Author's Note: Sorry for waiting so long...I got very busy there for a while. Two chapters up now (:
Summary: My initial take on what X3: The Last Stand would be like. Centered around Scott, Logan,and Storm's grief for Jean...they quickly learn that Jean has grown far stronger than ever imagined.. Magneto is drawn to Jean's sudden growth in power, and is also alarmed by the human's decision to create the "cure"...
Rating: Between T-M. There is a fair amount of language, semi-frequent mildadult-type-themes, and violence.
Main Characters (most main to lesser): Scott Summers, Jean Grey/Phoenix, Logan (Wolverine), Ororo (Storm), Gambit, Rogue, Beast, Magneto, Xavier, Bobby, Kitty, Mystique, Pyro...more in other chapters
Pairings: major Scott/Jean, major Rogue/Remy,minor Logan/Ororo, moderate Logan/Jean, minor Bobby/Kitty
X-men is in no way owned by me...because otherwise I would have changed the way X3: The Last Stand was written. This fan fiction is also completely movie-verse.
Chapter 10 - A Warning
"Professor?" He knocked upon the oak door hesitantly.
"Come in, Remy," Charles replied comfortingly.
The doors eased open with a low creak, signifying their age. Gambit stepped into the elder's office and found him looking over a few medical files.
"Err…sir.. I've got a few questions fer you," he continues after the man motions for him to take a seat.
"Is something bothering you about Scott?" Xavier jumped in before Gambit even had a chance to gather his words into a decipherable sentence. In turn, Gambit merely nodded.
"Som'thin' doesn't sit right…" he added, "It jus' feels like…there's som'thin' there, ya'know?"
A long sigh escaped Xavier's lips. "As I have told others, sometimes it is best for the mind to figure these things out on it's own," he said somberly.
A low growl developed in the depths of Gambit's throat. He hated to be denied answers, especially if he knew someone knew what was going on.
"I'm sorry, Remy, but I do not have the answer you seek," he apologized.
Gambit stood up so quickly that the chair he was seated in nearly tipped backwards. "Thanks for nothin'," he snarled before leaving in a storm out the doors. They slammed together with a sound that echoed like a final thunderclap through the room.
Charles rubbed his temples and breathed, "If he knew…it would kill him."
As Gambit angrily plowed through the halls, the classes were released. Students were pouring into the halls as an unbreakable flow of water in both directions. Gambit rolled his eyes and mused, "Figures." Just as he started to swear to himself, he saw a distinct flash off to the side.
"Hey Bobby!" he barked, his eyebrows drawing even closer to each other. Gambit drew the lengthy metal pole from his overcoat and a smile cracked across his lips.
Bobby's eyes widened in slight fear, yet he called back, "I don't want a fight, dude…" he held up his hands as if he didn't know what Gambit was expecting of him.
"Too bad I do," Gambit murmured.
The master of the cards lunged at the iceman, and explosions fired as well as ice raining down in the hall. The younger students screamed in fright as they proceeded to flee as fast as they could to their dorms. Bobby looked rather upset that Gambit would want to make a public statement against him, and Gambit just looked beyond annoyed, needing to take his anger out on someone.
With the flick of Gambit's wrist, Bobby was hurtled backwards against one of the walls. He in turn threw a hail storm back at his attacker, causing Gambit to sport several bruises and a few trails of blood.
"Is that all you got?" Gambit snarled, his eyes glowing an even deeper shade of red, if possible. He flicked his metal rod behind him, and the blood splatters flecked the carpeted flooring. A devilish smile cracked across his face once again, and he attempted to entice Bobby further.
Bobby feigned to the side, and then attempted to flee via the other direction. Gambit was one step ahead though, and smacked the iceman across the skull with the metallic staff. A sickening thud reverberated from the man's head as he flinched back in pain. His head throbbed as he began to fully summon his powers out of sheer anger and revenge. Gambit wasn't expecting much in a return attack, so he relaxed and resumed his full standing position, throwing the rod over his shoulder in triumph. Bobby's massive jet-stream of ice hit him hard in the chest, knocking the wind straight out of him. He fell to his knees seconds after the blast, throwing the rod to the floor in a clatter as the pain hit him in shuddering waves.
"What is going on out here…?" a female voice growled from behind a closed classroom door. Before Bobby or Gambit could snap to reality, Storm tore the door to her history classroom wide open, and her mouth fell open in utter shock.
"You two…I…" she stammered, "Of all people, I can't believe that you'd be the one to fight someone in the halls, Bobby!"
He cut his powers short, and then slumped against the wall, his head throbbing so much so that he was feeling extremely lightheaded. "Storm…I'm sorry…" he murmured, wincing horribly.
She looked them over more observantly, and then bit her lip. Both boys were bleeding more than what would be considered a "minor" wound. Gambit was slumped against one wall looking very unconscious, and Bobby was against the other, rapidly falling out. Storm looked between the two and then cried, "Hank!"
----
As Gambit's eyes fluttered open, his head shifted from side to side nervously. "Where am I?" he whispered, his vision still blurry.
"The equivalent of a hospital," a distinct male voice replied, with an unimpressed tone laced on the words.
"McCoy..?" Gambit cleared his throat as he spoke.
Beast stood beside the man's table and patted his arm roughly. "Indeed, son," he replied.
"What the hell happened?" Gambit grunted as he shifted awkwardly on the table. An IV was in his hand and he was hooked up to various machines. "Why am I here?" he demanded.
"Because you survived the fight," Bobby retorted as if the answer was more than obvious.
Gambit gave a forced sigh and rolled his eyes. "So the bastard's here too, huh?" he spat.
"Hey..hey! Boys…knock it off," Hank snarled over them. Yet the two young men continued to bicker over Hank's threats. The blue-furred man sighed as he strode between them, returning to monitor the various machines and paperwork he'd collected. "They'll make a full recovery in no time at this rate…" he murmured to himself as he pushed his glasses into place.
----
Mystique bit her lip as she leaned against one of the only outwards windows of the prison-like hideout. Her blue skin itched and shuddered more and more each day. Ever since she'd received the cure, she began fearing for the sake of her shape shifting powers. She looked over her shoulder, finding that she was the only one in the room, as she had been for the past several minutes.
Therefore, the woman took in a deep breath, and then released the slow sigh in an attempt to calm her racing thoughts and anxiety.
"What are you worrying about…? Nothing's happened yet…" she whispered to herself.
She then focused heavily on her ally's figure, and she felt her skin begin to burn; an unusual sensation for changing skins. She looked down at her feet, and saw the color fading from her toes, and then she held her hand before her, and they too began to take on Magneto's resemblance. She smiled in relief.
The smile soon broke into an appalled stare, though. The blue began to cover all areas of her body again, against her will.
"No…no…!" she cried quietly, finding her breath failing her at this point.
She looked over her body, and saw that all of her was still covered in the vibrant blue skin. She swallowed hard, finding a lump of fear rising in her burning throat.
"Everything alright, m'dear?" Magneto called, his footsteps echoing into the room. He was closely followed by an annoyed-looking Pyro.
She nervously resumed her full height and nodded yes as she blinked back the fear in her eyes.
"I'm afraid I've got bad news," Magneto continued gravely.
She shied back nervously; her heart began to race.
"Ms. Grey has escaped.."
"What…? How?" she stammered a bit too soon.
Magneto and Pyro both arched an eyebrow as they sank into their seats. Mystique fell beside them, and she looked between the two men curiously. "I thought she was locked away in one of your medieval death traps…" Mystique commented sarcastically, returning to her old self again.
"Even I have underestimated the power that she possesses… She was able to fight against me and escape. She fled, running as if she was flying…and god only knows where she's gone," he replied angrily.
"So what are we gonna do?" Mystique inquired, not personally caring about it at all.
"We need to talk to Charles about that… I'm assuming he'd be able to find her with Cerebro… I mean the woman only gives off so much damn power," he chuckled.
Mystique arched her eyebrows in agreement, and then crossed her legs as she relaxed into the chair. "How are you planning on stopping her? Especially if you said she attacked you head on and was able to escape…?" she continued.
"Well my dear…I have ways of persuasion…" he paused and then pulled a thin case from the pocket of his shirt. He then flipped the top open, revealing four identical syringes inside.
Mystique's anxiety came flooding back.
"Once she's got one of these in her, I'll need not worry…she'll be one of them," he concluded, stressing the last word.
Pyro's gaze flicked from the syringes to Mystique.
"I've been hearing reports that the humans have even been putting these darts into their rifles and handguns… My how clever they've gotten…" he mused, resealing the case. "But any mutant that takes this cure I believe should go down with the rest of those humans…like the weak imbeciles the are."
Again, Pyro's eyes flashed the Mystique. She shifted nervously, and her eyes fell to her legs. But then something happened that sent a shock to her heart, causing her to shake.
A pale, silky flesh tone was chasing up Mystique's leg. Her mouth parted slightly as she tried to search for rhyme or reason as to why this could be happening, but instead all she managed was to shake her head. "No…" she breathed.
This time, she wasn't shape shifting.
"My dear, what's wrong?" Magneto purred, looking at the woman in amusement. After a few chuckles he finally came to realize what was happening to her… And he too shook his head in disbelief. "My dear…I'm afraid…you've become one of them…" He rose abruptly, and turned on a heel as he strode angrily from the room.
Pyro looked to the man frantically, and then dashed off after him.
"I'm giving you an hour to get out of here, Mystique…" Magneto's voice boomed. And such a final boom it was.
----
"Charles!" the knocking upon the door mimicked a thunderstorm. "Charles! Open this door! I've got urgent news that cannot be ignored!"
The door clicked, signaling it's unlock, and then it swung wide open, revealing Logan standing in the doorway.
"You rang?" he said curtly, his eyebrows high.
"Move out of the way, you pesky animal…let the grown-ups do their talking…" Magneto urged as he pushed through the door.
"Why the hell you here?" Logan snarled, blocking the way.
"I need to speak to Charles, you idiot. I've got some very important information regarding Ms. Jean Grey…now move!" he restated loudly.
Logan froze. 'Jean. Storm said she was goin' off looking for her,' he thought. "Wait...I thought you were against us," Logan's mind clicked.
"Boy, this news could be fatal. For all of us. Sides aren't of the greatest concern at the moment," Magneto said quickly.
----
"Erik, I hope you realize, that because you have lost contact with her, this could now turn into a very dire situation very quickly," Charles stated grimly as he and his old colleague traveled the perimeter of the school grounds.
"I misjudged her strength…she accidentally escaped," Magneto argued.
"This is why I was restraining her. She has power beyond her own control! If unchecked, she could literally burn herself out, and you know that Erik," Charles barked angrily, "I'm trying to keep her from danger, and you're only throwing her into it."
"A war is inevitable," the other elder stated, "there is no avoiding it. Phoenix will most likely escape to the city and reek havoc amongst the humans, and they'll be out for her blood…and every other mutant's blood. And besides that, I've already heard more than enough of all of these mutants protesting the cure…"
"Erik…this will be no pleasant fight. I just hope you know who you stand with, and how you are to go about this war," he paused, turned away, and then added, "and please, do not get her killed in the process."