Even shorter Author's Note. Yea! ;)
I'm trying my hand at German this time and have asked for help to ensure I get it right. Many thanks to Mari for her assistance with this process and smoothing out my rough attempt at the language. :) I've decided to put the translation at the end of the chapter to avoid jarring the reader.
My thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this little epic. :)
July 29, 2006: Okay, here is the next chapter, lol! Sorry for the delay… :)
Excelsior!
Smashing Through the Looking Glass
Chapter Seven: Part Two
Whistling in the Dark
A huge pair of hands with too many digits bursts into our world and seizes the ruler and Ms. Munroe. She is yanked from her feet and barely has time to make a startled "Oh!".
"Ororo!" Kurt is closest and grabs her around her waist, trying to pull her free. The two of them swing about the room like rag dolls as the hands try to shake the man off. There are several shouts of alarm and Logan launches himself at one of the hands, slashing with his claws. One pair goes deep into the joint I'll assume is a wrist. An unearthly shriek temporarily deafens us and Ms. Munroe and Kurt are dropped unceremoniously to the carpet. Logan pulls his claws free but not before he's slammed against the wall. The hands retreat with the ruler. A black fluid oozes onto the shelf and starts to drip; Logan's claws are covered in it. He stands and stares, waiting. The tension is palpable.
In the stunned silence, I find my other sandal and stick my foot into it.
"The mirror is, indeed, a portal," the Professor states.
"And these are the guardians," I add, pointing to the tiny faces. Their heads move to follow my finger. Rogue gasps.
"They're movin'!"
"Yep. They're laughing, too." Everyone looks at me blankly. "Don't you hear them?"
"Nope."
"Not me."
"Sorry."
"I can hear them, Kitty."
How many times in one day can I thank God for having the World's Most Powerful Telepath in the house? "Good. Once again, I have proof I'm not going crazy."
Logan is sniffing his claws and from his expression I'd say the smell is very unpleasant. He doesn't even look winded as he grins at me with satisfaction.
"Guess I hurt it."
"Guess you did. Let me get you a towel for that."
"Thanks."
I run to the kitchen and grab all the dishtowels on the rack and run back, cutting through some walls to get there faster. Logan gratefully takes one of the towels and cleans his claws before retracting them. Sam steps forward and helps me use the other towels to sop up the shelf and the growing, sticky mess on the carpet. We try not to touch any of the stuff. The smell is inescapable now as it permeates the room.
"This is gross," I mutter.
"Absolutely," Sam says.
Ms. Munroe seems unharmed. She and Kurt are standing more or less where they fell and are considering the nature of the mirror with the rest of the group.
"Any recommendations?" The Professor waits patiently for us to think.
"Obviously, we could destroy the mirror." Ever-practical Sam.
"I think we shouldn't be too rash." Careful Mr. Summers.
"Shouldn't we get rid of it before it takes more than just school supplies?" Nice point, Logan.
"I wish we knew more about where it leads."
"The only way we could do that, Professor, is to go through." Quite so, Mr. Summers.
"And we can even do that on our own terms." He looks at me and knows what I'm suggesting: Jack.
"We'll have to give this careful consideration," the Professor says. "Would everyone please leave the office." They file out, Bobby and Kurt in particular looking bewildered that we aren't staying to make a decision. I know why we're leaving, though: the guardians of the portal won't be able to eavesdrop now.
I take the lead of the group outside in the hall. "Kitchen," I say and walk beside the Professor's wheelchair. We reach the main entrance and there are students waiting on the steps from the second floor. One stands: Roberto.
"We heard screaming," he says.
"Is everything alright?" It's Siryn, hugging herself as if she were cold.
"It's alright now," the Professor says, smiling. "Nothing to worry about."
I note the others: Kale, Iz, Dave, Alison, Julie. All light sleepers, brave and curious enough to leave their rooms in the dark under unusual circumstances. I note Alison looks worried still: someone is missing.
Wait a minute. They're inseparable…
"Ali? Where's Wanda?"
The words have barely left my mouth when the double front doors to the mansion burst open, threatening to leave their hinges, and the threshold is filled with a fantastic sight.
Brightwind steps cautiously into the hall, not certain of the marble surface. His wings stretch once he's clear of the doorframe and he whickers loudly. Dani sits astride him, her braids tangled with leaves, her jacket torn. She looks terrified.
"Had to leave them," she says, gasping. "Had to get help."
The Professor pales and goes rigid beside me. "The woods," he says, his voice strained. There's a rush for the kitchen and I can hear the side door slam. Dani whispers something to Brightwind who reluctantly turns, his eyes wild with fear as she guides him back through the door. His hooves sound loud on the floor.
"Stay here," Mr. Summers says to the younger students and follows the others.
The Professor and I exchange a worried glance. Before us, Brightwind takes two steps then leaps into the air and takes flight. Siryn runs to the front door and I know the horse is circling to return to the back garden and the woods beyond by the way the young Irish girl is moving her head. I chew my bottom lip.
"To the garden?" I ask.
"To the garden," the Professor replies then reinforces the instruction given by Mr. Summers. "Wake the others. Stick together." Roberto and Julie nod and move to help Siryn close and lock the front doors. The rest seem mute with alarm.
For speed, I push his chair into the kitchen, moving at a light jog and not hitting anything. We make it to the side door, which is partially open. I push it open all the way and grunt as I manoeuvre the wheel chair down the small ramp. It's very quiet and there's no sign of anyone. I start jogging again and we make the patio and clear the porch with it's darkened faerie lights. We hit the grass and that slows things a bit, as it's a beautiful lawn but a little bumpy. We almost reach the scrambler and the trees nearby when something launches itself at us, hard, and the wheelchair and I topple sideways.
"Professor!"
I roll and push myself up on my hands and knees - and stare into the sharp teeth of a large, drooling creature about the size of a Honda Civic that I will describe as a lizard-dog. With it's scales and fur and teeth and claws and ridged back, it's the best I can do. It is neither lizard nor dog, however, but something completely different. From somewhere completely different.
The eyes are huge and seem to have some sort of metallic braces holding them in. The creature gurgles at me and drool drips onto the grass from teeth longer than my arm. I'm paralysed.
With a loud crack it falls to one side, stunned or dead, I don't know. Brightwind and Dani are there, a pair of hooves to the head at high speed having dealt a wounding blow to my assailant. "Where's the Professor?"
I look at the wheelchair, resting where it fell on the darkened lawn. Of our mentor there is no sign. "Damn." I stand and the garden spins a bit. Dani reaches down and steadies me.
"Where is everyone?"
"Not in sight when we got here."
We share a worried look then Dani nods and I grab hold of her leg, and between the two of us I am sitting behind her on her beautiful winged friend. She says something to him and he turns towards the woods at the southwest part of the property. I know the path well, having run this way with the other students the night of Stryker's attack. I grip Dani's waist tightly as we launch into a canter, flinching when the branches whip at me. Her jacket smells of leather and sweat and horse. I try not to make a sound. Having been on a horse fewer times than I have fingers on one hand, and suspecting most sane people use a saddle to keep themselves mounted, I'm certain I'm gonna fall off.
Another miracle is bestowed upon me as I arrive at the scene intact and still on Brightwind. My legs are clenching so tightly, I'm not sure I'll be able to leave the horse.
"We're here," Dani says and I know she wants to dismount so I try backing up. She scissors her right leg over Brightwind's neck and slides gracefully to the ground. I find out how far off the ground we are when I run out of horse and fall into a pitiful heap. His tail swishes in my face. I move before he thinks I deserve a kick, too.
The clearing is empty.
"Where -"
"Step sideways," Dani says, grabs my arm and pulls me one step to the right.
I'm still in the woods outside Xavier's, but I can see a battle going on here that wasn't visible a second ago. I'll have to ask Dani about that later. Right now, something nasty looking with metallic braces acting as joints for its limbs has Wanda in a crushing embrace and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let that continue.
I charge the back of its legs, hoping to knock it over. It works, but it doesn't let go of Wanda, and she cries out as it rolls on top of her. I swing my leg around and give it a swift kick in the head - at least, I think that's the head - wishing I had the strength of Brightwind's legs. The creature reacts by hissing and grabbing my foot.
Not part of the plan.
It stands and I'm swinging upside down. The rest of the battle progresses around me. I catch a glimpse of Mr. Summers lifting his nighttime glasses - which do wrap around his head - so he can zap the thing carrying Karina, who appears to be unconscious. Karina is dropped but Pietro is fast enough to catch her before she hits the ground. Ms. Munroe is calling up a wind and lightning and I hope the good guys can get out of her way in time. I hear a feral roar and a squelching sound and am given a glance of Logan standing on top of… something that is now gushing black blood. Sam flies in from the left like a rocket and rams another creature that is threatening Sarah, Blink and Frankie. The thing buckles in the middle and it and Sam blaze from the clearing.
Bamf!
"Guten Abend, Kätchen," Kurt says, hovering for a moment over the head of the thing holding Wanda and I. "What are you doing upside down?" He plants his right foot into the thing's face and it let's go of both of us. Pietro catches Wanda, which is a good choice because she looks unconscious and wouldn't be able to land well. I drop and roll and Kurt helps me up.
"Vielen Dank, mein Herr."
"Jederzeit, meine Liebe. Wir müssen sie stoppen, bevor sie das Portal erreichen!"
"Welches Portal? Der Spiegel im Büro?"
"Nein. Dieses Portal!"
Oh, I think, secretly pleased my German has returned, and stupefied that I didn't notice the swirling orange thingy in space above the clearing.
I take a quick look around, the den mother in me doing a head count. Dani is holding Karina and trying to gather the kids behind Brightwind. I can make out Pietro, Wanda, Sarah, Blink and Frankie. Pietro is still holding his sister. Sam returns, without his 'friend' and stops blazing long enough to land behind the horse without alarming him. A bolt of lightning strikes the ground near Kurt. After my sight returns, I realize it was striking a creature that had been creeping up on him. I look over at Ms. Munroe, who now has Mr. Summers and Logan beside her as they tackle a group of undeterred… things. God, I really have to increase my vocabulary and find something else to call them.
"Where's the Professor?" I look around wildly. I grip Kurt's arm. "Rogue and Bobby? Where are they?"
"They have been taken," Kurt says, leaping to avoid the swipe of a creature who has a long, pointy stick and is obviously very proud of it. I grab the stick and phase the end off. The creature looks displeased, but I couldn't care less. Then Peter - Colossus - is beside me, taking the brunt of the creature's anger. Clang! I can hear crunching and I watch the thing crumple in pain, holding its… 'hand'.
Don't mess with metal, dude.
Bending into the wind, I take hold of Kurt and Peter and brace myself. I pull, directing us towards Brightwind. The horse's head is down and his wings are folded tightly against his body. Dani is comforting him, as he's unsure of the lightning and other unusual aspects of the weather. I don't blame him for being nervous. We reach Dani's side and a shriek fills the clearing. Through the debris, we watch in horror as a huge mouth drops from the swirling orange disc and swallows the remaining X-Men. Then the disc is gone and the wind suddenly ceases and bits of bark and twigs and leaves from last autumn pelt us as we stand in the clearing.
"They're gone," Pietro says despondently, hugging Wanda close.
We take a minute and scan the woods as best we can without moving and with what little natural light we have, but all we can see is inhuman bodies, most of them dead.
"Übel," I say in the silence.
"What's that mean?"
"Roughly, it is German for 'evil'," Kurt translates.
Sarah nods, still shaking. "That's a good word for them," she says.
I'm turning an adjective into a pronoun using a language I haven't spoken in years. This night is full of surprises.
I don't realize how frustrated Sam is until I hear him mutter and give one of the corpses a violent kick.
"Now what do we do?" Blink asks in a small voice.
A wail pierces the air, as if in response to his question.
Sam, Dani, Peter and I all say: "Siryn!" And then we're running through the woods towards the mansion, Brightwind sticking close to Dani. Sam blasts ahead despite her urgent, "Wait!" and Kurt teleports from my side before I can even think of suggesting that he stay with us.
"Men," I say vehemently and round on Pietro and Blink. "Don't even think about it!"
"Yes, m'am!" They're cute when they talk in unison. Peter smiles as he jogs beside me. I didn't have to warn him because I knew he'd stay with the group. I love this guy. Dani is falling behind because she's still carrying Karina and Brightwind, who is pacing her, whickers. We slow down as we reach the scrambler and catch our breath. I realize Siryn has stopped screaming.
"Look!" Frankie cries, pointing to the sky. I turn in time to see Sam blast through the roof. He's carrying two figures, one under each arm. Getting them out of harm's way…
The mirror!
I note Sam is headed towards us and Peter and I jog to meet him as he lands. Siryn is unconscious and seems to have a cut on her forehead. Sam's other passenger is Keisha, who is wide-awake and mad as hell. She wrenches herself from his hold.
"What did you do that for? Our friends are in there! They need our help!"
"Ah don't think we can stop 'em right now, miss." He lays Siryn on the ground. Dani and the others join us. I kneel beside the injured girl and check her pulse, wishing I had better light to see the wound. I smooth her red hair away from her face in a gesture I can only think of as motherly.
"It's all been a distraction, hasn't it?" I begin, looking up at Sam. "Divide and conquer."
"Only they're just taking the X-Men," Dani concludes.
"I guess this is a good time to be chopped liver," Pietro mutters.
"And we better count our blessings it stays that way." I stand. "Dr. McCoy?"
Sam shakes his head. "I'd better get back. Dani? Peter? You stay here and look out for the others." He takes a deep breath and I know what he's about to say. "Sarah?" She looks up at him, wide-eyed. She knows what he's about to say, too. "If you have to, summon your 'friend'." That can't have been easy for him to ask. Last time she summoned that winged demon, Sam almost had one of his arms ripped off. Sarah nods.
"You can't make me stay, boy."
"Ah need you to help here," he tells Keisha, standing firm before her livid face.
"I'm coming with you," I say, and skip the argument by wrapping my arms around his neck. Sam smiles grimly, swings me in front of him and holds me tightly, as if he were a groom, carrying me over the threshold.
"Hang on."
We're airborne and zooming through the hole in the roof seconds later. Sam blazes down the corridor towards the office, ploughing through a few creatures lurking there, looking for more victims, no doubt. Good thing he and his passengers are invulnerable when he's blasting. His feet touch the marble floor and I notice he's wearing sneakers without socks and the shoes aren't even laced. It's too early in the morning for this sort of thing, for crying out loud. Sam lets go of me and I turn to get my bearings. Why can't the bad guys attack after I've had my coffee?
Something lunges for me in the dim hall light and I respond by grabbing it and flipping it over my shoulder, thanking my Judo training for teaching me the real joy of momentum. The figure lands hard on its back and I can see it better now: humanoid form, male, completely black like an ink well from head to toe.
"That is a fine move, querido," Roberto says, laughing in spite of the situation. I offer him a hand up and he takes it. It tingles to the touch, this form he's in, but his all-white eyes are very disconcerting. He stands in time to intercept an Übel, as I'm calling them, lifting it over his head with apparent ease and flinging it down the corridor, knocking some of its friends to the ground. They should've stayed down when Sam put them there.
Fireworks are coming from the office and I jump over a very still Übel to reach the doorway. Jubilee is there, dressed to kill in a tight red t-shirt and matching shorts, doing her best to blind the creatures milling about the room. More are emerging from the mirror. An Übel has Angie pinned to the wall and Sam is beating it over the head with a golf club. Mr. Summers must keep his sports equipment in here. A large dog with reddish fur is biting the leg of another… thing, and it takes me a moment to realize that the face is not canine enough to conceal the features of my new roommate.
"Rahne!" I grab the nearest object - a floor lamp - and swing it into the 'neck' of the Übel she's biting. He falls and Rahne goes for the jugular. Another Übel seems to hesitate in its assault on Iz and starts pummelling one of his own. I note Xi-an is hugging the wall nearby, trickles of sweat pouring down her face. Possession, I think, and whack another creature in the head. Xi-an's mutant trick doesn't last long, though. The Übel breaks free of her hold and turns towards her. I raise my lamp but don't think I'll be able to reach her in time.
I don't have to. A burst of flame smothers the Übel and it screams. The female form, wreathed in fire, continues to pour heat from her fingers. The creature stops screaming and jumps through the window sending shattered glass everywhere. It is heading for the pool, burning as it goes. The fire goddess smiles.
"Hello, Kitty," Amara says, and jumps out the window where more Übels are fleeing. I pull Iz away from the melee, find Kale, Harley and Dave behind the sofa. We join them.
"Where are the girls?"
"In the hall!" Harley says. A chair is flung at the wall over our heads and splinters. We duck, protecting ourselves as best we can. "We got separated!"
"Stay here." I leave the office, the lamp cord finally having reached its max and snapping from the wall as I go. I find Alison, Liz and Julie on the stairs, stumbling backwards as several Übels close in. Liz is brandishing a poker she must have grabbed from the living room. If they've got the X-Men and that's what they came for, why are they still here? I can tell the girls are scared - who wouldn't be? - and Alison is crying. Liz is trying to keep herself together but it's Julie's face I see, her ashen terror that sets the heat building inside me.
"Leave my children alone!" I raise my arms and the Übels start melting, slowly, shrieking in agony as they die. I scream. The heat rushes through me. I know that any of the creatures remaining at Xavier's are suffering the same fate and I don't care.
I am alive. I am burning.
To Be Continued…xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Translation:
"Vielen Dank, mein Herr." Many thanks, kind sir.
"Jederzeit, meine Liebe." Any time, my dear. "Wir müssen sie stoppen, bevor sie das Portal erreichen!" We have to stop them before they reach the portal!
"Welches Portal? Der Spiegel im Büro?" What portal? The mirror in the office?
"Nein. Dieses Portal!" No. That portal!