A/N: Hi again guys. Hope you're doing well. This chapter mostly focuses on the X-Men in the present day, although there'll be a bit more focus on Storm this time. To throw more spanners in the works, more problems shall arise for the X-Men towards the end of the chapter as humanity chooses this moment to lash out.
If you want me to keep going, please favourite, review and share this. It really means a lot to have your support. Without further ado, let's go!
Xavier Mansion, Present Day
As the wings descended, they tore through the storage pod like cardboard, the prone form of Charles Xavier unresponsive to the imminent danger as a pair of metallic arms reached through the hole and dragged him out roughly. With barely a glance towards Cyclops, he promptly ascended and burst through the ceiling, using his wings to slice through it as he promptly made his escape and narrowly avoided the optic blast that headed his way.
If any of the X-Men had been outside, they would have seen the winged form of Archangel burst out through the roof again, ascending to a greater height as he kept a tight hold on Charles Xavier, reducing his speed and flying at a lower height so as not to suffocate his captive or damage his exposed eyes.
By the time Ilyana and Cyclops emerged outside the mansion, their attacker and his prey were nowhere to be seen.
Cerebro Chamber Exterior, Present Day
For several minutes, nobody dared say a word as they struggled to take in the situation, all staring at the cracked life support system which had previously housed the man who had, for many of them, served as a father figure. It wasn't like this sort of thing hadn't happened before. All sorts had attacked the mansion before, from the Brotherhood of Mutants to the Mutant Response Division. Members of staff had disappeared before, on occasion being abducted alongside their students.
However, after spending so long searching for Charles Xavier not so long ago, and then finding out that Jean Grey was still alive, it was a serious emotional blow to suddenly have the former taken away again while the latter seemed to have been traumatised. All this, on top of Storm's team going missing with the bad news regarding Sinister and his master, only served to destabilise them.
Eventually, Logan was the one who tried to break the silence.
"Alright. Here's what we're gonna do. Summers, Forge, get to the jet. See if you can go after him-"
"Are you crazy?" Forge spluttered. "The repairs are basic at best! Without further work we don't have weapons or even cloaking!"
"You think I don't know that, Forge?" Logan roared, claws slowly emerging from between his knuckles. "I get you havin' yer moral reservations with me as team leader, but if you so much as breathe the wrong way right now, I'm gonna lose it. So do me a favour, shut up, and go and check the freakin' jet!"
The sound of a prosthetic leg angrily hitting the ground as its user marched towards the hangar could be heard for the next few seconds, with Cyclops giving a nod in their direction as he followed.
"What about the rest of us? What are we supposed to do?" Rogue piped up.
"Angel took him alive, so Sinister must want him alive," Jean muttered. She was pleased that he hadn't been hurt, but she pitied the professor all the same. In most cases, she felt that a mutant was better off dead than in Sinister's clutches. "That means there's a chance we can still get him back, like we did before."
The group solemnly nodded.
"But until we can get him back, Charles Xavier has no way to reach us. His body was the conduit."
At this, Wolverine seemed to slump into the nearest seat, despair racking his brain.
"Yeah. Means only one thing... we're on our own."
Outer Space, Unknown Location, Present Day
The chamber shook violently as multiple Marauders began to sweep into the corridor, weapons blazing in all directions as they attempted to deal with the Wendigo that had gotten loose in the sublevels. As they did this, Mojo found himself grinding his hideous teeth.
"As soon as the Scarlet Witch turns up with Storm, everything goes in a hand basket to h-"
"Sir, Storm and her team are headed towards the engine room, but we have a demolitions team in place. Should we prepare to detonate the explosives?"
"If the team is ready, then by all means proceed," he growled. "Send your best men to guard the engine room. They won't stop the X-Men, but they'll easily buy our operation the time we need. Join the team yourself, if you absolutely must."
"Yes, sir," Spiral muttered, trying her best to conceal her hatred for him and failing. "Right away."
With those words, the lieutenant left her post and rushed towards the engine room.
Outside the Engine Room
Three guards rounded the corner, each carrying what resembled a futuristic minigun. As they turned towards the X-Men, they opened fire, forcing Iceman to create an ice wall as temporary cover. Even that wasn't enough, as chunks were promptly blown from its surface and holes were punched through by the projectiles.
It was at that moment that Nightcrawler chose to strike, teleporting next to one of the guards and grabbing the ammunition pack on his back. Immediately afterwards, he teleported away, causing the minigun's rate of fire to slow down as it quickly ran out of bullets.
"I'll be taking these," he quipped, as he did the same to the second guard. The third wisely chose to keep moving, meaning that Nightcrawler missed his weapon and had to teleport out of the line of fire.
As he rotated to get a clearer shot, Scarlet Witch fired an energy blast into his chest, knocking him back and giving her time to fire at his head, leaving him unconscious. In sync with her attacks, Beast picked up the second guard, slamming the stragglers together with uncharacteristically vicious force and knocking them both out.
"Keep going! According to my estimations, the engine room should be further along this way!"
At this moment, the team inside the engine room had finished their work on the engines, moving to plant bombs on the second, while the X-Men met little resistance from the troops posted outside, dealing with several automated turrets.
"Demolitions crew. The X-Men are reaching the final wave of defense. We have confirmation that the ship is in position and that the engines are set at maximum speed. If you've done your job, get out of dodge immediately. We need to incriminate the X-Men and make this look real."
The sound of several lasers firing on full-auto was enough to convince the demolitions team that it was time to leave, and they did so, teleporting out of the room with their gear just before the X-Men entered.
"Fantastic," Iceman sarcastically muttered. "We get kidnapped and he plans to sink us- or crash us- with the ship we're tied up on. The guy simply couldn't pay to have us shot peacefully."
There was a moment's pause.
"Okay, does anybody know how to defuse a bomb? Because I have no idea."
"Nein," Nightcrawler muttered. "But they must have some sort of off switch. You wouldn't have a good demolitions team if you couldn't turn a bomb on and off."
"I can try and find it, but I won't have long," Beast declared. "You'll need to find Mojo and head him off. This is something he can't be allowed to get away with."
No more words needed to be said, as Storm and Scarlet Witch chose that moment to run onwards, hoping that soon enough they would find him. It was up to the rest of the X-Men to keep any threats off Beast's back while they went to head to stop Mojo.
"You really think we'll be enough? Mojo's crazy, sure, but I doubt he's a pushover."
"Maybe not," Storm admitted. "However, under the influence of the Shadow King I once had the potential to raze the whole of Africa to the ground."
Wanda just stared at her, completely lost for words.
"It's a long story."
Sinister's Lair, Undisclosed Location, Present Day
The interior of the main laboratory was almost impossible to navigate around, Arclight grumbled to himself, nothing that the lack of lighting made it incredibly difficult to see. He was unsure as to why his boss insisted on keeping the lights off or dimmed; the compound was largely underground and therefore not easily viewable from the naked eye. A little lighting was hardly going to shine out over a settlement when there was nothing to find. In any case, being unable to see posed more risks to the equipment here than any potential intruder did at the present time.
Suddenly, he heard Harpoon stand at attention and flick a switch. On cue, he heard the sound of whirring as machinery came to life and a glow began in the middle of the room, finally bringing some detail to their surroundings. As it did so, an illuminated cryo-tube rose up, briefly stunning the assembled crowd before their eyes adjusted to the light.
Floating in the cryo-tube was Charles Xavier, suspended in liquid and lit up from the tube's base. The effect was something that Arclight could only describe as creepy, not being entirely sure as to how he should react.
"Charles... Xavier...," came the haunting voice of his master, as he slowly walked into the room, passing Vertigo as he approached the tube. His unnatural, piercing eyes stared inside the container, fixed on his captive's peaceful face.
"I trust that you faced no major difficulties from the X-Men when you made your attack, Archangel?"
The winged being shook his head.
"Then congratulations are in order, my perfect lieutenant. Even scattered, the X-Men are not to be taken lightly. I shall be sure to... reward you in due time. Right now, I must attend to business."
Now Sinister turned to face the tube, once again focusing on their prisoner.
"I do apologise for having to bring you here like this, but doing so was necessary for me to make further scientific discovery. You can take comfort from the fact that everything I learn from you shall be put to use."
It was at that moment Blockbuster stupidly chose to whisper a little too loudly.
"Does the boss know that he probably can't hear us?"
"The contribution is appreciated, my dear Blockbuster," Sinister replied, calm voice masking obvious anger at being interrupted.
Before their master could be disturbed a second time, Arclight made a point of elbowing his comrade forcefully, although he found himself wincing as he painfully made contact. Nevertheless, there was no second interruption, in spite of the Marauders wondering as to whether or not their prisoner was actually taking in what was said.
"So, Charles, you're seeing the future, are you? Tell me, is it anything like you imagined it would be all those years ago? Do humans and mutants live side-by-side as you once hoped? Or is it the way I imagined it to be?"
Xavier Mansion, Present Day
"Forge, do you think that the jet is workin'?"
"Just about, Wolverine," was the scornful reply. "As it stands, I've had to disable everything nonessential just to make sure it'll get in the air. That means pretty much no heavy weaponry, limited stealth equipment and a radar system that's on the blink. You still sure you want to go ahead with this?"
In truth, Wolverine wasn't sure at all that he was making the right decision. He'd flown the jet before, and the radar system malfunction alone made him feel uneasy about sending a team member to fly after Warren.
All that he knew was that the father figure to most of the X-Men was missing, and that there wasn't a single member of them that wouldn't tear the world apart to try and find him again. In his eyes, this was the only way to try and keep the team together.
Boy, how he hated being the leader sometimes.
"Yeah, I'm sure. It's our only chance. You set to go?"
"As ready as I'll ever be, Wolverine. We're ready to go whenever you want."
"Good," he muttered. "Get the preparations done and you're good to go whene-"
At this point, Logan's cell phone began vibrating. He quickly fished it out of his pocket, annoyed by the interruption.
"Yeah, what is it? I'm kinda busy."
The familiar voice of Christopher Nord came down the line.
"Logan, you'd better look at the news. I'm really sorry to interrupt, but it's urgent."
"What is it? Weapon X?" Logan was now alarmed. He knew that Christopher Nord had been eager to help and repay the debt he owed by helping to save Piotr and Ilyana, but at the same time he was aware that both father and daughter had no desire to stay in the world of heroics any longer than necessary. For him to suddenly call out of the blue, it must have been urgent.
"There's been some activity from them, but that isn't why I called. It's worse than Weapon X, much worse."
Logan walked over to the television, flicking through channels until finally he found himself watching a show called "The Garside Hour". He raised his eyebrows, now unimpressed.
"This is more than crummy, late-night journalism, right? We get enough of that on TV already."
"Just keep watching," Nord urged. "The situation is serious, even if the show is ridiculously tacky and self-centred."
A flashy set of credits rolled in, naming producers and a few of the crew, eventually cutting to a fat host in a suit that was standing on a glossy set with bright lights that almost made it impossible to see his face, making his already crimson cheeks turn bright red.
"Hello, and welcome back to this week's Mutant Brief, with me, Stephen Garside. You join me as the world authorities finally decide to take a step forward with regards to the infamous incident that took place a few months ago in New York."
Logan had initially been amused by the tackiness of the show. So-called "journalists" like this were a dime a dozen, particularly as he'd chosen the words "infamous incident" for a city where costumed criminals and vigilantes were everywhere- heck, it had only been a few weeks since the mass breakout from The Raft, as well as the other prisons across the country. However, given how the show was focusing on mutants...
"I think I know where this is going..."
A photo of Sentinels ravaging New York appeared next to Garside, who was by now starting to rant angrily.
"Yes, it was several months ago today. The Sentinels, created to protect us, were instead turned against us by the mutant warmonger known as Magneto."
The photo now filled the frame, and a zooming graphic enlarged an image of Magneto riding on the shoulders of a Sentinel. The presenter continued talking over the footage.
"This is the same Magneto that had abducted Senator Robert Kelly, and held him hostage on his island of Genosha."
Now, some news footage from CNN played of Senator Kelly emerging from an MRD heli-jet with a blanket over his shoulders, waving at an offscreen crowd. Logan had remembered that all too well. He'd sympathised with Magneto at the time- if he'd had kids, he'd have gone paternal the same way that Erik had- but he remembered that from that point, the MRD had upped its efforts. In trying to do what he'd seen as right, Magneto had made things worse and forced humanity to do wrong.
"But this act ignited such a firestorm that, upon Kelly's release, Friends of the Earth lobbied the White House to see Kelly promoted to Secretary of Mutant Affairs and trade his seat in the Senate for a government position. Yet, bizarrely enough, the Senator refuses the post without giving a reason why! Can you believe this... traitor?"
That also took Logan by surprise.
"Kelly actually ...turned down the post?"
"It makes no difference," Garside continued to his audience. "Various officials from around the world have joined together in the most unlikely situation, all brought together by one common purpose- to see mutantkind pay for its actions and crimes against humanity. And the organisation that is finally answering injustice with justice?"
There was a pause, as graphics of MRD troopers suddenly popped up onto the screen, arresting mutants with impunity as vehicles rolled through busy streets. Clearly, the writers wanted to ham up this delivery for all they felt it was worth.
"Led by the valiant General William Kincaid in the fight for human survival, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce the Human High Council!"
After much internal debate, I decided that the chapter should end there.
I'm hoping that, before I head off to California in a week without my trusty laptop, I can finish this arc. Villains like Omega Red, Magneto and Sinister and his gang are a pleasure to write, but Mojo is a villain that, from my perspective, is not so entertaining at least in my hands. I feel that his presence has probably impacted negatively on the work (and bored many fans/readers to death) and there were many points where I wanted to rewrite the arc or suddenly kill him off with no warning. However, for the sake of not wimping out I decided that I would persevere, for better or worse. For that reason I'm aiming to finish the arc and launch the next one quickly.
The next chapter will focus on Storm and Scarlet Witch versus Mojo, and briefly on Charles Xavier once again. Wolverine and co are mostly done for this arc, at least in terms of the action. Until next time, thanks for your support and see you then!