Disclaimer: Not making any money from this
Slaves to the Cause: Scene 6"You got all the cameras?" Indigo demanded of his cousin. Stellar just looked at him, tugging her blonde fringe pedantically. Indie took it that she had and turned to the returning Street and Callum, further members of his rogue gang of homeless, ragtag mutants. Both young men looked pleased with themselves. "Roads are blocked?"
"Oh yeah!" Street grinned, as Callum nodded, bracing his tiger paws behind his head in satisfaction. "We parked a couple of cars on all the roads leading down here. No one's getting through."
"Excellent." Indie praised them, glancing up to the window where he could make out his arch nemesis. "Now all Blaze has to do is…"
The explosion was so powerful all the gang hit the grubby pavement instinctively, covering their heads. Windows shattered; shards of it fell like fistfuls of diamonds to twinkle on the ground three storeys below. Flame raced through the empty window frames, lapping up the sides of the building. Against the black and purple sky the bright orange and white tidal wave was an illuminating contrast.
Masonry split and flags cracked as a sudden wave of heat slapped Indigo and the others in the face. Scrubby weeds withered and burned, scattering glowing embers to the wind. Alarms on cars and buildings rang out, but were almost overwhelmed by the roar of the fire itself. The electric power lines that fed the Metrolink tram system wobbled, warped and snapped under the force of the blast, sprinkling the air with sparks. Indigo was amazed by and equally terrified of the power Blaze had just exhibited. Like Lowry, he hadn't known mutants could be this powerful.
"Where is she?" Carly screeched, clutching Clover as the gang helped each other to stand again.
"There!" Stellar pointed, jumping up and down on the spot. "There she is! She's done it!"
Stellar was right. With the flames a volcanic background, a slight figure was approaching them at a walk. Her hips swaying, she shrugged out of her ash-covered jacket and let it drop to the floor casually. The gang were all following Stellar's lead now, cheering Blaze as a hero. Finally someone had done that they had been trying to do for years. She'd avenged their friends, and stopped the inevitable.
"Never in my whole life," Stellar was exclaiming, running to Blaze's side, "Have I ever seen anything as excellent as that!"
Blaze didn't seem as jubilant as she reached the group. She looked weary, with ash smudged on her cheeks and her outfit singed despite her best efforts to stop her powers consuming it. Indigo didn't care; egged on by the cat-calls and exuberance of the others he grabbed her round the waist and near smothered her with a kiss.
"Give her one for me Indie!" Callum teased, whilst little Clover danced on the spot chanting "Best night ever! Best night ever!" Blaze pulled free of the kiss and met Indigo's eyes.
"That was overkill." She told him softly, knowing the others weren't listening. "I let it get personal, I should've had better control. I shouldn't have…"
"It was perfect." Indigo told her, touching her skin again, soothing her. "More than perfect. You've not just got rid of their whole operation, you've sent out a message warning anyone who might try to resurrect it to leave it or else. Its spot on, I promise."
"But I nearly lost control. I could have done that without…" Blaze scolded herself with the efficiency of Cyclops.
"You can't lie to me Blaze." Indigo told her coolly, stroking her back underneath her top. "You can't tell me you don't feel amazing right now. Everybody needs to let rip sometimes…"
Indigo's words made perfect sense to Blaze. He was right, she did feel good for letting go with her powers. Better than good, she felt amazing. And powerful, really powerful… The fire in the building burned stronger, ash and sparks reaching up to embrace the pale blue moon.
Sirens broke through the moment, screaming on the air, reverberating around the tall buildings. Wide-eyed fear appeared in the eyes of more than one of the mutants. Now was not the time to be caught out in the streets as a mutant, no matter how far from America they were.
"Everybody scatter!" Indigo ordered, holding Blaze by the wrist. The other gang members just looked at him, not quite understanding as the sirens screamed closer. "Now! Go!"
They scattered, disappearing in different directions through alleyways and back streets. Indie dragged Blaze for a short while whilst her feelings were again stupefied by his touch. Only when he tripped on a broken paving slab and let go did she shake her head to clear the fog. Her instincts took over and she took the lead, leaving Indie to follow her.
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"I mean absolutely no offence, Michael, but to have us sharing cells like common criminals is degrading and petty. How much longer do you think Kincaid and his cronies will keep up this pathetic charade?"
"Mr President," Former Senator and fellow prison inmate Michael Hawley responded to his leader with a tired voice. "I understand your outrage, but I don't think this is any kind of charade. Kincaid truly means to have you and I, and our other colleagues, tried for treason."
"Michael is right, Mr President." A third man said from by the door of their pokey concrete cell. The door slid open, and the President's lawyer strode in confidently. The cage closed behind him as he perched down on one of the cell's beds and opened his laptop. "The date is set. The jury selection begins tomorrow morning. Kincaid wanted to keep it a military trial, but the legal system has insisted that as civilians none of you can be impeached as such."
"Why has it taken so long for us to hear all this?" The President demanded, folding his arms across his chest and frowning like a truculent child. "Is this all the time we have been given to prepare?"
"My department's had to negotiate extreme terms to get any access to you at all, Mr President. This trial will be as much of a façade as Kincaid can make it. He will allow us no access to the evidence he intends to present to the court. Unless we can see some of this proof he says he has of your treason against the United States of America, and the breaches of National Security you have made by liasing with the X-Men, we are going to be in very hot water."
The President fell silent, turning away and facing the blank wall as if in disgust. Michael Hawley held his tongue for a moment as the lawyer toyed with his laptop. Then Shockwave's father shook his head and took a seat opposite the legal guru.
"What of the X-Men and their students? Has anything been heard of my daughter?"
"I thought you'd ask Michael." The lawyer lifted his head and meet Hawley's eyes squarely. With that Michael felt a cold shudder wash over him and he knew the news would not be good. "They have most if not all of the X-Men. Reports have been inconclusive on that front and Kincaid isn't revealing his hand. As for the children, a large number are being held in military compound such as this one across the country. Your daughter is not amongst them and we have no idea where she is."
"Oh Sammy…" Michael put his head in his hands, not sure if he should be relieved or distraught.
"We wont know what Kincaid has planned for the mutant captives until your own trial is complete. He wants to make sure he has absolute control of the country and the military before he strikes out the X-Men."
"Then what are we waiting for?" The President questioned, turning back to his companions. "We know it won't end with the X-Men. Kincaid is a man obsessed. If he defeats us he will not stop at exterminating Xavier's children. Every mutant in the United States will become a military target. Wars have been started over much less. We must not lose this trial!"