As Beast leaned forward to blow out his candles, something caught his attention. A sound was coming, a quick sound, and one that no one else seemed to hear. His animal instinct was riled and the candles were no longer important. The second he looked up toward the far wall, it collapsed into a pile of heaping brick and debris, the cause stopped full on by the impact. Everyone left their chairs, trying to see what was the matter. Some of the X-Men quickly went to the scene as they recognized the intruder. Amidst the dust and broken brick, Quicksilver coughed and tried to stand. When he saw the oncoming X-Men, he put up his hands.
"No, please," he said quickly, slowing their approach somewhat. "I come here as a friend."
Wolverine stalked forward, looking about to draw his claws. "Yeah. You and every Brotherhood goon that walks in here."
At this point, Professor Xavier rolled forward, stalling Logan. "Let's listen to what he has to say for himself. I must admit I'm curious as to his presence here." He faced Quicksilver, who was looking quietly anxious as several of the X-Men's larger members hemmed him in. "I'm sure he'll be perfectly reasonable."
A few minutes later, a few of them were gathered in the professor's office. Quicksilver had refused a seat and now paced nervously by the bay windows. Beast and Jean watched him from their leather chairs while Professor Xavier tried to extricate his story. After a few moments, the mutant began.
"The Brotherhood needs your help," he said candidly. Beast raised an eyebrow. "My father—Magneto has lost control of himself. We need your help," he repeated.
Xavier sensed his frustration and inserted gently, "Tell us what's happened."
Quicksilver stopped for a moment and looked at him as if trying to decide if he could trust him. A second later, he began pacing again, slowly this time. "There's an island that belongs to my father. It was his project to develop technology there with his power. Research, things like that. There were plenty of old machines there already. He found them fascinating. Soon he began to spend a lot of time there. Hours and hours each day." Quicksilver paused. "Then one day he didn't come back." He stared at the floor. "We found him on the island, obsessed with his work, lashing out at anyone who came near him. His power was amplified by the machines and it drove him mad."
"So he's there now?" Beast asked.
"Yes." The mutant swallowed. "He threatens to destroy himself, everything, and everyone on that island."
Beast sat forward in his chair. "Everyone?"
Quicksilver stared hard at the floor then turned his liquid gaze towards them. He seemed to be having a hard time with this. "We thought the island was uninhabited. But that was before their distress signal registered." He looked at the floor again. "No one knows what the symbols mean. Without that knowledge, my father can't be stopped."
With that, Quicksilver phased into a blur, streaking to the closest open chair where he sat heavily. The three others in the room discussed quietly.
"Interesting," Beast said, glancing over at the Brotherhood mutant.
"We have to do something," Jean told them. "We can't let that take its course. There's innocent people there who need help."
"I agree," said Professor Xavier concernedly. He wheeled over to where Quicksilver was, getting his attention. "We will help the Brotherhood in this endeavor. But—" he interjected before Quicksilver could say anything. "We'll need additional information about all of this first."
"But that could take days," the mutant replied.
Professor Xavier raised a hand. "If you'll permit us, we'll find out for ourselves."
Quicksilver phased out again, solidifying again near the door. "I won't let you read my mind. There's some things that even I won't divulge to an X-Man."
Jean stood. "I promise I'll only read the thoughts that you allow me to." Something in her tone made Quicksilver return to his chair.
"What do I do?" he asked softly, staring at the floor.
Jean quietly approached, kneeling in front of him. "Just think about the island. Think about your father," she told him in her soothing voice. He closed his eyes to concentrate as she placed her hands on either side of his head.
She concentrated as well, probing gently. At once, the flashes of images came, a torrent of pictures and smears of color, emotions and voices. She saw the island. She saw the beautiful beaches and trees. A complex was built just inland of a river, surrounded by a high fence. She heard someone laughing. A flash of someone playing in the sand. Scarlet Witch, his sister, ran ahead to reach the complex. She saw Magneto bending over a console displaying several inscriptions. A hand reached out to tap his shoulder. Magneto whirled around, his eyes half closed with anger. She felt a ripple of rage from Quicksilver that was quickly washed away by the next flash. Lightning streaked from a room, sparks flying as computers fried and fizzled out. Inside the room was Magneto, hovering as a vast shield of magnetic energy swirled from the floor, tearing apart the structure. Another emotion came from Quicksilver as a flash of the X-Mansion appeared, and then that very room.
Jean pulled away, opening her eyes as the images disappeared. The Brotherhood mutant leaned back, letting out a long sigh. She dismissed herself to return to the other two.
Speaking in low tones, she reported what she had seen. "He's telling the truth."
"You're sure?" Beast asked, but even his instinct told him that this was true.
"It's not easy for him to be here, professor. But I don't think that you need me to tell you that."
Professor Xavier slanted forward. "It's a credit to him to swallow his pride and ask us for help. With the way that Eric is now, I'm sure that they'll need all the aid they can get."
Quicksilver was glad to accept their help. It was decided that the sooner they got to Eric, the sooner they might be able to get him back to normal. The professor gathered together the X-Men and decided who among them should go. Under his direction, the team comprised of Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean, and Gambit. They stood up from their chairs in the professor's office as he called them individually. Then he turned to Beast.
"Hank...I'd like you to go as well," he said. "To see what you can do with those symbols."
"Of course." The professor was about to say something else when he interrupted, "It's just a birthday, Charles. There's plenty of time for that later."
The professor nodded.
So the team was assembled. They left within the hour, making to board the X-Jet solemnly as the party guests watched. Logan waved nonchalantly, turning to go up the ramp as Rogue gave Gambit one last hug.
"You be careful, hear?" she told him, trying to smile a little.
The Cajun smirked back at her. "Lessen, mon amour. I be back before you know it."
She nodded, smiling, then pushed him away. "Then go now, mister, before I change mah mind."
Cyclops and Jean boarded together following Quicksilver while the professor left Storm in charge of the X-Mansion, giving her instructions quietly as the students watched the preparations wind down. Beast wheeled the professor on board just as the ramp began to hiss closed, a puff of steam blurring the last glimpse of them.
The jet lifted off the ground, blowing back the trees and anything that wasn't nailed down. Students and X-Men alike watched the black craft rise into the now cloudy sky and start a southern course. As the wind died down, pink banners trailed around the patio, blown out of doors by the gale. Jubilee sat forlornly beside the cake, her head rested on her fist as she poked at the icing.
Author's Note: Here it is! (finally) The second installment of this story. I hope you enjoy it. More to come soon, I hope!