The X-Men Chronicles - 3. Kidnapping

CHAPTER 3: KIDNAPPING

"What do you mean? Chris, what do you mean what happens now?"

"I mean what happens after tonight? After these kisses, these words, what do we do? How do we behave in front of the gang? In front of our teachers? What do we have from this point on? Who are we in each other's lives?"

"Chris the answer's obvious we come out and let the whole fucking school know we are a couple, who cares what they think? It's our lives, our decision, and if anyone doesn't like it too bad!"

Bobby slowly leaned in and held me, the passion of his words singing a sweet lullaby to my overactive imagination. His cologne driving me into frenzy as I let all thought drift away and allowed myself to be absorbed into the grandeur of the moment. Bobby and I united through our love, a moment I had waited for, for so long had finally come and I gave myself all into the feeling. I allowed his cologne to waft over while his strong arms held me closer than I thought possible, making me feel safer and more secure, so much so , that my doubts and worries seemed to melt away.

"I'm so happy I feel like my world is shaking. Bobby, I literally feel my world rocking, the ground shaking, and the car swaying. It's so safe here with you."

"Chris, I think the ground really IS shaking..."

And shaking it was, almost collapsing, imploding, throwing itself at us. Could it be? Was this God telling us what we felt was wrong? The earth shook with vigor, making sure that simple mortals knew it existed, but the movement was forced, it was being guided into doing it, being used, manipulated, it was being toyed with. I sharpened my senses to a higher level and picked up the Psionic signatures; it was the worst thing that could happen.

"Bobby, its lance and his crew, we gotta get outta here before they mash us up."

"No, I ain't running this time; I'm staying and fighting, no matter what."

"Bobby, we're outnumbered, please come to your senses, we have got to leave before it's too late! Please let's go HOME! Please?"

"No Chris, I'm not running from these weasels again, now are you with me or are you against me?"

"Bobby...I...I'm with you all the way. But I have to call for back up, otherwise we are done for, is that ok?"

"Yea babe go ahead...ummm...I mean go right ahead Core, I'll hold them back while...yea just...ummm...I'll go hold them off."

I felt like a million bucks, Bobby had called me babe, not much really but in a certain way it could be the beginning of a wonderful relationship and an even bigger friendship. I was reeling over it, I know it doesn't seem like much, but Bobby Drake was my crush, my platonic love and now he wasn't out of reach, he was palpable and I was going to take that chance and milk it for all its worth.

Toad was the one to snap me out of my trance, he wrapped his slimy tongue around my waist and hurled me into the fray, I was taken off guard and for an X-Man in training that was appalling, I had to keep focused, or I would fail Bobby and myself. I wasn't prepared to face disappointment from either one.

"Well, well what have we got here two of the X-Ladies all by themselves. Too easy, what's the catch Iceman? Core? Where are all the other losers from the weakling patrol?"

"Maybe they got dumped from the team `cause they're so weak they couldn't even clean the dishes."

"Why don't you get closer Toad, I can't quite hear you."

Toad took two steps forward and felt the rage I was holding at being thrown into the fray without any fair warning. I telekinetically sent him flying into the nearby lake.

"Next time that slimy tongue of yours comes near me, I'm chopping it off, understood you poor excuse of a mutant?"

"I don't like it when my lackeys are used as pool toys Core, you should know that by now, you egotistic asshole!!!"

"Wanda, Wanda, when will you realize that I don't give a horse's shit pile about what you think?"

"Well Core, maybe you should pay more attention to your surroundings, than to your words."

I felt something hit me and was again [keyword being AGAIN] sent flying, this time into a grove of trees. Wanda was teasing me, and I knew it, but somehow, I just couldn't abstain myself from replying to the ugly bitch, she was everything I hated about girls, bossy, full of shit, not to mention herself, bitchy, moody and overall, the most annoyingly powerful whore in Bayville. Figures she would be Magneto's daughter, not that Magneto cared in any way, but she had inherited all of his traits, even some of his power. It bugged me to think what an itch she would become when I as a full X-Men and she would be part of the Higher Ranks of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. She was a piece of work and I hated every inch of her. I wanted to destroy her, to hurt her, to make her pay for every single scratch she'd ever put on my friends, and to make her pay for all those crimes against both humans and mutants which she had yet not committed.

"You'll pay for that you nasty bitch!!!" I flew in her direction and punched her square on the jaw making her stumble, and then I landed gracefully next to her.

"Wanda are you ok?"

"No you idiot, I'm not!!! You are gonna bleed out your eyes when I'm done with you!"

“Let's Tango Bitch!!! I ain't afraid of your puny ass!!!!"

Wanda attempted a roundhouse kick to my face but I back flipped out of the way.

"Too slow you fat bitch!!"

"Core you FAG!! I'm gonna tear you APART!!!"

"DO NOT CALL ME A FAG!!! YOU HILLBILLIE CHEAP ASS BITCH!!!!"

I cart wheeled over to Wanda and began a series of kicks aiming at different parts of her body, trying to break through her very good defenses. I kicked high and low following a specific set of Tae-Kwon-Do style routines which we had learned during one of our training sessions with Logan, he had taught us never to surrender or give up and Wanda was bringing out the worst in me. I wanted tears from her, blood, I wanted pain. I knew it was wrong to think that but everything about Wanda made me hate her and I just wanted to hurt her, even if others were injured in the way.

I kicked to her head and Wanda surprised me by grabbing me by my right calve and hurling me onto Bobby, I had been thrown in this single fight three times, and I was beginning to get mad.

"Are you ok hon?"

"Yea I'm fine...did you just...umm...well...I...LOOK OUT!!"

Toad hurled a boulder in our direction, I instinctively used telekinesis to stop it, but Wanda used her telekinesis to send it hurling faster and in the process I blacked out.

    *********************

Bobby was having a hard time dealing with Pietro and Toad, he could see Chris had his hands full with Wanda, she was putting up a real fight, and Chris wasn't cutting her any slack.

He was about to knock Pietro out when Chris hit him on the back, not intentionally, he'd been throw by Wanda, it was no coincidence either, something was up, Bobby just didn't know what. He could swear that their moves, even their words, were planned down to the last flick of hair, and wave of hand. It was unnerving to imagine that there was a big plan behind a simple Brotherhood attack, one of the many they'd experienced in the past, now it seemed like every attack had an ulterior motive behind them, taking out someone, trying to somehow diminish the X-Men's defenses, starting with the Junior X's, first Amara, then Jubilee, almost taking out Logan, it was like a very bad dream in which the Brotherhood held all the cards and the X-Men

were just secondary players and that wasn't a role he liked to play.

"So, Iceman, why do you like to fight us so much? You know we always kick your Asses. Why not just give up?"

"Avalanche, don't you know I never give up? I don't even know the meaning of that phrase."

"Iceman, I think you should get acquainted with it, it may just save your life!!!"

The ground began to shake under Bobby, making him lose his balance and fall flat on his face. This was unacceptable, he had been caught off guard, and if Cyclops found out he'd be cleaning the Blackbird for two weeks straight. Bobby felt worthless, how could he let Lance outwit him? It was unheard of, and Toad, he had just attempted to kill him and core in a single strike, that wasn't Toad's M-O, he liked the taunting and the luring, not the meaningless destruction.

Something was definitely up, and it somehow revolved around Core and him, but Chris wasn't that powerful, neither was Bobby, Chris had great potential, but that was it, POTENTIAL, he hadn't achieved full control of his powers, not to mention that the professor had said his powers were evolving still. Was that why the Brotherhood was after them? Did they somehow know about Chris's unfulfilled potential?

Just as he was wrapped in this never-ending train of thought he felt himself being picked up from the ground, not physically but telekinetically, and the signature could not be mistaken, it was Jean Grey, so that meant that the others were here too, which meant that he and Core were saved.

"Hey, Iceman, you all right?"

"I think so...how's Core?"

"Core? He was with you? He isn't here Bobby; the Brotherhood must've taken him."

"Bobby, are you sure Chris was here? I mean there is no sign of him, are you sure Chris was with you?"

"Positive Shadowcat, he was going at it with Wanda while I handled Pietro and Toad. Lance and Blob were just watching, almost like there wasn't a point in using their energies until they needed them. Almost like there was a plan to it."

Bobby couldn't believe what Shadowcat and Elixir had told him, it just couldn't be. Where was David? He'd been fighting side by side with him just a couple seconds ago, but wait, a couple seconds ago it was night, must've been about 10:00pm when Lance and his crew attacked. How

Was it morning already? Had he been knocked out that long?

"Jean, what time is it?"

"It’s 10:30am, you two never got back to the mansion, so the professor used Cerebro to find you, but the only signature Cerebro could find was yours. We think Chris may be hurt badly, or it could just be one of Wanda's little tricks. The professor is making this his primary worry at the time; all available X-Men are to be on a look out for any sign of Chris. We are doing all we can to find him."

"IT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!! WE HAVE TO UP THE ANTY, WE GOTTA INVOLVE THE POLICE, AND ALL THE PEOPLE WE CAN JEAN, WE'RE NOT ENOUGH!!!"

"Bobby, you have to calm down. If we involve the police, they're gonna wanna talk to Chris's parents, and they're not gonna waste any time in telling the police that they don't have a son, just a mutant."

"Bobby, Kitty's right...huh, I didn't blow up...We're just gonna have to do our best without involving the police, Ororo is using a modified copy of Cerebro to track David through his elemental powers, the professor is tracking him with the original Cerebro programming, Dr. McCoy is figuring out how to track him by his empathic signature. Please Bobby let us help. Anyhow why are you so worked up over it? He's a team-mat and a friend but...you're acting like...like..."

"John, let's go! You and I are going to scout the nearby warehouses, and any abandoned buildings. Bobby, Joshua, Jubilee, Jamie, Darren, Kitty, Jacob and Esperanza are going to take the other side of town. John, Danielle, Amara, Scott, Logan, Remy, Rogue, Kurt, and I will take this side. Search every single abandoned building, warehouse, and house. Do not go into a fight, if you find anything-suspicious contact the war room at the mansion. Do not go to the Brotherhood hide out, or any other Brotherhood related building, the professor says Magneto may be in town. That alone can mean that Mystique and Sabertooth are close, be very careful. Go to the mansion and put your uniforms on before you scout out. Understood?"

Jamie, Jubilee, Eugene, Joshua, Esperanza, Bobby, Darren and Kitty all agreed to do as Jean said, but Bobby had his doubts, why not just check all the places that they considered Brotherhood turf first, and then scout the rest of the city? Something about the way things were being done was making him uncomfortable, he trusted the professor and Jean's judgment, but why were things being done so precariously? Why not hit the Brotherhood's house directly? Why give them a chance to hide Chris outside of the city?