FicWad

A New Power
Chapter 3: No Way Out

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Scott felt his head spinning as blurry images began to form in front of his eyes. His memory was patchy, but he did remembered being out on a date with Jean, seeing a movie, and coming back to the car. After that, it was all a blur. As his vision cleared he looked up to see a white ceiling with bright florescent lights. He also felt unable to move, for he was lying shirtless on a strange kind of metal gurney with tough metallic shackles on his hands and legs. Finally, Scott's vision cleared and he became aware of four familiar figures in the room.

"Rise and shine Summers," said a familiar voice. Scott looked over to see that it was none other than Todd "Toad" Tolensky, who was accompanied by the rest of the brotherhood of mutants.

"I thought something stunk," replied Scott as his vision finally cleared.

"You thought you were so tough with that little cement stunt you pulled on us last Monday? Well I'm afraid that now its time for you to pay the price," said Lance as he approached the bound Scott with an angry look upon his face.

"What kind of 'price' did you have in mind Alvers?" said Scott, not threatened by his captors.

"Come on Summers," said Quicksilver as he then approached Scott, "We've already told you what we want. We just want to know where you got those strange new powers. Is that so much to ask?"

Scott didn't say a word. He just looked back at them with a stone cold face. Then, his eyes began to glow a threatening bright red.

"Where's Jean?" Scott's voice was now stern and flushed with anger.

"Oh, she's here," responded Quicksilver in a casual manner. "She's okay, but if you use one optic blast, rest assured our boss will know and her condition may take a dramatic turn for the worse, if you know what I mean."

Scott's expression didn't change, but he did stop the glowing in his eyes for fear of what they might do to Jean.

"Now...You gonna tell us what we want to know and be over with it?" said Lance.

Scott looked back at them, undaunted by their threats. "Like I've said before, it's for me to know and you all not to know."

With an annoyed grunt Lance and Pietro stepped back.

"Fine, we'll do this the hard way," said a frustrated Pietro. "Blob, start breaking every bone in his body! Then we'll see if he's ready to share!"

"With pleasure," said Freddy Dukes with a grin as he stepped forth. "Any last words before we get crackin?"

"Actually yeah," said Scott as a slow grin spread across his face. "I have a few...Qin sun jong!"

As soon as he spoke those mysterious words the shackles that had kept him bound dissolved like dust on to the floor. With his hands free, he delivered one swift, heavy blow to the "immovable" blob and sent him flying against the heavy steel walls. The rest of the brotherhood watched in shock as Scott quickly got up to his feet and delivered a powerful drop kick to Lance's chest. Pietro used his speed to try to get some sedatives, but as he tried to run back over he was unable to avoid a quick one-two punch to the face. It was as if Scott knew every step he was going to make before he could even think of it. The last one standing, Toad, didn't seem willing to fight the young leader after seeing how easily he took down his comrades. However, Scott quickly cornered the flabbergasted young teen in a corner.

"Hey yo...Uh," said Toad nervously and beginning to sweat, "Can't we just talk about this?"

Scott then grabbed Toad by the collar, lifted him up off his feet, and looked him straight in the eye.

"Now are you gonna tell me where Jean is?!" said Scott sternly.

"Uh...I don't know I...WHOA!" yelled Toad as Scott threw him back against the adjacent wall.

Scott then turned to the door, gave it a quick optic blast to open it, and stepped out. However, as he turned down towards the hall, there was somebody waiting for him. Suddenly, he became engulfed in a purple haze and he felt his optic blasts being blocked. He looked harder to see that the source was none other than Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch.

"Going somewhere pretty boy?" said Wanda as she looked at him dead on from the end of the hall.

"Yeah," replied Scott, "I'm outta here."

He began an immediate dash towards the end where Wanda was standing.

"Fool," she simply said as she began to launch hex beams at her approaching advisory.

However, each beam she shot was being dodged with ease as Scott began to get closer. Wanda grunted in frustration as she increased her rate of fire, but she still couldn't hit him. Then, when he was less than 15 feet away he began to run along the side of the wall in a gravity-defying move to avoid Wanda's powers. Wanda tried to readjust, but she wasn't fast enough. Scott then jumped from the wall, into the air, and delivered a single flying kick. In an instant, she was out cold and her powers were now neutralized.

"Now to find Jean," said Scott as he ran down the hall to the right.

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Back at the institute nobody was aware of the events unfolding with Scott, Jean, and the brotherhood. All seemed calm to them. Many of the students had gone out for the night, the rest just sat around and stayed up late watching movies. The professor was reading in his study room as it grew later in to the night. He was about to turn in, but suddenly he keeled over in pain off his wheelchair. He felt a massive psychic surge overcome his mind as he struggled make sense of it. Hearing the professor's calls of distress, Logan came bursting in to the room with both sets of claws drawn.

"Professor! What's happening? What's wrong?" yelled Logan as he ran over to his side.

"I...I got a strange psychic call. It was from Jean. She and Scott have been abducted by Magneto..." said the Professor as Logan helped him back up in to his chair.

"Magneto..." snarled Logan after he heard that name, "Where?"

"I'm not sure," responded the Professor, "But gather all of the available students. We have to find them!"

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Scott ran down what seemed like an endless maze of corridors. After navigating around for an exit, he was lead to the center of what looked like a large warehouse. There were numerous, large crates all over the place and there seemed to be nobody else in sight. Carefully, Scott began to walk around the sides of the main hall so he wouldn't attract attention from the center. As he began to look for any signs of Jean, he saw a figure lying against a crate in front of him. Scott felt a great sense of surprise, for it was Jean.

"Scott!" yelled Jean as she slowly got up and ran towards him in jubilation. "You're okay!"

"Yeah, I'm fine...But you're NOT!" yelled Scott as she got closer. He then gave her a swift kick, grabbed her arms, and through her against another crate behind him. Then he watched as the form of Jean was replaced by the blue-skinned shape-shifter, Mystique. Scott walked up to her unconscious form. Suddenly he heard what sounded like clapping. He began to scan his immediate surroundings in order to find the source, but before he could locate it he felt something grab his arms and legs. He looked to see that they were thick metal ropes that were being controlled by some unseen force. The ropes slowly dragged him to the center of the room and secured him to another gurney similar to the one he escaped from, except this one looked far more menacing. Then, an ominous figure floated down from the ceiling.

"We meet again young Cyclops." It was the voice of none other than Magneto.

"You..." said Scott with anger apparent in his voice, "Where...Is...JEAN!?"

"Ah the girl, she is safe. See for yourself," responded Magneto as he pointed to a side of the warehouse to reveal a room hidden by camouflaged doors built in to the wall. It was shielded with plexiglass and surrounded by thick steel reinforcements. And in the center, lay an unconscious Jean Grey.

"What have you..." began Scott, but he was immediately cut off.

"She is unconscious from knock-out gas, and she will stay free from harm as long as you do exactly as you are told." Magneto then approached the bound young mutant.

Scott just stared back at the master of magnetism unafraid and undaunted.

"I see that you've lost the glasses," said Magneto, "And from what I saw on the security cameras, you've learned some new skills."

"He also kicks much harder than I remember," added a disgruntled new voice. Scott looked over to see Mystique coming up towards him after getting up from Scott's heavy blows. "Not bad for somebody who's supposed to be dead."

Scott didn't respond. He just listened to their low-level observations with little amusement.

"Dead indeed," said Magneto, "Which brings us to why we bought you and your girlfriend here. It seems you have some explaining to do Mr. Summers."

"Yeah right," responded Scott with a stern face, "Like I've told your cronies, it's for me to know and you all not to know."

Mystique, annoyed by his insolence, walked straight up to him and slapped him as hard as she could on the face, but it didn't change the expression on his face.

"Enough!" exclaimed Magneto, "Need I remind you that we still have Ms. Grey here and we won't hesitate to use her to get what we want!"

Scott looked back at Magneto with even greater anger than before. He wanted to escape like he did before, but he didn't want to risk putting Jean in danger.

"What do you want bucket head?" said Scott sternly.

Magneto shot him a sinister smile. "You disappeared without a trace for nearly a month. A statewide search and a full blast of Cerebro all over the globe turned up absolutely nothing. No body, no clues, and no physical or psychic presence whatsoever. It was as if you had just vanished in to thin air. After two weeks they pronounced you dead. While some of my team seemed shocked by the news, I was somewhat saddened."

"You're breaking my heart Magneto," replied Scott in a harsh joking tone.

"My dear Cyclops...Have you forgotten what I once gave you? Have you forgotten everything that happened on my asteroid with your brother? I gave you a taste of my dream, and offered you a part of it. Yet you foolishly threw it away...And for what?"

"You used me! And my brother!" yelled Scott.

"I offered you hope. Have you not been aware of the state of the world lately? It's open season on mutants."

"Yeah thanks to you," interrupted Scott.

"Never the less, it proves me right and you know it. The human race is now riddled with prejudice, hate, and intolerance. No doubt you have felt it at school and in public."

Scott couldn't deny that. People like Principal Kelly and Duncan Matthews had made him the victim of numerous insults. He knew that there was a new sense of fear among the public of people like himself and the rest of his friends. However, that didn't deter Scott's attitude. Magneto had done this to him before and he was not about to let it happen again.

"Your wrong Magneto," replied Scott, "People act that way out of fear, not hate. I know because I have experienced it. They fear what they don't understand. They can't tolerate what they fear. Understanding is needed, not bloodshed."

"Xavier has poisoned your brain Scott Summers. I am trying to SAVE you, and do you know why?" asked Magneto as he looked Scott straight in the eyes. Scott unflinchingly just looked right back at him. "It's because you're no ordinary mutant. You were once plagued, hindered, and imprisoned by your own body. Then you vanish for a month and returned out of nowhere, and now you are better. You are enhanced, and I must know how."

Scott had a feeling what Magneto was getting at. "You say you're trying to save me? Please...You just want to use me again. That's all. You just want your armies and yourself to become stronger, better, and deadlier for a war that you are trying very hard to start."

"I am not starting it!" yelled Magneto. "It is a matter of inevitability. And it is a matter of evolution. You are now an even greater superior being then before, for you went through something...A process that you won't tell us. And that process not only advanced your powers to their full potential, it made them more powerful. It also gave you new powers. Powers unlike anything I have ever seen in my entire long, illustrious life."

"Are you just gonna flatter me all night?" replied Scott snidely.

"This is your last chance Cyclops!" bellowed Magneto as his expression grew more and more angry. "Now tell me, how did you enhanced your powers and how do you duplicate it?"

Scott just looked back at Magneto, unafraid by his dark tone.

"Guess," he said with a smirk.

Magneto let out a frustrated grunt. "Have it your way."

He then snapped his fingers and in walked a mysterious man from behind. He was of small stature and had hair over most of his face.

"Mastermind," said Magneto, "It seems that our guest is a little too stubborn to for his own good. Show him how I always find out what I want to know!"

"As you wish, Magneto," replied Mastermind as he walked up to Scott.

"I wouldn't do that..." warned Scott.

"Silence!" bellowed Magneto as he used his powers to tighten the metal restraints on Scott's limbs.

Scott looked back at the disfigured face before him with no fear. Mastermind then put both hands on Scott's temples and closed his eyes.

'Come child...Open you mind to me. Open...Your...Mind.'

Scott unflinchingly lay back calmly as Mastermind tried to probe his mind, but he was failing miserably. Scott's aura of good chi and strong mental blocks were far superior to anything a dark, corrupted mind like Magneto could throw at him. Magneto watched anxiously as Mastermind began to sweat in his repeated attempts to probe Scott's mind.

"What's taking so long?" asked Magneto impatiently.

"I've never encountered anything like this..." said Mastermind short of breath. "His mental shields are unreal. I can't make a dent in them at all."

"Well try harder!" commanded Magneto.

Mastermind promptly tried again, but to no avail. Scott knew he could keep it up due to the extensive mental strength that he learned in Taitzu; because of that Mastermind was just wasting his time and energy.

"Come...On..." grunted Mastermind as he kept trying.

"What's the matter? Can't get through?" taunted Scott as he looked snidely back at the powerful psychic.

"You...Won't..." but that was all Mastermind got out. Suddenly, his face went blank and his eyes rolled back; then with a whimper, he collapsed on the ground. The metal strain was too much for him even for somebody as powerful as Mastermind.

"I warned him," said Scott.

Magneto and Mystique just looked back at him with a mixture of frustration and amazement. Even Mesmero couldn't knock out somebody like Mastermind and Scott had done it without breaking a sweat.

"You continue to surprise us Mr. Summers," said Magneto.

"Well...Looks are very deceiving," replied Scott with a grin.

"Indeed, but I WILL know your secrets. It's only a matter of time. This could have been over, but you chose to insult me instead!" yelled Magneto in anger.

"Well forgive me for feeling bitter towards a guy who kidnapped me and my girlfriend for no good reason other than to further your sick cause," replied Scott.

"Xavier has turned you in to a FOOL!" yelled Magneto getting more and more angry.

"The only fool around here is you, bucket head," said Scott. "You could have approached me any way you wanted, but I still would've known your intentions. And I don't need the professor to tell me that."

Magneto's gaze at the young leader grew strong and so did his rage.

"Fine! We'll have to do this the hard way, Mystique..." said Magneto as he turned to his comrade. She then approached the side of the gurney. "He's all yours for now."

A sinister smile grew across her face. "It's about time," she said as she grabbed a mysterious looking baton-like object with electrical sparks coming out of the end. "You are gonna tell us EVERYTHING even if I have to pry all night! Let the games begin..."

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AN: There's chapter 3. Well, what do you all think? Like it, hate it? Please post your reviews on fanfiction.net or send them to me at slickboy444@aol.com. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned if you want to know what happens next!