AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you, Thanx4reading and koneko tenshi for the
reviews. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I've found it's
harder to write when I'm happy. (Don't blame me; it's my boyfriend's
fault. jk)
241 timeline 10-24-2033 Bronx, New York, United States
When she came to, she was lying upon the ground, mud caking her face. She got up abruptly and attempted to use her telekinesis to separate the mineral particles from her cheek, but was surprised when she received no response from her own powers. She looked down, to see an inhibitor collar around her neck.
Looking up, she noticed for the first time the bars before her. She was in a cage. Looking out through the steel rods, she saw several similar cages, filled with some 56 creatures. Most looked like normal human beings, though several had green skin, horns, a tail, or exceptionally long limbs, and every one of them wore an inhibitor collar. ~Mutants~, she thought to herself. ~Of course. I was never born, so the mutant race still exists. It's funny though, I leave a life of imprisonment and torture only to be captured again.~
She finally wiped off the muck with the back of her hand. "I'm getting tired of this shit," she mumbled to herself.
"As we all are, I assure you." She spun around, automatically taking a defensive stance. Before her were five mutants. She saw a black woman with long locks of shining white hair and crystal-blue eyes. ~Storm~ she reminded herself. A tall man with short, black hair tried to smile behind a set jaw. ~Aw, yes. Colossus.~ An elderly man, whose only show for his age was his white hair, nodded to her in recognition. ~Magneto. Great.~ A girl her age, with curly brown hair that fell to her shoulders, said sweetly, "Hi. How are you feeling?"
"Kitty!" Rachel heard herself say. "It's been so long!"
But her best friend looked back at her, confused. "I'm sorry, miss, you must have hit your head or something. My name's Kate Rasputin, and we've never met...Or have we?"
"No," Summers said, remembering. "We haven't. My name is Rachel."
"I am Ororo Munroe," Storm told her.
"I know. And you're Pitor Rasputin, and Eric Leshner, and..." she stopped, coming to a man a little older than her, with thick waves of blonde hair, and blue eyes that somehow revealed a bravery similar to that of her father.
"My name's Franklin Richards," he improvised.
"Oh," she started, without thinking. "Wow, you've grown up." He looked to her questioningly, and she added, "Aren't you Sue and Reed Richards' son? I saw you on tv a lot, and you look very...different."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" he asked.
She sighed. "Look, I'm not even supposed to be here, I mean, why would I be sent back to captivity? After all I've worked for? As *more* punishment?"
Colossus leaned over to whisper in Storm's ear. "She must have hit her head pretty hard. She is talking to herself."
* * *
241 timeline 04-11-2034 Bronx, New York, United States
Rachel's waist-long hair whipped her face she danced upon the currents of the wind. She did a pirouette, spinning briefly, dove as low as she could, and then shot back up to the sky. The whole time, Franklin Richards followed, just behind her toes, until he finally gained a lead on her. He grasped her around the waist and pulled down. The two slowly glided to the ground, embracing each other and laughing like two children. As her chuckles gradually subsided, Rachel looked into her lover's warm eyes, to see that his grin had become a very serious smile.
"What's wrong, my love?" she asked.
"Nothing. Everything is perfect." He leaned forward and kissed her lips firmly.
"Rachel? Franklin? Hello! Are you two having a staring contest or something?" The two were jolted out of their physic illusion. Rachel's hair had become short again, and the two were wearing inhibitor collars. They rolled their eyes to Kate Rasputin, who was giving them a curious look. "You know, this is the third time you two have just zoned out in the middle of an" she dropped her voice to a whisper, "important meeting" and it rose again, "in like, two weeks! What's wrong with you guys?"
"Nothing," Rachel answered. "Everything is perfect." She curled into Franklin's chest, and he wrapped his arms around her. The group reflected Kate's exasperated sigh in their tired eyes, and Magneto continued what he was saying.
"I miss Charles greatly," he stated, and everyone listened intently to catch his code-talk. Anytime someone spoke about Xavier, they were actually referring to their plan to escape the South Bronx Mutant Internment Center. "I remember we used to debate for hours over foreign affairs...That was years before any of you came to the Mansion of course. What year did you get there, Rachel?" He used the word "remember", telling the team that he wanted to speak to Logan, and he turned toward Rachel to ask her when she last spoke to him.
For reasons unknown to anyone in the tiny cage, Rachel's genetic abilities, though dormant for her first few weeks at the interment camp, had redeveloped exponentially in the last 6 months. Her inhibitor collar now had no effect upon her at all. Though her vivid telekinetic tattoos made it quite clear to her cellmates that Rachel was once a hound, they grew to trust her quickly, and used her advantage to contact their old teammate, Wolverine, and plan an escape with his help. Today was the big day that they hoped would bring them, and every other mutant in South Bronx, freedom.
"Just before I was captured," she said, translating into "recently". "I had only stayed 10 hours before the Sentinels got me." So Logan would arrive at 10. Magneto's eyes grew wide.
"Why hadn't you told us this earlier?" he snapped. "It is 10:26 right now!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a SNIKT sound sliced through the air behind them, and Logan tore through the chain-link as if it were paper. He gave Kate and Ororo small hugs, and Rachel had to remind herself that he had never met her before, in order to resist kissing him with glee. Two of the claws on his right hand retracted into his forearm, and he quickly destroyed Eric Leshner's inhibitor collar.
The old man came alive once more, throwing open every cage within the camp and ripping apart every inhibitor collar in less than 3 seconds. Cheers erupted all around, and mutants began flying in the air, fighting soldiers with explosions of plasma, telekinesis, water, and every other imaginable source of energy. But the 7 mutants in Magneto's cell didn't have time to fight; they had to run for it.
Leshner pushed off from the ground and used his magnetic force to propel himself from the minerals in the earth, taking a now-transformed Colossus with him. Storm summoned an enormous gust of wind that carried Kate, Logan, and herself into the air, while Franklin and Rachel flew telekinetically, holding hands. Their triumph was short-lived, however, when, only 2 miles from the camp, they were met by a squad of 17 Sentinels.
"Let's show these tin cans what X-Men are made of!" shouted Logan. Rachel smiled at his familiar (though corny) line, and rose higher into the air to come face-to-face with one of the gigantic robots.
241 timeline 10-24-2033 Bronx, New York, United States
When she came to, she was lying upon the ground, mud caking her face. She got up abruptly and attempted to use her telekinesis to separate the mineral particles from her cheek, but was surprised when she received no response from her own powers. She looked down, to see an inhibitor collar around her neck.
Looking up, she noticed for the first time the bars before her. She was in a cage. Looking out through the steel rods, she saw several similar cages, filled with some 56 creatures. Most looked like normal human beings, though several had green skin, horns, a tail, or exceptionally long limbs, and every one of them wore an inhibitor collar. ~Mutants~, she thought to herself. ~Of course. I was never born, so the mutant race still exists. It's funny though, I leave a life of imprisonment and torture only to be captured again.~
She finally wiped off the muck with the back of her hand. "I'm getting tired of this shit," she mumbled to herself.
"As we all are, I assure you." She spun around, automatically taking a defensive stance. Before her were five mutants. She saw a black woman with long locks of shining white hair and crystal-blue eyes. ~Storm~ she reminded herself. A tall man with short, black hair tried to smile behind a set jaw. ~Aw, yes. Colossus.~ An elderly man, whose only show for his age was his white hair, nodded to her in recognition. ~Magneto. Great.~ A girl her age, with curly brown hair that fell to her shoulders, said sweetly, "Hi. How are you feeling?"
"Kitty!" Rachel heard herself say. "It's been so long!"
But her best friend looked back at her, confused. "I'm sorry, miss, you must have hit your head or something. My name's Kate Rasputin, and we've never met...Or have we?"
"No," Summers said, remembering. "We haven't. My name is Rachel."
"I am Ororo Munroe," Storm told her.
"I know. And you're Pitor Rasputin, and Eric Leshner, and..." she stopped, coming to a man a little older than her, with thick waves of blonde hair, and blue eyes that somehow revealed a bravery similar to that of her father.
"My name's Franklin Richards," he improvised.
"Oh," she started, without thinking. "Wow, you've grown up." He looked to her questioningly, and she added, "Aren't you Sue and Reed Richards' son? I saw you on tv a lot, and you look very...different."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" he asked.
She sighed. "Look, I'm not even supposed to be here, I mean, why would I be sent back to captivity? After all I've worked for? As *more* punishment?"
Colossus leaned over to whisper in Storm's ear. "She must have hit her head pretty hard. She is talking to herself."
* * *
241 timeline 04-11-2034 Bronx, New York, United States
Rachel's waist-long hair whipped her face she danced upon the currents of the wind. She did a pirouette, spinning briefly, dove as low as she could, and then shot back up to the sky. The whole time, Franklin Richards followed, just behind her toes, until he finally gained a lead on her. He grasped her around the waist and pulled down. The two slowly glided to the ground, embracing each other and laughing like two children. As her chuckles gradually subsided, Rachel looked into her lover's warm eyes, to see that his grin had become a very serious smile.
"What's wrong, my love?" she asked.
"Nothing. Everything is perfect." He leaned forward and kissed her lips firmly.
"Rachel? Franklin? Hello! Are you two having a staring contest or something?" The two were jolted out of their physic illusion. Rachel's hair had become short again, and the two were wearing inhibitor collars. They rolled their eyes to Kate Rasputin, who was giving them a curious look. "You know, this is the third time you two have just zoned out in the middle of an" she dropped her voice to a whisper, "important meeting" and it rose again, "in like, two weeks! What's wrong with you guys?"
"Nothing," Rachel answered. "Everything is perfect." She curled into Franklin's chest, and he wrapped his arms around her. The group reflected Kate's exasperated sigh in their tired eyes, and Magneto continued what he was saying.
"I miss Charles greatly," he stated, and everyone listened intently to catch his code-talk. Anytime someone spoke about Xavier, they were actually referring to their plan to escape the South Bronx Mutant Internment Center. "I remember we used to debate for hours over foreign affairs...That was years before any of you came to the Mansion of course. What year did you get there, Rachel?" He used the word "remember", telling the team that he wanted to speak to Logan, and he turned toward Rachel to ask her when she last spoke to him.
For reasons unknown to anyone in the tiny cage, Rachel's genetic abilities, though dormant for her first few weeks at the interment camp, had redeveloped exponentially in the last 6 months. Her inhibitor collar now had no effect upon her at all. Though her vivid telekinetic tattoos made it quite clear to her cellmates that Rachel was once a hound, they grew to trust her quickly, and used her advantage to contact their old teammate, Wolverine, and plan an escape with his help. Today was the big day that they hoped would bring them, and every other mutant in South Bronx, freedom.
"Just before I was captured," she said, translating into "recently". "I had only stayed 10 hours before the Sentinels got me." So Logan would arrive at 10. Magneto's eyes grew wide.
"Why hadn't you told us this earlier?" he snapped. "It is 10:26 right now!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a SNIKT sound sliced through the air behind them, and Logan tore through the chain-link as if it were paper. He gave Kate and Ororo small hugs, and Rachel had to remind herself that he had never met her before, in order to resist kissing him with glee. Two of the claws on his right hand retracted into his forearm, and he quickly destroyed Eric Leshner's inhibitor collar.
The old man came alive once more, throwing open every cage within the camp and ripping apart every inhibitor collar in less than 3 seconds. Cheers erupted all around, and mutants began flying in the air, fighting soldiers with explosions of plasma, telekinesis, water, and every other imaginable source of energy. But the 7 mutants in Magneto's cell didn't have time to fight; they had to run for it.
Leshner pushed off from the ground and used his magnetic force to propel himself from the minerals in the earth, taking a now-transformed Colossus with him. Storm summoned an enormous gust of wind that carried Kate, Logan, and herself into the air, while Franklin and Rachel flew telekinetically, holding hands. Their triumph was short-lived, however, when, only 2 miles from the camp, they were met by a squad of 17 Sentinels.
"Let's show these tin cans what X-Men are made of!" shouted Logan. Rachel smiled at his familiar (though corny) line, and rose higher into the air to come face-to-face with one of the gigantic robots.