Already Chapter 20! Thank you so, so, so much. And it's already over 7,000 views.
I honestly wasn't exactly sure what to make of this chapter, I wanted the Liberty battle for sure, but, the detail and extra bits were a bit rusty.
Thank you to Tiger Mutant, oh my batman is that Spitfire and pyscho-jellybean for the reviews. And in answer to oh my batman is that Spitfire's question...you'll just have to read to the end.
I hope this is okay, it isn't my best Chapter and certainly not the longest but it finishes the first X-men movie relatively well, again, hoping.
disclaimer: I only own ocs
with that done, on with the chapter...
Nobody runs or makes it out alive,
Out alive,
Because we did it for the glory,
The glory,
Only the glory,
We live inside a story,
It's a story,
All for the glory,
Hollywood Undead ~ Glory
I was woken abruptly by the explosive sound of a plane. The sound confused me, so did the feeling of the sheets covering my fully-clothed body. Elijah must have returned later on in the night to cover me up, keep me warm, yet inside I still felt the bitter chill of guilt.
Lights passed through the window above my bed, passing over everything as they slowly moved up towards the ceiling. I swiftly twisted my body up to kneel on the mattress, looking out into the dark night just in time to see a jet rise from under the basketball court, the loud noise thumping against my eardrums.
I heard Connor stir, the jet waking him up too. But I didn't focus on him, my face sour as tasteless saliva collected in my once dry throat. The X-men were leaving for Liberty Island, finally putting all the pieces together of Magneto's plan. I knew they would, but was irritated that the jet had woken me, because there was no way I could sleep now with thoughts collecting inside my head.
Would they get there in time? Would they kill any or all of the brotherhood? Would they themselves die? Would Sammy defend the machine?
Too many questions that had little to no answers, at least not right now. The jet rose higher and higher, revealing the burning blue flames of the thrust underneath the barely-able-to-see metal. Then it rapidly disappeared into the night, high in the sky, the sound lasting longer than the visible sight of the jet.
"What the heck was that?" Connor asked through a groan, the question mostly slurred as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. It was the X-jet. Or whatever Professor X and the X-men called it, but I liked the name, fitted with said X-men perfectly.
"Hope." I replied nonchalantly, with a hint of sarcasm even though the statement was true. Connor grunted, either confused by my answer or he was too tired to care. It appeared to be the latter as he rolled over and went back to sleep. I didn't, l lay on my back and stared at the ceiling, hands on my chest as my mind ticked over every possible outcome of tonight.
But there was only one true outcome, already decided, and it would begin a chain of events that no-one could ever have predicted.
Except me, of course. Only Mancio knew what was fated for the X-men and the brotherhood, and it wasn't a good fate, not at all.
I barely broke into a sweat as we reached the inside of the statue's head. The mesh covering the open squares in her crown obscuring most of the outside water. An earpiece was strapped to my ear, simply an easier way to communicate with everyone if needs were needed, but it was bothersome and distracted me with its metallic structure locked in my ear.
Magneto was staring through the mesh, silent, tension high as he squinted his eyes. There was clearly something going on outside, I could sense it, sense the water swirling far below like a growing tsunami. I was apprehensive. I knew I had to prove I could fight, or Magneto would never forgive me for destroying his plan.
"Toad, Mystique, stay sharp. We are not alone." He concluded, ordering the two mutants through his own earpiece. Sabretooth went to turn around, but Magneto continued to force him to stop.
"And you stay here. Once I've given my power to the girl, I'll be temporarily weakened. You'll be my only defence." He finished, turning around to look at Sabretooth, Sabretooth's black eyes wanting to disobey. He didn't want to protect Magneto, he wanted to fight, to kill the X-men. Especially Wolverine, I knew there was something between the two beasts, even I could sense that even though he never spoke about the mutant. Maybe I will never know, but it is always good to estimate.
"What about me? What shall I do?" I asked, not having my orders yet. Magneto looked at me with a little smile, I couldn't tell whether it was malicious or genuine, but it unnerved me nonetheless.
"Now's the time to prove yourself my dear. Help Toad and Mystique distract the X-men, however, only do this if both are incapable of stopping them." He ordered, to which I nodded my head and began the long climb back down, but a wrinkled hand snatched my jacket-covered arm with a firm grip. I didn't jolt in shock for once, turning with glowering eyes back to Magneto.
He seemed content with the glint in my eyes, the train station dilemma practically forcing me out of my adolescence completely. I had found my feet, found something to use to spark independence. The dropped Poseidon figurine may have represented my humanity, but it represented the strength of what water could do, with the right training coordinated gestures, it could be unstoppable.
"Help bring about a new age, a better age for your brother." He almost sneered, flashing anger radiating my whole body. I yanked my arm out of his grip, but he didn't protest or even punish me, he was satisfied with these obvious actions of loathing, giving me a spark of rebelleation.
I wasn't scared anymore, not of anything, not even the water frightened me anymore. I had finally cemented an adult, cemented a soldier. With this new spark, I stepped forward with my teeth bared.
"My brother hates me because of you. I may follow your orders and your cause, but don't think for one second that I respect you. Not anymore." I growled, and there was a flicker of rage on his ancient face. But he defused it, not bothering over my tantrums, because he knew that I was now tied to the brotherhood. I was a member, maybe not respected, but a member nonetheless.
"Who hates you is your own fault, your decisions are your own, and so are your consequences. Don't blame me for your own mistakes." He said in that even but mocking tone of his, to which I said no more and stormed down the many steps that let to the inside of the statue, preparing a suitable place to hide and wait for the X-men.
Elijah stood by his dear old friend, pained by the wires that were strapped over his bald head, even though he knew they were there to monitor Charles. He sighed, a hand pressed against his face as he felt idiotic, thinking he in some way he would have known that Cerebro was tampered with.
But he could not have known, he wasn't a mind reader like Charles. Unfortunately Dr Grey had taken the responsibility herself, attempting to find the kidnapped Rogue. It was luck that the machine hadn't killed her, a miracle even, but he assumed there would be repercussions later.
"You can hear me, can't you Charles?" He asked his unmoving friend, hands pressed onto the metallic table as he leaned over him. His eyes were open, but were distant yet close, the complexity the man never ceased to loose. He didn't answer, but Elijah was certain that the man could hear him.
"They can't survive without you, not the X-men, not Erik, not me. The only mutant even remotely capable of taking your place would be Isaac, but he isn't you, and he is too young and wouldn't be able to handle the pressure you so easily hide. He's an amazing boy, his sister is just as brilliant, and I know you haven't given up on her." He confined, spilling out everything that had been collecting in his head for the last few months, so used to disposing the emotions away without having to breathe a word.
"She's another Erik. We know it to be true. Years of suffering from humans, true she never went after them, but the thought of loneliness and namelessness was always there. He's feeding her ideas of a future which she desires, maybe not exactly the same, but a future where her brother and herself won't be hurt again. But you knew that all along Charles, that's why you never gave up on her, because you know that one day she will realise that Erik is not the answer. You know she can't kill." He said firmly, chuckling to himself because he knew Charles Xavier so well.
"No matter what happens, if you die, or Erik dies, I promise...I'll keep fighting, until the end." He promised, because if he would be the last man alive out of the trio, he was going to combine both of the mutants' beliefs into a worthy future.
"Don't go dying on me just yet old friend, if there was anyone I would want to outlive me, it would be you." He finished, patting his brother's hand before leaving the medical bay.
They were though, Charles, Erik and himself, they were more like brothers than friends and enemies. He just hoped Erik would remember this, remember that he wasn't the only survivor of the cruelty, that he wasn't the only one to have his family taken away from him and never to be seen again.
But that wasn't in Erik's mind, it never was, because he always believed Elijah had forgiven the soldiers for what they did. He hadn't, never had, he just chose to believe that humanity would never go back to those ways. But that belief was becoming harder to strive towards, with people like Kelly, with Erik forcing mutation onto world leaders.
The belief of peace was slowly shattering and turning into dust.
With Isaac's miraculous mutation, it was a privilege and a curse, he would forever see death never-ending changes of the future. There was denying the boy would grow into an opinionated man, but then that would come at a cost, just like everything else. The young boy believed there was more than one future, far future, but time was a complicated river as many scientist theories predicted, a ripple could change the slightest detail,or everything. But then, there were other theories, like how nothing can be changed, no matter how you try, some things are meant to be.
They were interesting interpretations, all of them right and wrong, no clear explanation or concrete evidence to support it. It was honestly fascinating how people perceived time. Maybe young Isaac would be the one to finally stop the rumours and speak the truth, true to his nickname staged by Elijah, the Latin phrase hinting that the boy couldn't hide away what he saw, that one day he would have to confine in someone about his visions.
Elijah just hoped that that person would be his runaway sister, hopefully, returning to him, no matter which side they ended up on. They needed each other. Like Erik and Charles needed each other. The two pairs oddly similar. If they were, it would be a long time before Samantha King discarded the name Aqua.
I crouched behind the metal railings of the second floor of the base of the statue, waiting for the X-men to arrive on the scene. I would find a better place when needed, but there I could see and hear nearly everything within the massive room which held history and mini figures of the famous monument, almost no sound except the thumping of my own heartbeat.
I didn't know where Mystique and Toad had hidden, but they were close, which was little consolation as wherever they would be, the X-men would be. I searched around the second floor for some type of water source, finding a metallic water fountain propped up against the wall, I sighed with relief, knowing I had some form of extra defence that I would likely need.
An alarm went off, screeching against my eardrums savagely. However it was quickly stopped with the sound of crackling glass and punctured wires. A while later I heard scuffles taking place, exceedingly faint but registered as a battle. It was below on the ground floor. I again peaked over, sure I was revealing my location but witnessed as Toad knocked Cyclops to the floor and out of sight behind a large metal gate. I settled myself, eyes snapping for a glimpse of the other X-men.
I waited, I was doing as Magneto commanded, only intervene if absolutely necessary.
But then a groan and a shadowed mass passed over me. A crash echoed extremely close and so I swiftly turned to find Storm thrown into a table of assorted relics and tourist pieces. I gasped in shock, almost attempting to back up against the cold metal of the railing. But then I regained myself, crawling hastily out of her view, not ready to fight against Professor Monroe just yet.
I found myself hidden behind another table of tourist relics, this being placed against a wall so I was completely obscured from view, but then I couldn't keep a good look out in case they did in fact see me. I only listened now, hearing Toad spit his slim onto somebody that was unknown, and then Storm, I heard as she scrambled to her feet and slammed against the railing to see what was happening.
And then in true fashion, she stormed further away, giving me space to peak from behind my hidden spot. She remained by the railings, a huge mistake, Toad leaping and balancing onto the black painted metal. She raised her hands as if to do something, but simply took steps backwards, Toad smiling grotesquely at her as he did an acrobatic flip and kicked her in the chest.
She groaned, stumbling backwards and smashing into a glass cased small replica of the Statue of Liberty. Rolling off the table as she tried to steady herself again, only to have Toad kick her again and throwing her into an elevator, the crash of her crumpled body never heard.
I growled and risked standing up, just in time to see Toad flip a long metal pole like it was part of a ninja movie, a smug grin on his face. He saw me move towards him, not entirely sure why but it seemed a braver move than hiding behind a table.
"You plan on helping?" He asked sarcastically, pointing the pole at me. I glared hatefully, feeling the waves inside the water fountain bubbling a few metres away.
"Stop messing around, just keep them distracted." I ordered through a hiss, to which he just answered with a mocking horse pout. I wasn't going to fight him, now was the time, I listened to Magneto's voice through the earpiece.
"You better be keeping the X-men busy." He threatened, to which I bite my lip, almost breaking into blood as I choked down the anger.
"Yes we are." I replied simply, cutting the transition off. As I did so, a loud explosion erupted from below, red lasers lighting up the museum. Toad grinned, dropping the pole as he scurried over to the railing, chuckling to himself for a reason I couldn't see. It was short-lived, the feeling of electricity pinching my skin as sparks shimmered from inside the elevator.
I stepped away, watching it with bulging eyes as my chest heaved. This wasn't good, not remotely good. Toad was also confused by these sparks, snapping his head in the elevator's direction as the doors were flung open by large ridged lightening strikes. It was dazzling, Storm seeming to be levitating as her eyes flashed with electricity, these eyes glazed pure white.
The truth was it was the wind that was carrying her, and it was forceful, making my platt flounder on its own accord as I covered my face from the burning light. Crouching down again, attempting poorly to stay out of sight. But luckily she hadn't noticed me, too preoccupied with Toad who angrily marched towards her with an almost swagger in his steps.
"Don't you people ever die!?" He shouted hatefully, making a terrible mistake by trying to walk towards her electrified form. I on the other hand, thought better and griped the metal railing tightly, so tightly my knuckles turned white as I predicted her next move. Sure enough, she hastily touched the ground again and walked purposely across the room, the wind and power of her mutation forced racks of clothes and other objects to fall over and smash, including a table in front of me, me whining in short sparks of pain as glass cut at the skin of my face and arms.
Very quickly Toad was knocked off his feet by a large rectangular plant pot, his shout no match for the bellowing wind and sparking lightening. I closed my eyes as more glass and sharp objects past over me, knowing they would inflict lasting scars if I didn't close them. But I listened, Storm forcing the wind to collect around Toad and force him further down the long hallway. A loud crash of glass told me she had forced him out into the night, and the coldness washed over me relatively quickly due to the mixture of wind as well.
I risked opening my eyes in squinted slots, the wind surrounding Storm as she raised her arms, sending the other windows into a shower of glass shards, even her white hair sparked with lightening. I felt my gripped hands were going to melt into the railing, numbness in my fingers as I still kept the firm grapple around the cold metal, even with the wind not as ferocious.
"Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck my lightening?" Storm asked relatively calmly, even with the chaos bellowing around her. It was clearly a rhetorical question, and internally I rooted for her just so Toad could get his comeuppance.
Her head raised to the sky above, the crackle of thunder truly unsettling, her head resting back on Toad who I still couldn't quite see, only his green gross tongue that seemed to be keeping him from falling off of the building
"The same thing as everything else."
It was pretty shambolic and not very creative, but it still held victory in the tone as a lightening strike impacted with the metal railing outside, a groan of agony escaping Toad as he was fried like an experiment toad in science. I almost laughed, almost, instead I heaved myself to my feet and stumbled into sight. Storm's back was still facing me, obviously watching to make sure Toad was gone for good, but perhaps even slight satisfaction that she had removed the Toad out of the equation.
With a shaky hand placed behind my back, I spread my fingers and heard the glorious sound of the water fountain groaning in approval. I braced myself, knowing I couldn't hide now, knowing I had to defend the machine as I shifted on my toes.
What I had been waiting for happened and it embarrassingly made me gasp in a paralysation. Storm turned around, looking quite triumphant until she stopped dead in her tracks, eyes meeting mine with shock and sadness. She raised her hands in surrender, etching towards me very slowly.
"Samantha, you don't have to do this." She pleaded evenly, softening her once pure white eyes in an attempt to make me see that she didn't want to hurt me. I played along and listened, but the murmuring in the water fountain began irritating me, my fingers being attracted to it like a magnet.
"There's still time. Help us stop Magneto, save Rogue. I don't want to hurt you." She admitted, so close to me that I swore I could reach a hand out and shake it. But I didn't, I felt the water reaching breaking point.
I smirked, seeing the confusion on Storm's face.
"Shame...because I want to hurt you."
I twisted my hand that was still behind my back and watched on as a water snake leapt out of the fountain and wrapped around one of Storm's wrists. She yelped before being thrown against the wall by the fountain, the water snake dispersing into a large big bug creature that clambered over most of her body, except her neck and face.
I raised my hand into view and kept evil glares as I willed the water bug to crush around her chest, making Storm choke. But I wasn't certain, I was apprehensive again as the raised hand vibrated slightly, and I found I couldn't keep the evil glares as I bit my lip worryingly.
"There's no time, I wasted it, I have to do this for Isaac, for every mutant who has ever been captured by humans. I. Don't. Have. A. Choice." I hissed unconvincingly, beginning to wonder whether that statement was still true or not. Storm just gazed at me with pained eyes, even with her powers, she couldn't bring herself to intentionally hurt me.
But then again, I couldn't intentionally hurt her either. I weighed up my choices, knowing I didn't have long.
I can't kill her, that will never be an option. I can't stand here and keep her paralysed forever, think...
I commanded myself, overthinking anything I could possibly do. Then it hit me, and I unintentionally smirked.
"Word of advice Storm, don't get in the way." I growled, dropping my hand so that the water bug hit the floor and splattered like normal water. I was about to run to Magneto, thinking it better on higher ground with only one way in or out. But my shortly choreographed plan was scuppered as I was blasted with red lasers, smashing into the wall with such force that everything went black before I even slumped to the ground. My unconscious state just about hearing the muffled voice of Wolverine.
"Nice shot Cyclops." He had grumbled before everything stopped completely around me, hearing and sight dead.
"There were other options, you didn't have to do that!" Storm shouted at Cyclops, whose stone-like expression brought on by seeing his old student, her body slumped against the wall at her awkwardly. His visor was on a low setting, he only planned on either stopping her for a few moments or knocking her unconscious, this time being the latter as she barely groaned in pain.
"We don't have time to argue, we need to get Magneto now." Cyclops insisted as Storm rushed over to their old student, her name s far reading as being Aqua. She checked her pulse, sighing in relief as she found it, though it was rather faint. In a motherly way, she checked her head and found her hand met with the cold squelchy sensation of liquid, the hand caked with red blood.
"She's hurt badly." Storm finally said, attempting to move the teen into a more comfortable position, lying her flat on the floor, but found she needed something to prop under her head. She looked around frantically, but found that forceful hands pulled her away from the unconscious teen.
"Get off me Logan, she's still a child." Storm lashed out as Wolverine tried to yank her away, but even with the teen trying to choke her moments before, she truly believed the girl didn't want to be part of the battle. She had thought twice, second guessing herself as she couldn't bring herself to kill.
"A kid? Are you serious? The little shit helped kidnap Rogue, and might I add been helping Magneto change the world leaders into mutants." Wolverine snarled, motioning a hand at the girl, the pool of blood beginning to seep into the flooring. Jean couldn't tear her eyes away from the teen, even with how a little part of her believed Logan, another part of her knew that Samantha King wouldn't intentionally harm people unless provoked to do so.
She knelt beside the girl's head, examining it hastily but professionally. A fracture in the skull, external and possibly internal bleeding, a high risk of concussion. She needed treatment, but this treatment could only come after the threat from Magneto was dealt with.
Jean sighed, she didn't want to leave the teen alone without medical help, but there was little she could do without any resources or time.
"She's got a fractured skull, something easily treatable but the severe bleeding could cause serious damage. She needs medical treatment, but, there's not enough time to help her and stop Magneto." Jean diagnosed, more than hinting what they had to do. Cyclops sighed, knowing he would have to take the hate due to being the leader.
"The authorities will treat her, right now we need to focus on stopping Magneto." Cyclops said firmly, practically trying to drag the two women away from the fallen teen. In the end Jean stood up, hastily found a novelty t-shirt with the Statue of Liberty printed on the front, scrunched it up and gently placed it under Aqua's head to absorb most of the blood.
"When this is over, we should take her with us. She needs to come home." Storm insisted as she stood up, eyes still locked on the teen, remembering the day she first arrived at the mansion. Many mutants turned up on the mansion's doorstep or brought by Professor X, and most of the time it was hard to distinguish unique students out of them like any other school. But Samantha King just seemed to bring slight mystery and despair, and sometimes Storm believed that was why Professor X found her, because she needed guidance more than anyone, even the most pun predictable students such as John Allerdyce.
"Home? She chose the crazy terrorist group over the school, believe me I know, that Gärtner guy told me about her. I don't care what happened to make her go with him, I don't care whether she ends up in a cell in some heavily guarded American prison. What I do know, is that you can drag her ass to wheels yourself, because I ain't helping." Logan argued without some much as wanting to hear Storm's or anyone's protests.
"Actually Logan, it was partially your fault." Cyclops interrupted, using a rather smug tone at this just to piss the wolverine off. In turn Logan glared at him, retracting only one claw, the middle one, insulting Cyclops even though inside his head he wondered what he meant by that.
"She was angry, lost and scared, and we weren't there for her. Maybe she isn't above the other students or lower, but we should have helped her when she needed us. Isaac deserves to have his sister back, that is why we are taking her back to the X-mansion when this is over. Now, let's go before we waste anymore time." Jean commanded, founding her voice in the controversial argument, the men giving her aroused but annoying looks.
"You heard the lady, let's go." Cyclops quipped, ushering them towards the staircase that would take them to the top of the statue. This would be the place they would apprehend Magneto and stop the machine before it reached critical, however, it came at a price. Rogue would ultimately be dead, though it seemed miracles were happening a lot more frequently, Wolverine able to give her his healing abilities.
But then, the brotherhood were scattered. Mystique posing as a security guard, the humans who entered the building too compassionate to question whether it was a lie. Toad would have been as good as dead if not for his grotesque tongue, managing to grapple onto a passing boat, able to haul himself on board, though was too weakened to even dispose of the crew.
Aqua on the other hand, was going to be taken back to the X-mansion by the X-men. Well, that was meant to be the outcome, however, a certain guard had other ideas.
He stumbled upon the girl on the second floor, would have walked straight past if a faint groan hadn't pricked his ears. He stumbled over to the area of the groan, blood squelching under his boots.
Hastily he knelt down beside her, the blue shaded hair contaminated with red that began to flake as it solidified. The guard carefully raised her head, sliding the blood-soaked t-shirt from underneath, body jolting from the electrified shock.
"Hey kiddo, I want you to stay awake for me okay." He told her rather loudly, earning a gasp to escape the teen's throat, coughing up blood. The guard used a hand to grab a white handkerchief, placing it under her head and kept pressure on it. Stomping boot prints etched towards the two, more guards surrounding them.
"Is that a mutant?"
One of the guards asked with disgust pouring off his tongue, the others becoming increasingly shifty. The guard holding the handkerchief but his lip, wondering what to say to the clearly hateful guards.
"I'll take it from here." He grumbled, attempting to pick the teen mutant up, blood dripping from the skull fracture. The guard groaned as the teen was quite heavy, stumbling slightly until he jolted her into a better position. The other guards quickly side-stepped out of the way, giving the guard a clear path to take the teen to medical attention.
However, they didn't see the sly smirk on the guard's face, or how his eyes changed from blue to a crimson red. The teen groaned in his arms, eyes opening briefly but firmly locking closed again as blurriness and pain overcame her.
"It's okay kiddo...I'm a nurse."
The guard said, only, it was a woman's voice. The voice didn't truly register for the teen as she slipped in and out of consciousness as she was carried away from the Statue of Liberty, the brotherhood and X-men nowhere to be seen. Even with her skull broken and mind shattered, only one word repeated again and again in her head.
Lost
Annnnddd cliffhanger!
I realise this is rather short, but I was really stumped at writing this one, couldn't think of anything for Aqua to do XD. I didn't want her to get to involved, I don't know, I still think she isn't ready to fight against the X-man.
I finally went to see Days of future past...OMFG! I loved it! Best so far though I think it was slightly overhyped, but it deserved it. Quicksilver is awesome, I hope he's on more of them. I think this will being going on A LOT longer now XD
anyway, I won't be go into straight into X2, I have a little inbetween bits to do for the next chapter or so. But thank you so much, chapter 20, never thought I would get this far.
Until next time, please review :)
~Gothgirlstrikesagain