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Shattered Like Glass: Scene 08By the onset of the evening, the school was yet again the scene of an argument between teammates who relied on each other for their lives. The children scattered like minnows before a pike, as two X-Men once again forgot they were supposed to be setting an example.
"For crying out loud Scott, will you just grow up?" Somewhere a door slammed. Gambit twisted his head from watching TV to glance in the direction of the raised voices. The rec. room's other occupants, Sam Hawley and her friend Vertigo were leaning over a woman's magazine pretending they weren't listening in. Gambit was rather pleased that the argument appeared to be heading in this direction. He didn't want to miss out on the team leader getting an earful from Gambit's closest friend.
"You're not a thief any more Blaze, you can't just take what you want!" Scott snapped back rather like a spoilt child, striding into the rec. room with an expression like he'd just eaten something sour. Or not, as was more closely the case… "Other people have to eat too."
"I ate the last of the peanut butter," Blaze was righteously indignant, "It's hardly stealing some poor old lady's life savings! And what do you mean, I'm not a thief any more? What the hell do you know about anything Cyclops?"
Scott didn't have an answer for that, so instead turned on Gambit as the Cajun almost choked on stifled laughter.
"Have you got nothing better to do than flick channels Gambit? I thought I asked you to help Logan tune the bikes?"
"Yeah you did." Gambit acknowledged, "An' the Professor asked me not to. You got a problem, you take it up with Xavier, non?"
Scott gave up, knowing he was fighting a losing battle to keep any kind of order in this place. It didn't ease his mood that Shockwave and Vertigo suddenly burst into inappropriate giggles as he passed them. Unable to prove they were laughing at him, Cyclops contented himself with turning an unpleasant shade of red and hoped nobody else was after taking their frustrations out in the danger room tonight. Meanwhile Blaze flopped heavily down onto the sofa besides Remy, brushing her hair out of her eyes and tucking her feet up under her.
"Have you seen the state of this?" She asked her friend quietly, peeling back her shirt from her toned stomach. She revealed a patchwork of bruises in purple, black and red. Gambit winced appreciatively; it was hard not to be impressed in a gruesome kind of way.
"You sin the doc?" He asked, unable to help himself brush the stapled gash with a finger gently. Blaze nodded and pulled her top straight.
"I'm on painkillers, but Vixen says there's not much else she can do. The internal bleeding has stopped, I just have to wait for it to heal…"
"It hurt much?" Gambit asked, knowing from her raised-eyebrow glance that it was a stupid question. "Damn Juggernaut, I'se knew that mission never go so easy as the Professor say it would…"
"What, you developing precognitive powers or something Rem?" Blaze smiled, liking his concern about her as he put an arm along the back of the sofa behind her. Gambit didn't get the chance to answer, as Nightcrawler suddenly appeared in a poof! of smoke.
"Can perhaps the news be put on?" The German mutant spoke urgently, anxiety showing in his eyes as Blaze obliged. "Danke."
"Bitte." The languages teacher replied without looking over, turning the volume up louder. Storm and Shadowcat appeared in the room as well, one through the door and the other through the wall. On the large screen TV the anchorwoman finished her spiel and the image changed to a smartly dressed man on a podium in front of the White House logo.
"My fellow Americans, it is with great sorrow I stand here before you tonight. Our great nation has been overrun. Our President has personally let us become infested with terrorists and vigilantes who flaunt our laws. They feel that our rules do not apply to them, because they are mutants. What we have done today is the first step in taking our great nation back. Ordinary, law-abiding people of the United States, to you I say do not be afraid. To those mutants who cause trouble for the sake of trouble, who think themselves untouchable, know this. A state of national emergency has been called, and from the likes of you we will now take back our great country!"
"I don't like the sound of that much." Vertigo whispered to Shockwave as the X-Men started debating the announcement amongst themselves.
"Me neither." Sam agreed. "This is bad. Dad told me the national guard have been receiving special training on how to deal with mutants. The marines have been given new weapons and anti-mutant vehicles…"
"Do the X-Men know?" Vertigo asked nervously, not liking the idea of tanks pulling up in front of the mansion.
"I guess, Dad tells the Professor everything he can to help. Dad reckons that… Oh no! Dad!" Sam was on her feet and shouting desperately at the TV screen. "Leave him alone! Dad!"
As the X-Men watched in shock, sure enough a brigade of secret service men marched the President from the White House and into the back of an armoured truck. Just behind them, with a gaggle of other important men and women known to be pro-mutant, Sam Hawley's senator father was being frog-marched violently along. Clearly the senator had put up a fight, he sported a cut eye and was handcuffed.
"They can't do that! They can't do that!" Shockwave was inconsolable as Professor X rolled in solemnly. She spun to address him. "Professor you have to do something!"
"We will, Shockwave, please just calm down. We need to think this through. We can't do anything to help your father or the President until we know what we are up against here."
"Then lets go find out!" Sam snapped, stamping her foot like a truculent toddler. "Now!"