Categories > Cartoons > X-Men: Evolution > Revolution
Revolution
Chapter 14: Cold Partition
The weather was relatively calm when the X-Jet landed in Alaska. Even so, the cold was very clearly perceptible, but Kitty, Kurt, Rogue and Remy didn't mind. In fact, they were grateful, for after days of being scorched, they finally got the chance to cool off. The coats that they packed were hard to look at before, but the layers of thick fabric were a necessity now. After the group landed, they went straight to business. There was no time to take in the sights of snow covered mountains and infinite white from the perspective of a tourist, but they would see plenty of that in their hike. The X-Jet was left behind, hidden away so as to not make their arrival so clearly known.
The walk felt endless and pretty soon the group started getting fed up with the cold, even though ironically, the vast snowy plains looked like heaven to them not too long ago. At least Kurt's fur was a good aspect for him then. Logan suddenly halted and ordered, "quiet," in a low commanding tone. The soft chatter that was going on with the group immediately ceased as the squad leader sniffed the air. Having picked up a trail, Wolverine made his way forward part a pile of snow and sniffed the ground. Finally, he started to dig through the snow until he found a metal hatch hidden under it.
"Looks like the lead was true after all," Logan muttered, still unsure. Before they left, Xavier had warned them that the clue arrived via an anonymous message that he was unable to trace. "Be ready for this to be a trap," Wolverine reminded with a voice full of seriousness. The scents in the air didn't match any that he could think of. This didn't smell like the work of Magneto or Mystique. Carefully and quietly, Wolverine opened the hatch and took in the scents inside before starting down, signaling for the others to follow.
The group made their way underground with only a small light that illuminated the area immediately in front of them. They didn't want to use a light that was too bright so as to not attract attention in case someone saw it from afar in one of the many forks that the metal tunnel possessed. They weren't worried about getting lost though, as Logan's keen sense of smell could easily trace the path back and if they were in a particular hurry, Nightcrawler could teleport them to the surface.
The metal tunnel became more rustic with pieces of flooring, walls and ceiling missing, replaced by patches of ice. The metal continued becoming less until the group reached a chamber that was mostly made of ice. It was a spacious place, most likely situated under a mountain judging by the tall ceiling. Metal beams went along its walls and ceiling like a cage to prevent a cave in. The strange part was that there seemed to be no one there. However, appearances could be deceiving and the quietude didn't mean that the place was deserted.
Logan raised his hand in alert, then signaled for the group to take cover behind a pile of crates. There were many wooden crates of unknown contents in the chamber. With a deep quiet breath, Logan could perceive the scent of metal, but no traces of Magneto's scent, so he wouldn't jump to any conclusions.
Footsteps were finally heard as a group of five men entered the chamber from an adjacent snowy tunnel. The X-Men didn't recognize any of them as they quietly observed from their hiding place. The unknown men approached a tall device in the center of the chamber that was covered by a white cloth. The cloth was removed to reveal the unmistakable shape of a missile.
The weapon was rather large and an open panel on its side revealed complex writing in its interior. It looked like the missile was yet unfinished and Logan wasn't going to let them finish it. "Let's go," he alerted his companions, then leapt out of hiding with his claws out.
The rest of the X-Men followed Wolverine's lead. Gambit tried to throw a card at one the men, but his energy wouldn't flow into it. Confused and caught of guard, he couldn't warn Rogue on time.
Rogue charged forward. It felt bad to take off one of her gloves when it was so cold, but she needed to disable her opponent and get some useful memories out of him. He could hold the key to this mystery in his mind and Rogue wanted to know the answer. She tried to grab the man's face, as the rest of his body was covered to protect him from the cold. Rogue was certain that her hand had gripped his throat; she felt the cold skin of his upper neck and the roughness of a growing beard on his face. Yet she didn't feel anything other than what anyone would feel through tact. There was no rush of energy, no memories, no power.
"Cherie!" Gambit reacted to try to communicate that his power wasn't working. Wolverine had his claws out, but that didn't mean he was the only one who was affected. After all, Wolverine's power was more so physical, his claws, strong bones, mighty strength and endurance. But Remy's power was close to energy and so was Rogue's.
The man, much larger than her, grabbed Rogue by the wrist. Panic flashed in her eyes as he pulled her then lifted her by the shoulders as she helplessly tried to break free. The man threw her to the ground were she slid on the icy terrain and slipped towards the wall. The ground shook in an ill time earthquake and pieces of ice slipped through the skeleton of metal beams preventing the icy chamber from being buried, one loose portion of ice falling on Rogue's head. Gambit reached her at last after fighting another of the men out of the way, gathering strength from sheer adrenaline and worry.
Simultaneously, Kitty discovered the hard way that she was unable to phase out of her captor's hold. "Kitty!" Kurt focused on teleporting towards her. He didn't understand why she didn't just phase herself free, but it didn't look like she could. Instead of disappearing to reappear close enough to ambush Kitty's attacker, Nightcrawler remained in the same place. His unexpected inability to teleport held his attention long enough for another of the men to land a punch on his face, which sent him toppling back.
"What's wrong with you? Didn't I train you to fight better than this?" Wolverine growled. He had beaten three of the men until they were knocked out and was about to finish his forth opponent. His fist connected with the man's face in payback for what he did to Kurt.
"Our powers aren't working!" Remy carefully sat Rogue with her back against the wall, frowning at how much blood stuck to his glove when he touched the side of her head. The last enemy standing ran towards him, but Remy stood quickly and took out his anger on him until the man fell unconscious.
Wolverine retracted his claws and pushed them out again as if to test them. "Whatever it is, it looks like it only affects certain kinds of power." His eyes landed on rogue as he hurried to her. "She's hurt," he glared at Remy. "You should have watched her back better." It wasn't that Logan was truly reproachful, but rather, he needed to voice his frustration and concern in some way.
Remy frowned, "I know," he glared over at the men on the ground.
Logan examined the wound on Rogue's head with a serious look. "We're retreating. I'll take you to the X-Jet, then you four will stay there and I'll finish the mission on my own." His tone told them that there was no room for argument. Albeit there were protests in the back of their minds, the more important matter was to tend to Rogue's injury, so no one voiced any disagreements to Logan's decision for the time being.
With shout of alert, more people, about thirty of them, men and women, rushed into the icy chamber. Some had looks in their faces that more so befitted intellectuals and scientists rather than those accustomed to physical labor, exploration and combat. But none the less, experienced and inexperienced fighters, they all looked ready to fight. Angry shouts and insulting remarks were thrown at the mutants, which made Logan think that perhaps the strange occurrences were related to some kind of anti-mutant movement. Yet there was no time to theorize about who could be behind it. "Run!" Logan nearly pushed the group back into the tunnel from where they came. Getting them to safety would have to be the top priority.
Kitty and Kurt were running ahead in the darkness, while Remy was behind them carrying the unconscious Rogue in his arms. Logan lagged behind to fight off their pursuers. At least not all the enemies could come at them at once after the tunnels narrowed, but Wolverine's nose told him that there were more people in the tunnels that connected further ahead.
The crunch of snow beneath their boots turned to the clangs of metal with their hurried footsteps. Nightcrawler yelped in surprise as he almost ran into someone ahead. The flashlight carried by the enemy revealed four others behind him. "Not this way," Kurt turned a corner, he didn't know where he was going, but there was no time to think about that now. He could only pray that he didn't run into a dead end and accidentally lead the others to it as well.
"Which way?" Kitty called out, not that she actually expected Kurt to know. The only one who could have a clue was Logan and he had his hands full at the moment protecting the rest of the group. Hand to hand combat was something they could do, but it would be too much to try to fight in such close quarters, in the darkness and against such large numbers without the aid of their mutant abilities. Plus they had to take Rogue to safety as quickly as possible.
"I don't know! This way, I think!" Upon hearing Kurt's voice, Remy noticed that it sounded off with an echo. Kitty replied with something and her voice became even more distant. That's when Gambit realized he had taken a wrong turn. There was too much noise, too many angry shouts, too many sets of shuffling feet and it was too dark to guide himself by anything other than sound.
None the less, Gambit kept running, thinking only of getting Rogue to safety. She was still unconscious in his arms and that worried him. Finally, the steps and voices became distant and Remy slowed down. Holding Rogue protectively against him with one arm, he reached for the small light he had put away in his coat. He let out a breath when he confirmed that they were indeed alone. At least they lost their pursers in the underground maze, but they had also been separated from the other X-Men.
Remy saw the entrance to a storage room of sorts. There were blankets, canned food and other such things there. He thought that maybe there could also be first aid supplies, then Rogue wouldn't have to wait until they got back to the X-Jet. Gambit went into the storage room and hid behind a row of crates. He set Rogue down gently with her back resting against the wall and quietly searched through the supplies. Fortunately, he found a first aid kit, which he immediately put to use, cleaning and bandaging Rogue's head as best he could.
Remy looked at Rogue's still face. "Would some energy help you recover, cherie?" He didn't expect an answer; nor did he receive one, she was still out cold. He pressed his lips against hers in a gentle kiss, but his energy was not absorbed.
xoxox xox xoxox
Meanwhile, in a different tunnel... "Light! I see light!" Kurt ran faster through the upward slope that led to an open hole towards the ground above. He jumped up to the surface with great agility and extended his hand to Kitty as she followed. He reached out again to help Remy get Rogue up to the surface, but a strange man grabbed his wrist, though he had to let go when Kitty's foot connected with his face. The man lost his balance and toppled down the slippery metal slope where Wolverine punched his lights out and continued through another tunnel.
The rest of the pursuers went after the lone mutant, assuming his companions were ahead and not caring to look up the sloping tunnel. "That was not Remy..." Kurt stated in realization. Kitty bit her lip in worry. She too had thought that the steady rhythm of footsteps behind her and Kurt belonged to Remy, but if he wasn't following them, then were was he and Rogue?
To be Continued
Yay, an action chapter! :D And with a cliffhanger to boot. :)
Chapter 14: Cold Partition
The weather was relatively calm when the X-Jet landed in Alaska. Even so, the cold was very clearly perceptible, but Kitty, Kurt, Rogue and Remy didn't mind. In fact, they were grateful, for after days of being scorched, they finally got the chance to cool off. The coats that they packed were hard to look at before, but the layers of thick fabric were a necessity now. After the group landed, they went straight to business. There was no time to take in the sights of snow covered mountains and infinite white from the perspective of a tourist, but they would see plenty of that in their hike. The X-Jet was left behind, hidden away so as to not make their arrival so clearly known.
The walk felt endless and pretty soon the group started getting fed up with the cold, even though ironically, the vast snowy plains looked like heaven to them not too long ago. At least Kurt's fur was a good aspect for him then. Logan suddenly halted and ordered, "quiet," in a low commanding tone. The soft chatter that was going on with the group immediately ceased as the squad leader sniffed the air. Having picked up a trail, Wolverine made his way forward part a pile of snow and sniffed the ground. Finally, he started to dig through the snow until he found a metal hatch hidden under it.
"Looks like the lead was true after all," Logan muttered, still unsure. Before they left, Xavier had warned them that the clue arrived via an anonymous message that he was unable to trace. "Be ready for this to be a trap," Wolverine reminded with a voice full of seriousness. The scents in the air didn't match any that he could think of. This didn't smell like the work of Magneto or Mystique. Carefully and quietly, Wolverine opened the hatch and took in the scents inside before starting down, signaling for the others to follow.
The group made their way underground with only a small light that illuminated the area immediately in front of them. They didn't want to use a light that was too bright so as to not attract attention in case someone saw it from afar in one of the many forks that the metal tunnel possessed. They weren't worried about getting lost though, as Logan's keen sense of smell could easily trace the path back and if they were in a particular hurry, Nightcrawler could teleport them to the surface.
The metal tunnel became more rustic with pieces of flooring, walls and ceiling missing, replaced by patches of ice. The metal continued becoming less until the group reached a chamber that was mostly made of ice. It was a spacious place, most likely situated under a mountain judging by the tall ceiling. Metal beams went along its walls and ceiling like a cage to prevent a cave in. The strange part was that there seemed to be no one there. However, appearances could be deceiving and the quietude didn't mean that the place was deserted.
Logan raised his hand in alert, then signaled for the group to take cover behind a pile of crates. There were many wooden crates of unknown contents in the chamber. With a deep quiet breath, Logan could perceive the scent of metal, but no traces of Magneto's scent, so he wouldn't jump to any conclusions.
Footsteps were finally heard as a group of five men entered the chamber from an adjacent snowy tunnel. The X-Men didn't recognize any of them as they quietly observed from their hiding place. The unknown men approached a tall device in the center of the chamber that was covered by a white cloth. The cloth was removed to reveal the unmistakable shape of a missile.
The weapon was rather large and an open panel on its side revealed complex writing in its interior. It looked like the missile was yet unfinished and Logan wasn't going to let them finish it. "Let's go," he alerted his companions, then leapt out of hiding with his claws out.
The rest of the X-Men followed Wolverine's lead. Gambit tried to throw a card at one the men, but his energy wouldn't flow into it. Confused and caught of guard, he couldn't warn Rogue on time.
Rogue charged forward. It felt bad to take off one of her gloves when it was so cold, but she needed to disable her opponent and get some useful memories out of him. He could hold the key to this mystery in his mind and Rogue wanted to know the answer. She tried to grab the man's face, as the rest of his body was covered to protect him from the cold. Rogue was certain that her hand had gripped his throat; she felt the cold skin of his upper neck and the roughness of a growing beard on his face. Yet she didn't feel anything other than what anyone would feel through tact. There was no rush of energy, no memories, no power.
"Cherie!" Gambit reacted to try to communicate that his power wasn't working. Wolverine had his claws out, but that didn't mean he was the only one who was affected. After all, Wolverine's power was more so physical, his claws, strong bones, mighty strength and endurance. But Remy's power was close to energy and so was Rogue's.
The man, much larger than her, grabbed Rogue by the wrist. Panic flashed in her eyes as he pulled her then lifted her by the shoulders as she helplessly tried to break free. The man threw her to the ground were she slid on the icy terrain and slipped towards the wall. The ground shook in an ill time earthquake and pieces of ice slipped through the skeleton of metal beams preventing the icy chamber from being buried, one loose portion of ice falling on Rogue's head. Gambit reached her at last after fighting another of the men out of the way, gathering strength from sheer adrenaline and worry.
Simultaneously, Kitty discovered the hard way that she was unable to phase out of her captor's hold. "Kitty!" Kurt focused on teleporting towards her. He didn't understand why she didn't just phase herself free, but it didn't look like she could. Instead of disappearing to reappear close enough to ambush Kitty's attacker, Nightcrawler remained in the same place. His unexpected inability to teleport held his attention long enough for another of the men to land a punch on his face, which sent him toppling back.
"What's wrong with you? Didn't I train you to fight better than this?" Wolverine growled. He had beaten three of the men until they were knocked out and was about to finish his forth opponent. His fist connected with the man's face in payback for what he did to Kurt.
"Our powers aren't working!" Remy carefully sat Rogue with her back against the wall, frowning at how much blood stuck to his glove when he touched the side of her head. The last enemy standing ran towards him, but Remy stood quickly and took out his anger on him until the man fell unconscious.
Wolverine retracted his claws and pushed them out again as if to test them. "Whatever it is, it looks like it only affects certain kinds of power." His eyes landed on rogue as he hurried to her. "She's hurt," he glared at Remy. "You should have watched her back better." It wasn't that Logan was truly reproachful, but rather, he needed to voice his frustration and concern in some way.
Remy frowned, "I know," he glared over at the men on the ground.
Logan examined the wound on Rogue's head with a serious look. "We're retreating. I'll take you to the X-Jet, then you four will stay there and I'll finish the mission on my own." His tone told them that there was no room for argument. Albeit there were protests in the back of their minds, the more important matter was to tend to Rogue's injury, so no one voiced any disagreements to Logan's decision for the time being.
With shout of alert, more people, about thirty of them, men and women, rushed into the icy chamber. Some had looks in their faces that more so befitted intellectuals and scientists rather than those accustomed to physical labor, exploration and combat. But none the less, experienced and inexperienced fighters, they all looked ready to fight. Angry shouts and insulting remarks were thrown at the mutants, which made Logan think that perhaps the strange occurrences were related to some kind of anti-mutant movement. Yet there was no time to theorize about who could be behind it. "Run!" Logan nearly pushed the group back into the tunnel from where they came. Getting them to safety would have to be the top priority.
Kitty and Kurt were running ahead in the darkness, while Remy was behind them carrying the unconscious Rogue in his arms. Logan lagged behind to fight off their pursuers. At least not all the enemies could come at them at once after the tunnels narrowed, but Wolverine's nose told him that there were more people in the tunnels that connected further ahead.
The crunch of snow beneath their boots turned to the clangs of metal with their hurried footsteps. Nightcrawler yelped in surprise as he almost ran into someone ahead. The flashlight carried by the enemy revealed four others behind him. "Not this way," Kurt turned a corner, he didn't know where he was going, but there was no time to think about that now. He could only pray that he didn't run into a dead end and accidentally lead the others to it as well.
"Which way?" Kitty called out, not that she actually expected Kurt to know. The only one who could have a clue was Logan and he had his hands full at the moment protecting the rest of the group. Hand to hand combat was something they could do, but it would be too much to try to fight in such close quarters, in the darkness and against such large numbers without the aid of their mutant abilities. Plus they had to take Rogue to safety as quickly as possible.
"I don't know! This way, I think!" Upon hearing Kurt's voice, Remy noticed that it sounded off with an echo. Kitty replied with something and her voice became even more distant. That's when Gambit realized he had taken a wrong turn. There was too much noise, too many angry shouts, too many sets of shuffling feet and it was too dark to guide himself by anything other than sound.
None the less, Gambit kept running, thinking only of getting Rogue to safety. She was still unconscious in his arms and that worried him. Finally, the steps and voices became distant and Remy slowed down. Holding Rogue protectively against him with one arm, he reached for the small light he had put away in his coat. He let out a breath when he confirmed that they were indeed alone. At least they lost their pursers in the underground maze, but they had also been separated from the other X-Men.
Remy saw the entrance to a storage room of sorts. There were blankets, canned food and other such things there. He thought that maybe there could also be first aid supplies, then Rogue wouldn't have to wait until they got back to the X-Jet. Gambit went into the storage room and hid behind a row of crates. He set Rogue down gently with her back resting against the wall and quietly searched through the supplies. Fortunately, he found a first aid kit, which he immediately put to use, cleaning and bandaging Rogue's head as best he could.
Remy looked at Rogue's still face. "Would some energy help you recover, cherie?" He didn't expect an answer; nor did he receive one, she was still out cold. He pressed his lips against hers in a gentle kiss, but his energy was not absorbed.
xoxox xox xoxox
Meanwhile, in a different tunnel... "Light! I see light!" Kurt ran faster through the upward slope that led to an open hole towards the ground above. He jumped up to the surface with great agility and extended his hand to Kitty as she followed. He reached out again to help Remy get Rogue up to the surface, but a strange man grabbed his wrist, though he had to let go when Kitty's foot connected with his face. The man lost his balance and toppled down the slippery metal slope where Wolverine punched his lights out and continued through another tunnel.
The rest of the pursuers went after the lone mutant, assuming his companions were ahead and not caring to look up the sloping tunnel. "That was not Remy..." Kurt stated in realization. Kitty bit her lip in worry. She too had thought that the steady rhythm of footsteps behind her and Kurt belonged to Remy, but if he wasn't following them, then were was he and Rogue?
To be Continued
Yay, an action chapter! :D And with a cliffhanger to boot. :)
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