felt her S.O.S. It was so full of fear and confusion that I was confused for a second, but then I traced the message back to Rogue. I ran from her class, I think," he said, momentarily confused. For the first time since he had received the message he looked around, not sure of what had happened. "How did we get here exactly?"
"Umm, I think you might have teleported us," Alice replied uncertainly as Kitty and Piotr phased through a wall.
"Oh," he said, sinking to the ground despite her best efforts to keep him standing. "Well, anyway," he continued, after several minutes, "once we got here I was overwhelmed by this wave of misery. The Cure wore off on every mutant at almost exactly the same time. Every voice in my head was mad, sad, angry and just generally mad at the world. I'm fairly sure that some did things much more destructive than Rogue…," he finished, looking at Alice to continue.
"And since Corey was incapacitated, and Rogue needed help, I just shifted reality a little bit. I just made a wave that would bind the powers of every mutant in my general vicinity for the next hour or two. And that," she said, sinking down next to Corey, "is where you guys came in."
Logan and Storm exchanged worried looks, sharing the same thought. If the Cure had worn off of all the mutants who had taken it, then that meant Magneto would have his powers back, or would have them back soon.
Then Storm's cell-phone rang, breaking the silence. During the school day she forwarded the office phone to her cell so that she didn't miss an important call. As she placed the phone between her ear and motioned for them to move down to the medical bay. Just before they reached the elevator the phone clattered to the floor.
"'Ro," Logan asked worriedly, turning to face her. Colossus moved behind her and steadied her as she swayed. "What's up?"
"We have to get to Muir Island, right now Logan," she said it as though she were in a trance, as uncertain as the rest of them what was happening.
"'Ro, what's going on?" Logan asked again, genuinely concerned now and more than a little scared. "What's the matter?"
"I'll tell you on the X-Jet Logan, we just have to go," she replied, snapping out of her daze and taking command of the situation once more. "Give Rogue to Colossus and come with me. Kitty, you know what to do about Bobby. He'll probably be out for the rest of the night, and some of tomorrow but he should be fine."
With the tasks issued she snatched up the phone and marched into the elevator. Logan gently handed Rogue, who had somehow fallen asleep, over to Colossus. Then the rest of them joined Storm.
In the mansions sublevel the group split apart. Storm and Logan continued straight towards the X-Jet hanger while Kitty, Colossus, Rogue, Bobby, Angel, Alice and Corey made their way to the medical bay.
xXx
As Storm belted herself into the X-Jet she finally looked at Logan, tears coming from her eyes.
"What's the matter 'Ro?" Logan said, genuinely concerned. He would have hugged her but both were already strapped into the X-Jet.
"That call was from Doctor Moira McTaggert, from Muir Island. She and the Professor worked together very closely for many years and were close friends. She is a pioneer in the field of mutant genetics," Storm added, seeing Logan's curious glance.
"Oh," he managed, uncertain how a simple phone call could have upset the strong woman so much.
"When she called she said that…that," Storm paused, trying to compose herself, to make what she was about to say less surprising and less fictitious, but there was no way. She barely believed it herself and couldn't really expect Logan to believe her. "She said that Charles was still alive."
xXx
Once in the medical bay Angel put Bobby on one examination table while Colossus gently placed Rogue on the other. Kitty pulled several machines over to Bobby and began to attach various wires to him.
Alice and Corey merely collapsed in the center of the room, exhausted from their ordeals. Corey was still recovering from the incredibly potent mental blast he had received and Alice was nearly drained from sustaining the binding of three fairly powerful mutant's abilities.
It wasn't that she was weak. It was actually quite the opposite. Her "hexes" as she called her bolts and waves, required a lot of power to begin with, and generally she could cast potent hexes all day long because her power would regenerate quickly in between hexes.
But binding a mutant power required a continued output of power, and all of the mutants whom she was binding had energy level's high above that of even fairly powerful mutants. The combined drain of Bobby, Rogue and Corey was taking power out of her faster than her body could hope to restore it. So, as she collapsed onto the cold floor of the medical bay, the hex just fell apart.
Corey was immediately aware of it. He felt the pain of the newly reborn mutants and quickly threw up powerful mental blocks. He glanced over at Alice, whose eyes were drooping, and realized what must have happened.
"Are you okay?" he whispered, leaning close to her.
"Yeah," she replied, stifling a huge yawn. "It was just too much, binding all of your powers. I couldn't sustain that kind of output. I didn't realize how draining it would be," she said, barely able to keep her eyes open and hating that she had failed.
Corey, however, immediately felt her disappointment in herself and kissed her, letting her know that everything was all right, that she hadn't failed and that he still loved her despite what she might be feeling. As he broke off the kiss he looked at her one more time. Even though she was clearly exhausted and seconds away from sleep she was still beautiful, and he knew he would love her for the rest of his life even though he had known her for less than twelve hours.
Slowly he got up and made his way over to Bobby who lay shivering on the observation table.
"Is he okay Kitty?" he asked, reading the signs on the monitor. His heart rate seemed steady, and his oxygen level was high, but he wasn't trained in medicine and obviously she had far more experience than him in that.
"He seems to be fine, but this room is freezing and his body temperature is a little lower than I would like. I mean, his body is kinda naturally lower than most people's but still, I am a little concerned," she said, biting her lower lip.
"I could heat the room up, if you want," Corey offered, realizing that the room was in fact fairly cold.
"But I thought…" Kitty began, looking over his shoulder at the now sleeping Alice.
"It was more draining than she thought it would be so she had to let it go. All of us have our powers back, so be careful not to touch Rogue yet until we figure out exactly what happened," he said, warming the air in the room to a comfortable seventy as he spoke.
"Well, at least it is over now," Colossus said in heavily accented English, probably speaking for the first time all day. "We should all rest for when they wake up."
Corey looked away, his sixth sense telling him something was wrong, that something bad was coming. "You're wrong, Colossus. The Cure and its aftermath are only the first battle of a very long war. It's not over," he said sadly, not quite sure where he had obtained this knowledge but certain of it none the less. "It hasn't even begun, and it's going to get much, much worse."
Any reviews are appreciated, even if they're criticism. I know there are things wrong with my story (like chapter titles for instance), so don't hesitate to correct my mistakes.
Thanks for the reviews Scarlett Ivy and dancingelf1986.