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.
