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1X00 – The X-Men – Act IV
Humming the theme song to Ghostbusters, Pyro was quite content. Rogue had opened up the gate so Quicksilver could get in, zipping past the armed guards. All Pyro had to do was keep the guards busy which he did so by walking Stay-Puft around the wall and through the front gate, right up to the building, scorching the concrete and marring the glass.
Then a most peculiar thing happened.
The air got colder to the point that Pyro could see his breath, ice crystals forming around the monster’s extremities until the flames were engulfed by a thin layer of ice. Had he tried, Pyro might have been able to salvage his Marshmallow man but he was much too curious as to what was happening to do anything other than stare.
When his fire creature was gone, Pyro glanced around and noticed the man standing just inside the gate, a few years younger than himself, hand raised in the air. “You do that?”
“Well, yeah,” the kid almost shrugged, giving him a wary look.
“Cyrokinetic, huh?” was the only logical conclusion, any other explanation for the brown haired man’s ability to ice over his fire monster would be entirely too complicated, “So, what, you’re creating ice out of the air moisture?”
“Yeah,” the ice mutant furrowed his brow in confusion at Pyro’s polite conversation, his eyes darting side to side as if he was expecting to be attacked, “pretty much.”
Pyro sighed and shook his head lightly, “That’s so not fair.”
Clicking at his control pad, a streak of green flame shot out from the nozzle of his flamethrower and kept pumping fuel into a regular menagerie of mythical beasts of two sphinx, a Cerberus, a dragon, a couple of centaurs, and at least one drop bear…
…
Quicksilver stood over the computer, waiting impatiently for the system to power down so that he could remove the core processor and lattice system. Normally this would be a job for Pyro but his fire skills were needed distracting the guards outside. Tapping his finger impatiently, he almost missed hearing the whistling of wind which tended to accompany someone running father than technically humanly possible.
Ducking at super-speed, he barely got out of the way of a punch and tackle that came from behind. Turning around he faced his attacker, a slightly older man with jet black hair. “Who the hell are you?”
“Oh,” he said with a bit of a Canadian tilt to his pronunciation, “just a concerned citizen.”
To anyone watching from the outside it would have been a blur that passed in mere seconds, but if the surveillance footage was slowed down, they would see the dark haired man attack Quicksilver at only half the speed he was capable of.
Later, Quicksilver would realize that the man was going slower because he didn’t want to do Pietro any real harm, but when the man’s elbow crashed across his face, it was all over. Darkness engulfed him and he crumbled to the floor.
…
“Quicksilver is down,” Scott heard JP say over Jean’s communications link as Scott snuck around some bushes, literally, looking for a rematch with Avalanche, “he was trying to steal a computer-thingy.”
“Where?” Kitty’s voice asked, “It must be on its own system because I’m not finding anything on the central mainframe.”
“Third floor,” JP answered, “Room 312.”
“On my way,” the girl said and Scott finally found the geokinetic.
The mutant was down on one knee, sending another shock wave towards the wall, part of it breaking off and crumbling to the ground. Another small sink hole opened up and Avalanche ‘let off the gas’ as it were.
“This time,” Scott said as his hand went to his visor, “I’m not turning my back on you.”
…
Jean ran through the entrance stopping short at the guards who were starting to take aim at the now distracted Pyro and Bobby. Not wanting anyone to get hurt, least of all her friend, she focused very hard on the minds of the guards…
You don’t want to fight both of them at once, you want to wait and see what happens…
The best way to manipulate a mind was not to give them an order that went directly against what was already on their mind, simply nudge them in a direction that would beneficial to all involved.
…
Avalanche was debating whether or not he should risk taking the whole wall down when an all too familiar red beam stuck out at him, knocking him sideways to fly across the ground.
With a grunt, he got back to his feet, tapping his communications unit, “Boy Scout is here, keep an eye out for Claws and the Witch.”
“Copy that,” Rogue’s voice came over the line, “Quicksilver?”
The Boy Scout shot another blast but this time the Greek dodged, sending out a shock wave which buckled the Earth. The optic mutant jumped up and rolled over the wave to Avalanche’s annoyance.
“Quicksilver, come in,” Rogue said again. “Pryo?”
“A bit busy here,” the fire mutant’s voice said, “making a new friend.”
…
“Stairs… stairs…” Kitty mumbled as she turned a corner, the elevators having gone into lock down.
Finding them, she jogged towards the door only to have it open before she even got twenty feet from it. A woman, a little taller than her with a white streak in her auburn hair and a hard drive in her hand skidded to a stop, giving Kitty a rather befuddled look.
“Yah not with M-TAM,” she said, Scott having not been kidding about the woman’s Southern drawl.
“Ah, no,” Kitty said nervously, but smiling, she smiled a lot when she was really nervous. “I’m here to stop you.”
“Seriously?” the woman started to step forward, frowning as she placed a hard drive in her jacket, “What are you, ninety pounds soaking wet?”
“Hey,” Kitty pouted, putting her hands on her hips, “I eat, I try to put on weight, honest!”
“Whatever,” Rogue was completely disinterested, lifting her hands into a loose combat stance, “well, this is gonna hurt you more… it’s just gonna hurt you.”
Rogue threw a decently powerful flat palm strike at her face, and it passed right through, the Southern mutant almost tripping up when she realized she wasn’t connecting to anything. Managing to stay on her feet, Rogue passed her hand through Kitty’s head a few times like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
Drawing her hand back, she frowned, “Now that’s just cheating.”
…
Bobby was running for his life, literally, making it out to the middle of the street as he was chased by a green fire-breathing dragon, among other things. He turned just in time to throw up an ice wall which the dragon slammed into, loosing most of its substance and reforming into two smaller eagles.
“It’s freaking chemistry, the rapid oxidation of molecules until they combust…” he could hear Pyro shouting.
The intensity of the heat was causing the ice to melt faster than usual, the wall crackling and crumbling under the pounding of the fiery monsters. At is shattered, Bobby managed to ice a drop bear before being forced to back up again.
“I’ve met half a dozen mutants who can create fire, but do they really appreciate it?” Pyro kept going on as both classic orange and ethanol blue flames where added to the mix of mythical animals. “Nnnnooooooooooooooo.”
This was going to be a long, long, night.
…
“Kitty?” JP said as he used some power cords to tie up Quicksilver, he would have preferred zip-ties or actual cuffs but he made do with what he had.
“Kinda busy,” her voice sounded nervous, “found Rogue.”
“I’ll be right there,” he told her but before he could move she answered him.
“No, I’m distracting her,” she said, “get the computer and get out.”
JP looked back at the mess of wires coming out of the shiny boxes and despite being a science teacher and knowing a fair bit about physics… this was a little out of his league technical wise, “Riiiight…”
…
A sink hole started to emerge under his feet and Scott leapt to the edge. Though not as graceful as other more… feral mutants, he did manage to get to edge in time to land half-way out of the hole, quickly scampering up to his feet.
Spotting Avalanche, Scott’s hand went to his visor and this time he led his target, which attempted to dodge, knocking the man down, sending him against a nearby lamp post which buckled and fell over.
The optic mutant grimaced, “I wonder where the Professor stands on accidental destruction of public property?”
…
Everyone actually heard what Scott said seemingly to himself but they were a bit too busy to respond. Bobby was still attempting to freeze the various creatures Pyro was throwing at him, building walls as well since apparently the other mutant needed to see his creatures to control them.
Another ice wall crumbled down to reveal three bears, a green papa, a red mama, and a little blue baby bear. Bobby was beginning to understand why everyone thought Pyro had issues with mental stability.
While the bears were having fun trying to burn him to a crisp, Pyro was busy building new creatures to send after him. The baby bear was easily taken out and Bobby dodged as the other two attempted to swipe at him. He was still dodging when a rampant fire weasel jumped out of nowhere and attempted to light his pants on fire. Again, Bobby froze it but in his distraction the papa bear came after him with a big flaming paw…
and then stopped.
Confused, but glad, Bobby glanced up and saw Jean standing off to the side, one hand stretched out while the other had fingers pressed to her temple as she concentrated.
“Hey, Red,” Pyro shouted out almost cheerfully and Jean grimaced at the nickname, “long time, no burn. This one with you?”
“Yes,” she said through partially clenched teeth.
“Come on, sheila,” the Acolyte reached out and literally wrenched control of the bear back, “we’ve been through this before, you may be a wicked telepath/telekinetic, but you ain’t got the training or finesse I do when it comes to fire.”
“You’re right,” Jean took a deep breath, “but I don’t have to stop you,” she grinned as the fire flickered across her face, “just slow you down long enough for him to.”
And that’s when it clicked for Bobby. If he wasn’t busy dodging, he could be putting his power to good use. He started with freezing the bears then he’d turn his attention to the rest of Pyro’s menagerie.
For his part, the fire mutant’s face stayed completely blank until he said, “I should have stopped for more ethanol.”
…
“Right,” Rogue looked down right frustrated, “I’m gonna find someone I can actually hit.”
With that the two-toned mutant turned on her heels back towards the stairwell and Kitty suddenly didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t physically stop the mutant, well, she could try but that would mean going tangible. If she did that, she would likely get either her butt kicked or absorbed, maybe both.
“Hey, wait,” she shouted lamely as she ran after the girl.
Rogue went back into the stairwell and Kitty phased through the doors. When she got onto the landing there was no sign of the other mutant. Knowing JP was on the third floor, she started up the stairs, turning back tangible as not to wear herself out. She was halfway up the first set when she got that feeling she was being watched.
Kitty barely had time to turn and Rogue’s hands where on her bare arms, draining the life out of her.
…
Jean stumbled, feeling the break of Kitty’s consciousness from her own.
“What happened?” Scott asked first.
“It’s Kitty,” she answered back, “I think Rogue got her.”
“At least she won’t hurt her,” Scott knew Rogue had plenty of opportunities to kill or at least maim them I the past and never did, “JP, as soon as you got that computer, find Kitty and get her out.”
“Almost there,” the speed mutant answered.
…
Playing a hunch that the girl wasn’t exactly an experienced fighter, the minute Rogue hit the stairwell she went down instead of the obvious up. The giggly girl didn’t even look behind herself as she started up the stairs, major tactical error.
As Kitty, her nickname apparently, passed out, Rogue eased her down afraid the skinny girl would break something if she fell to hard.
Rogue could feel the mutant’s powers coursing through her body, but unlike her own which was just as much a part of her as breathing, Kitty’s intangibility was like a warm comfy coat… easily malleable but verging on stifling. Ken was still in her head as well, fresh voices always louder and more violent until they found their place in Rogue’s schizophrenic hierarchy.
Still, she had practice at dealing with these situations and brought forth Kitty’s power, turning herself intangible. Staring at her now translucent hands, she couldn’t help the words that came to mind, “So weird…”
Then came the information download, a quick shuffle of a thousand and one memories, none of which she really wanted at this moment but she was curious who this girl was, what she had to do with the Boy Scout and the cyrokinetic giving Pyro fits. One thought floated to the surface above the others, a very recent memory she couldn’t ignore.
“Quicksilver,” she said, finally discovering why he wasn’t answering his communicator.
…
Scott was knocked onto his rear by another buckling of the ground, at least this time there was no basement for him to fall into.
Scrambling back to his feet, he was about to blast Avalanche again when he realized the mutant’s attention was no longer on him. Tracking his eye line, Scott saw the flashing lights of emergency vehicles. Before he could even think on how to react to innocent bystanders trying to get in their way, the problem was solved for him.
Avalanche sunk a large hole across the entire length of the road, the cop cars and fire truck skidding to a stop, luckily none ending up going over the edge.
That taken care of, the Greek mutant turned his sights back on Scott who raised his hand to his visor once more.
…
Rogue was outside room 312 and cautiously looked inside to see Quicksilver laying unconscious close to the exit while a dark haired man was much farther into the room, fiddling with the computer processor that her leader was supposed to be stealing. Thanks to Kitty, she knew that the man was named Jean-Paul and he was a speed mutant too, which is how he got the drop on Quicksilver.
First she slipped off her other glove, tucking it into her jacket pocket, then she slunk into the room, hiding behind a desk. Apparently Jean-Paul was ex-Department H, not someone likely to be easily ambushed and all he needed was a sideway glance to see her, thankfully his attention was on the computer. Creeping around the desk she could just… reach… Quicksilver…
“Hey,” Jean-Paul said, noticing her just as her hand brushed against her friend’s forehead…
and the world… slowed… down… a… single… breath… take… ing… for… ev… er…
Jean-Paul struck out at her but unlike Quicksilver, she couldn’t rely on her speed to make up for any lacks in her combat technique. With the world now passing by at a snail’s pace she was able to match the man blow for blow but, much like her fights with Wolverine, it was difficult to get a shot in against him. He didn’t have a healing factor like her feral frenemy, but he had invulnerability which was worse.
Their arms became locked together, holding onto each other, their stance too precarious to make any fancy footwork possible, her body held too far back to get in a good-night kiss, not that she’d want to what with all the new voices in her head already. That’s when Rogue had to make her decision…
Breaking away, she backed off and ran to Quicksilver, grabbing his arm and turning them both intangible before Jean-Paul could catch up to her. Grinning at the man, she started to sink them both through the floor.
…
Jean-Paul watched as Rogue and Quicksilver slipped through the floor using Kitty’s power…
After taking the time to finish disconnecting the processor correctly, Jean-Paul quickly traced the path Kitty should have taken to get upstairs, hoping she hadn’t deviated. He didn’t have to look far as he found her lying peacefully on the stairs as if she was taking a nap.
“Found Kitty,” Jean-Paul lifted the light girl into his arms, “heading back to the suv.”
…
Stopping on the first floor after sinking through the second, Rogue took a moment to consider all her options.
They were outnumbered by unknown qualities. Avalanche and Boy Scout were evenly matched tonight… Red and a refrigerator where giving Pyro a run for his Australian dollars… Quicksilver was out for another hour, at least… even with her borrowed speed, she couldn’t drain every mutant, she was having enough trouble with two mutants and one very confused guard stomping around up there.
Tapping her communicator, she made the best decision possible, not the only choice, but the one that guaranteed that her teammates, her friends, got out of this okay. Phasing off the cables that had Pietro tied up, Rogue hefted the man up over her shoulder, careful not to let his jacket bunch up to reveal any skin.
“Pyro, Avalanche,” she had to mentally slow her speaking down but she knew she spoke faster than usual through the comms, “we’re cutting our losses, I’m calling a retreat, head to rendezvous point beta and await further instruction.”
…
Dodging another sink hole, Scott saw Avalanche say something into his ear piece communicator. Then without so much as a quip, the mutant dropped the biggest sink hole yet, causing Scott to run backwards lest he fall in.
When Scott was able to look away from the ground, he saw Avalanche’s shadow disappear down an alley. For a moment he considered giving chase, but the police where cutting through a parking lot to get around the other sink hole and he had his team to think about.
With a slightly annoyed sigh, Scott headed back towards the building.
…
Bobby was taking on another fire dragon while Jean was holding back a gaggle of evil geese who were nipping at her. Between them, Pyro was being fairly well contained, he couldn’t make creatures fast enough to really get an edge.
Then Jean pushed out with her telekinesis against Pyro when Bobby wasn’t in danger of being burned by uncontrolled fire. The Aussie flew back and tumbled into the grass, many of his animals dissolving into smoke. But he quickly glanced up and wrestled back what was left.
“Alright,” he said as he stood up, “let’s end this, shall we?”
The Iceman did not like that sound of that…
A solid wall of flame began to form in front of the pyromaniac, the geese and dragon being sucked into it as if it was a void. The temperature of the area began to rise significantly and Bobby fought it with all his strength, starting at the bottom of the wall and working his way up.
Jean came up next to him, her hair frizzing from the sudden humidity and if he wasn’t afraid that the wall, which now stretched clear across the street, would set one of the buildings on fire he might have made a joke about it. She was trying to keep the flames from igniting the decorative flora and he kept his focus on cooling the fire.
Then he got that feeling that one gets when they pick up an item they’re expecting to be heavy but it’s actually really light. The flames dispersed and they stood in front of a half-wall of ice.
“They’re retreating,” Scott came running up behind them.
“Retreating?” Bobby asked, shattering the wall to see that Pyro had made his exit.
Lights of police cruisers and fire trucks started to come around the corner at the end of the street.
“That could have something to do with it,” Jean mused a tad sarcastically.
That’s when he noticed JP driving his SUV, Kitty buckled up and passed out in the front passenger seat. “Hey! That’s my ride!”
“Yell at me later,” JP barked at him as he pulled up beside the three and they piled into the aptly named Escape and JP hit the gas.
“Did you get the computer?” Scott asked as he put his seatbelt on.
“Front floorboard,” the speed mutant replied, slamming the SUV around a corner, sending them all smashing into each other. At least JP had the thought to quickly grab Kitty’s shoulder to keep her unconscious self from banging against the window.
“Wait,” a thought suddenly occurred to Bobby, “does this mean we won?”
X-Men: The (fan fic) Series 
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