Chapter 48: A Tangled Web We Weave Part I

Chapter Forty Eight: A Twisted Web We Weave Part I:

In an undisclosed and classified location, Professor Charles Xavier rolled forward, followed closely by the Commander of SHIELD, Nick Fury. Fury looked at Xavier carefully, not wanting to keep his eyes off of the extremely powerful mutant.

"Fury, I must strongly disagree with the actions you are taking," said Xavier after a moment's time.

"I have explained to you why, Xavier," said Fury gruffly, not wanting to entertain Xavier's response even for a moment. "The girl is a threat, a danger, it's my responsibility to ensure that all threats are dealt with immediately."

"This will solve nothing," said Xavier firmly. "The girl needs to be able to control her powers."

"We have her powers controlled," said Fury crisply. "Look, Xavier, I don't like this any more than you do, but we must face facts and face reality. She can't touch anyone without absorbing their life energy and their memories. More than a minute or two and she will put them in a coma. She is a potential danger and the problem should be nipped in the bud immediately."

Fury just turned on his heel.

"Most people will go insane from not being able to touch anyone and being aware of it," said Fury. "If anything, it's much more pleasant to the girl to keep her locked up and sedated. It might save her trauma later on."

"I wish you would reconsider your actions," said Xavier. "I feel confident that if you allowed me to speak with her, I could help her in some way."

Fury just responded with a prolonged sigh.

"Xavier, you mean well, but you're too trusting," said Fury. "You live in some fantasy land where you think that mutants and humans can coexist. Believe me, I would love nothing more than that to happen. It would make my job a lot easier."

"You've never been at ease with the way I do things," said Xavier crisply.

"No," said Fury shortly. "One day Xavier, you'll going to have to deal with a harsh reality. Mutants can't stay hidden forever. Already people suspect that there is something up and they will lash out in fear when it’s out in the open.”

"This is getting off the subject, Commander Fury," said Xavier. "The girl that you're keeping a prisoner, I believe I can help her if you will allow me to."

"Xavier, not all mutants can be helped," said Fury firmly. "You can't just tuck them in and give them sugar cookies and read them a bedtime story and think that everyone's going to be okay. You should have learned with your good pal, Magneto."

"Erik has a lot of demons in his past," said Xavier eyes closed, a pained expression on his face. "It is my greatest regret that I have failed him each and every day and he had gone on the path, with the beliefs that he had.”

Fury just shook his head at Xavier. Always trying to extend the hand of friendship to people who would sooner bite it off. A SHIELD agent moved over quickly and handed Fury something. Fury looked at it and his expression became grim.

"Xavier, we have to cut this short for today and you need to leave, there has been a breech," said Fury urgently. "And don't try to read my mind, because I've already taken precautions to keep you out."

Fury stepped forward, as Xavier went behind him but another SHIELD Agent, a female, stepped forward.

"One side, I have urgent matters to attend to, national security is breached," said Fury but the agent caught Fury off guard, by sticking a stun gun right in his chest. The SHIELD Commander fell to the ground, as with quick precision, the woman pushed several buttons on the control panel, sealing the metal door shut.

"Hello, Charles," said the woman with a malicious look in her eyes, as she jerked an unaware Xavier out of his wheelchair and quickly pulled a syringe from her sleeve, before injecting a drug into his neck. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Who are you?" slurred Xavier but the woman's features appeared to shift, revealing a blue skinned woman with long red hair appeared in front of him. Xavier looked her in recognition. She was Raven Darkholme but she was better known as Mystique.

"I bet you thought I was dead, just like Magneto did," said Mystique as she looked at Xavier's prone form, his eyes glazed over with just the barest signs of recognition. "I'll track down Magneto in time but right now, I have some business to take care of and you're going to help me do it."

Xavier felt too weak, as Mystique dragged the prone forms of both Xavier and Fury around.

"And don't you think I forgot your little role in this little escapade either, Fury," said Mystique, as she pulled out a card on Fury's belt and opened up a cell. She saw as a girl with dark hair with a white stripe stood there, rather sedated, barely blinking.

XXXXX-XXXXX

Several agents stood, as from their perspective, Fury lead out the girl.

"There has been a breach of security," stated Fury in a gruff voice. "Someone tried to liberate the girl, to use her as a weapon. They managed to escape but its too much of a risk. Keep guard on this area, I'm going to bring her to a more secure location."

"But sir, I thought you said she was in the most secure area possible," said one of the agents.

"The most secure you know," said Fury, before he snapped at his men. "You have your orders, now do it and capture any suspicious characters."

Several sounds of "Yes, sir" echoed, as Fury lead the prisoner throughout, a smirk appearing on his face. Everything was going at hand. Walking forward, leading the comatose prisoner out, careful not to directly touch her or be touched. Fury moved to a hanger, to spot his transportation out. With a nod, he pressed several buttons on a keypad and it started blinking red, as Fury turned towards the transport vehicle, ushering the prisoner inside.

Once the transport vehicle had been cleared from the premise, Fury turned right back into the calculating form of Mystique.

“For a government institution, security is weak,” thought Mystique.

Suddenly the prisoner opened her eyes trying to clear the cobwebs.

“Where am ah?” grumbled the prisoner in a southern drawl.

“You’re safely out of that prison,” stated Mystique in a crisp voice. “I had thought that it would be days before the effects of the drugs wore off, but I guess I had overestimated what they would do to you, Rogue.”

The girl, Rogue, looked at Mystique in confusion and rather puzzled.

“How did you know who ah was?” asked Rogue.

“Your memories are a bit scrambled I see,” remarked Mystique as she made careful care to the girl, before throwing a pair of gloves. “Put these on, they will help you keep your powers at bay.”

“So you know what ah can do?” inquired Rogue and Mystique just nodded.

“What do you remember?” asked Mystique before clarifying to the confused girl. “Before you got thrown in that prison.”

“Not sure, can’t quite remember,” said Rogue in frustration as she racked her brain. A few years in isolation had caused her a great deal of mental trauma. “Men attacked me in my bed, dressed in suits, they shot some stuff into my body, and then…Ah woke up. They said that this was for my own good and that I would thank me some day. It was because…put someone in a coma when I touched them….”

“Go on,” prompted Mystique.

“Ah don’t know, it’s almost like ah remembered things, that ah never did,” said Rogue. “Why did this happen to me?”

“It’s because you’re a mutant, Rogue,” said Mystique. “You have abilities that normal people never did. You can absorb the life energy and the memories of anyone you touch, along with any special skills that they have for a short amount of time.”

“Then they should have locked me up,” said Rogue horrified as her mind processed what she could have done.

“No, they shouldn’t,” said Mystique firmly. “We’re the next stage of evolution. Imagine what the world would have been like if man never learned how to walk upright. We’re the future but there are those who refuse to see it. They want to keep us locked up and in the shadows. Those that will even conspire with humans to keep their mutant brothers and sisters down. Those like Charles Xavier and his X-Men.”

“Xavier?” asked Rogue. “But he tried to get me out of there!”

“Didn’t try very hard apparently,” scoffed Mystique bitterly, more to herself than to Rogue, before turning around to face the girl. “Considering that if he wanted to, he could make Fury think he was a little girl. Xavier’s one of the most powerful telepaths in the world and his understanding of the human mind are without peer as much as it pains me to give him credit but the point stands is that he and his X-Men make it difficult for mutants to gain any standing.”

“Sounds like you have a bit of a history with them,” said Rogue.

“Just as perspective as I remembered,” thought Mystique. “And I’ll be damned if I lose this one to Xavier, too.”

“That would be an understatement,” said Mystique after a moment’s thought. “The X-Men help oppress their fellow mutants by working together with the humans to lock them up. Xavier and his followers sit in a ritzy mansion, thumbing their noses at the rest of mutant kind and think themselves to be superior to us all. It is only the Brotherhood of Mutant Liberation that fights the good for mutant kind and I’m offering you a spot in this group. We can take down the X-Men, Rogue, and make sure nothing that has happened to you will ever happen again.”

“Ah don’t know,” said Rogue. “My powers, it ain’t right to use them, what they can do.”

“They will save countless lives if the X-Men are neutralized,” said Mystique. “And all it takes is a few seconds and they will be neutralized long enough. We could tip the balance of power to the side of mutants. If we fail, there is a chance that you might be back in that government facility, only this time they might not be as gentle this time.”

Rogue paused. There was something that Mystique was saying that made a lot of sense but at the same time, there was just something that was not quite adding up. Still, she figured that since Mystique broke her out of that place, she was obligated to help. The way she was brought up was that she had to make things square and repay the favors.

She nodded.

“Good,” said Mystique, barely concealing a calculating smirk. “Now just a bit more before we need to meet the rest of your team and then take the X-Men down with their leader…indisposed.”

XXXXX-XXXXX

“You can almost tell the people who are going to be in debt for the rest of their lives,” remarked Harry casually to Peter as they had walked into the prom with Liz and Gwen following close behind them.

“Oh and how’s that?” asked Peter.

“Their girlfriends actually look happy with them,” said Harry. “Got to commend them for their effort, even though they’re be regretting it in the morning.”

“Yes, Gwen, I did accidentally forget my cell phone at home,” said Peter to his girlfriend.

“I didn’t say anything,” said Gwen but she had a satisfied smile. “Jameson can live without you for one night.”

“Yes, hopefully, Aunt May said the same thing,” said Peter as Liz and Harry moved on ahead, as he whispered to Gwen. “Hopefully, you-know-who is not needed tonight.”

“I’m relaxed a bit more about the chances that there are going to be two school functions that are going to be ruined,” said Gwen. “I mean what are the chances something bad is going to happen again.”

“Now the entire Sinister Six is going to show up, thanks a lot Gwen,” said Peter but the two shared a laugh. “No, hopefully this night won’t have anything happening. Just a couple of hours. That’s all I ask. Is that too much?”

Gwen just smiled, hoping that nothing did go wrong. For Peter’s sake more then her own, he did tend to work too hard, both as Spider-Man and to get photos for Jameson.

“Well aren’t you two a sight for sore eyes.”

“Mary Jane,” said Gwen in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Well it is the prom, so I figured I had to put in an appearance, especially now that everything is in order and I’ve transferred schools” said Mary Jane. “Not that it’s going to be exciting as the last school dance that was here.”

“Well hopefully the Hulk has another engagement tonight,” said Peter.

“Who knows, the night is still young,” said Mary Jane with a shrug of her shoulders. “Maybe I’ll catch you two later on, you two have a good time, I know I will.”

With that, she walked off, with Peter and Gwen moving, with the principal stepping up to the podium and clearing his throat.

“Alright, I give this same speech every year but half you jokers are going to do it anyway,” said the principal. “This event is not some right that you’re guaranteed, this is a privilege granted by the school. Therefore, if any of you get cute or act up or try and sneak alcoholic beverages into this event, you’ll have to acquaint yourself to the words “can I take your order?” There is a zero tolerance policy at this event and breaking rules will have you expelled. Do I make myself clear?”

There were many nods and assurances that he did in fact make himself clear, but then again, there were obviously the usual amount of rabble rousers who would give some headaches to the administrators at Midtown High.

XXXXX-XXXXX

It was a relaxed night at the X-Mansion.

Well at least as relaxed as it was in a house that contained a group of super powered mutants ranging from their teens to their early twenties. Most of them having maturity severely years beneath what their age would normally indicate.

“Yeah, that’s right, in your face, Drake!” shouted Kitty Pryde, alias Shadowcat, competing the video game that she was placing with Bobby Drake, also known as Iceman.

“No way!” shouted Bobby.

“Way!” retorted Kitty with an amused expression on her face. “New high score too, yeah!”

“You so cheated,” said Bobby.

“How can I cheat?” asked Kitty as she rolled her eyes in amusement. “New highest score too, second highest of all time, according this, some guy named VVD is the highest score holder of all time, whoever that is.”

“Probably some loser with no life,” said Bobby as he rolled his eyes. “Seriously, this is a dumb game.”

“You’re only saying that because you lost,” said Kitty.

“Believe it or not, they’ve been playing that game all day,” said Kurt Wagner as he sat back lazily on the other end of the room, also known as Nightcrawler. His strange appearance gave many who saw him an aura of easiness, jumping to the conclusion that he was some sort of demon but appearances could be deceiving. Still the blue fur and tail did cause people to do a double take.

“I’m really not surprised,” said Jean Grey as she stood back to watch the scene.

“I would have assumed that children their age would be outside and about enjoying nature,” said Ororo Munroe, alias Storm, who as her name might indicated, controlled the very elements of nature.

“In this day and age, hardly,” said Jean with a bemused expression before she stepped over calmly and used her telekinetic powers to unplug the gaming console from the television screen.

“Jean!” shouted Kitty.

“Why don’t you give that thing a rest for a while,” said Jean with Kitty giving her a dirty look. “I doubt the Professor would be very happy if you two fried the third gaming console this month.”

“Don’t you mean this week,” said Scott Summers, alias Cyclops, as he entered the room.

“Now wait a minute, give us a bit more credit,” said Kitty defensively. “Especially, me, I don’t play video games that much.”

“Okay, third one in a week and a half, my mistake,” said Scott.

“You know, I would have almost thought that Scott was making a joke there, but the fact that’s he’s had his sense of humor surgically removed at birth makes that impossible,” muttered Bobby.

“I heard that,” said Scott stiffly. “It’s not that late, I think we have time for one more training session in the Danger Room. We haven’t had much time on the field as of late and at any time, Magneto or anyone else could show up.”

There were several groans.

“Magneto’s gone through, we saw it, there’s no way he could have survived,” said Bobby.

“Please, there was no body,” said Kitty shaking her head. “And even then, that doesn’t mean much.”

“Glad to see you feel that way Kitty,” said Scott and she just recoiled, releasing that she had just talked herself and the rest of the team into a session in the Danger Room. “Everyone report in five minutes and I want you putting your best efforts forward.”

The entire group moved forward. More than a few of them were thanking their lucky stars that Wolverine was not present at the mansion tonight and offering his input on “improvements” for the training sessions.

The door bell ringing had caused the entire group to pause immediately.

“The Professor surely cannot be back already,” muttered Hank McCoy, alias Beast, as Scott moved to answer the door, giving the rest of the group a motion to head towards the Danger Room but none of them really made too much of a move.

“Warren?” asked Scott and Jean, Hank, and Bobby all went over curiously, hearing the name of one of their fellow teammates from the original X-Men.

“Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise,” said Jean with a smile.

“Warren, man, it’s been too long,” said Bobby.

“Ah yes, Warren, how have you been holding up these days?” asked Hank.

“As well as expected,” said a man with blond hair in his early twenties, with white feathered wings, much like those associated with an angel. The newer teammates looked rather shocked. “Some fresh faces in the school I can see.”

“Yes, guys this is Warren Worthington the third, codename Angel,” explained Scott. “Warren, this is Kurt Wagner, Ororo Munroe, and Kitty Pryde, also known as Nightcrawler, Storm, and Shadowcat respectively.”

The newcomers said their greetings.

“Warren was part of the original team years ago, back when we first founded,” explained Hank.

“And those were some crazy times,” said Warren with a chuckle, as he recalled those years that he was part of the X-Men.

“Not much has changed I can tell you that much, only some of the faces,” said Hank.

“Wait a minute, why did you leave?” asked Kitty suddenly but then she paused, realizing how rude that was at the dirty looks that she was getting from some of her teammates. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“No, it’s okay,” said Warren. “I left to the team just not being something that I wanted to be a part of. It was really no one’s fault but I didn’t want to feel like a liability. Professor Xavier and the others in this place were great and those were some of the best years of my life and I decided that it was time for me to move on. Still, since I was in the neighborhood on business, I figured I’d drop by and say hello to some old friends. Speaking of Professor Xavier, where is he?”

“On business, he had an urgent meeting about a mutant that he detected, this was a sensitive one and he didn’t want any of us to go along,” said Scott.

“Not even the fearless leader was briefed on the details,” prompted Warren in a teasing manner.

“No, unfortunately not,” said Scott, who was a bit put out that Professor Xavier did not tell him where he was going or give him much information. “Anyway before you dropped by, we were to head towards a training session.”

“Ah the old Danger Room,” said Warren.

“But that would be rude to just leave a guest hanging like that,” said Kitty quickly.

“Actually I wouldn’t mind joining you in the Danger Room to take another crack at it, for old times sake,” said Warren.

“Nice try,” muttered Scott to Kitty as they walked by.

“Hey just think of it as one big video game,” suggested Kurt and Kitty’s eyes brightened slightly.

“Thank you for opening up a Pandora’s Box, Kurt,” said Jean. “Now she’ll be more obsessed than Wolverine in there.”

“But that’s impossible,” said Kurt, as the X-Men made their way to the Danger Room.

XXXXXX-XXXXX

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“This is the best band that the school can get?”

“How lame!”

The Mercy Killers moved to the stage, as Peter stood there, with a half frown, half amused look on his face.

“Um, that’s, well, uh, actually kind of lame,” said Gwen as she looked at them, as the lead guitarist stepped forward, a black individual with an afro wearing a white jump suit and go-go boots.

“You know I’m sure that outfit might have been fashionable at one time,” said Peter.

“No time I’ve lived in,” said Gwen. “Maybe looks are deceiving, maybe they’re actually pretty good.”

The music began to crank up thus disproving that theory.

“Or perhaps not,” said Peter as some of the prom had began to boo at the group.

“This is to all the Midtown High students, who are out here on the big night,” said the lead guitarist. “Just know that soon your troubles will be swept away. Just clear you mind of all your troubles and dance the night away.”

The music began to kick up and it was hideous but there was some kind of insidious relaxing quality to it.

“What the….” Thought Peter suddenly, when his spider sense started to flare into overdrive, causing his head to ring. “My spider sense is going off, surely the music can’t be that bad that it’s a threat.”

“Your minds are blank, you can take that the bank!” shouted the guitarist in an off key manner on the microphone and he continued to play and Peter dodged his head, the ringing through his ears continuing as his spider sense began to flare. “Just relax, keep your mind off of the prom, it’s like you’re almost not here.”

“Gwen, I need to leave, this music is causing my head to split,” hissed Peter in her ear, but Gwen just stood there, unmoving, and unblinking. “Uh, Gwen, Gwen, hello.”

Peter snapped his fingers right in her face, but she was completely out of it. Peter slowly moved around, but pretty much everyone else in the gym, students and administration alike had been lulled to sleep.

“Something is wrong, got to get out of here, trying to put me under as well, if the spider sense doesn’t knock me out!” thought Peter, as he ducked out of the gym slowly within the crowd. “Thankfully we were a bit towards the back, no one can see me.”

At that moment, Peter slipped right out of the gym, but the Mercy Killers on the stage had stopped, when the lead guitarist had just stood there, a satisfied smirk on his face.

“I always love a captive audience,” said the guitarist with a grin. “Then again, when the Hypno Hustler is around, they always are out of it. Stunned like a hunting dog that heard a high pitched whistle, daddio! Hundreds of teenagers with disposable income under my control. Priceless jewelry as well and soon it will be mine, all mine.”

The guitarist turned as a beat began to kick up.

“Alright, you crazy cats, now this next song is dedicated to a very special person, me,” said the Hypno Hustler. “But before we get to that, I need to reach deep into those pockets and make get donations. All your money, all your jewelry, credit cards, anything that you have worth money, goes all to me, to me.”

He strummed out another hypnotic note on his guitar and the students began moving, as his band or in reality his gang, began collecting the money.

“Thank you very much, you’ve been a great audience,” said the Hypno Hustler before he began to strum on his guitar. “Now a song dedicated to the goers of this prom. And a one and a two and one, two, three, four.”

Sadly, the attempted song was interrupted by a line of webbing shot out and the guitar was ripped from the hand of the Hypno Hustler. Spider-Man dropped down to face the super villain.

“Wow, um, nice costume, I guess” said Spider-Man. “Let me guess, your gimmick is you’re a vengeful coma patient.”

“What!” demanded the Hypno Hustler in a scandalized voice.

“Well you had to come out of a coma, considering those threads are several decades out of date at least by now or on a lot of drugs,” commented Spider-Man, as suddenly the members of the Mercy Killers surrounded Spider-Man and began to engage into battle with the web head, as the Hypno Hustler began to try and gather as much as the ill gotten gains that he could before Spider-Man could fight off his henchmen.

“Okay, I wrestled that guitar away from him, but the people are still under his control and my head is still ringing, not to mention I have to fight a gang of over muscled goons posing as backup singers,” thought Spider-Man. “Not exactly how I envisioned my prom night.”

-

Mystique watched as the assembled Brotherhood team made there move. Ever since Magneto had become MIA, she had seized the team in a coup and had directed it to become more competent or at least as competent as one could hope with some of mutants she had to work with.

She looked as original Brotherhood members Toad, Blob, Avalanche, and Pryo sat awaiting their latest orders. They were pretty much goons, to do whatever was asked of them, because they required direction, otherwise they were without a cause and lost.

Two new recruits were Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, also known as the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Those two were not as easily controlled as the four original members of the Brotherhood, but Mystique was able to play off an extremely important issue to convince them to work for the cause. Their father was the missing Magneto and the Maximoff twins had been led to believe that Magneto had abandoned them due to his ambitions. Mystique had lead them to believe that she would assist them in gaining revenge on their dear dad and considering Mystique had planned to make Magneto pay for leaving her for dead when they had previously worked together, then it was not a devious charade to work on.

Then rounding out the group was Rogue. Mystique smirked at how the girl would be vital in tipping the scales and causing the X-Men to suffer a fall. Then she had a job to do and it was her hope that this would clear her debt. Then she could focus on Magneto.

“We’re at the mansion,” said Mystique calmly. “You all know what to do.”

“Yeah, those X-Twerps won’t know what him them,” cackled Toad as he bounced up and down in his seats as the others nodded as they touched down right in front of the X Mansion on the lawn in the stolen SHEILD aircraft.

XXXXX-XXXXX

The entire assembled X-Men group was right outside the Danger Room but suddenly, the lights began to flicker outside.

“Did we forget to pay the power bill again?” asked Bobby curiously but there was a buzzing noise outside.

“No, something’s wrong,” said Scott. “There’s someone outside.”

“That’s impossible,” said Hank. “Security should have warned us about anyone who comes within….”

A loud explosion had cut off his explanation.

“Unless of course someone blew a fuse box,” suggested Kurt.

“No, I’m telling you, we’re protected by the most efficient surge protection that technology could manage and several back up systems,” explained Hank. “It would be highly improbable that they would all fail at once.”

A wave of light went through the hallway, taking the X-Men off balance and knocking them to the ground.

“Then again, anything’s possible,” amended Hank as he pulled himself to his feet and the Brotherhood had entered the Mansion, lead by Mystique. “It can’t be.”

“The Brotherhood?” asked Jean.

“How did they get in here?” asked Bobby.

“It doesn’t matter, we’re going to get them out of here,” said Scott. “X-Men, on my signal, attack.”

“Brotherhood, take them down,” ordered Mystique as the two groups engaged into battle.

“You know I wanted to stop by to catch up on at old times,” said Warren as he dodged the attacks from Pryo as he shot flames up into the air. “But not like this.”

“Yeah, not exactly my ideal way of spending a Saturday Night either,” said Kurt as the ground from underneath them had rumbled when Avalanche had stepped forward, causing several rocks to go up.

“Give it up, X-Men,” said Avalanche but suddenly, he lost control of his powers when Ororo had turned the tables on them. A wind had caused the Brotherhood to back off slightly.

“Keep it up Storm, we need to get them on the defensive,” encouraged Scott but the Blob stood in the hallway, fighting the intense winds.

“You can keep blowing all you want but no one can move me!” shouted the Blob, as he took a swing at several of the X-Men.

“Maybe, but the surface that you’re standing on isn’t so safe,” said Jean as the rug that the Blob stood on began to lift into the air, until he smashed his head into the ceiling and dropped down, nearly falling on top of his fellow Brotherhood members.

“Blast them!” shouted Mystique to the Scarlet Witch who nodded calmly, before a blast of purple light shot through the air and impacted Storm, causing the winds to change and Ororo’s own powers propelled her right through the nearest wall.

“I’ve got her!” shouted Kitty as she stepped forward but the Scarlet Witch turned, before another bolt struck her causing her to phase into the ground. She screamed in terror, it was almost like she was sinking in quick sand until only her face was in the ground, sticking up.

An optic blast caused the Brotherhood to scatter, but Quicksilver zoomed forward, knocking Scott back. Scott turned before he blasted Quicksilver but he zipped to the other side.

“Missed,” said Quicksilver taunting and Scott blasted at Quicksilver again but the mutant zipped to the side. “And another miss.”

A vase shattered as Scott continued to blast Quicksilver.

“Give it up, you can’t blast me, I’m faster then those little light beams of yours,” taunted Quicksilver as he continued to zip around, as more vases were shattered but a slight teleportation flash echoed right next to Quicksilver. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

At the minute Quicksilver started to run, Kurt teleported him and they reappeared, with Quicksilver running at a wall at full speed.

“Get me out of here!” demanded Kitty as she tried to force her way out. “This isn’t very comfortable.”

The long slimy tongue of Toad shot, grabbing Scott’s visor. The mutant staggered backwards, covering his eyes, so the mutant did not hurt any of his comrades. This allowed Rogue to move in and grab Scott from behind. One tap to his neck had caused Scott to pass out, his powers transformed into Rogue, who let a controlled optic blast.

“Alright, if you surrender right now, ah ain’t gonna blast you!” shouted Rogue as the mutants scattered. Warren swooped down but the Scarlet Witch blasted him, causing his wings to feel like they were weighed down like lead and he crashed to the ground, knocking himself out.

“We’ve got to take her out, we might have a chance,” said Jean but a large glob of green slim flung from above, splattering Jean right in the face. Toad cackled as he leapt around but Hank swooped in, grabbing Toad and flinging him to the ground, causing him to crash right into Pryo and Avalanche, knocking them down. Then he was promptly taken out by the Scarlet Witch.

The Scarlet Witch sent a bolt of light right at Kurt but he teleported out of the way and right in front of an optic blast by Rogue. Thankfully he was able to teleport away from that, but he found himself taken out by a recovered Quicksilver, angry and with a black eye.

“Alright, you think its cute teleporting me into a wall,” said Quicksilver as he grabbed Kurt by the tail and dragged him across the floor at super speed. “Let’s see how you like this.”

“Enough, Quicksilver!” shouted Mystique putting a stop to the carnage, as a battered Kurt rolled over on the floor. “He’s been defeated.”

Mystique found herself levitated off of the ground by a telekinetic force, as Jean turned.

“Alright, enough, you’ve broken into our home, why, what would you have to gain?” asked Jean but Mystique just turned, as the Scarlet Witch prepared to take out Jean, but a blast of ice had broken her concentration.

“I don’t have to answer to you!” shouted Mystique scornfully as Quicksilver smashed right into a telekinetic wall. “Go ahead, try and probe my mind. It won’t do you any good.”

Before she could do anything, a tap on her face had caused the very life force to drain out of Jean, as Rogue stood. With her last impulse, she sent a telepathic distress call, before she completely blacked out.

Rogue used her stolen powers to get Mystique down.

“Thank you, Rogue,” said Mystique. “It is nice to see that some members of this team are pulling their weight.”

“That’s all of them, then?” asked Rogue.

“Yeah, just took out the ice cube,” grunted Pryo, as he pulled Bobby over, his eyes glazed over and shallowly breathing.

“Yeah what should we do with them boss lady?” asked Toad. “Finish them off.”

“In a matter of speaking but we have a job to do and now that our threats are out of the way, we can get to work,” said Mystique as she watched Rogue absorb Kitty’s powers, before pulling the trapped girl out of the floorboard. “It’s funny, their little training room is something that used to help fight people like us. Now it’s going to destroy them. Throw them in there.”

Mystique pointed to the Danger Room and the various members of the Brotherhood carried the battered and fallen X-Men inside. Once they were all inside, Mystique turned, before she programmed the room for the most dangerous setting while most if not all of the X-Men had been rendered unconscious and thus helpless.

“Farewell, X-Men,” said Mystique eyes narrowed, the corners of her mouth slowly twisting into a malevolent smirk. “We won’t meet again.”

She just turned away with a slight smirk. Perhaps if she was in a good mood, she would mop up the mess after it was done.

XXXXX-XXXXX

Spider-Man propelled himself right over the final member of the Mercy Killers and webbed him up, but the Hypno Hustler made his way to his guitar.

“Alright, Spider-Man, this tune is dedicated to you,” said the Hypno Hustler. “Spider-Man, you might ensnare the criminals in your web, but now you’re entangled in my mine. You can’t fight me, you might to succumb to the will of the Hypno Hustler, it’s….”

Spider-Man fell to the ground, a splitting headache, as his spider sense flared into overdrive, as he tried to fight off the attempted hypnotism.

“What, still resisting?” asked Hypno Hustler but he began to crank on his guitar. “No matter, I’ll just turn up the volume until you’re under my control or you’re ear drums are reduced to apple sauce. Either way, you’ll be out of my way.”

“Not going to happen today,” thought Spider-Man as he struggled through the headache, before sticking two globs of webbing to either side of his mask to block out the hypnotic sounds, before he shot a line of webbing right at the fire alarm and pulled it.

A loud ringing echoed throughout the gym and caused the hypnotized people to slowly come out of their trances. They moved, obviously assuming that there was some kind of fire in the school and the Hypno Hustler moved out the door, with a duffle bag full of stolen goods in his hand.

“Until we meet again you wacky web slinger,” said Hypno Hustler but Spider-Man had followed pursuit, chasing the villain from the gym, as several students moved outside, from the alarms.

“Not so fast, I’m….” started Spider-Man but Spider-Man stopped suddenly, when his spider sense blared for a few seconds once again, before he heard screaming in his head that caused him to be completely confused but at the same time, he knew he had to listen.

“Help, Spider-Man, the Brotherhood has attacked the Mansion!” shouted the fading voice of Jean Grey in Spider-Man’s head before it went complete dead, like a radio station going off the air. 

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