Wow... I didn't think I'd get so many reviews in less than 24 hours! *stares in shock at the review page* Fanfiction's been holding out on me xD
I am actually kind of in awe over all the reviews you guys have given me – I spent ten minutes reading through them and acting like I was a the one with weird mutant powers (or insanity... one in the same sometimes) :D
Anyway, some of you guys have asked for that daily TELEGRAPH interview (I'm an idiot 'cause I thought it was the daily mail lol) and so the link below will send you to it (just remove the spaces as per);
http: / / www . dailytelegraph . com . au / james-mcavoy-is-a-classy-man / story – fn6ccx45-1226067086143
Or, alternatively just go onto google and put in;
James McAvoy is a classy man – interview
Both give you the same results really.
Anyway, I'll continue on with the story shall I? Put the pitchforks down people ;)
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Lesson Two: Always remember that the Telepath has friends – who'll rip your damn head off when they get a hold of your sorry arse (if you think my titles are adorable then you are fantastically strange xD)
Erik moved swiftly down the corridors of the castle, intent, purpose, and coiled anger forming an almost palpable wave around him. The others followed behind him at a slower, more wary, pace. His hands were clenched so tightly that he could feel his short finger nails digging painfully into the flesh of his palm, but he didn't care. Charles was missing. They had a war to fight. Charles was missing. They didn't know what Shaw was planning. Charles was missing and-
Oh.
He stopped abruptly and the others froze, worried that the older man was about to go nuclear. Erik for the most part didn't acknowledge their existence his mind was whirling about insanely fast. 'Charles is missing... we're looking for Shaw... Frost was Shaw's telepath... Charles is mine... but Charles is missing and... verdammt noch mal!'
"Shaw has Charles." He said to himself, not realising he'd said it aloud until Raven grabbed his arm and pulled him around to face her.
"What? How do you know that?" She asked, fear, worry and concern for her brother coming off her in waves. Charles couldn't be in Shaw's hands. He couldn't be. 'Oh God Charles...'
"We took his telepath." Erik said not looking her in the eyes. "So he's took ours."
There was silence in the corridor for a long moment, none of the able to speak as they each thought over the idea of Charles, their teacher, their leader, their friend, being in the hands of the enemy. It was... too horrid to bare thinking about.
"We'll find him." Hank said firmly as he stepped forward so he was next to Raven. "We'll find him and Shaw." Erik looked at the young man standing next to Raven.
"Damn right we will." Alex added as he too stepped up next to Hank and Raven, Sean stood next to him and nodded.
"No-one steals our Professor X." Sean said as the four of them stood before Erik, ready to fight and defend not only themselves and the world but also their leader who was missing in action.
Erik stared at the four of them in surprise and he felt proud of them. They were willing to risk their lives, their very existence for a friend. They were the better men already. And girl, obviously. He nodded to them once, solemn and calmly focused.
"Hank. You might want to step up the suit designs, we're going to be needing them soon." He ordered and Hank nodded. "And check to see if there's any way you could locate Charles. I don't want to wait for Shaw to come to us on this."
"Already on it." Hank replied with a firm nod before he took off down the corridor towards the underground bunker.
"Alex. Sean. Work on your hand-to-hand and controlling your powers; you two will be working together as a team when we find Charles." The two young boys nodded at Erik's orders before turning and hurrying down the corridor in the direction of the danger-room.
"Raven." Erik started before stopping and looking at the young girl. "Let's work on your reflexes. God knows we'll need them soon."
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"Come on Charlie-boy. All you have to do is make him kill his comrade and I'll let the other live." Shaw said, his voice pitched at the right tone to make him sound sympathetic. It had been almost an entire day since he'd taken Charles and the young telepath was struggling to fight against the madman's words and actions. The amount of pain he'd felt in such a short time made his head pound and his body ache, but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt everytime he gave in to Shaw.
"You'll kill them anyway." Charles bit out as he slumped down against the metal table. He wanted desperately to throw Shaw again but he found he couldn't. It was like the act of throwing Shaw across the room had drained the battery for his telekinesis dry. It was frustrating to say the least.
"No." Shaw countered as he ran a gloved hand along Charles' sweat-covered brow. "I'll do to them everything I've done to you only I won't put the parts back in again." Shaw smiled darkly as Charles looked at the man towering over him.
After his little exploit with telekinesis Shaw had tried to make Charles do it again by removing his lungs, one at a time, and putting them back in just before he died from lack of oxygen. He'd done the same with his liver, his stomach, his intestines and had even messed about with his heart. But Charles couldn't do it again, he didn't know how he'd done it in the first place!
"Don't." Charles whispered, begged, as Shaw stared down at him with that smile still adorning his features. "Please. They don't deserve that." He stared into the dark, hollowed and manic eyes of the man still stroking his brow.
"Maybe." Shaw conceded. "But they certainly don't deserve to live." He added and his smile widened as Charles' eyes clearly showed his panic. "I told you. They're inferior Charlie-boy. It doesn't matter what I do to them."
"They have families. They have a chance for a life of peace." Charles tried to argue, desperately searching Shaw's face for something, anything. There was nothing but evil in Shaw's face and Charles was certain it was a reflection of what was in the madman's mind.
"So did I once. So did you. So did every mutant that's been persecuted by the pathetically inferior Homo Sapiens." Shaw snarled suddenly, his gentle touch turning brutal as he gripped Charles' chin in an iron-tight grip. "They are nothing because they cannot do what we can. They cannot move things with their minds. They cannot make a person see something that isn't there. They cannot do the things we can and for that they are weak. Why won't you just accept that you will always be better than them?"
Charles glared up in to the angered face of Sebastian Shaw and answered, his words biting and sharp. "Because I refuse to lower myself to the level of a Nazi. Or you."
Shaw grinned darkly, savagely, and looked up at the two men watching them in terror from the other side of the room. "The Nazi's went after their own kind Charlie-boy. I go after that which I know is weak."
Shaw lifted his free hand and pointed it at the two men as Charles was forced to watch, unable to move his head in Shaw's tight grip. "And I destroy it before it destroys me."
"No!" Charles shouted as the two men were thrown backwards by a vicious burst of energy from Shaw's outstretched hand. They collided with the wall with enough force to snap their necks and Charles knew before they even hit the floor that they were dead. Their minds, every thought and memory, dream and aspiration was cut off so savagely that Charles howled in pain. It felt like he was the one who had died.
Shaw looked down at the young telepath whose eyes were screwed shut and his face was contorted in agony. Leaning down so his mouth was level with Charles ear, Shaw whispered. "I'm doing this for you Charles... I don't want to see you suffer at their hand. Not like I did. Or Erik."
Charles felt his awareness slipping away in to darkness and the last thing he heard was Shaw's voice, sounding like it was coming from afar, saying. "I'm doing this for you Charles."
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"Erik!" Raven's voice drew him out of his reverie as he stared forlornly at the chess board before him. His head snapped up to focus on Raven who had stuck her head through the door. "You need to see this!"
Erik didn't need telling twice and he bolted out of his seat, hurrying towards the door. "What is it?" He asked as they walked down the corridor towards the main study.
"The President's speech." Raven answered in a rush as they entered the main study to see the others gathered around the television set which was depicting images of Russian ships. "He says the Russians are heading towards Cuba."
Erik didn't speak as he moved to see the television screen and listened closely to the President's address. He didn't understand the significance of the issue but he knew that that was where they'd find Shaw. No way would the madman leave anything to chance with his plan of destroying the world on the line. Literally.
"That's where we'll find Shaw. And Charles." Erik said quietly as he stared at the now black television screen, he'd shorted it out and he knew that Charles wouldn't be happy when he told him.
"How can you be so sure?" Alex asked as he stared at the older man.
"He won't leave anything to chance with this." Erik answered simply as he rose. "I suggest you all get a good nights' sleep, we're moving out tomorrow." 'To Charles.'
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"What happened here?" Erik asked aloud as he made his way through the mess in Hanks' 'lab' over to the trunk where their suits were.
"It looks like a bunch of monkeys were let loose in here." Alex noted as he followed after Erik.
"Doesn't matter. Let's just suit-up." Raven said as she stepped up beside Erik and looked down at the trunk which the older man opened.
"You've got to be kidding me." Erik said as he stared down at the suits.
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"We're almost in position Shaw." Azazel said as he poked his head through the door. Shaw nodded to him and returned his focus to the still unconscious telepath at his mercy.
"Have the nuclear reactor ready for me." Shaw said as an afterthought as he stroked a lock of hair off Charles' face. The telepath was incredibly young for such a gift. The amount of power the young man had was surprising. It reminded him of Erik. No surprise the two became friends. 'Two peas in a pod.' Shaw observed. 'And that means this one will turn as well. He just needs time.'
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"Hank?" Raven called as the four of them stood and watched the outline of their resident scientist grew more defined.
"The cure didn't work how I expected it to. Instead of deactivating the genes, it amplified them." Hank's voice rang out in the quiet air hanger, his voice deeper than they were used to. He stepped into the light and they all blinked. He was. Blue.
"You look fine Hank." Raven said as she stepped forward and took his blue, furred and clawed hand in her own. "Mutant and proud." She smiled at him and he smiled back.
"You look great mate." Erik said with a smile as he clapped the young mutant on his arm. Instantly Hank's arm shot out and his hand wrapped itself around Erik's throat, lifting him off the ground.
"Don't mock me." Hank growled darkly as he glared at Erik who, for the most part, could only blink and choke.
"I wasn't." Erik managed to choke out but Hank tightened his grip and he started to feel dizzy.
"Hank!" Raven exclaimed. "Put him down Hank!"
"Hank!" She exclaimed one last time and Hank suddenly let go of Erik, who landed in a slump on the floor, breathing in oxygen.
"I think I've got your name dude." Alex said smirking and Hank looked at him. "You're badass man. So you're Beast."
Hank growled in agreement at the nickname and Erik looked up at the young mutant. "Sorry." Hank muttered to the scowling man looking up at him.
"Doesn't matter. Let's go." Raven said and Erik threw a dirty look at her. 'Bet she wouldn't think that if she'd been the one getting choked.'
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I've debated whether I should have made this one longer but then I realised if I did that then this fic would get even more out of hand than it already had. Seriously, I hate my brain sometimes. It just gets these insane ideas and runs with them when I'm not even aware they exist until I've started writing them. I think I'm being possessed by some fic-writing creature... certainly explain a lot -_-
Anyway, I don't think I need to ask for reviews do I?
But I will anyway xD
And I read another news article not long after I'd started writing this chapter about James McAvoy and... my God... I love him even more now! He doesn't live like a Hollywood actor xD
He's so down to earth and cute and... married... *sob* I want him!
Oh, BTW:
Because it was asked I'm including the translations from the last chapter in this one (mainly 'cause I don't want to edit the last one because it's so annoying);
"Eins, zwei, drei." – "One, two, three" obviously.
"Bitte,Herr,tu mir nicht weh." – something like; "please, mister, don't hurt me."
"Ich werdenichtmeine Liebe.Ich helfeIhnenaberschlafen." – not exact 'cause google translate is stupid but it's something like; "I won't my dear. I will help you sleep though."
And for this chapter;
"verdammt noch mal!" – means "damn it." (however, if you don't have a full stop at the end then it's only "verdammt" which I just don't get!)