Of Mice and Men
Posted on Thu Aug 25th, 2022 @ 11:31am by Charles Xavier & Scott Summers & Connor Bruin & Elias Buckley & Elizabeth Villar
Edited on on Fri Sep 30th, 2022 @ 10:10am
1,259 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Episode 2: Northern X-Posure
Location: New York
Timeline: August 4th, 1990 (immediately after "Days of Future Pissed")
Continued from "Days of Fuschia Pissed"
Once Scott drove the truck to the drop-off point, he left the keys in the ignition.
"Teleport me," he called out to Elias.
The next thing he knew, Scott was next to Elias and Myfanwy.
"And now we wait," Scott said as he slid his hands inside the restraints.
Myfawny yawned and nodded her head as Scott spoke. "Sure thing Professor Summers." she said as her head bobbed on the verge of sleep.
"WHAT. IS. HAPPENING?" Connor asked from the Blackbird. The autopilot had followed the GPS coordinate input by Cyclops, leaving it to hover below the radar while the truck awaited pickup from whomever was waiting.
"Nothing yet," Jade noted.
A sonic boom ignited from the north. The sky briefly streaked with a contrail that soon led directly to the truck. Without stopping, the streak collided with the truck, lifted it off the ground, and carried it away at high speeds.
"TARGET. LOCKED." Connor smirked proudly and thumped his chest.
The Blackbird monitor displayed the trajectory of the now flying truck was headed north, propelled by some sort of mechanical construct that had seized it.
For those inside, it was a rough ride at a breakneck speed. The restraints kept Cyclops, Fable, and Myfanwy from bouncing around but the sheer momentum turned the air outside into a defeaning roar. The air within began thinning out, making it hard to take a deep breath.
"Ok! I'm awake now! I'm awake." Myfawny called out wide eyed at the turbulent ride they were on.
Then, as soon as it had started, the noise lessened and became more breathable. The metal began to creak and groan before it split apart like a cobbler. Harsh light from the sunset was blinding, though it made a dark silhouette of a striking figure with a billowing cape.
Magneto.
When he noted who was within the truck that was still suspended hundreds of feet in the air, he began laughing. "Pathetic."
Cyclops scowled behind his ruby-quartz sunglasses. "I should have known you were behind the kidnappings!"
"No, young Cyclops. Once more you have accused me falsely." His oily voice held a layer of amusement atop his scorn. "This was your culprit." A severed mechanical head floated into view that had once belonged to a robot of some kind. "Now I am afraid I must send you away, lest you disrupt my operations. I trust if you are here, then your team jet is not far. And, in that case, you should survive this."
"Wait! Survive? What's going on?" Myfawny asked of the big man in the cape she had never seen before. "Wait....."
With a flick of the wrist, the truck was sent sailing through the sky back toward New York.
This time, Fable didn't plan on playing the game. Bruised and slightly battered, he had only just caught his breath and had no intention of repeating said experience a second time. He stepped from the seat and the restraints and the truck just as Magneto and Cyclops had their friendly little chat and vanished in amongst that harsh sunset glare.
Cyclops assessed the sudden departure that did not do a single thing for him or Myfanwy.
"Damn it."
He shook his sunglasses free with sharp nod and blew himself from of his restraints, though not without a bit of overkill. The visor he typically used was hidden in his pocket, and he returned it to his face, allowing for tighter beam control.
"Don't move," he told Myfawny as he adjusted the spread to a fine beam. When he blasted her free, there was nothing wasted. "Hold on tight." He grabbed her and then jumped free of the flying truck. They had just enough elevation for him to blast the ground at full strength. The opposing force was roughly equivalent to their acceleration, allowing for a hard landing that didn't splatter or pancake them.
Myfawny was in no place to protest anything going on about her. From the red laser like blast that blew off her restraints to being taken into the arms of the older man, her teacher, she was just dumbfounded. She couldn't fly, at least not in her physical body. And there was enough of a teenager in her to feel Scott's muscles holding her and protecting her. She landed oddly safe enough, her hair by far the worse to wear from the situation.
While they ended up in a bit of a new crater, they were none the worse for wear.
"You okay?" Scott asked Myfanwy once they had their feet back under them.
Myfawny really didn't want him to let go of her. Once more she was over her head in this mission, but that was kind of why she was along. She didn't have to sell being lost and terrified. She noticed something stirring in the undergrowth nearby. "What's that?" she pointed out.
Vines began to slither up out of the upturned ground and coil around their legs. Cyclops began blasting at them, but there were too many.
Myfawny felt the vines wrapping around her with a grip that seemed more animal than vegetable. She started to scream just as the vines curled over her face cocooning her inside. She struggled to breathe, but soon found the joyous release of passing out. Immediately she found herself looking at the semi-transparent image of herself wrapped in the translucent vines growing form nearby, they shone with a radiance like something emanating from a mutant. She had no idea where the Blackbird was, but she knew how to get to the mansion if she had to as her invisible astral self lifted up into the air above where she and Scott were wrapped up.
The vines soon enveloped them both from head to toe.
Back on the Blackbird, the other team had watched much of the scene unfold on radar.
"THE. TRUCK. REVERSED. COURSE." The monotone words failed to convey the concern wrought on Connor's face. On the radar screen, the truck looked like the ball in a game of Pong on a return serve. "HOW. IS. THAT. POSSIBLE?"
~Your teammates were intercepted~ The Professor's voice was a sudden interjection in all of their minds. ~Fable has teleported away to parts unknown. Cyclops and Myfanwy made an emergency landing and await recovery on the...~
The Professor's thoughts turned jumbled, words no longer being transmitted but rather stark emotions.
~FLEE!~
As imperatives go, it was a powerful one.
~Magneto is nearby. He intercepted the truck and sent it hurling away. You must return to the Mansion before he does the same to the Blackbird~
Connor shook his head and argued with the Professor, both actions vigorous in their own way. ~But what of Scott and Myfanwy? We cannot abandon them to Magneto or exposure to the elements~ Both mutants were among the closest things Connor had to friends in this world. He would summon the courage to aid them.
~Cyclops and Myfanwy have been captured~ Xavier replied to them all. ~While our mission did not go quite according to plan, I am still able to track them through Cerebro to their final destination. Now we require a new strategy. Therefore, I am initiating the autopilot's return protocol. By the time you come back, I hope to have answers~
The ride back to the Mansion consisted of silence between Armoury, Bloodhound, and Caveman. Whatever the plan had been, this was not it.
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