Disclaimer: The X-Men and Brotherhood aren't mine, they're Marvel's. Only OC that appears is mine.
Author's note: SPIDEY!
So yeah, as that delightful author's note I put up a few days ago said, things have been weird. Again, although the Batman shooting occurred nearly a weak ago keep those affected in your thoughts. As I said before I had a lot of friends who went to a premier somewhere and it freaked me out that it could've been them.
I hope that awful cliffhanger didn't harm you guys too bad.
The title is a reference to The Amazing Spider-Man vol.2 #36, the 9/11 reaction comic. I read it recently and it was really inspiring. Okay, so in reality it only affected one little section where I actually quote it, but it's meant to make you think about those you thought were enemies.
The Rescue (#36)
Enjoy. Read. Review. (maybe eat some ice cream)
"We are coming to you live from the site of the warehouse explosion where a rescue mission is underway." A dark haired, dark skinned reporter spoke into a news camera. Behind her fires still blazed on the apartment buildings, surrounded by scurrying firemen and policemen who were trying to extinguish them. She was walking backwards toward a large black van, the X-Van, while still talking into the camera. "Despite the efforts of both the police and the mutant group known as the X-Men several casualties have occurred, and some residents are still trapped." She paused and tilted her head. "We are just learning that three of the rescue workers from the X-Men are currently missing in action, having been caught in the blast." The reporter turned and pointed at the X-Van where Rogue was leaning against the black metal. Wolverine was approaching as well, his orange hood down and face grim. "There are a few of the X-Men now, we'll see if they have any comments."
Rogue slid down the door and sat on the ground, bringing her knees to her chest. The different personas in her head were starting to act up, their voices drowning out her own thoughts. After the last self-possession event she was not in favor of it happening again. But with the emotions of the situation it was getting hard to deal with.
Logan walked up and knelt next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "How ya holding up kid?"
Rogue shook her head silently, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. "Ah need mah space right now Logan. Too many voices…" She muttered.
"Excuse me."
Logan looked up irritated. The girl beside him held her hands over her ears and muttered under her breath. The man turned his face to the reporter. "Can I help you?" He asked gruffly.
The reporter held her microphone out. "Yes, are you one of the X-Men?"
"No, I just wear this outfit for fun." Wolverine replied, rolling his eyes. "Yes, I'm one of the X-Men."
The reporter ignored his rudeness. "Do you have any comments on the three mutants missing? Who were they? Will you alert their parents?"
Logan stood up, seeing that her questions were messing with Rogue's concentration. "The Xavier Institute don't got a comment to make."
"But their family members—"
"No comment." He repeated, close to growling at the woman.
"Who were they?"
Wolverine choked down a snarl. "No comment!" He slashed at the camera.
The camera man flinched after the strike but he was unharmed. The reporter and camera man watched in shock as the front of the camera fell off in three clean slices.
The mutant turned his back on the reporter. "Bill the Xavier Institute for that, will ya?"
The reporter looked about to protest when two policemen came up and directed them back.
"Everyone needs to remain behind the police-line, miss." One said quickly, while the other walked them back.
Logan looked back and raised an eyebrow. The police helping them?
"Us too, bub?"
The remaining police officer shook his head. "We are here to help. I think you deserve the thanks here, if we can do anything—"
"Why?" Logan blurted.
The man frowned. "You risked your lives to save our fellow officers, one being a good friend of mine. If you are willing to do that for us, we will be willing to do the same for you."
The officer turned to leave.
"Thanks." Wolverine grunted, the man turned and nodded before leaving.
Wolverine looked down at Rogue who was still fighting her battle inside her head. He wished he could help, but it was all about her strength of mind over the other personas'.
'How is she doing?' The professor's mental voice interrupted his thoughts.
Wolverine sighed and looked at the man as he rolled his wheelchair up beside him. 'She's doing alright, Chuck… but… I think we're awfully close to another self-possessed event.'
'She's stressed.'
'We all are.' Wolverine responded. He glanced around. The other X-Men were either sitting somewhere in or on the other vehicles (all were wisely giving Rogue space), or in Storm's case, creating storm clouds to help put out the fires. Some, like Scott, couldn't sit still and were out of sight as they ran in and out of burning buildings.
The professor sighed. In the few minutes following the explosion the teens had reacted in a variety of ways. No one was taking it well.
He himself was not taking it that well, but he had to remain strong for his students.
Lightning streaked across the sky, and rain began to pour. The fires started to fizzle out under the downpour and the firefighters' efforts. Storm touched down nearby and walked over to the professor and Logan. Her expression was hard to read but she was clearly upset.
"I got a good view of the wreckage," Storm said, her voice a little shaky, "but I couldn't tell if they…" Several students looked up expectantly and Cyclops and Sunspot walked over from helping rescue residents. "…If they were okay." She finished, diverting her eyes from any of the students'.
The professor motioned for the other teachers to follow him and the X-Men reformed around Scott's convertible.
The bald man looked at all their faces, a few were red-eyed while others actually had tears still on their faces. All had the same look of determination.
"We are going to find them." Xavier stated simply. He took a shaky breath. "Whether they are still alive or not." Kitty grabbed Kurt's arm and buried her face in his shoulder. Scott clenched his jaw and looked down at the ground, Jean took his hand in hers. The professor watched them react, unknowing whether he should continue on, but eventually he did. "But most importantly we need to clear away this rubble. We will never be able to find them if we don't get started." Scott nodded and looked like he was about to take control.
"Would you like some help with that?"
The X-Men turned and looked behind the professor. Levitating a few inches off the ground was a man no one expected to see. Magneto approached silently, his feet brushing against the ground. Behind him the Brotherhood mutants followed.
"Magneto! Come to kick us when we're down?" Wolverine snarled.
The Master of Magnetism shook his head. "The opposite. We look after our own, and despite the boys' decision to be X-Men they were- are, first and foremost: mutants."
"Thought maybe you could use a heavy lifter!" The Blob said, pushing Scott's car aside with ease.
"Hey!"
"Relax Summers, we're here to help." Quicksilver said with a quick glance at his father.
As much as Scott hated it, they could use their help. Time was running out for the Dyson brothers if they were still alive. They needed to clear the damage fast.
"Alright team, split up. There's still people trapped in the buildings so I guess we should focus more on them…" Scott looked at the professor.
He nodded. "Scott's right. Magneto, Storm, Beast, and I will move toward the center of the wreckage and try to get them out. Everyone else focus on the wreckage or the residents." He looked at Scott and then tentatively back at Rogue. "Cyclops will lead the team continuing the rescue… Wolverine will be in charge of the wreckage. And Jean?" She raised an eyebrow. "I want you to keep an eye on Rogue, if things get bad, let me know."
"Of course professor."
"Now let's move out!" The professor said with command. The teens got up and began splitting according to how Logan and Scott called them out.
Jamie slunk back and split into two copies. One nodded at the other and followed Wolverine as the group left. The other jumped in the bed of the yellow pick-up truck belonging to the Dysons. He leaned against the cabin of the truck and buried his head in his hands. He thought back to the conversation he had with Leo a few weeks before.
"I'm not going anywhere Jamie, not as long as you need me here."
The boy looked at the gray sky, raindrops falling into his eyes. He sucked in a breath. "Come on Leo! I still need you!"
"Even those we thought our enemies are here. Because some things surpass rivalries and borders."
Scott looked perplexed over his shoulder, waiting for Toad to catch up. He'd never thought much of Toad, not since he ran screaming from the mansion, but there the kid was, hopping around in the smoky stairwell. The rest of the Brotherhood was helping with clearing the rubble, minus Quicksilver who was better suited to help get the people out. Even when Toad clearly knew the X-Men were broken he couldn't dial down the annoyance he projected.
"So Summers, why did you guys decide to play the heroes anyways?"
Cyclops resisted the urge to smack him while he answered. "We were needed."
"You know, I never got to really meet your new guys." Toad said cautiously.
"Yeah well… You may never get the chance now." Scott grumbled. He was surprised when Toad grabbed his arm.
"Listen, I know we ain't that great of friends… but ya know, I'm sorry, man." The boy said sincerely. It was odd to see him take on a tone of seriousness, but he did. "I was hopin' things wouldn't be so crazy after that Apocalypse shit, but man was I wrong."
The adults approached a line of police officers who were surrounding the wreckage. The officer in charge nodded his head without so much as speaking, or even with Professor X's mind manipulation. The group passed by, and Beast glanced back.
The officers were looking back with their caps off and over their chest.
It looked like they were wishing them luck.
Magneto extended his arms and metal beams lifted up and out of the way. As he cleared a path for Xavier, Beast and Storm scouted ahead. The man made a point to observe everything in the wreckage; from the scorched metal, to the remains of the contents of the wooden crates (now mostly ash). Whoever did this was skilled and knew what they were doing. He narrowed his eyes as he realized why the area would make a good target.
Beast leapt atop a broken beam to get a better view of the surrounding area. The center appeared to be only a few yards off, several more metal beams stuck in the air like jagged teeth. He smiled grimly, they were getting close… but he couldn't hear anything.
As he turned his weight shifted on the beam and it began to slide. He let out a surprised cry as he grabbed tighter to his perch, hoping to just slide down the rubble with it.
Suddenly twin tendrils of darkness reached out and secured the falling beam. Beast glanced down bewildered by the solidified shadows gripping the metal. He turned his blue-gray head to the left and saw a man approach.
"I would jump off now." The man stated. His voice was garbled and dark, like it was being run through a voice scrambler. He came a little farther out of the shadows, his arms stretched out, wrapped in the same darkness that held the beam.
"Oh, well yes." Beast muttered, jumping down to land beside the man. He inspected him quickly. The man was wearing dark purple and black armor that glinted dully in the streetlights, a purple helmet encasing his head. Two eyes peered out at Beast, but in the dark it was difficult to tell what color they were.
As soon as he touched the ground the man dropped his arms and the beam continued on its way, crashing into more rubble.
"Beast!"
"It's okay, I'm fine Charles!" Beast called out in reply, not taking his eyes off the new arrival. "Who are you?"
"Dusk." The man stated simply.
Metal wreckage shifted beside them and Magneto levitated over, brushing the scraps aside. He narrowed his eyes as he looked over Dusk.
"And who might you be?"
"This," Beast said, gesturing at the man, "is Dusk."
"I'm the master of the Haven." Dusk said, his eyes locking with Magneto's. "As I believe you all know we have particular interest in the welfare of the Dyson brothers."
"As do we all." Magneto muttered. "Shall we continue on then? That is unless you would prefer to battle now."
Dusk chuckled, the sound harsh through his helmet. "I doubt that will be necessary."
The two leaders continued to stare down each other.
Charles interrupted with a polite cough. "Storm just contacted me. She's found…" He stopped, shutting his eyes.
"There is no time to waste."
Storm couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Any of it.
Metal beams were bent and twisted all around the center of the former maze in a jagged circle. Scorch marks extended out from a central point, nearly everything around it was obliterated.
But there were no bodies, no carnage.
There was a semi-dry puddle of blood under a metal beam, but no other sign that the brothers had been there and had been injured. With the damage done to the surrounding area and the metal itself there should have been a terrible sight to behold.
But there was nothing.
She couldn't even express her shock to Xavier when she said she found it. She had been mentally preparing herself for something! But all there was…
Metal groaned and shifted, bending out of the way for the four adults who followed. They froze as they took in the scene.
Beast walked over to where the blood was on the ground, putting his mind into scientific mode. "Hmm, interesting…" He muttered. "With this much blood loss even Leo couldn't have gotten far. In fact I doubt Logan would have survived that."
Magneto joined him, examining the heavy metal beam. "This was definitely where he fell. There is flesh on the underside of this bar, but it doesn't look to have been moved since then. He did not escape from underneath it."
There was a crunch and the adults whirled around. Dusk shrugged apologetically, pointing down at his boot. He had been approaching the two men when he stepped on something small and metallic.
"What is that?"
The man lifted his sleek boot and saw that underneath was a tangle of small wires and metal. He knelt down and examined it. "Magneto, if you would be so kind…"
The Master of Magnetism complied, lifting his hand and the shattered device along with it. Xavier stared at it for a second before realization hit him.
"That is Tyler's communicator!" He exclaimed. As it floated in the air Beast pulled a flashlight from his belt and pointed the light at it. The broken device gleamed a shadowy silver with a red card spade on one of the flat sides.
Beast swung the light in an arch, searching the ground. Two more metallic objects shone on the ground, one silver and one bronze. Turbulence and Leo.
"With the wreckage here… there's no way… there should be something!" Beast whispered.
"They're just… gone." Storm shook her head.
"Wait… Shine the light over here." Dusk commanded, jogging over to the very center of the space. He squinted down at the cement.
Beast complied, not knowing what he was looking for.
As the light traced over the ground the mutants saw what looked like a red diamond that was split down the middle drawn on the ground, outlined in black.
"What is that?" Hank questioned.
Xavier shook his head. "I don't know, but I fear we may have a new threat looming."
"They chose this location for a reason Charles." Magneto growled. He looked down at the man in the wheelchair. "Do you know how many mutants live in this area? Nearly fifty in the apartments alone, more probably on the surrounding streets. If that bomb had been fully armed…"
"All of them would be dead, and possibly more of the X-Men…" Xavier finished, placing a hand on his forehead.
Dusk made a tsk noise from behind his mask. "I see they are not here." The shadows rippled around him and he vanished.
"Strange to not see Clay Dune instead…" Magneto murmured. "But this will not go by unnoticed! We will let the city know that mutants cannot be targeted like this again!"
"Erik, don't do this." Xavier insisted. "Do you want to start a war?"
"That may be what it comes down to, Charles." The man responded, lifting into the air.
The professor swore as the metal manipulator levitated away. "This will not make it better."
"But what do we tell the other students?" Storm asked, still staring at the empty space Leo had been. "We cannot be sure they're alive, but we also cannot say they are dead."
"We tell them the truth." Xavier stated, looking up into the bleak sky, rain still falling. "Leo, Tyler, and Benj are missing… and Leo is probably dead."
Oh well, still dramatic. Who's got spectulations?
Up next: Flashes, don't know how many chapters it'll turn into (I'll stop each time around 5,000 words and I don't have an exact plan so WHO KNOWS?)
And sorry for the length of this one. I couldn't come up with more and I wanted to move on.
(*Sidenote! The author's note will be deleted tomorrow. I just don't feel like it today. *Other side note! Chapter 1 has been editted, and reposted. No major changes)