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Title: New Mutants, Volume XIII: Release The Hounds, 1/2
Author: KanedaX
Fandom: X-Men Movieverse
Spoilers: X3, New Mutants volumes I-XII (see above)
Rating: R for language, suggested nudity, and graphic violence
Pairings: Theresa/Remy
Summary: Magneto hatches his plan, and the Xavier Academy will never be the same
Notes: This is the most important chapter in the story so far. It is also the longest, and has the most stuff happening, hense the division into parts. It's the literary equivalent of the Big Budget Action Sequence: easy to imagine, incredible to imagine, difficult to write coherently. Like I stated in previous chapters, I don't pull punches, but this is an AU, so I hope I don't get too many "how could you kill so-and-so" posts. In brief, they ain't mine, I just like to poke them with sharp things that go snikt.
Previous Chapter (Brotherhood) / Next Chapter (Release The Hounds, 2/2)
"My feet hurt," Cain Marko whined.
"Shut up," replied John Allerdyce, his eyes never leaving the street. "We're almost there."
"Explain to me again," Marko continued, readjusting the large gym bag on his shoulder, "why we had to travel to the site of what may be our greatest battle by mass transit?"
"Clarice is still weak," Alvin Wyngarde explained. "You know how she gets tired out after blinking too often. Magneto's asking a lot of her, getting him into the facility, and getting everyone out again. She couldn't waste her strength on us."
"Hell of a mutant she is," Sarah Ferguson growled from beneath her hooded sweatshirt. "I don't know why he's putting so much trust in her."
"Clarice is all we have," John replied. "We need a teleporter, she's a teleporter."
"I thought you said you knew another one," Marko said. "Nightrider, or whatever his name was."
"Nightcrawler?" John said, snorting. "Yeah, right. Even if I knew where he was, he's as whipped as any of them. Stryker had him good for a while there, but in the end he just turned into another one of Xavier's lapdogs.
"Clarice," he continued, "now Clarice you don't have to worry about. She'll do whatever you tell her to, if you get her to think she's doing the right thing."
"And if she doesn't think that?"
"Then you put the fear of God into her," John sneered. "Alright, we're almost there. Alvin, you smelling anything yet?"
"Mastermind."
"Yeah, whatever."
"I'm feeling two psychics," Wyngarde replied. "One powerful, one not so much. Are you sure there's no way we're being spotted?"
"Trust me," John replied. "In all the time I was at that school, there were only two psychics. They're both six feet under right now. Anyone who sees us walking down the street will just pick us up as drifters or something."
"Okay," Alvin replied. "I don't think one of them is a threat, his power levels seem to be of a short-range variety."
"And the other one?"
Wyngarde closed his eyes, focusing his thoughts. Within seconds, he opened them again.
"She is now blocked," he responded. "She can't read us, can't hear us. Can't even see us."
"You're sure?"
Mastermind smiled. "I created a nice little reality for her," he said. "One that's identical to what she's in right now, except we're not in it."
"Alright," John said, pointing forward. "There's the gate."
"Let's move," Sarah said cheerfully, pulling back her hood and quickening her pace."
"Whoa," John said quickly, grabbing her shoulder. "Not yet."
Sarah snarled. "Why not?"
"Check your watch," John replied. "We have ten minutes before we're supposed to move."
"It's close enough to six already," Sarah said. "I want to kill something."
"You'll get your chance. Wyngarde, you and Sarah stay here. Juggy, I need some assistance."
"After you call me a name like that," Marko threatened, "You'd better have a damn good reason."
"Oh, I do," John chuckled. "We're going to go make sure they have only one place to run."
"Oh, my rook!"
"You have to watch where you're putting that, cher," Remy said from across the bed as he slid his bishop across the board, knocking over Theresa's castle."
"God, could you two be any lamer?"
Theresa and Remy both looked up from the chess board and to the door, where Alison Blaire standing with her arms crossed, giving them both a snooty look.
"You have the girls bedroom to yourself, and all you can do is play checkers?"
"Chess," Remy corrected her.
"Whatever," she snorted, closing the door and walking to her bunk. "Really hot date."
"This isn't a date!" Theresa blurted out instinctively. Quickly she caught herself and whispered to Remy, "Is it?"
Remy smiled at her, and gave a little wink. Theresa turned three shades of pink.
"Do you mind, Alison?" Remy asked quietly. "We're concentrating on the game, we could use a little--"
Alison turned on her stereo, blaring eardrum-pounding bubblegum pop, and flopped down on her satin-sheeted bed with a copy of Seventeen.
"--quiet." Remy finished.
"This is a public space, LeBeau," she said loudly. "It's my room more than it is yours. Besides, it's Monopoly, not Naked Fun Time."
"Chess," Theresa said quietly, moving to pick up the board.
Before she could grab it, though, Remy reached his hand out and laid it on hers. Her heart raced as he shook his head and made her put the board back down on the bed.
"Garfield or Spider-Man?" Remy asked Alison.
Alison's magazine flopped into her lap. "What?" she asked darkly.
"Garfield of Spider-Man?" he repeated. "What's your choice tonight, Dazzler?"
Alison snarled. "Fuck you."
"Ah," Remy said calmly. "Granny panties, I understand."
"Fuck you, LeBeau," she growled, grabbing her headphones and slamming them into the stereo and onto her head.
Theresa giggled in spite of herself.
Remy looked up, smiling coolly. "Do you want this to be a date, Cassidy?"
Theresa turned red again, but she nodded slowly, the smile never leaving her face.
Remy smiled back. "Good. Your move."
Juggernaut followed Pyro back to the front gate, leaves crunching beneath his feet.
"How'd you know about that place, anyway?" Cain asked.
"I used to live here," John replied. "Back when I was one of the sheep."
"And you're sure that was the only one?"
"Positive," he said, approaching the gate, where Marrow and Mastermind sat, leaning against the stone wall.
John checked his watch. "One minute," he said. "Everyone know the drill?"
"Let's hope all that time on the Greyound was worth it," Sarah grumbled, dropping her gym bag next to the one Marko was carrying. Cain opened his, digging out his giant metal helmet, and snapped it in place.
"How are we doing, Alvin?"
"She's still cloaked," Mastermind said.
"Good. You stay back here, wait for the cavalry. And, whatever you do, don't be seen. Marrow, Juggs, you wait for my signal."
"What's the signal?"
"You'll know it," John said, flicking his wrist. A small ball of fire erupted in his hand. "It's going to be my Hero Moment, and it is going to be awesome."
"What's the status?" Emma asked Ororo.
They were once again in the cafe, and Emma was once again sipping tea brought to her by the same waiter.
"We're about fifteen minutes out of Duluth," Ororo replied, this time sipping her own coffee. "Kitty, Peter, and I already investigated three of the crime scenes. Duluth's the last one to check."
Emma shook her head. "That makes seven of these cases," she said quietly, spreading the files out on the table in front of them. "This is getting to be really bad."
"It was really bad after the first," Ororo interjected. "Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find much of a pattern. They're all human, but otherwise..."
"Different careers, different races, different genders," Emma muttered, flipping through the files. "Hell, different countries. Everything from an anthropology professor at Oxford to a car mechanic in Butte, Montana." She shook her head, rubbing her hands across her face in exhaustion."
"No physical or chemical trauma," Ororo continued. "They just... dropped dead."
"How far back do these records go?"
Ororo shrugged. "I don't know. About as far back as your average police report."
"We're missing something," Emma sighed.
"Obviously," Ororo said. "We're wracking our brains over here. Maybe you can toss this information at Dr. McTaggert, see if she has any ideas?"
Emma shook her head. "Dr. McTaggert is currently halfway across the Atlantic right now."
"The Starsmore case?"
Emma nodded. "She and Forge are flying to the facility. Forge has a few ideas about how to help the child out. Sean went with."
"Well, it's just about the time most classes would be having a semester break, anyway," Ororo said, shrugging. "Why not us?"
Emma continued to stare at the files. "Is there any mention of birthplace in these reports?"
"Yeah," Storm replied, opening one file and pointing. "But there's no correlation there, either. Two were born in Upstate New York, but that's far from a pattern."
"Maybe they all lived in the same place at one point," Emma said. "Is there any listing of family history? Some kind of--"
Emma cut off in mid-sentence. Her head jerked up quickly, and she spun to look off to the right.
"What is it?" Ororo asked.
"I'll call you back," Emma said quickly, and Ororo gasped as she was thrust back into the cockpit of the X-Jet. She quickly reached out and grabbed the controls, trying to steady herself.
"Professor?" Kitty asked from the co-pilot seat. She leaned over, looking in Ororo's eyes. "Is everything okay?"
Ororo quickly regained her composure. "We're going back," she said, switching off the auto pilot and flicking some switches.
"Trouble?" Peter asked from behind them.
"But," Kitty stumbled. "The murder?"
"It's a dead body," Ororo said. "It's not going anywhere." She twisted the controls, and the jet banked sharply in the air.
"Buckle up," she said, her eyes turning white. "We're flying home in a tail wind."
What was that?
An explosion, Emma replied to Logan's thought. From the garage.
"Shit," Logan growled. He looked around at his three students, and saw the look of confusion in their faces.
Are we under attack? he thought.
A silence. I don't think so, Emma responded. I'm not sensing anyone who's not a student at the school.
Are you sure?
The only violent readings I'm getting are from you, Wolverine. No one's injured, either. I'm reading everyone conscious and unhurt.
"Alright," he said out loud. He stood and walked to the door. Alex began to follow, but Logan stopped him.
"You three stay here."
"Are you sure its safe?" Jimmy asked quietly.
"Jimmy, we're a half mile underground," he replied. "You're safer here than anywhere else."
"Okay," he responded.
Logan sighed. "I'm gonna go upstairs, see if it was a gas explosion, or whatever."
"Then why can't I come with?" Alex asked.
"Because it might not be," Logan said, and slammed the door behind him.
In the elevator, Logan continued to talk to Emma.
We're sure its not an attack?
Logan, Emma said shortly. I'm looking out my window and I see no one. I see a lot of smoke, but otherwise the lawn is empty.
Damage?
The garage side of the school is damaged. None of the students are in any immediate danger, so I told them to wait for instructions.
Keep me in the loop, Logan replied as the door opened into the main hall. If there was structural damage, it wasn't on this end of the school, which seemed fairly normal except for the harried-looking students in the living room.
"Is everything alright, Mr. Logan?" Arthur asked from the couch.
"Aside from the large explosion?" Logan responded. "Yeah, everything's peachy."
"Is there anything we can do?" Jubilee asked, and Jones and Artie nodded in agreement from beside her.
"Keep your mind open for Professor Frost's instructions," Logan said, looking around. "Otherwise sit tight."
He walked down the hall. Despite what the Professor had said, he still had a tension in his stomach. It could be something as simple as a spark near a gas tank, but...
"Logan!"
He turned around to see Bobby hustling down the stairs.
"Where've you been?"
"Visiting Marie."
"Again?" Logan shook his head. No time. He motioned down the hall. "Follow me, I might need a second pair of eyes."
"It's not what you think," Bobby said quickly as they neared the front door. "She and I are just friends now."
"Hey, I didn't say anything," Logan replied, exasperated. "What you do or not do is your own business. You and Marie."
"I just said--"
"Just remember you have a girlfriend who can rip your heart out. Literally."
"I know--"
"And you also happen to be re-acquainting yourself with a girl who is both my friend and a potential psychopath.
"But I ain't one for relationship advice," Logan concluded, then quickly threw his arm out to stop Bobby within five feet of the door. Logan sniffed the air.
"What is it?"
"Smoke."
"And?" Bobby said, seeing dark smoke billowing across the lawn.
"Flames."
"And?"
"A big ugly English guy who smashed me through a house."
"What?"
Emma, he thought quickly. There's an emergency exit in the rear of the school. Get all the students out there.
But there's no threat! Emma replied desperately. I don't read anyone!
Yeah, well, I smell one.
"Suit up, Iceman," Logan said out loud. "Where there's smoke, there's fire."
"Nice boom."
"You said that already," John said.
"Well, yeah," Juggernaut replied. "But I figure, if nothing's happened since the nice boom, I might as well reiterate myself. Possibly to make something else fucking happen instead of us standing here like a bunch of bleedin' saps."
"The fight will come to us," John said confidently. As he did so, two bodies walked out of the front door.
"See?"
"Three on two," Logan mumbled to Bobby, staring down the three silhouettes across the lawn.
"Easy enough," Bobby said. "We've taken these guys before."
"You two ready?" John asked, turning to Juggernaut on his left and Marrow on his right.
"Is that the signal?" Marrow said, her sharp teeth gleaming in the light of the setting sun.
"No," Pyro replied, stretching his arms out, a ball of fire igniting in each hand. "This is."
The darkening sky suddently was filled with a raging red glow.
"Holy shit," Iceman breathed as he stared into the sky. Gliding above the two of them was a giant glowing dragon. Its wings spanning the length of the huge lawn, it was made entirely of red and yellow flames.
Despite his instincts screaming otherwise, Logan was momentarily transfixed to the sight of the flaming beast. Because of this, he was barely able to tear himself away before he felt two sharp objects stab into his chest.
He looked down to see what appeared to be two pieces of sharpened bone sticking out of his ribcage. He quickly pulled them out, then looked up in time to see two more flying in their direction.
"Bobby!" he yelled, diving on top of Iceman, who continued to stare at the spectacle above. The two fell to the ground, and the bone fragments skimmed by them and flew into the front hall.
"Have fun," Pyro said to the pair. "I'll keep you covered for now."
Juggernaut chuckled and slowly walked across the lawn towards the downed X-Men. Marrow ran by his side, pulling bones from her arms, her back, her chest, and throwing them in a constant barrage.
"'Allo, boys," Juggernaut said as Wolverine climbed off of Iceman.
What's going on? Is the fire bad?
Emma, get all the kids out of the school, now!
Why? Is it spreading?
Emma, there's three fucking mutants out here, and they're attacking the school. Me and Bobby are the only X-Men here, get everyone out!
BUT I'M NOT READING ANYONE!
Did you not see the big fucking dragon?
But--
Shut up, Frost! Get them out, and get out of my head!
SNIKT
I need to concentrate.
What's wrong with me?
Panic crept into Emma Frost's mind as she stared down onto the empty lawn. Her hands ran absently through her hair.
Am I going insane? Are my powers failing?
Forget that, she thought to herself quickly. It doesn't matter whether you see them or not. Logan and Bobby can see them, so they outvote you.
Do your job, be assistant headmistress. If you're right, then you can just laugh about it in the morning.
If they're right, then you protect those children.
Attention! she telepathically sent to the Academy. There is a secret escape route on the west side of the school. She projected the location of the exit. Please exit the building through that route. I will be down in the next minute.
Do not go out the front door. I repeat, do not go out the front door.
"Miss Frost!" Theresa yelled out. "We have a problem!"
"Hurry up and open the door!" Alison yelled at Remy.
"I'm trying," he said, pulling with all his might.
Miss Frost, Theresa thought, there's something wrong with the door. We can't get it open.
"Have you tried unlocking it?" Alison asked hastily, which Remy responded to with a withering glance.
“We’re close to the explosion,” he replied. “It must have screwed with some circuits, put some doors on lockdown.”
“Professor Frost isn’t responding,” Theresa said nervously. “It’s like she’s not even listening, or something.”
Remy stood back and thrust his foot at the door. It didn’t move, and he was pushed to the ground. Grunting, he said, “She was sounding frazzled earlier. I have a feeling right now she thinks if she opens up to listen to everyone she’ll go nuts.”
“What do we do?” Theresa said, kneeling down and helping Remy back up.
“Can we go out the window?” Alison asked, turning to the smoky glass at the other end of the room.
“Might work,” Remy responded.
Suddenly the glass blew inward, shattered by a shining body that flew across the room. The three dove out of the way as the body slammed at high speed into the bookshelf next to the door. He fell to the floor on his stomach, unconscious, as books rained down on him.
“Bobby!” Theresa yelled as she recognized the ice-covered X-Man. The three ran to him, and attempted to turn him over.
“Holy shit,” Alison moaned as she saw what was on the other side.
“Oh, my God, Bobby,” Theresa cried.
Bobby Drake was a mess. His chest appeared sunken in, and watery blood ran down his body from dozens of small cuts all along his front. His eyes were closed, and blood ran from his mouth.
“He got hit,” Alison said. “Hard.”
“It’s the ice,” Remy muttered. “He got hit, and it shattered into him.”
“Oy, that all you got, Dreamsicle?” a booming voice yelled from outside. “Come on out, I got more for ya!”
“We have to get him out of here,” Theresa said to both of them. “This is bad…”
Remy stood up and walked to the window. He looked outside, and then dove out of the way, a chunk of concrete flying through the broken glass and missing him by inches.
“Big guy outside,” he said calmly as he ran to the bed. He looked down at the bed where he and Theresa had been sitting, back towards the window, then back to the bed.
Theresa caught on.
“Call it a draw?” she said quietly.
Remy nodded, then grabbed two handfuls of chess pieces, and stuffed them in his coat pocket. Walking back to the window, he dropped one piece (the knight, Theresa noticed absently) into his hand, where it quickly lit up in a purple glow.
“Time to fight back,” he said, hurling the chess piece out the window.
“Excellent work, Clarice.” Magneto gently laid his hand on Blink’s shoulder as the two stepped into the long hallway of The Raft, along with Madrox’s clone. “You did quite well.”
“Thank you,” Clarice replied quietly. She looked around anxiously. The hallway was empty.
“Where is everyone?”
“Shift change,” the copy said.
“Plus I’m tampering with their security systems,” Magneto continued. “As long as we’re here, we’re in no danger.”
“Then why-?”
“Why the distraction?” Magneto said as the two followed the copy down the hall. “To keep the X-Men away, I suppose. S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn’t get involved in their battle unless human lives were at stake.”
He shrugged. “I just needed you here, mostly,” he replied. “And the others would cause too much of a ruckus. We can be quiet if we need to be, but there’s something about a four hundred pound behemoth that attracts attention.
“Besides,” he concluded as he saw Madrox stop at one particular door, “I think they needed to release some pent-up energy.”
“Are they going to be alright?” she asked.
“Don’t worry, my dear,” he said, smiling at the copy as they approached the door (PROJECT 50384: MULTIPLE MAN the door read). “Sarah, John, and Cain will be receiving backup very shortly.”
“Hey, buddy!” a voice crooned from the other side of the door.
“Ready to go?” the clone said to his original.
“Definitely,” Jamie Madrox replied. “I’m getting damn tired of talking to myself.”
“Can you open the portal on the other side of the door, Blink?” Magneto asked.
“I think so…”
“Do you remember the picture I showed you?”
She nodded.
“Send him there.”
“Nice punch.”
“Thanks,” Juggernaut chuckled as he stood next to John, both of them staring up to the shattered window into which Iceman had recently disappeared.
“Sarah looks like she’s having fun.” John pointed to the lawn, where Logan and Marrow were brawling. Sarah had pulled two large bone swords from her shoulder blades, and had sprouted growths from her head, arms, and chests, forming a calcified armor.
“Why isn’t anyone else coming out?” Juggernaut asked. “That kid up in the window tossed some little firecrackers at me, but nothing else.”
“Must have caught them with their thumbs up their asses.”
“Kinky.”
John and Cain jumped at the voice behind them. John spun around, and smiled.
“Hey, Madrox.”
“Where’s the party?”
“I dunno,” John muttered, turning back to the lawn. “Kind of a bore so far. Not a lot of people.”
“I think we can fix that,” Madrox grinned, walking towards the mansion. John raised his hand to hold him back.
“Let her have her fun,” he said quietly.
Seconds later, Marrow swung her right arm in a large arc, her bone sword whistling towards Logan’s neck. He ducked, allowing the sword to pass over his head, then threw an uppercut into her stomach. Sarah released a tight, gurgling sound as blood poured from her mouth and she fell forward, three prongs of adamantium claw buried in her chest.
Juggernaut shook his head as Wolverine turned towards the three men. “She put up a good fight,” he said soberly.
“Your turn,” John said to Jamie.
“Bout damn time,” Madrox replied, and Wolverine stopped in his tracks as the lawn filled with hundreds of clones.
Wolverine whistled softly. “Holy shit.”
The elevator door slid open, and Alex Blanding, Lucas Bishop, and Jimmy Cameron nearly slammed into Jubilation Lee as they stepped out.
“Where are you going?” Lucas asked her. “The exit’s the other way.”
Jubilee nodded. “Professor Frost is already there. Arthur, Jones, and Artie are there, too.”
“Then why are you--?”
“I saw them at the end of the hall,” she said. “And I realized that Theresa wasn’t there. Or Remy, or Alison. Brian, Rogue…”
“Fuck,” Alex swore quietly.
“Frost is playing it by the book,” Jubilee said. “She’s waiting there to protect any of the kids that show up, but she’s not going to find any of the others.”
“Alright,” Blanding said. “I’m coming with you.”
“But…” Jimmy stammered.
“You two get with the others,” Alex said. “You might be dampening their powers, Jimmy, but there’s still strength in numbers. Jubilee and I will find whoever we can and make sure they’re okay.”
Lucas started to protest again, but before he could, Alex had grabbed Jubilee’s arm and ran down the hallway.
Bishop hesitated, watching the pair as they disappeared around the corner. Frustrated, he slammed his fist into his leg, barely feeling the warm energy current that ran through his body at the impact.
“Come on,” he yelled, grabbing Jimmy and walking towards the exit.
Juggernaut and Pyro stood side by side, their arms crossed.
“I’m bored,” John muttered as they watched dozens of bodies pile on top of Wolverine.
“They’ve had their thumbs up their asses for a while now,” Juggernaut replied, sighing. “Something tells me they’re not coming out.”
Pyro smirked. “I think I’m ready to take the initiative.”
“How do you figure?”
Pyro turned to Madrox. “You okay out here?”
Madrox smiled, bodies continually replicating from the source. “He keeps hitting them, and I don’t feel a thing,” he said. “They hit him, and he feels a lot.”
“We brought some knives, too, if you want any,” Mastermind mumbled from behind the wall, pointing to the two bulging gym bags. “We took a Greyhound, so we didn’t have to worry about baggage check.”
Jamie gave John a patronizing look. “Why didn’t you say that to begin with?”
John shrugged. “You looked like you were having a good time.”
The next dozen bodies to come from Jamie ran to the bags and opened them. Each one took a knife or other blade from the bag and joined the fray.
“Mind if we pass through?” Pyro asked.
“Nah,” Jamie replied. “If they disappear, I’ll just replace them with more.”
“Fair enough.” John raised a hand, igniting the palm-sized torch. Instantly a tunnel of fire appeared, creating a clear path between them and the wall of the mansion.
“After you,” he said to Marko.
Cain smiled, and sprinted up the tube. John followed close behind as the Juggernaut smashed through one wall of the mansion, then a second, before coming to a stop.
Juggernaut looked down at the ground as John stopped behind him.
“I felt a squish,” Juggernaut said.
John looked down at the bleeding boy lying in the rubble. He shook his head.
“Don’t know him,” he said, “but he’s looking pretty close to dead. Forget him. You go this way, I’ll go that way.”
Marko nodded and ran down the hall, not noticing Jimmy Cameron hyperventilating behind a pedestal, his legs curled to his knees.
Oh god oh god oh god, his mind raced as he ran towards Lucas.
“Luke!” he screamed, dropping to his knees in front of the boy’s mangled body. Blood was dripping from his nose and head, and one of his legs was bent in the wrong direction. Lucas looked up at Jimmy, he coughed up what Jimmy thought was a pint of blood.
“Jimmy…” he breathed, and his face tightened in pain.
“Oh, God, Luke,” Jimmy sobbed, tears running down his face. “Don’t die, please.”
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