X-men Evolution Fan Fiction ❯ Starting Today ❯ Chapter 32

 

Today's word of the day was ouch. Remy was quickly becoming very familiar with this word. The bit from Essex's drill, even as small as it was, was still enough to drive a sharp pain into his head as it bit into his flesh. Head wounds have a tendency to bleed profusely; even though Remy had his eyes closed since he couldn't stand the sight of the drill, he could still feel an occasional trickle of blood run down his face. Once in awhile a drop would mix with a tear that escaped from his eyes due to the pain, and would run a little faster.

After the first few screams Essex told him to shut up; the noise made him jittery and neither of them wanted him to make a mistake, now did they? So Remy did his best to be quiet, but it was hard; especially when the drill finished going through his scalp and went into the skull. Then it wasn't necessarily pain but the most awful nauseous feeling he had ever had. Things just weren't supposed to be going through his skull! His mind screamed. And didn't people often pass out from traumatic experiences like this, so for heaven's sake why wasn't he passing out? He didn't want to be awake for this. It was creeping him out so badly he just wanted to cry. The mad scientists weren't supposed to be real, they were just movies, weren't they? Apparently not, for here he was with his own mad scientist and he knew this was no movie.

The drilling took what seemed to be forever but only a few minutes had passed. Essex eventually passed through the skull and apparently managed to stop without touching the brain, because he was quite pleased with himself when he finally put the drill aside, the bit stained with Remy's blood. Taking a sterile cloth, he wiped off the blood that was coming from the wound and that which had rolled down his face.

“There”, he said in what he probably thought was a comforting tone, “that part's over, and we're almost done.” Then taking a small instrument, Essex inserted it into the narrow hole he had created and took a tiny piece of brain matter. Remy cringed at the feeling of the instrument touching the edges of his wound, but he didn't feel it touch his brain, thankfully. He'd heard that the brain didn't feel any pain, and luckily for him that was true. He didn't want to feel something like that; there was just something inherently wrong about the act. Nothing should be touching his brain.

Removing the instrument, Essex carefully placed its contents on a glass microscope slide and set it aside. He then took a small piece of what looked like plastic from a dish on the tray.

“You'll be happy to know that I'll be repairing your skull with a new biodegradable polymer that's been developed in Singapore. Wonderful technology people are coming up with nowadays, isn't it? This way the bone will grow back on its own and you won't have to worry about setting off metal detectors. I thought you'd appreciate that.” He carefully inserted the plug into the hole he had made and then bandaged it. “There, all better. Perhaps we can give you something for the pain now, yes?” he asked, like he was offering a gift. Remy did consider it a gift though, and croaked out a small affirmative reply. Essex then gave him a shot of a painkiller and after a moment or two Remy relaxed. Maybe he could sleep and just pretend this wasn't happening, because he didn't want to know what Essex intended to do with what he had taken from him, nor what would happen once he had finished what he started.

Giving a condescending little smile, Essex left his `patient' to nod off from the effects of the drug. He went over to the other end of the room and placed the tissue sample in the refrigerator then cleaned and sterilized his instruments before beginning the procedure on the others.

His hired hands had not been idle in the meantime though. Gathered around the unconscious Magneto, they were looking to have some fun. Arclight looked down at him derisively. “So this is the so-called Master of Magnetism, huh? He doesn't look so tough now” she scoffed.

Scalphunter picked up the paddles of a defibrillator that was standing nearby. Grinning, he turned it on. “What do you say we wake the old man up?” he said. The others laughed. Essex was too preoccupied with what he was doing to Remy to really take any notice of them. Arclight ripped open the chest of Magneto's armor, exposing his bare skin. “Have at it, Doctor”,she said playfully. Scalphunter held up the paddles and said “Clear!” in a mock serious voice, then jammed the paddles down onto Magneto's bare chest. The older man's body jolted as the electricity poured through him.

“Again” the mutant laughed, then sent more power surging through the man on the table, causing him to wake up thrashing. “What, what's going on?”, the Master of Magnetism exclaimed, panting from the pain of just being electrocuted. The little group around him laughed. “Wakey wakey Magsey-boy”, Prism chuckled at him, and Scalphunter put the paddles away. Eric tried to move, but found himself strapped down to the table. He then tried to use his powers, but was startled to discover they weren't working.

“What have you done to me?” he glared at the people surrounding him.

“Getting into things they shouldn't be” dripped a stern voice from behind them. Turning, the four mercenaries saw their rather irate-looking boss.

“What do you think you are doing, messing around with my patients?” Essex asked angrily.

“Ummm...nothing, boss. We were just playing”, said Blockbuster.

The doctor's glare deepened. “Get out of here and play somewhere else, and don't let me catch you interfering with my work again.”

The group gulped as a whole. “Yes sir” muttered Arclight, and the four of them left the room.

“Now then” Essex said, turning back to his former partner. “What the hell is going on, Essex?” Eric demanded.

The man smirked. “Nothing that wouldn't have happened eventually anyway. Your getting taken down in battle just allowed me to start it sooner. Don't fear Eric, nothing will happen to you that isn't already happening to my other subjects” he said, and brought the instrument tray over to Magneto's bed. “Really, you should be looking forward to this. You wanted power, now I am going to give that to you. You'll be using it under my direction of course, but that's really a small matter. We were going to work together anyway so it shouldn't make a difference whose giving the orders. Now just lie still and this will hurt much less.” With that he pressed Magneto's head to the table and turned the drill on.

The last thing Remy heard before he fell asleep was his former boss crying out in pain.

O-o-o-o-O

Rogue wanted to hit someone. More specifically she wanted to hit Scott. He hadn't stopped grumbling since they left the others behind outside the tunnels. He didn't seem to care that they'd be leaving innocent people to be mutilated; he just wanted to go find Jean. She swore if he didn't shut up she'd take his visor and shove it up his ass. She was tired of hearing about Jean. Poor Jean. Well poor Jean had managed to hide a destructive psychotic entity inside of her for months and hadn't bothered to tell anyone. She had even managed to hide it from Xavier. If Rogue hadn't of absorbed her she would never have known about the power poor Jean was hiding. Poor Jean wasn't so poor though. Rogue had gotten some of her thoughts. She enjoyed having that power, and being able to pull one over on Xavier and everyone else. Rogue would never be convinced that part of her didn't want what had happened, regardless of what else went on at the tunnels. No, if it was poor anyone, it was poor Remy. Remy was stuck with a mad scientist while Jean was off flying high somewhere. She hoped Jean resolved her inner conflict for the better, for everyone's sake, but most of her sympathy right now was for Remy.

Logan was in a seat off to the side, a lit cigar in his mouth despite there being no smoking allowed on the jet. Normally he'd catch hell from Storm for even thinking about lighting up on the jet, but she wasn't there and even if she had been she wouldn't have been in any condition to scold him about his transgression. She probably wouldn't even have noticed. Ororo was still back with the others, drowning in her grief over Evan. Rogue had a feeling that she was blaming herself; that if she had never let her nephew stay with the Morlocks, that if she had just brought him back to the Institute that he would still be alive. She wanted to tell her teacher that probably wasn't true. Evan most likely would have come on this mission anyway, he had empathized greatly with the Morlocks and would have insisted on helping protect them. No, she doubted Storm would have been able to save him. Telling her would be useless though, the woman was too caught up in her grief; it was too fresh. Hopefully the Professor or some of the others would be able to her though.

There had been too much death lately; Mystique, Evan, Jean's apparent death then resurrection; even Sabertooth's death struck a minor chord in her, though she didn't really feel sorry at his demise. It was just that it felt weird to have someone you've known, whether you liked them or not, just be gone. Her mother she hadn't known long enough or well enough to truly miss, Evan she hadn't really been good friends with, and Sabertooth she had hated, but she still felt a strangeness at their absence, that they wouldn't be a part of her life anymore. Good or not, it was still there. She hoped that would be the last of it, that they would get everyone that had been taken out alive; because she wasn't sure if she could handle anymore deaths, not of her teammates, not of the Morlocks, and especially, her throat choked at the thought, especially not Remy.

Rogue forced these thoughts out of her mind before they could consume her and glanced at some of the others in the jet. The two sisters, Thornn and Feral, sat together and spoke quietly to each other, their voices unable to be heard over the sound of the jet. She supposed that the two girls seemed a little odd to some with their animalistic mutations, but no odder than some of the others; she had heard that during the battle Feral had been ready to kill when her sister was knocked out. Rogue could understand this protectiveness towards family. She had come to love her own brother Kurt very much and could very easily imagine going to any length to save him if necessary, and she knew that he felt the same about her. It gave her a little something in common with the two Morlocks. The other Morlock girl, Marrow, sat sullenly apart from the others. There was a deep anger in her eyes and Rogue imagined that she was upset over Evan's death as well. The Morlocks seemed to be a very close-knit group.

Kitty and Kurt sat together, Kurt still with tears in his eyes over the death of his friend. Kitty was doing the best she could to console him, her arms wrapped around his shoulders while he grieved. Rogue was glad that her brother had someone to take care of him right now. Kitty might be a bit on the flaky side, but she knew that the girl genuinely loved her brother.

Piotr also sat apart from the others, but Rogue thought that this was probably because he felt awkward with them and wasn't sure how to act. From Remy she knew that he was a quiet, serious young man who was usually involved with his books and his paintings and didn't spend a lot of time socializing. He really didn't seem the type to want to help others take over the world; in fact she knew he had only been with Magneto because of blackmail. Now though she hoped that Professor Xavier could help him, and remove whatever it was that Magneto was holding over his head, something about his sister, she now knew. Maybe he'd even stay after his ties to the Acolytes were severed. Remy would be glad to have his friend with him at the mansion; it wouldn't be easy for either of them to fit in at first, and having the other's presence might make things easier.

Rogue's thoughts were interrupted by Scott in the pilot's seat. “Rogue, we're almost there. I need you to point out the building to me.”

“Okay” she moved up to the copilot's seat and kept an eye on the landscape as they moved closer to the building that housed Dr. Essex's lab. When she spotted it she pointed it out to Scott and he landed quietly not too far away. She almost complimented him on the smoothness of his landing; he had given them some rather rough rides before when he piloted the jet, but she could tell he wasn't in the mood for humor right now so she bit her tongue.

“There's more guards” Rogue commented, noticing them at different points around the building. Out in the open in the daylight like this, there wasn't much opportunity for a sneak attack, and the jet might have been spotted already. Scott and Logan seemed ready for a fight though, and she bet that the three Morlocks felt the same way.

The nine of them came down out of the jet and spread out; the guards saw them and attacked, guns firing. Logan, Feral and Thornn got right into the fight, knocking guns out of guards' hands and slashing their attackers; men went down and Rogue didn't look to see if they got up or not. From the mood the three mutants were in she doubted they would. Scott and Marrow fired optic blasts and bone spikes at the guards; Scott opting to knock his targets out while Marrow went straight for the kill. Rogue knew that her team leader shared Xavier's views about killing and probably wouldn't be too happy about the deaths from Logan or any of the Morlocks, but he seemed to be to angry right now and caught up in his own actions to really concern himself with what they did. He had no authority over the Morlocks anyway. The three girls would answer to Callisto for whatever they did, and the Morlock leader would no doubt praise their actions.

Kurt was teleporting around, grabbing the guards' guns and then knocking them out with their own weapons, while Kitty had a stun gun she had taken from the jet and was firing at the guards with better aim than Rogue thought she would have. She hadn't known Kitty was any good with guns; she'd have to find out where the girl had learned that. Piotr was his own weapon; he punched out guards and they didn't last long under the strength of the young man's metallic fists.

Rogue held her own as well, alternating between using Magneto's powers to wrench the guns out of her enemies' hands and Scott's optic blasts to knock them out. The guards didn't last long under the assault. The team sustained few injuries; bullets just bounced off of Piotr's metal form but Marrow had been shot in the arm and Kurt had a bump on the head from a guard who fought back a little too hard. Scott tried to tell Marrow to go back to the jet but she refused.

“No, I will not sit around while you others fight. I will help rescue my teammates”, she said fiercely, and Scott wisely relented. They entered through the front of the building but found themselves at a bit of a loss about where to go next.

Rogue shook her head. “Remy and I entered through a different way, I'm not sure where they are.” Logan stiffened though, as a faint cry was heard from another part of the building. “That sounds like Magneto” he said after a moment. “And he doesn't sound too happy at the moment.”

“Maybe his new `friend' turned on him”, Scott muttered darkly.

“I wouldn't be surprised” Piotr said. “He did not seem the sort of man to be trusted.”

“Oh and Magneto is?” Scott scoffed.

The Russian gave him a glare. “You do not know all the facts. Don't judge what you know nothing about.”

Logan turned to the two. “Hush up, we've got company coming.”

“Right you are, old man” said a voice from a side corridor. “Nice of you to pay us a visit; not very good manners though, didn't your mothers ever tell you not to argue when you're someone else's guest?” Arclight commented snidely as she came into view. Scalphunter, Prism and Blockbuster appeared behind her. Logan popped his claws.

“I've never claimed to be nice. Now where's your boss keeping our friends?” he snarled.

The woman laughed. “Like we'd tell you. Expect a tour, also? Sorry but they only do that in the movies. No, the boss has no desire to see you right now. He's a little preoccupied at the moment, taking care of your friends. Don't worry, they'll be just fine. Better than ever, in fact.”

“That's enough out of you, lady” Logan spat, and attacked her.

“Rogue, you take Kurt and Kitty and go find the others, we'll handle these guys” Scott ordered as he fired a blast at Prism. He soon learned this was a mistake as the other mutant absorbed the blast then sent it right back at him. Scott dodged it just in time. “Colossus, you take this one!” he called out and focused his attack on Scalphunter instead. Piotr nodded and put his mind and fists to the task of beating on Prism's crystalline form. Feral and Thornn tag-teamed Blockbuster, alternating attacks while he fought the other off.

Rogue, Kitty and Kurt raced off down the hall in the direction the cry had come from. They met up with a few guards along the way, but they fought those off and continued to search each room, coming up empty handed until they made it to the main lab and found Essex bandaging up Magneto's head. Plague, Leech and Remy were all unconscious and strapped to tables. There was a bandage on Remy's head showing that whatever Essex had just done to Magneto he had already done to him. Dr. Essex looked up and smirked. “Ah, welcome. You missed out on the first two operations, but you're just in time to see the others. This will give you an idea of what you yourselves will be in for shortly. It's really fascinating the information the brain can give you. Soon I will be able to change these mutants' DNA, increase the power and intensity of their mutations, and also at the same time change their thinking so that they will only take orders from me.”

Rogue scowled. “You filthy creep. What makes you think we're going to let you do that? Your hired thugs are being taken down as we speak.”

Essex shrugged. “That's unfortunate, but once I have my patients here ready I won't need the others anymore.” Kitty fired her stun gun at him but she missed and he sent bolts of pain through her and Kurt's minds, knocking them out. He tried to do it to Rogue also but was blocked by her mental shields. He raised an eyebrow. “Very nice shields you have there, my dear. I look forward to examining your DNA.”

“Like hell you will.” Rogue sent an optic blast at him, which he dodged. The blast blew a off a corner of the bed Magneto was laying on, and almost took the Master of Magnetism's feet with it. Essex shook his head. “Be careful young lady, you don't want to hurt your friends with those pretty eyes of yours.” He took a gun out of his pocket and moved over to Remy, pointing it at his head. “I've already made one hole in this young man's head, do you want me to make another? Be nice and behave now.”

Rogue smirked. “You won't hurt him, you want to play with him too badly.” Drawing on Magneto's powers again, she snatched the gun out of Essex's hand and sent it flying across the room. She heard some explosions from another part of the building, but she had to ignore them as the doctor's pleasant face went away and he attacked Rogue, wanting to hurt her for interfering the way she was. He was larger than she was but she had several absorbed mutants' strength to back her up, and numerous hours training with Wolverine. The work paid off when after several minutes' fighting with him, she was able to tackle him and smash his head against the floor, knocking him out. Rogue got up and brushed herself off, and was about to go over to Kitty and Kurt to try to wake them up when Scott ran into the room, followed by Piotr.

“Come on Rogue; one of Essex's thugs managed to blow up some fuel tanks that were apparently inside the building, this whole place is going to go up in flames. We need to get out of here”, He said, his words hurried. He then looked around. “What the hell's been going on in here?”

“Dr. Jeckyll's been playing, what do you think?” Rogue retorted, kneeling down by her brother. “Come on, help me wake these guys up.”

Scott went over to Kitty and started shaking her awake while Rogue did the same to Kurt. Piotr in the meanwhile went over to his friend and checked him out. “Remy's out cold” he said, picking the unconscious man up carefully. “I'll take him out” On the way he also picked up Leech, who was small, and carried both mutants out the door. Rogue managed to wake up Kurt but Kitty stubbornly remained dead to the world.

“Can you carry her?” Rogue asked. “Kurt and I can teleport the other two out.” Scott nodded and picked up Kitty, heading out of the lab. In the meantime Kurt went over to Plague and Rogue took Magneto, teleporting both mutants out of the building and ending up outside, where Logan and the Morlocks were waiting. Marrow was favoring her wounded arm even more and Feral seemed to have injured her leg, as she was leaning on her sister for support. Logan had some scratches and bruises that were quickly healing up but other than that he didn't look any worse for wear. She glanced over to Piotr, who was already carrying Leech and Remy into the jet. She wanted to go over to him and see how he was but she had to help take care of business first. And Piotr would take good care of his friend. She went to Logan instead.

“What happened? Where are Essex's goons?”

Logan stretched, popping the bones in his neck. “The woman and that big guy the sisters took on are dead, the other two ran off. That crystal guy absorbed some of Cyke's blasts and used that along with some weapons the other guy had to blow up the fuel tanks. The fire was spreading like crazy, there was no way we could stop it.”

Rogue paused. “You know, Essex is still in there.”

“Yeah, and?” Logan shrugged.

She eyed him, wondering if he was really suggesting that they leave the man in there to burn to death. The question was answered for her when the part of the building the lab was in exploded; the fire must have reached there already. Debris flew everywhere and the X-Men and Morlocks raced for the jet, Kurt and Rogue teleporting their cargo aboard. They laid them out on the floor in the back; Remy and Leech were already on the jet's two available stretchers. Rogue went over to him and knelt down beside him. He was sleeping deeply; other than the bandage on his head he seemed fine. She sighed and laid her head on his chest briefly, giving him a gentle hug. A wave of relief went through her; he was alive, he seemed to be okay. She wasn't sure what Essex had done to him, but whatever it was they would find out and fix it if necessary.

Feral glared down at Magneto. “What do we do with that?” pointing down at him like he was a disgusting object. Logan tended to agree with her. “We take him back to the Institute, let Xavier deal with him” he then glanced at the three Morlocks. “How about we take you three back there too, have those wounds taken care of? I'm sure Callisto would want that.”

Feral nodded. “Fine.” She and her sister walked carefully over to some seats and sat down, Feral favoring her wounded leg. Scott laid Kitty in one of the empty seats and went to the cockpit to start the jet up. Kurt sat by his girlfriend and took her hand, murmuring in her ear in an attempt to wake her up. Logan walked past them, stopping briefly. “I'm sure she'll wake up soon, furball” he said in as gentle a tone as he could manage.

“Ja, thanks Logan. I know she will. I just don't like seeing her like this” Kurt said quietly. Logan nodded, understanding, and went up to his seat. Scott fired up the engines and lifted the jet off into the air.

“Time to go home, folks.”

O-o-o-o-O