X-Men: Evolution

Blood Magics

27. Trapped

The location Gambit had given them for the lab was in a place where there were multiple buildings in disrepair; the rundown building was certainly not going to attract attention here, not when the others all looked just as bad. The one thing Rogue did wonder about was how it had been constructed; the swamps were pretty close, and yet the lab was underground; Gambit had told them exactly how to access it when the house above had once looked quite normal. Something quite special must have gone into its construction in order to build it here without ending up with everything under ground level filling with water; either mutant powers, highly skilled and specialized design, or both. One thing he'd said that was easy to believe was that the area was one that was often hit hard by hurricanes when they came through; Katrina, in particular, had done a number on it. This street sort of looked like eventually, it had been abandoned and left to slowly sink, and the swamp certainly was making visible inroads in doing just that with many of the buildings.

But just as Rogue was thinking that the area did appear to be sinking, it was then that she noticed it; the one house that they were approaching, the address Gambit had given them, did not look like it was any deeper in the mud than the day it had first been built. Furthermore, though it was certainly missing shingles and showing spots where the elements had completely stripped the paint and the door hung on only the bottom hinge, the steps up to that door looked solid and secure; every other house with a porch, the boards appeared to be rotting or had fallen away entirely. The other houses, at a glance, were clearly condemned and in bad shape, an enter- at- your- own- risk sort of scenario. This house, though it appeared to have outward damage, was quite structurally sound once Rogue gave it a harder look. This did indeed look like the right place; they hadn't landed in the middle of the swamp and spent an hour knee- deep in brackish, murky water camouflaging the jet for nothing. Something was off about this building.

Wolverine went in first, scenting the air; after he reported that the only smells he could detect were that of the surrounding swamp and that no one had been inside in a long time, the rest of them entered. Making their way through what appeared to be a regular abandoned house- all that was really left were a couple overturned, broken chairs and a table with a missing leg in the kitchen, and a few smashed ceramic decorations here and there in the halls. Again, though, everything looked like it was in suspiciously good condition. Things were broken, yes, but the table and chairs showed no signs of the rot that should have reduced them into heaps of compost by now, and there wasn't any moss or mold growing despite the environment being perfect for them. It was as if everything had simply been broken down and left to look like the house was abandoned. At a passing glance by people who didn't care, they wouldn't think anything of it. But for an abandoned house, supposedly four years left on its own, it was very unconvincingly clean and clear of anything that should have started growing or living in it.

In a sitting room that had a couple smashed picture frames and a very old- looking, ripped up sofa with no cushions, a small fireplace sat against one wall. The inside of it was blackened as if by soot, but no ash or wood sat in it, as if it had been swept clear. Even assuming that it hadn't been used in the past four years, it should have been dirty, with dust and dirt and swamp mold if not with ash, but it, too, was clean.

Still, just in case, Kitty passed through, intangible, to check the passage that was supposedly behind it, and make sure it had not been filled in. After a moment, a small clunk sounded, and the fireplace, and part of the wall above it, swung open to reveal a dark passage.

"Everything looks clear in the passage." Kitty told them.

"You didn't-"

"No, Cyclops, I didn't go further down. I know I was told to check the passage only, no one goes into the lab alone." Kitty interrupted him with an exasperated sigh. They'd gone through the plan more than once on the ride over; Rogue felt her lips twitch. Kitty had no doubt gotten as sick of hearing it as Rogue had, and on top of that, if Cyclops had stopped to think for a moment, he would have known that the few seconds that passed before Kitty opened the door from the other side wasn't enough time for her to have looked at more than the passage.

In a way, though, she could kind of understand his caution; Kitty was the one who was most desperate to find Kurt. They'd all been able to see how much she was struggling each day; Rogue missed Kurt desperately herself, and understood. Kitty, though, wasn't stupid; Cyclops really didn't need to be on her so much about making sure she stuck to the plan. She would do it without him being so uptight about it.

The passage was dark; they'd come equipped for that, and took out flashlights as they all headed down the passage. The passage, at least, felt more normal in its state of "neglect"- it was damp and dripping just a little, and Rogue could finally see a bit of mold growing here and there. Still, she knew the tunnel was unnaturally kept up, otherwise it would be flooded with water and they would need diving suits rather than just flashlights. The water level was definitely high enough for that; something was keeping most of it out.

The staircase spiraled, going deeper and deeper until they were several feet underground before finally they reached a large room. The room, too, was dark, and empty of people except for them. There was, however, a great deal of equipment, a lot of it thrown around and laying in pieces. It looked like a few things had exploded, as well; it looked like the last time anyone had been down here was when Gambit and Sinister had fought. Looking around, Rogue could even see a spot on one wall that had a few sets of heavy chains on them, and one set looked like it had been blown apart.

"Oh, man." Whispered Iceman.

"Alright." Cyclops ordered. "You all remember what we talked about. We search in pairs, call if you find anything at all."

Obediently, Rogue and Kitty moved into their pair and headed away to check one area; Storm and Wolverine moved further into the room, Iceman and Cyclops began checking the area closest to the door, and Colossus transformed into his metal form so that he could lift some of the heavier equipment for Beast's inspection. Professor Xavier, once Beast had set him back in his wheelchair that Colossus had carried down, moved partway into the room, looking around.

As Rogue looked at some sort of equipment that appeared to be aimed towards the chains on the wall and wondered what they were for, Kitty looked at the chains themselves and made a comment that was kind of on Rogue's mind, as well.

"So, what is it exactly that we're looking for?"

At the same time, Professor Xavier began to cry out something in a warning tone, but an even louder, deep, gravelly voice spoke over him.

"I would rather like to know that myself."

Rogue's blood froze, and the room filled with light.

The man whose face had been caught on camera for a split second looked all the more terrifying in person. He was tall and broad in addition to grey- skinned, red- eyed, sharp- toothed and frightening.

Wolverine immediately gave a snarl.

"I smell Kurt! Where is he and what have you done with him?"

Rogue's eyes adjusted to the sudden light and she saw the man known as Sinister grin.

"Oh, he's what you're looking for? Why, he's here with us now. Aren't you? You may show yourself."

A cloud of smoke, the smell of sulphur, and a familiar sound came in response to the man's words, and Kurt stood in front of them… and at the same time, it wasn't him.

"Kurt!" Kitty started to bolt towards him, and Rogue seized her arm. Running at him was not a good idea right now; it wasn't really Kurt. Rogue could see that the same instant the relief at seeing him vanished. Random patches of his blue fur had turned an acid- green colour; Rogue could see a patch of it on his neck and on one arm. His eyes, as well, were a very unnatural, acid green that looked like they could practically glow in the dark, and they looked empty, completely void of all emotion. His tail swished back and forth; it, too, had green on it.

"Kurt!" Kitty called again, but Kurt didn't respond in any way. The more Rogue looked at him, the more horrified she felt; he wasn't wearing a shirt, and she could see that blue and green were blended all over his torso. He did have straps that crossed his chest in an X pattern; she couldn't see it well from this angle, but he had something box- shaped strapped to his back.

"What did you do to him?" Wolverine snarled.

"Not that much." Sinister said, almost conversationally. "A few experiments. Took some blood. Oh, and of course, I finally finished what that magnet- brained old man managed to foil eighteen years ago. His power is quite useful, you know, once I augmented it. After all, when you entered and tripped my silent alarms, I was able to have him bring me here immediately. Back when his range was two miles, it wasn't so useful, but now that I've made it so he can teleport anywhere, it's quite handy. For example… Kurt," Sinister spoke his name as if mocking, "since your friends were so kind as to come looking for us, I want you to start taking them back to my current lab."

"Like hell!" Wolverine roared. "You let him go, now!"

Wolverine lunged; Kurt teleported. Rogue let go of Kitty, realizing they were going to have to fight if they were going to get out of here. Cyclops and Iceman both blasted their power towards Sinister, and the man, with shocking speed and agility for his size, jumped towards the side, diving into a roll to dodge their attacks. Rogue glanced rapidly around the room for something she might use to her advantage to approach him, and then got an idea and grabbed Kitty's arm again. Only then did her mind register that her glance around the room had shown no trace of Storm.

"Kitty, let's run at that stuff right there- take us both right through it, and I'll take out Sinister!"

A quick glance at Kitty showed her the girl nodding; they ran for the large metal machines.

A crashing noise and a surprised cry from Colossus could be heard, as well as the soft sound of Kurt teleporting, but Rogue ignored it, not wanting to be distracted. Sinister stood up and vanished in a cloud of shadow, only to reappear out of another shadow next to Xavier and lift the man out of his wheelchair.

Xavier gave a fierce scowl, but Sinister laughed. "You think a psychic blast will work on me, old man?" He taunted. "All of you had better hold still, or the cripple gets it."

"Kitty!" Rogue hissed.

"Yeah, I got- ah!"

Rogue's head snapped to her at her cry, only to see Kurt wrapping his hands around her.

"Hey!" Rogue snapped, then felt something around her ankle- Kurt's tail. Their surroundings vanished, and they were abruptly in another room so quickly that Kitty didn't even have time to phase out of his hold. Kurt's tail pulled as their feet set down on the new floor, throwing Rogue off balance, and Kurt let go of them both and leapt away.

"Kurt!" Kitty cried, reaching for him, but he vanished.

"Kitty, right now, Kurt's not on our side!" Rogue snapped. "Sinister has him under his control!"

Quickly, she looked around. The room they were in now looked a lot like a non- destroyed version of the room they had been in, except that they were in a large cage, and there were more large cages and one large tank along the same wall they were along. The two of them were in the same cage; they could see Storm in another cage, and Colossus, no longer in his metal form, in yet another. The tank held a large, shadowy mass inside of it. The other cages were empty, or at least, they were until Kurt reappeared, dragging Wolverine with him, and swiftly deposited him in another one before leaving.

"Nice of them to take us to a new one to destroy." Wolverine snarled, getting up. Flexing his hand, he stared at the bars for a moment, then looked at his hand in confusion. "Huh?"

Kurt reappeared again in another empty cage, this time with Cyclops before vanishing.

"Kitty, get us out of here!" Rogue cried.

Kitty shook her head, as if dazed. "Right, right…" she grabbed Rogue's arm, and headed towards the bars… and ran into them. "Oof!"

"Kitty!"

"I… I can't!"

Kurt reappeared briefly again to leave Beast in one of the cages.

"Cyke?" Wolverine called. Cyclops moved his hand to his visor, but nothing happened.

"My power is not working as well!" Storm called from her cage.

"Damn!" Rogue muttered.

It did not take long until they were all in a cage, each of them in a different one except for the one that Kurt had dropped both Kitty and Rogue into. The last person to be unceremoniously dropped into the bottom of a cage, without even being given the courtesy of having his wheelchair brought with him, was Professor Xavier. Kurt disappeared one more time after that, and then brought Sinister into the middle of the room, right in front of them all. Sinister gloated with a very pleased smile. Rogue swallowed.

She'd expected that it was possible he might have done something like this to Kurt. She'd never expected they would end up in cages that negated their powers. Nor had she expected for them to be teleported away like that.

Rogue took a deep breath. They'd figure this out. This was far from the worst situation they'd been in. Sure, the fact that he had containment cells like they had at home made it a little more complicated, but-

Wait. Kurt had teleported not just into, but also out of, the cages. If they were power- negating cages, how had he done that? Power- negating systems were complicated, but possible to set up. Making them specific with whose power they blocked was not possible to do, not that Rogue knew of. The entire room that housed the containment cells at the mansion had the system running through it; anyone going inside it had their active mutant abilities shut down, although physical appearances didn't change if someone had a physical mutation. It stopped powers, but didn't change anyone's cellular structure to make them "normal."

So how could Kurt use his mutation to being them in the cell, then leave the same way? That didn't make any sense. That was an active mutation; he shouldn't be able to use his if they couldn't use theirs.

Sinister bared his sharp, ugly teeth in an unpleasant grin. Every single one of his teeth looked like a fang, as if his mouth was full of nothing but sharp canine teeth rather than the usual set.

"How wonderful." The man said.

His voice alone was more than enough to make the hair stand up on the back of Rogue's neck.

A/N: Looks like Sinister found them before they found him... Now what to do?

Also, two notes. First, there are some versions of the X- Men where Wolverine's claws are part of his mutation, and there are some versions where they are a result of the experiments done on him. In this version, they are part of his mutation.

Second, I am trying very hard to use mutant monikers when they are out on a mission, and regular names once the uniforms come off, with two exceptions. One is Rogue, who of course only uses her mutant moniker. The other is Kitty; after re- watching the X- Men Evolution series, I'm pretty sure I only heard her mutant moniker once, right at the very beginning of the series. I could be wrong, maybe I just missed it, but... they really don't seem to use it compared to everyone else. So I just stuck to her name, as well.