So I don't know exactly where the idea for this story came to me from, but once it hit I really couldn't let it go. Writing this evoked a lot of feelings, so I hope you all enjoy it.
John couldn't quite recall what was happening. He remembered his fight with Bobby. He remembered a blast. Everything else was foggy.
He attempted to stand when he heard voices approaching. He didn't know who they were, but chances are he needed to be ready to fight. Willing his legs to not wobble beneath him, he gave his best effort at standing.
The landscape and scene swam in front of his eyes, a sickening chemical smell assaulted his nose making a wave a nausea threaten his footing. His head pounded with disapproval at everything going on.
"Identify yourself!" A loud voice boomed from his right.
He flinched at the noise, covering his ear and turning to the source.
A stout army uniform was about five feet to his right, the origins of the demanding voice he assumed.
Several other men in the same uniform appeared around him.
"I said identify yourself!" He ordered again.
"I don't owe you anything!" John responded as his vision began to clear.
There were several audible clicks, like the cocking of a gun.
"It's a radical. One of Magneto's." The original man growled out an order to seize him.
John snapped his igniter, thankful it was still working, and hurled a quick fire ball at them. The ones charging towards him jumped to dodge it, while someone tackled him from behind.
John struggled against the man, but his head throbbed and his muscles protested against him. Soon enough two more men had joined the struggle. At one point, they ripped his igniter from his arm and replaced it with a silver cuff.
Anger surged through John in fierce waves.
"Get off of me! I swear I will make you live to regret this moment!" He was rolled over onto his back, just enough opportunity to kick one of the men in the stomach.
The man stumbled back, but John couldn't even enjoy this small victory because in an instant the other cuff was snapped onto his opposite wrist.
Several paces away there still a smoldering flame. He could feel it. It spoke to his soul, begging him to steal it's ember and fight. He twisted his wrists, calling it to him. He saw the light glow brighter from the rubble, he was going to scorch them to ash. Hope blossomed inside his mind.
A sudden blow to his abdomen made him loss his hold, the breath knocked from his lungs. His grip on the flame faltered.
One of the men had kicked him and was now having a good laugh at him. But he wouldn't show them his pain. They were pathetic, below him. He would never let them believe they had hurt him.
With ease they hauled him to his feet and pushed him forward. But he refused to walk. Instead he kept his focus on the sole ember left.
"Move!" One barked at him.
His fingers twisted in the air, trying to pry the ember from it's hiding place. His feet stayed planted. He wasn't going to go without a fight.
Seeing the defiance in his face, the commanding officer order each of his men to grab him by the arms and legs and haul him.
"We'll handle you, the same way we handled all your other little radical buddies." The stout man was in John's face now, looking down the brim of his nose at John.
"You won't be handling me." John made an aggressive move towards the man and was jerked back by his shoulders.
"You won't be so tough when you don't have any kind of freak powers." His words spun around in John's throbbing mind for a moment, then disbelief filled his face.
"You can't do to me!" John spat.
"By law we can, fresh off the printed press, 'any mutant found to be a radical or a danger to others may be given The Cure forcefully. For the protection of all'." The man had a grin that John wanted to knock of his face.
Adrenaline pumped through his veins in rampant floods. He was going to kill them or die trying. He would never let them do that to him. He would never be one of them.
"Get him men!"
"NO!" John struggled against the men.
He managed to headbutt one of them in the nose and elbow another in the chin.
"Listen to me you little runt," The stout man who John could now read his name patch, Dodger, grabbed the front of John's jacket and pulled him level with him, "You're beginning to be more struggle than you're worth. I'm sick of your kind and all the never-ending issues you seem to bring us." Homosapiens. That's what us meant to him. Mutants weren't included his in 'worthy to live' ideals.
"I'll never let you take my power." John was not going to back down, he forced any fear that was infecting his mind away.
The man chuckled, "then it'll be that much better for me when I do."
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Let me GO!" John growled as he was carried into the building like a sacrificial pig tied to a post. There was a man holding each one of his extremities as they hauled him in.
He knew where he was. It had been one of the many places on Magneto's hit list. It was a Cure Clinic. Panic waved through him.
"I will kill you!" He declared.
He continued to spit out insults and threats as the carried him through the lobby, down the hall, and until the found a room to trap him in.
A female's voice entered in the mix, she instructed the men to put him in restraints. And so the men proceeded to strip him of his jacket and apply the gray restraints that stemmed from each corner of the bed.
He managed to get one more swing in, his knuckles meeting the nose of one of the men. The man returned the favor to John's jaw.
The colors and lights of the room swirled for a moment. The familiar throb that had previously been in head came rushing back with vengeance. By the time he was able to see straight again he was fully restrained. They even had a strap going across his forehead.
"You have no idea who you are dealing with! Let me go or I promise you I will kill everything single one of you!" He jerked at the restraints, causing the bed to whine with his motions.
"Don't you have a sedative we can give him? He is the wildest one yet!" Another of the military men yelled.
"No, none on hand." The doctor's voice had the smallest hint of fear in it.
"Just get the injection!" Dodger ordered.
"NO!" John roared, trying to pry himself free once more.
"STOP!" He yelled, obviously fighting his restraints. "I WILL END YOU!"
He cursed and threatened them as if his very life depended on it. He didn't seem to take a breath as he fought.
The doctor was suddenly back in the room. He saw her dark hair flurry about in movements as she prepped the needle, "I got it!"
"LET ME GO! STOP! DON'T DO THIS!" Dread was infecting his mind. There was no flame to call, no fire in this disgustingly clean facility.
What was he expecting? Magneto and the Brotherhood to come busting in and save him? He didn't even know if Magneto was alive! He didn't know what the turn out was after the explosion.
There was some kind of commotion at the entrance of the his room. Probably another person coming to force this fate on him.
"Let me go! Don't do this! You have no idea what you are doing!" John yelled, his words cracking as his fear was gripping his entire being. "Please!"
They weren't even acknowledging him. It was as if his voice had been stripped away with his rights.
"Please, don't do this to me!" He tugged against the restraints again.
"Let him GO!" A familiar voice rang out in the room.
His eyes shifted and found Rogue standing in the doorway of the room. Of course she would be in a place like this. But why was she defending him? Why was she pleading his case? She looked completely horrified at what she was seeing.
Her attempts at help didn't soothe the embarrassment he now felt on top of his fear. Here he was completely strapped to a bed, completely helpless. He was weak.
"Get her! She is probably another one!" The Dodger ordered, two of the men abandoned his bedside and descended up on her.
They grabbed her by her arms, forcing her into a back corner. How lucky those men were that she was wearing long sleeves, John thought bitterly.
John's attention returned to the doctor as he watched in horror as the she prepped her needle.
"No!" John snarled through clenched teeth.
His fingers desperately clenched the sheet of his examination table.
"Leave him alone! You can't force it on us!" Rogue pleaded from her corner.
"Get her out of here!" The Dodger snapped.
And just like that, she was being carried off, kicking and pleading with them not to do this. She spat out some babble about choice and rights. But this was just as Magneto had told him, this was going to be forced on us, all of us, sooner or later.
The doctor came and positioned the needle at the bend of his elbow.
It was going to happen. They were going to strip him of his mutation. Strip him of everything he is. They were taking away the best part of him. The thing that made him great. A god among insects.
John's muscles tensed as the needle broke his skin, he spat every curse word and threat his fearful mind could conjure up. He chanted 'stop' as the she began to push the plunger in.
"Get it out!" He tried to maneuver his arm to free it from the needle to no avail. "Don't do it! NO!"
Something inside him broke when the last of the injection entered his veins. It was gone. He'd been given The Cure. There was nothing superior about him now. He was human. He was everything he hated, everything he had fought against.
There was nothing left. What was the point of his existence without his mutation?
"I'll kill you! I will kill every single one of you with my bare hands!" He seethed, making sure to make eye contact with every person who had done this to him. They would pay.
"How soon will it take effect? He is more powerful than the other ones." John could hear Dodger's words as his mind began to swirl.
"It's hard to tell. It may take more than one round to completely block the gene." The doctor explained as she pushed her glasses up on her nose.
It felt like lightening bolts were searing their way through his veins. They assaulted every muscle fiber and filled every joint space. The jolts tore through his being. He bit down hard to not let so much as a moan slip out. Their voices soon became slurs and he couldn't quite detect their words anymore. He was losing grip.
Fear and electricity consumed him. If he passed out, it was over. The Cure would claim him and his mutation.
His eyes snapped open, but everything in the room looked like a giant mosaic painting. Everything muddled together into one huge colorful blob that had sparks of electricity flashing through.
Every cell in his body was supercharged with electric pulses and his only feeling was white hot pain. Death would be welcomed compared this. Why would any mutant do this to themselves? Why would they suffer this badly to lose their greatness?
Blackness was swallowing him. He tried to form words, but it was like his mind and mouth wouldn't work. Like his body had been hijacked.
"He's fighting it." The doctor observed, hurriedly writing down notes as she watched sweat pour from John's face, fascinated every time his body would jerk in efforts to fight what was going on inside.
"It's no use." Dodger commented, his face expressionless.
"He'll have to be kept in the ward longer than the others."
"We'll keep a guard posted at all times. Especially since his little friend blew her cover. Don't wont a coupe to form."
The doctor looked away from John and towards the intimidating military man next to her, "With what? The whole reason there are in there is because they are weak and powerless. Most barely wake-up for the first couple of days after the injection. Where do you think they could get the energy to form a coupe?"
"Always better to be safe, doctor." Dodger's eyes slid to John's still in place restraints before he turned to exit the room.
Let me know your thoughts! More to come!
RAWR