17. It Begins
Xavier Mansion:
Contently watching his weekly episode of Smackdown, Miguel came to forget he was one of the few left in the mansion, beside the small group of younger students in their rooms just outside his TV room on the second floor. The TV showed two female wrestlers engaging in a back and forth fight for the Diva's Title with neither gaining a sizeable advantage on the other. A warm breeze blew in through the open window as with the sounds of crickets. If he only had a can of Raid, he would have gone and committed genocide, wiping out all of the little black insects with a single passover of deadly chemicals.
Once the champion retained her title belt, a preview of the next match featuring Randy Orton versus Wade Barrett was announced. Taking the opportunity to alleviate his noisy problem, he hurriedly got up and headed for the window to slam it shut while muttering a few choice words at the irritating crickets. No sooner had he retook his position on the makeshift bed area when the power inexplicably cut out.
"What the hell?" he muttered as he sat back up in the pitch black room. A look out the window he just shut showed him all the lights around the mansion were out, but the ones lining the street were still on, as were the rest of the neighborhood lights. Forming his claws one hand, he used the light from them to enter the hall where several of the remaining mutants came out of their rooms and questioned the reason behind the power outage.
"Nobody panic," Logan shouted from downstairs. "It's probably a transformer. Emergency power will be up in a minute."
"It's not a transformer," Miguel said as he made his way to the top of the stairs. "If it were, the entire street would be out. It's only restricted to the mansion."
"Great, so what do we do now?" The Asian girl Miguel remembered as Jubilee ignited what looked like fireworks in the palm of her hand. None burned her or the floor but did provide enough light for her and those around her to see.
Once the emergency power tripped on, dim lights on the walls let out a yellowish, white light. It wasn't much, but it did illuminate enough of the hallway to safely get around.
"See? Nothin' to worry about. Just a simple outage. Probably by whatever the Professor and Hank are doin' downstairs," Logan told them. "Just go back to your rooms and I'll see what the problem is."
As the students headed back to their rooms, a loud siren sounded off, making most of them jump and cover their ears. It wasn't long before they heard several loud bangs from outside in front of the mansion grounds. Those in the building didn't know what to do as Logan ran to one of the front windows and looked outside.
"Everybody down!" he yelled as he dove for cover.
The second his body hit the floor, the front doors exploded inwards. Wood, stone, and glass flew everywhere including upstairs. Several of the students were struck by the flying debris while others ran into their rooms. More loud bangs could be heard a moment before the bedroom windows were destroyed. Several of the young students were killed in the explosions or from dangerous debris with others being injured.
Acting fast, Miguel sprang into action and got as many of the injured out of harm's way when purple and black armored men used ropes to rappel into the house through the holes they created. Gun shots rang out as bullets flew into the bodies of any mutant standing in their way. Students panicked with the most inexperienced ones being caught in the cross fire while those who had trained for this, should it happen, went right to work in protecting the injured and themselves.
Behind him, Miguel heard another explosion and saw three of the armored men swing in from outside. They opened fire on him without question but their bullets did nothing to harm him as his claws were out. Leaving the stairs, he attacked those who shot him and used his claws to break their rifles and trip the three of them with one swift sweep kick. Those struck with his blue claws were put into comas or suffered a massive seizure as their strength was robbed and their bodies failed to work from being so weak. Screams from the men and students filled the air as more of the soldiers came in and he went to work in dispatching the intruders.
Downstairs, Logan popped his adamantium claws and sliced his way through every soldier entering through the front entrance. Why the security system failed to activate was beyond him but at least he got to see some action. Rapid fire rounds buried themselves into his flesh but were healed after a few seconds, leaving only his t-shirt damaged and bloodstained. He let out a roar as he charged the soldiers and left them in bloody pieces.
"Get them out of here!" Jubilee yelled as she shot another incoming soldier with her fireworks. "Get them underground, now!"
"On it!" Bobby yelled as he created an ice wall over one of the holes in a bedroom to provide cover for them.
Jamie and Kurt ran interference to buy the other less experienced mutants time to get to the emergency passages that led underground. Jamie's clones gathered what injured they could and helped them while others fought the soldiers with many of them disappearing when shot dead. Kurt teleported back and forth, succeeding in getting several of the soldiers to succumb to friendly fire. Rahne, who had transformed into a human/wolf hybrid, attacked the ones who tried to get to the secret passages as the younger students piled into them. Each were shuttled through a tube underground where they made their way for the Blackbird. They knew exactly what to do and carried out what they trained for without even thinking.
"Three Seventeen, bring in the flame units!" one of the masked soldiers yelled.
"Damn." Miguel caught sight of two soldiers emerging from his TV room with lighted flame throwers in hand. There were too many people, mutant and soldier, to get over to them before they could douse them all in flame. "Kurt! Get me over there!"
Responding to what Miguel shouted, Kurt teleported behind the clawed mutant and disappeared with him after a moment. They both reappeared behind the flame soldiers where Miguel proceeded to slice the tanks on their backs before grabbing them by the head and pulling them back into the room where they caught fire and leapt out of the hole they once entered from.
"F #k you!" he yelled as they crashed on the stone pathway outside before joining the fight again.
Down in the underground levels, Hank and Xavier monitored the battle above them and were trying to get the security system back online. While the power system for the upper levels of the mansion were out, the lower levels were untouched and operating as normal. Monitors displayed what was happening above them as the two scrambled to get more than the emergency power up to the building.
"Charles, the entire system above us seems to have been struck with a magnetic pulse. It'll take some time but I think I can get it up and running again in a minute or two if my calculations are correct."
"Good. We must get the system back up to lower the emergency shutters." Xavier was at the manual override controls but was having no luck in getting them to respond.
"Who are they, Charles? Can you read their minds?"
"I've tried, but their helmets are blocking my telepathy. They must be made of the same material as Magneto's. If we don't get the shutters down and the defenses activated, I'll try my best to lower them telekinetically. It won't be easy but I think I can do it from down here."
As they worked on getting the security system running, the first of the young mutants arrived underground. They did as instructed and headed for the Blackbird while helping the injured board the plane. Many cried and panicked from what was happening while others were getting them to calm down.
"Charles, I don't think we have too much time left. We have two more elevators full of students to bring down here and too many soldiers to contend with," Hank said as his fingers flew over the controls.
"Very well, abandon the shutters, I'll take care of them. Just work on the defense system." Backing his wheelchair away from the panel he was at, Xavier closed his eyes and concentrated on the large metal shutters in the house above them.
One by one, the mechanical gears within the outer walls of the mansion began to move and slowly roll the shutters down. It was hard concentrating on all the mechanics involved but Charles Xavier was slowly making them obey him. Had the manual controls worked, they would have been down in less than a second, this way was taking longer than he wanted. Eventually, all the first floor shutters closed, just in time for the final group of students to enter the elevator with Rahne, Bobby, and Jamie. Kurt teleported to the plane and got it prepped for takeoff as the others made their way to the hanger.
"Miguel, get out of here!" Logan yelled as he took out several more soldiers.
"Hell no!" Miguel kicked one of the men off the second story railing to a large mahogany table below, shattering it into pieces. "There's still too many of them up here!"
"Fall back, that's an order!"
"Then you take it. I'm not one of your little soldiers so don't go telling me what to do!" Five soldiers began to fire upon the blue clawed mutant with their assault rifles as he fought through them, slicing each one as their bullets bounced off him.
"Kid, get your ass downstairs with the others, now! I'll cover you!" Taking out several more soldiers, Logan made his way to the stairs and fought several more going up. "Dammit, where are you?"
"Here!" Miguel sliced through another soldier, putting him into a violent seizure as he ran over to the Canadian. "The elevator's on its way, just a few more seconds!"
"We ain't got a few seconds, it's now or never!"
The two fought off numerous soldiers as they came in through the bedrooms. An uncountable number of bullets struck them but they continued to fight anyways. Logan sliced every soldier he came across while Miguel did the same to the ones on his side. Bodies were thrown off the second floor or were tossed back outside as the two mutants fought back to back.
One of the soldiers, with the numbers zero and one on his chest, tried to knife Miguel but was struck down and fell before the elevator, which had just arrived, with his helmet falling off. As he and Logan dove in, the latter caught sight of the maskless soldier's face and instantly recognized him as Duncan Matthews, Jean's former boyfriend. He shook his head as the elevator doors closed and took the two mutants underground.
Bayville Sports Arena – Trapt concert:
The show was going great. Trapt was just starting their signature song, Headstrong, and the crowd was singing along with them every time the microphone was pointed at them. The mutants were enjoying the loud rock music, even though Scott complained about the speakers being a little too loud every now and then. Jean would nudge him in an attempt to get him to simply enjoy the show but Scott was Scott and he was never one to just 'settle' into an uncomfortable situation he couldn't control.
Lights circled the audience as they jumped to the music, forming a mosh pit shortly after the first chorus. People head banged and slammed into each other as the music continued to surround them. Caught in the middle were the ones from the Xavier Mansion except for Scott who quickly ran out of the way with Jean close behind.
"Where'd Boy-Scott run off to?" Tabitha asked as she bounced off Marie.
"Don't know, maybe outside to check for blood in his ears." Marie was having too much fun as she bounced from one person to another. She would have never thought to join a mosh pit, much less a concert, when her powers were uncontrollable.
Piotr stood almost still as Tabitha jumped around him. One unlucky young man went to chest bump him only to be thrown back and land on the floor. His blonde date for the night laughed as the Russian stared at the confused boy with a puzzled look on his face.
Amara was singing along loudly as Megan tried her best to keep from having her glasses knocked off or ears exposed. Remy had his fun by slyly picking several pockets from some of the more 'aggressive' men when they made a woman or two uncomfortable. It was just a little lesson he did to teach them how to treat a lady.
Above the sea of people, a purple and black armored soldier lowered a suppressed sniper rifle on one of the mutants. Taking careful aim, he zoomed in and locked on one of the mutant's heads. He couldn't tell who it was as they were a silhouette of yellow among the green crowd of non-mutants. His finger was on the trigger and gently pulled it back.
"Lance?" Kitty called out in search of her boyfriend. "Lance, where did you go?"
"Kitty, over here!" The member of The Brotherhood leapt over the crowd as he made his way over to her. Without the crowd around them noticing, she phased through them while being careful not to make it obvious when a bullet struck the ground before Lance. "What the?"
Looking up, the quake causer saw a shadowed figure move slowly in the catwalks. His eyes grew wide when he saw the shape seem to point a gun down at them. The math hit his head as he figured out his intended target was his girlfriend, Kitty Pride, who was phased when the shot was fired.
Acting fast, he flattened his palms and used his powers to cause a small earthquake before the mystery shooter could re-aim. People shouted and the band stopped playing as they tried to stay on their feet. The man on the catwalk lost his balance and fell to the concrete floor of the arena, causing a stampede of frightened people to clear away from his body. Before the other mutants from the mansion could demand why he did that, dozens upon dozens of armored soldiers came bursting in through the emergency exits and opened fire on the spot the mutants were in.
"What in blazes?" Marie yelled as she and Remy ducked closer to the stage.
"Stay down, chère!" Remy yelled at her as he reached for a deck of cards in his jacket pocket.
"Scott!" Jean yelled as she found herself separated from her fiancé. She tried to get her bearings when she saw Piotr armor up and Tabitha ducking behind him along with Amara and Megan. "Tabitha, where's Scott?"
"Wasn't he with you?" Tabitha yelled over the incoming gunfire.
"I lost hi-"
"Look out!"
On Tabitha's words, Jean turned to see a soldier level his rifle at her then get hit hard by an optic blast, sending him into the stage. Scott ran up to her and grabbed her arm as he rallied the others to him.
"We've gotta get out of here! Follow me!" He led the mutants to the nearest exit as Remy and Lance provided cover for their retreat. That plan was scrapped as another group of the armed men came through the door they were headed to.
Taking to the high ground, Remy leapt on stage and flung several charged cards at two of the incoming soldiers, sending them back in a small explosion as more took their place. Tabitha laced the ground with her bombs as she and Megan tried to provide an exit for them and several innocent bystanders. Using her soul dagger, Megan leapt forward and landed in a roll where she sliced into several of the attacking men before diving for cover behind a speaker setup. Yellow orbs erupted as Tabitha's bombs exploded when the soldiers stepped on them. Amara turned into her Magma form and set up walls of flame and molten rock at the exits where no one was at except the soldiers to keep more from coming in.
"Guys, retreat!" Scott yelled as he shot another soldier with an optic blast. "We're doing more harm than good fighting them in here. Kitty, get Lance, Marie, and Remy out of here. Megan, take Tabitha. Jean, Piotr. Amara, and I will come with you."
Grabbing onto her boyfriend, Remy, he and Marie had Kitty phase them through the ground. Jean levitated herself, Scott Amara, and Piotr as well as put a psychic shield around them and got them out through a sky light with Megan following her as she carried Tabitha. As the soldiers fired upon them, around three dozen yellow orbs fell from above and exploded as a parting gift.