(A/N: I know it has been really late coming but I was ridiculously sick, I'm under A LOT of stress, and I am now straining to get this done. Read, Review, Enjoy!)
All over the city the shockwave could be felt. The sound could be heard. And the smoke could be seen. Some worried it was a repeat of September Eleventh. Some, who were close by, saw the fire, and could do nothing but stare, as the mansion at the end of Greymalkin Lane, New York City, exploded in a fireball straight out of hell.
It was completely unexpected, unprovoked, and unprecedented. Soon enough the wail of sirens could be heard as every single emergency vehicle raced towards the flaming crater left in the wake of the mansion.
None of the 315 rescue vehicles dispatched to the scene would ever reach the site of the explosion. None of the thousands of people who directly witnessed the blast would even remember it happened. Nor would any of them remember the solid layer of steel that lay almost completely unscathed, buried at the bottom of the crater underneath the wreckage of the mansion above.
The media would release a statement- obviously controlled- saying that the explosion was an accident, nobody had been harmed, and rescue teams had been dispatched to clean up the wreckage. Nothing to worry about.
Or, so thought the denizens of New York, except for a small group of powerful teenagers and adults.
"Yeah Chuck, we felt it." Logan grumped into the communicator. "We're already headed for the blast site."
"What happened to going to San Francisco?" An irritated young voice broke over the Comm. Scott hadn't quite calmed down yet, it would seem.
"Logan, stay a safe distance away. I sense the work of another telepath." Crackled an older, wiser voice over the comm.
"Gotcha, this is Wolverine, over and out." Logan turned the communicator off and turned to look at Kitty, Laura, and John. Beast, seated in the front seat, hummed lightly, as if nothing were wrong in the world.
"Hear that kids? We have the possibility of another telepath thrown inta this mess." Logan stated gruffly. Kitty nodded attentively, while Laura's face was set in a grim mask from her place next to John. John himself looked anxious but ready for anything, fiddling with a coin he'd found in the armrest.
"Logan, what happened?" He said. "That was the Hellfire Club's mansion, wasn't it?"
Logan nodded. "Sure was shellhead, and that's why we're gonna roll on down and check it out before the others arrive."
Kitty brightened up noticeably at the mention of 'others'- it meant she'd be able to see Kurt. She smiled lightly, looking happier than she had in days. John sighed, a light frown present on his features as he sat in silent thought.
Dealing with the Hellfire Club meant dealing with Donald Peirce. Dealing with Donald Peirce meant nothing would be exactly as it seemed. Dealing with surprises was not his forté, no matter how he tried to make it seem as such.
"And so, we're going in there with… what, just the five of us for now?" He grimaced. "If that is enough of us, then they are getting soft."
Laura sighed, threading her fingers into his. "John, for the time being it will have to be enough. If we don't make it enough the others will be dropping in blind."
John winced; he knew from experience how much of a bad idea that could be. He stared at the column of smoke rising silently above the city, and a sudden, sick feeling came to his stomach. No way in hell this was going to be easy. And the feeling he was getting made it seem like there was no way in hell all of them were getting out alive.
"Kurt, hurry the hell up! I don't want us late to the party because you took extra time to comb your fur!" Scott hammered on the door, rushing past it on his way to the X-Jet.
Morph made a face, and sprouted a visor similar to Cyclops' only much bigger and goofier looking. "Kurt, hurry up, meh meh meh, blah blah blah, PLBBBBBT." Morph blew a raspberry at the door, closing an empty drawer in his cabinet. "Jeez does that guy EVER loosen up?" Morph grumped.
Kurt laughed a bit. "You should know by now mein freund, it is not humanly possible for Scott to 'loosen up'." Kurt adjusted his gloves. "Okay. Now I am ready to go."
"Good. I was gettin' kinda sick of waiting myself." He gave Kurt a wink, and sprouted civil war clothes. "Chaaaaaaaaaarge!" He cried, storming out of the room.
Kurt sniggered quietly. Morph was very good at keeping everyone's spirits up. Part of him was jealous the shapeshifter was stealing his job, part of him was happy for the help.
He BAMF'd into the jet hangar, running up to the others. Rogue, Storm, Cyclops, Jean, Iceman, and himself. The team seemed so much smaller than usual, yet at the same time, so much bigger than he was used to. Morph jogged up stuffing a sandwich into his mouth.
"Hokay letf gop." He said, words garbled by the sandwich in his mouth. They hurried onto the jet and soon were airborn. Kurt looked out the window next to his seat at the pillar of smoke they were headed towards- a column of flames and death that, in reality, he wanted to be nowhere near. Kurt subconsciously wrapped a slim, three-fingered hand around his wrist. He always did that when he was thinking about his past- the many times he'd very nearly died from burns caused by fires of that very nature.
The plane spiraled down towards their friends, who stood on a rooftop overlooking the scene from across the street. "Bout time you guys showed up!" John shouted, waving his arms with a grin on his face. Kurt bamf'd out of the plane before it touched down and ran to Kitty, planning to tackle-hug her- but she beat him to it. She tackled him back laughing, wrapping her arms around him and cuddling into his chest.
"I've missed you, Katzchen." Kurt murmured into her ear.
"I've missed you too, fuzzy." She replied, kissing him gently.
Rogue cleared her throat. "Um, not t' bother y'all, but we do kahnda have a job t' do here." Kurt chuckled a bit sheepishly, clearing his throat.
"Ah yes. Oh, and Rogue?" He put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm… sorry about earlier. No hard feelings?"
She eyed him as if she were contemplating hitting him, and he wouldn't blame her. "Yeah, no hard feelin's, Kurt. Ah'm just happy t' have a brother who knows how t' apologize." She looked at her feet and grumbled "And… maybe it's sumfn ishd ln."
Kurt gave a grin. "Vhas vas dat, Rogue? I didn't qvite hear you."
"It's somethin' Ah should learn." She snapped. "Happy now?" She gave him a small smirk and squeezed his hand lightly.
"More than you know." He smiled, putting an arm around Kitty as she walked up next to him to survey the damage.
Laura leaned against the chimney of the building they stood on as she looked over the damage. John was not far away, a worried grimace on his face.
"What could level a house that big?" He muttered to himself, narrowing his eyes and trying to see through the crater. John's eyesight was not the best, so Kurt joined him in examining the crater.
"John." He murmured, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Do you see vhat I see?"
"No, I can barely see anything through all the smoke." He grumbled, squinting against the sun and black smoke.
Laura followed Kurt's gaze and growled slightly. "That can not be good news." She grumbled, leaning slightly over the parapet. "Scott, you'd better get over here…"
Scott looked down at the metal surface covering what was undoubtably more Hellfire activity. Since Kurt and Laura had spotted the metallic sheen of the bulkhead under all the smoke and dirt, they'd made a point of being the first and only response team on the scene.
"Any luck getting that thing open?" He called to Logan, Beast, Jean, and Kurt. The four of them were trying to open the great metal seal in the center of the blast site.
"Sorry shades, we're not makin' any- nngh!- headway over here." Logan tried to jam one of his claws into the seal- it was too tight. He growled a bit.
"Perhaps the answer lies in the environment… a lost encoder or door mechanism pertaining to our preposterous predicament." Beast intoned, loping around, sampling pieces of scrapped machinery.
Kurt looked at him with a blank look. "…Vhas…?" He said, giving a bemused frown and scratching his head.
Logan shrugged, shaking his head and raising his hands. "I don' know, elf, but I figure it's just better not t' even ask."
John chuckled a bit, shaking his head, but whatever he said to the two of them was lost to Scott- he'd spotted a small chunk of shiny metal sticking up out of the rubble. "Hey guys, over here! I may have found something." He called, waving them over.
The giant metal door ground open with a horrible grinding noise. John looked down into the depths. "What is it with these guys and giant holes in the ground? It's like… friggin' Gears of War." He muttered, crossing his arms aggravatedly.
Laura opened her mouth to say something, then closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm not even gonna ask."
Kurt raised an eyebrow, crawling down into the hole and clinging to the ceiling of the facility below. A few seconds later he bamfed back up to them. "Zhe chasm is tre deep down zhere. I zhink it is a mining facility- it vould explain vhere zhe Hellfire Club got all of zhere vresources."
"And how they've managed to stay unnoticed for so long- any hole going down that deep is bound to be connected to the sewer systems somehow." Scott muttered, rubbing his chin.
"Lemme see if I can try to get a reading on how many people are down there." Jean said, starting to put her hands to her temples. Logan grabbed her arm.
"Not so fast, kiddo. Remember, Chuck senses foul play here. Any telepathic searchin' could give 'em a clue to our presence." Logan gave her a warning look and the redheaded telepath took her hands away from her temples with a nod.
John sighed explosively. "Then let's just get in there and end this, already!"
The others looked at each other. A series of nods. They all prepped their gear, checked each other's gear, and mentally prepped themselves.
"Remember X-Men." Scott said, looking down into the hole. "This ends here. We can't let them continue on with this any longer. Get ready, guys- it's all or nothing from here on out."
And with that they descended into the dark.
(A/N: FINALLY done! Enjoy! Story's almost over. Bummer, right?)