Well, I was gonna wait for a few more comments, but if I start posting more than that'll make me have to start writing new stuff and I wanna write again!
I slack off if I have a lot of chapters between what's on the message board and what I have saved on my computer. I did write a brand new part of Chapter 24 a couple of weeks ago though. It's awesome. Anywho, here's the next chapter!
Chapter Eighteen
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‘What was that?’ Beast asked, still holding his flashlight in the direction the “thing” had been.
‘I don’t-‘ Cyclops began.
‘That was it! It had to be the same thing we saw!’ Storm exclaimed.
‘But it had bin followin’ us. How could it have gotten t’you too?’ Wolverine asked.
‘Gambit t’inks somethin’ fishy is goin’ on,’ Gambit said.
‘Whatever it was, we should get back to the Professor,’ Cyclops said. His flashlight was now on and it was shaking.
Wolverine knew why. He must have felt it too. He must have felt the immense power that had come from the thing. Wolverine knew he sure felt it. The power had been breathtaking. Something with that much power was dangerous . . .
‘What if it comes back?’ Rogue asked.
‘We’ll just have to watch our backs. The Jet should be somewhere in this direction,’ Cyclops said, looking at his tracker and indicating a trail to his right, before he started walking.
Wolverine stayed in the back. Beast was about a foot in front of him. They didn’t see nor hear anything else for the next ten minutes. Wolverine was thinking about retracting his claws until he felt a slight tingle go through his adamantium skeleton. That only meant one thing . . .
‘Cykes, slow down, will ya?’ Wolverine asked.
‘And why would I do that?’ Cyclops asked as he turned around to face Wolverine.
‘Because I can feel Magneto close by,’ Wolverine replied.
‘You’re sure?’ Cyclops asked.
‘How couldn’t I be?’ Wolverine snapped back.
‘Dammit . . . the Professor knew he would try to show up,’ Cyclops said.
‘Dis family ain’t nothin’ but trouble,’ Gambit muttered as Rogue elbowed him.
Wolverine walked up to Cyclops.
‘Logan, don’t do anything stupid,’ Cyclops warned.
‘Like what?’ Wolverine asked. He then took a left and departed from them.
‘Like that . . .’ Cyclops muttered under his breath.
Wolverine knew he couldn’t take Magneto by surprise, but he also knew that Magneto wasn’t alone. There was gonna be payback tonight; he was sure of it.
‘Why he git t’run off?’ Gambit wanted to know.
‘Because he’s just . . . Logan,’ Rogue said.
‘I don’t care who he thinks he is. We’re going in as a team though. Lights off,’ Cyclops said. ‘Keep a low profile as long as you can.’
They then started out. Beast and Nightcrawler stayed back, amongst the trees. They both blended in perfectly with their surroundings. Gambit made sure he had a good grip on his rod and a few cards before he started darting here and there. Rogue wasn’t too far behind him.
Storm and Cyclops edged closer. They were now coming up on a snow mound. They took shelter behind it as they looked for the Jet. That wasn’t hard to do. The Blackbird was 200 feet in the air. It was serving to and fro dangerously. Magneto could just be seen standing on the ground. Both of his hands were up in the air. Wolverine had been right. Cyclops was ready to aim a shot at Magneto, but if he did, he would be risking the Professor’s life. If the Jet fell from that distance . . . Cyclops tried to put that in the back of his mind. If Magneto kept the Jet that far in the air, then they were definitely going to attract someone’s attention from the air. If only Magneto would bring him down even 100 feet, then he could try to work with it . . . Then he thought of something.
‘Storm, can you bring the Jet down if I take Magneto out?’ Cyclops whispered.
‘I think I might. There is barely any wind, but I can see if I can’t make something out of it,’ Storm whispered back.
‘How certain are you?’ Cyclops asked.
Before she could answer, they both heard the sound of fighting . . . and burning trees . . .
‘Thought ya would burn me again? Well, I got new fer ya, bub: it ain’t happenin’,’ Wolverine growled, ignoring the burning trees behind him.
Pyro threw a fireball at Wolverine, but he lunged at him. Wolverine caught Pyro’s leg, causing him to fall. They soon became a ball of punching hands and kicking feet. Pyro let out a fireball as Wolverine threw a punch his way. Pyro almost evaded the hit completely, until he slipped on a puddle of snow and Wolverine’s fist came into contact with his hurt arm. Pyro was just glad that he had retracted his claws earlier. Even without the claws, however, it still felt as if Pyro’s arm had been torn off. He cried out in pain, his eyes beginning to water as he shot another fireball with his other hand. He could tell it was weak as Wolverine charged right through it without so much as a wince. Pyro turned and ran. Wolverine let out a fierce smile. He loved cat and mouse. He took off after Pyro, not realizing that he was headed straight for Magneto. Pyro could hear Wolverine’s breath right behind his ear. He was inches from Pyro when he felt himself freeze. He let out a cry that was full of so much hate and anger that Pyro felt the hair on the back of his neck stand straight up.
‘Dammit Logan!’ Cyclops muttered under his breath as he saw the whole thing.
Magneto had one hand out in Wolverine’s direction. The other was still in the air. The plane came down to 100 feet, but it was still too risky.
‘Oh no . . .’ Rogue groaned when she saw what had happened.
‘Don’t worry, chere. Wolverine big boy. He can take care o’ himself,’ Gambit assured her.
‘Yeah, but this is Magneto,’ Rogue pointed out.
‘Ah . . . ya got a point,’ Gambit said. He sent some cards flying towards Magneto. One found its way to his cheek, the others bounced off his helmet before they exploded.
‘Do you ever give up?’ Magneto asked Wolverine.
‘Never!’ Wolverine growled.
‘See what you can make of his friends. I’m sure you won’t mind meeting Rogue again,’ Magneto told Pyro.
‘I’ll try,’ Pyro promised, still clutching his arm, but still running around Gambit and Rogue, trying to take them by surprise.
‘I’ve got it!’ Cyclops whispered, not realizing he was voicing his thoughts. ‘But where’s Kurt?’
Nightcrawler was actually the closest to the Jet. When he saw Magneto and Pyro preoccupied, he quickly imagined the inside of the
Blackbird before disappearing with a
bamf. He reappeared right beside the Professor.
‘Kurt! I’m terribly sorry! In all my excitement to get here, I neglected to think about my own safety,’ Charles exclaimed.
‘Everybody makes mistakes, Professor,’ Nightcrawler said.
‘Yes, but my mistakes could effect the entire world.’
‘All is forgiven, I am sure,’ Nightcrawler assured him.
Charles then put an arm around Nightcrawler and they disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
The snow mound Nightcrawler thought of just happened to be the same on Cyclops and Storm were behind.
‘Professor! Thank God you’re okay!’ Cyclops said.
‘I should have seen this coming,’ Charles scolded himself.
‘You’re all right and that’s all that matters,’ Cyclops said.
‘So, what’s the plan, Professor?’ Storm asked.
‘Well, first I’m going to try to get the mind link working again. Then we’re going to try and get out alive. Erik still thinks he has me, but I don’t know for how long. I can sense more than a few mutants around, although I can’t get into their minds. That’s Erik’s work, no doubt. I want you all the help your teammates and get back here as soon as possible. I’ll do as much as I can from here. You can set me down now, Kurt,’ Charles said as Kurt put him down with his back to the snow mound.
‘In the snow? You’ll be soaked and freezing in no time,’ Cyclops argued.
‘It’ll be the least of our worries, Scott,’ Charles said. ‘Hurry and I’ll be fine.’
Cyclops nodded and they left.
Beast, can you hear me? Cyclops thought as they returned to the wooded area.
Yes and I daresay Mystique is one woman not to cross! Why? Have you found her? Have I found
her? Beast hooted.
I’m having one of the best workouts in my life!
Where?
About a mile south of the burning trees. And I would love to chat, but she just turned into a grizzly! Ciao! ‘I always said Hank loved this job too much,’ Storm chuckled as they tried to find him.
A couple of minutes later they found him. Mystique was still one huge grizzly bear. Beast was having his own with her. His jacket was already ripped in numerous places, but his spirits were high. Cyclops sized up his options, then shot a medium blast at her. He nailed her in the side. She landed a few feet away, changing back into her true form as she hit the ground. Before she had time to recover, Storm blew her off her feet, literally. She blew her toward Nightcrawler, who grab her and teleported in front of Cyclops. Before he could properly aim, however, she managed to change into an arctic fox. She clawed and snapped her way out of Nightcrawler’s grip. She tried to take off running with a limp, but Beast jumped on top of her. There was a yelp before she was engulfed in blue fur.
I’ve got her! Let’s see if she gets up from that! Beast thought cheerfully as he got up.
Mystique was still on the ground, now in her true form. Beast stood over her, waiting to see if she would put up a fight. She struggled to get up, but fell back down.
‘I think we’re good to go from here,’ Cyclops said.