Disclaimer: All right, thanx to my burns I know I'm definitely not Magma… so how about Wolfsbane? Yeah, I've always loved wolves! Fear me!
"…"- conversation
'…'- thoughts
(…)- extra facts/actions (some)
((…))- author's/my own thoughts
'blah…' -telepathy/what people say mentally
Chapter 19: The Danger Room Siege- Part 3: A Failed Rescue Attempt and Capture
Southern Portion of the Danger Room, Xavier Institute, Bayville, NY- May 15, 12:14 AM
"Stupid girl, what did she think she was doing?" muttered Wanda as she stared at the cuts on her hands she had gotten when she had been attacked by Jubilee's firecrackers, some of which had gotten through her barrier and cut her. She then tasted blood and lifted a hand to her left cheek, and felt blood that she realized had somehow come from Rahne, who although hadn't seemed to touch her, had still managed to cut her. When Rahne had been about to slash her in her wolf form, Wanda had thought she'd sensed something powerful emanating from the Scottish woman. As a result, Wanda had had to send a powerful attack at her, hurting her more than she had planned to.
Wanda then looked over the fallen females and as she focused on her downed friend, she knew that she no longer wanted to fight; knew that there was something else out there for her than that of following her father, trying to find just the right opportunity to get her revenge. She walked over and slowly knelt down and put a hand to Lexie's neck, making sure she was still alive, and then started on realizing that the mutant with green hair had used powers that were the same as her father's.
'But, how can that be?' thought Wanda in shock as she turned her attention to the fallen magnetism wielder, who was lying near Tabitha, and looked to be in rough condition. Wanda got to her feet and moved towards Lorna and just as she was about to kneel down to examine the emerald-haired warrior more closely felt something hit her hard in the back of her neck.
She staggered and almost fell to her knees from the force of the blow and the pain she felt, but somehow remained standing. She then felt herself get hit again, this time on the head, and fell to the ground, clutching her head as she felt pain flood her systems.
She was this way for a few moments, and then slowly got to her feet and looked around with hatred burning in her eyes. She saw Roberto quickly flying over to the downed Rahne, and she flung out her right arm in anger, closed her eyes, and concentrated on bringing him to her.
A few minutes later she felt her powers connect and opened her eyes to see Roberto, cursing in a mix of Portuguese, Spanish and English, staring daggers at her, and concentrating once more, made him shift out of his solar form.
She then approached him, and sensed the same kind of aura that had been surrounding Rahne earlier in the battle. She also felt that there was no fear emanating from him, and told herself that she would find it soon.
"Imbecile! What the hell did you think you were doing?" hissed Wanda venomously as she approached Roberto, who was still staring at her, hatred burning in his eyes as he recalled how he had felt Rahne's energy drop when he had been helping out some friends.
When he had turned to find her he had found her propped against the wall of the Danger Room, unconscious and her uniform singing and smoking. He had lost all control of his rage and rushed to her aid.
"What's it look like, witch!" yelled Roberto as he struggled to free himself from Wanda's power. "I'm saving my teammates and making sure I get my revenge on you for hurting them!"
"I only believe half your tale," hissed Wanda as she stepped closer and tightened her hold on Roberto. "Let's just see what your real objective was," finished Wanda as she closed her eyes and concentrated on delving into Roberto's mind, one of the many abilities she had picked up in her private training and meditation. What she saw was a flashback of the past few minutes, but in Roberto's point of view.
FLASHBACK
Western Portion of Danger Room, Xavier Institute, Bayville, NY- May 15, 12:05 AM
As Roberto ran, following Bobby as per his orders he saw Hank struggling with Piotr, as Piotr had donned his metal covering, and was now pushing Hank towards the wall at an alarming rate.
'That doesn't look good,' thought Roberto as he watched the battle between Hank and Piotr continue. 'I wish I had some sunlight to activate my ability, as I only have a small amount of stored solar energy left.'
Roberto made up his mind and instead of following Bobby and the rest of his team he ran towards the two battling mutants and rammed a fist into the back of Piotr's neck, wincing in the pain emanating from his now bruised hand. This distracted Piotr just enough for Hank to pick up the metal clad Russian using all of the strength he had left and then hurl him at the ceiling of the Danger Room.
Piotr closed his eyes just in time as he was sent flying through the ceiling of the Danger Room and up into the main foyer of the mansion. After a few minutes of trying to clear his head, Piotr got to his feet and jumped through the hole he had made and back into the midst of battle, catching Hank off guard and knocking him unconscious.
Roberto had, meanwhile, began moving once more towards the battle that was currently taking place between John and his teammates when he suddenly heard whimpering coming from the direction he had last seen Rahne and the other half of his team head in. He turned around and felt his heart wrench in pain as he saw Rahne, in her human form, unconscious against the wall and watched as her uniform singed and smoked.
Roberto, at that moment, felt himself lose his temper, and not caring if he had enough solar power left, willed himself to shift into his solar power form. A few moments later he felt the familiar power of the sun surround him, as the heat and solar energy covered him head to toe, his eyes becoming solid black with flecks of orange present, and felt his power surge to a level he never knew he had.
When his transformation was complete he took to the air and flew to the aid of not only Rahne but also the rest of the fallen X-Factor team. He put both of his hands together to form a fist and launched his attack on his target- Wanda. He hit Wanda in the back of her neck and watched her falter but not fall. He then launched another attack at her by hitting her in the head and watched her fall to the ground in pain. He then floated above her for a few minutes and then remembering Rahne he turned to her and started to fly towards her as quickly could.
Just as he was about to land and check Rahne's pulse, he felt himself being forcefully stopped in midair. He swore as he struggled to free himself, but when he looked down at himself he realized that Wanda had trapped him in her psychic energy and was moving him with her energy closer and closer to her.
As Roberto was a few feet away from her he felt his solar form being forcefully retracted into himself, and cursed himself for not keeping his guard up,
"Imbecile! What the hell did you think you were doing?" hissed Wanda venomously as she approached him, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
"What's it look like, witch!" he yelled as he struggled to free himself from Wanda's power. "I'm saving my teammates and making sure I get my revenge on you for hurting them!"
"I only believe half your tale," hissed Wanda as she stepped closer and tightened her hold on Roberto. "Let's just see what your real objective is," finished Wanda as she closed her eyes and concentrated on delving into Roberto's mind.
Roberto felt the sensation of Wanda's trying to enter his mind, and was able to put mental defenses up for a few minutes in an attempt to keep her out of his mind.
However, the plan failed as he felt his defenses break apart and Wanda enter his mind and begin to sort through his mind, looking at all of his memories. She moved at a fast pace, through the memories of his childhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to when he got his powers to the break-off with his family and his first date with Rahne. Then he felt her enter his latest thought, and it was one that he had only began to accept as true; the realization that he loved Rahne and had since they had gone on their first date over two years ago.
Roberto felt Wanda begin to ferret out his flaws and weaknesses and she began to move through his mind faster and faster. The movement caused a tremendous headache to develop, and although Roberto tried to resist, he finally succumbed to its affects and fell into unconsciousness.
END FLASHBACK
As Wanda came out of Roberto's mind, she looked at him, and her eyes no longer contained anger and hatred, but sympathy and sadness. Wanda once more felt sadness at the fact that no one would ever want to be with her, not like Roberto, who would risk his life to save the one woman he loved. She knew deep inside that there might be one man who might risk it all to be with her, but also knew that he would never have the nerve to act on what he felt.
Wanda then used her powers to take the majority of the metal plating off of the walls and weld it into a gigantic metal cage. She then, telepathically and uncharacteristically gently, took each of the fallen X-Factor members whom she had knocked unconscious and put them into the cage. She was especially gentle with Jubilee, whom she knew to be a good friend of Kitty and Lexie, whom she treasured as friends and knew that, someday, she herself might quit the Brotherhood and join the X-Men… maybe sooner than she thought.
She then slowly moved the unconscious Roberto into the cage, and just so she would feel less guilty at having entered his mind like she had and for having invaded his private thoughts placed him beside the unconscious Rahne. She then conveyed a short message to her brother, telling him that she had captured about half of the X-Factor team.
'At least he's near her; not like I'll ever be near someone because of my being who I am, plus, who would want to be around someone like me; not counting Toad,' thought Wanda bitterly as she glanced once more at the couple. She then turned from the cage, and watched the remaining fights still taking place. She heard maniacal laughing coming from the western part of the Danger Room (she was in the southern part) and turned her attention there.