A/N: Hey all. I'm really sorry that this chapter has taken so long. I am finally in the UK again and have just been readjusting to life here again, and got a new job which is pretty awesome. Hope your lives are going well.
Alright, this chapter has a bit more about Charles Xavier, but Storm and pals are back in the spotlight for a short while. Reviews are much appreciated, and I've decided that for the most part I'm gonna respond to them in this section here, so if you have a query I'll do my best to answer it.
Genosha, Present Day
Discussion of the affairs of Genosha had only been going on for a matter of a few minutes, although Bobby Drake found himself already bored and struggling to stay focused. In the days where the school had actually felt like a school, he had never exactly slacked off, but being the class clown was how he enjoyed behaving. It gave him a way to feel relaxed and let off some steam, particularly when dealing with the know-it-all students such as Jean, as well as the then-uptight Warren. In a way, it was his perfect defence mechanism, although a consequence of this was that his attention span left something to be desired.
Two things promptly jolted him back to reality. The first was a subtle kick aimed at him from under the table to force him awake, presumably from Nightcrawler. The next was the sound of a scuffle between two guards outside and some combatants, although it didn't last long as someone began pounding on the door, eventually managing to break in.
All talk about politics immediately subsided shortly before the flashbang grenade went off, causing him and most of the others in the room to be blinded. In the ensuing scuffle, he failed to notice the portals opening behind him, as somebody big kicked him in the abdomen and he was sent flying through it, falling briefly before he landed on a hard, stone surface. Next to be knocked out was Beast, as the largest of the Readers grabbed his arms, using them as a lever to throw him out of the room so that he landed next to Bobby. Kurt followed not long after, having unwittingly teleported in front of a portal that materialised milliseconds after he had landed.
The trio waited a few seconds as they expected to hear another portal opening and either Storm or Scarlet Witch to join them in what appeared to be their prison, even glancing up towards the ceiling, but strangely enough they never arrived. There wasn't even the sound of a scuffle.
"Perhaps they've been taken somewhere else?" Bobby suggested.
"If they've even been taken alive, that is."
Nightcrawler pondered Beast's suggestion.
"If this is who I think it is, then simple murder is not his style. Come on," he said, stretching out his hands to the other two, briefly glancing out through a barred window to what appeared to be a forest. "We need to get out of here and try to figure out where we are, though if I'm right with my guessing it might not do us much good."
Both of his colleagues took his hands, and the three of them teleported out of the room, seemingly unaware or uncaring of the miniature camera that had been focusing on their every move. From a control station, an inhuman face stared at a series of monitors, grinning hideously as the mutants began what they assumed to be their escape.
"Very dramatic, wouldn't you agree, Spiral?"
The leader of the Reavers grimaced at Mojo's repulsive laughter, frowning at the screen.
"Sir, as much as I dread to question your impeccable taste for the dramatic, would it not have simply been wiser to put an inhibitor collar on Nightcrawler and leave the other two to their fates?"
The question was laced with sarcasm and scorn, and for once her master picked up the fact that he was being mocked.
"Do you know what makes good television, Spiral? Do you think that an audience tunes in to watch the hero helplessly struggle as the headsman raises his sword, with no prospect of escape whatsoever? Granted, audiences are more cynical than they used to be, but no would be the normal answer. This is how the show goes, because it's what makes the crowd cheer."
Spiral was unsurprised with the answer, but that did not mean that she was satisfied. Her position as head of the Reavers meant that a certain degree of grovelling and sycophantic behaviour was required, but she knew that beyond a certain point she was supposed to intervene.
"So it has nothing to do with the fact that your network is in decline, or that your finances are up in the air, leaving your flagship programming uncertain?"
His red eyes almost seemed to glow as he struggled to keep his anger in check.
"Choose your next words very carefully, Spiral. While I expect a degree of advice from you, your team has failed to capture either Storm or the Scarlet Witch, and with either of them on the loose the script has been derailed. My temper is nearly at its end, and you know what happens when I lose my temper."
For a moment, she wanted to slap him and shout at him until her throat was raw, but they both knew that the point she would raise was one that had been discussed many times before. Reluctantly, she sighed, knowing that sooner or later her boss would either get it right or be replaced by someone else.
"Financing a television show is a complicated business, as I'm sure you'll know. It is for that reason that the spotlight must be on the X-Men one last time. Once they are safely dead and Scarlet Witch is my captive, I can exploit Genosha's last resources and prove myself once more."
At that point, he turned away, chair floating back towards the monitors as he pressed a button, causing a series of turrets to pop up and force the X-Men towards a series of hills.
"I know how the story goes. This is where, through sheer escalation, I up my efforts in an effort to improve the drama. Losses are heavy on both sides, but in the end I win and the heroes fall."
Interior Cerebro Chamber- Unknown Future
Charles Xavier was presently incapable of saying much, although his face was clearly in agony, eyes wide and rigid as a blurring effect spread over his face. It was almost as if vapours were being physically extracted, with his body soon to be little more than a withered husk.
Behind him, the door closed as Selene slowly marched forwards, hand raised as she calmly drained his life force.
"Bravo, Professor. It's hard not to be impressed. Few have managed to escape from the Pens."
He strained to rise as he pulled the headgear away and dropped it, turning to face her. Two fingers quickly went towards his temples, his glare levelling towards her. For the briefest of moments she flinched backwards, although it wasn't to last as a previously unseen red diamond protruded from her forehead. He tried again, but all he met was insurmountable resistance as he collapsed to his knees.
"But your fight to freedom ends here."
He fell forwards, eyes fluttering as his head went towards the ground.
Unknown location
The X-Men picked up the pace as they heard what they assumed to be footsteps, Nightcrawler teleporting up to the treetops in an effort to see what challenges lay ahead.
"So let me get this straight. This guy isn't just some run of the mill kidnapper? And he has some seriously petty vendetta against you because of one incident en route to Genosha?"
In spite of the fact that Bobby Drake lived in a world where being a mutant gave you the power to shoot beams from your eyes, lift objects telekinetically, or even raze an entire continent to the ground with the ability to control the weather, extraterrestrial life was something that he just struggled to comprehend. Had it not been a case of severe shock, which Beast was attributing it to, he'd be scoffing, but he knew that mocking Bobby's doubt wouldn't exactly help.
"When you say one incident, Bobby, it was more like one case of them attacking me and then a follow-up case of them kidnapping me and leaving me and Scarlet Witch to die underwater. Otherwise, yes. Mojo is essentially an alien media mogul that makes money torturing desperate beings such as our good selves, and reception to his second serial starring me must not have been what he'd hoped for."
It was at that moment that the disembodied, almost demonic voice chose to cut in.
"Implying that about my last show starring you, the so called Amazing Nightcrawler, would be a major understatement. The efforts of you and Scarlet Witch indirectly ruined my career. My viewership had peaked after you brought attention to the network and became an overnight sensation."
The laughter that followed was not the joyful laughter that Nightcrawler had heard before in the undersea arena. It was deeper and more sarcastic, as if he was trying to hide something and failing. They kept running through the woods with the same scouting technique as before, but the subsequent ranting did not get any quieter.
"Do you fools know the problem of overnight sensations? Given enough time, they fizzle out. Your human media is rife with such examples, yet as soon as another star rises the crowds start worshipping and praying. Viewer reaction to your return was... underwhelmed. It was hardly negative, but the ratings fell and the Council of the Spineless Ones cut my funding. Nothing I did drew the crowds back."
His voice was now more level, but it was still clear that Mojo was not his usual self.
"It's all because of you, Nightcrawler. Now I find myself having stolen money from the Council, and at the head of a diminished group of Reavers, all in a final, desperate bid to regain control and my old position of power. You don't understand the humiliation."
"Pardon me for my total lack of sympathy," Nightcrawler shot back. It would almost have been uncharacteristic and uncalled for, had the alien ranting at him not been responsible for at least three near-death experiences.
"I'm a pariah, humiliated by my own kind and abandoned. All because you failed to draw the crowds!"
Iceman chose this moment to speak up.
"Then why did you choose him as your star? Surely, as manager, the decision falls to you."
There was a momentary pause as he considered what had been said. When Mojo started speaking again, his voice was little more than a furious growl.
"Don't question my expertise! I-"
"SHUT UP!"
All three X-Men, including the normally more eloquent Beast, had finally had enough of the hypocritical ranting that they'd had no choice but to listen to.
"Very well. I'll stop the sob story and bring us to a different tale. Are you familiar with the work of Suzanne Collins? She's got a new trilogy taking off..."
At that moment, there was a crash and a monstrous roar as a white-furred beast burst through a, eyes blazing red as it pointed its horns and claws towards the trio. Iceman raised his arms, and almost effortlessly froze its legs to the ground before encasing it in ice.
"And we have the first casualty of the evening! But beasts so bizarre are never so easily subdued."
Within seconds, the beast began slowly breaking the ice encasing it as two more of its kind followed it through, snarling at the sight of one of their kind being so cruelly treated.
"I suggest we get the heck outta here."
"Suggestion duly noted and acted upon," Beast muttered, leading his comrades away as quickly as possible, the Wendigo beasts giving chase.
Mojo stared at the monitors, his relaxed and humorous demeanour now giving way to barely suppressed rage.
"Know this, X-Men. It makes no difference if you stand and fight or continue to run. Let me show you why."
With the press of a button, the midday sky above parted to reveal constellations of stars and planets that even Beast struggled to recognise.
"It can't be..."
"What?" Iceman shot a worried glance his way.
"That's right, my good doctor. You're not even in your own universe anymore. Welcome to my galaxy."
Pale Rider Institute, Interior Cerebro Chamber
As Selene continued to draw the life from Charles Xavier's body, she slowly walked towards him, her hand outstretched and a smug smile slowly forming on her face.
With great effort that felt like it almost killed him and a gasp of pain, he managed to roll to one side, falling off the catwalk and landing hard at the bottom of the sphere. He wasted no time feeling around and finding a particular square panel, pushing it to one side and literally falling through as he did, his energy almost exhausted.
The smirk had now left Selene's face completely as a small voice in her head told her to panic, reminding her that the price of this failure would likely be severe indeed. It was for this reason that she promptly climbed down to the bottom of the sphere and reached for her comm. unit.
"The fugitive is in the sub-levels. Candra, leave your troops where they are and get here immediately. Archangel, the same goes for you. Harada, keep guarding the walls," she barked. Her normally calm and balanced tone of voice gave way to a harsher, more irritated one, although she felt she was able to keep her irritation and fear under control.
With those words, she sat down and slid down into the hole, following her captive.
Pale Rider Institute, Sublevels – Unknown Future
The vent in the wall offered surprisingly little resistance as a foot managed to dislodge it, causing it to fall to the floor noisily. Xavier pulled himself out into the chamber that had once housed his comatose body, gasping for air as he did so. He lurched forwards, looking at the room as he realised that it had been ruined long ago, the transparent bubble that he had been sheltered by all those years ago now cracked wide open, the nearby medical equipment either scavenged or destroyed.
He almost found himself thinking back and wondering what had become of the X-Men in this timeline, but snapped back to what was happening and pried a door open, slamming it shut seconds before Selene followed him through the tunnel.
"Harada, forget the walls! I almost have him cornered; now help me finish the job!"
Xavier managed to reach the storage room, hurriedly closing the door milliseconds before the lift opened and a confused Candra walked out, followed by Archangel, who seemed to be the only one not in a blind panic. As the two walked down the corridor, Selene rushed out from the coma chamber, short of breath and patience. She took a moment to catch her breath, then finally stopped trying to hide the fact she was angry, roaring at her comrades.
"Where is he?"
Half an hour later, Charles Xavier appeared from behind a tree, climbing up a passageway. It seemed almost bizarre, if not completely paranoid, to have so many potential escape routes, but his priority as the headmaster at the Xavier Institute had ultimately been the safety of the mutants taking refuge here. Ever since he had come into conflict with the man who would go on to be called Erik, and the Mutant Response Division had made a few efforts to kidnap some of his students, he had installed numerous tunnels and failsafe measures on top of the pre-existing defences, largely with the help of Forge and Warren.
He felt a moment of sadness as he realised that Warren had been made a part of the new regime and essentially forced to partake in the cannibalising of the institute, but forced himself to stay calm.
His strength slowly coming back to him, Charles Xavier marched off into the night, towards whatever came next.
Yes, I know. There hasn't been a chapter for well over a month. I'm really sorry, but I promise more is on the way!
One thing I want to clarify (well, two, I suppose). I'm trying my hardest to see that the setting stays based around 2009-2010, since that's when the second series would have started airing. Obviously, the Avengers have formed in the aligned continuity that Chris Yost set out (WATXM, Avengers: EMH, and supposedly Hulk Versus and Tales of Asgard, although the last two works cause one heck of a continuity problem if mixed with either of the TV shows), but that's why Suzanne Collins is name dropped as having a new trilogy, because at the rough time only two of the Hunger Games books had come out.
The other thing I want to clarify is that I'm trying to keep this close to how it would have appeared on TV, at least towards the start, in terms of content that could air. Granted, the second series would have been much darker, and any scene with Omega Red that I've written probably wouldn't make it onto a kid's show – for good reason, mind you- but that means more moderate violence, little to no swearing and only implied references to other stuff; we're looking at you, Sinister, and your creepy obsession with Archangel. As time goes on, we'll get darker. Just wait and see.
If you have any (constructive) criticism or questions, again, drop me a review and I'll do my best to answer in the actual chapter itself. More spoiler-ish stuff may be answered by PM instead, if it can be safely answered at all. Until then, I've been talking long enough, so take care.