Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2007 19:57:16 -0700 (PDT) From: P G Subject: New At Mutant High: Chapter 9 disclaimer* I do not own the rights to any of the characters in this story, and make no claims to the artistic visions of the marvel universe. I know nothing of the sexuality of any of the creators, actors, or characters involved in the Marvel universe. Similarly, this story contains graphic descriptions of gay male sex. If you don't like that, they you should probably avert your eyes. This story takes place in an alternate X-Men universe from the one in which the X3 movie took place. Certain events occurred after X2 which changed the timeline. The specifics of the timeline changes will be made apparent as the story progresses. Chapter 9 -- "Traitors" The military vehicles swiftly established a perimeter around the Xavier Mansion. The land vehicles blocked off all exit, and several troops readied themselves in defensible positions. Five of the helicopters remained hovering in the air above, but the other one landed before the mansion gates. From the landed helicopter emerged a tall, powerful looking black man with the uniform of an Army general. Beside him were two aides and an older man in a white lab coat, who was holding a small black case. And there they waited. It was only a few minutes before the professor emerged form the front gates of the mansion, flanked on either side by Storm, Beast, Cyclops, and Jean Gray. The other X-Men were assembling within the mansion, ready to emerge if the talks broke down. Originally, Hydrogue and the other X-Men-in-training had started to go down into the lower levels to gear up, but the Professor had stopped them, explaining that he did not wish their identities known if it was avoidable. He had them get ready, but in normal clothes rather than X-Men suits. They were now fully dressed, but waiting with the other students to see what would happen. "I sincerely wish that you had not arrived at this sanctuary so heavily armed" began the Professor. "Surely this situation can be resolved peacefully." The general stepped forward, cutting the distance between himself and the Professor in half. He was followed by his two aides and the doctor, and the dozens of armed men kept vigilant coverage of their commander. "As you know Mr. Xavier, there has been an act of aggression against the United States Government, most certainly committed by mutants." "No mutants at this school had any part in the attacks last night." "The President is not as certain of that as you seem to be. One of the attacks occurred less than twenty miles from here, and this is the only known mutant congregation center." "The President is well aware of the fact that the X-Men are not anti-human, and that they have fought many times to protect the innocent. Terrorist attacks are not in our repertoire." "The people of this country need to know that their government will respond swiftly to acts of terrorism. This is the first part of that response, which will be followed quickly by a similar confrontation at the lair of the Brotherhood of Mutants, once it has been located." "I would have thought the President to be above using a scapegoat." "The President's demands are simple. Everyone here must submit to Registration. Any who resist will be arrested, and given this." With that, he gestured to the doctor at his side, who opened the case he had been holding. Inside were a dozen long syringes filled with a strange blue liquid. "This," the doctor explained, "is a unique protein which, when injected into a mutant, will suppress their mutant genes, and remove their powers." An audible gasp ran through the student body, though the Professor and the X-Men remained seemingly unaffected. "Involuntary gene manipulation is a violation of human rights, as the President well knows" the Professor countered. "By your own admission, you are not humans. This is a cure for your disease, after which you can return to the human community. The cure will be offered to any who wish it, and forced on any who refuse to Register. Now, how do you respond?" The silence was long and suspenseful, as all eyes focused on the Professor. He closed his eyes for a moment, but then opened them. His only choices were to accept the oppressive registration, and follow it by a renewed appeal to the government, or to fight. The first option meant submitting to discriminatory anti-mutant legislation, and the latter meant the sparking of a war between mutants and humans. The Professor knew that he had to take the hit, and accept a setback in order to ensure the future cooperation between humans and mutants. He spoke to the general, his words obviously painful to him. "We will register." The students felt their hearts drop at this proclamation. Then general remained stoic, but the doctor and the majority of the troops relaxed visibly, showing how little they desired to tangle with the powerful mutants. "But, this `cure' will not be administered to anyone here today who does not wish it to be given to them. Such an act will be considered and act of war of mutant kind." "Let us hope that none of your students force our hand then." ******************************* The military set up dozens of tables in a matter of minutes, and soon the mass registration of Xavier's School was underway. Hydrogue and his friends led the students outside and into the bright sun and the dangerous glares of the human soldiers. As the students filed out, all activity ground to a halt. The military and medical personnel could not help but stare at the over 300 mutant students who filed out of the mansion. Humans tended to convince themselves that mutants were a very small population, and to see such a large number of them in a single place was to bring into question their beliefs about the world. Were mutants truly as rare and dangerous as they had been led to believe? Most of the students were mere children, only a few dozen over the age of 18. A decent number of them bore traits clearly identifying them as mutants, but the majority looked just like any human that could be seen walking down the street. "This is going to take longer than we expected" said the General, breaking the silence. He quickly issued orders, organizing the operation. The students stood to the side, and went to empty registration tables as they became open. In order to lead by example, the Professor was the first to register, though the government already had most of the necessary information on him. The other X-Men also went in the first group, and registration proceeded smoothly. Jean Gray caused a small ruckus as she was questioned about her powers. It seemed that though she was well known to be an exceedingly powerful mutant, it was apparently new to the US Government that she was a Class 5. It was then revealed that her rebirth (and the subsequent destruction of the Alkali Lake region) was what prompted the renewal of the Registration Laws. "You!" called a young private. Hydrogue looked over in response, and saw that he was the one being called. "This table is empty, you are next." Hydrogue swallowed, but proceeded to the table. Demon gave him a squeeze on the shoulder in support, which helped alleviate the stress slightly. Hydrogue sat on one side of the rectangular table, and was greeted warmly by the young male on the other side. The young man was dressed in a white lab coat over a blue dress shirt and silver tie. He had dirty blonde hair and bright green eyes, and could not have been older than 25. Had the meeting been under other circumstances, Hydrogue might have enjoyed meeting this man. "Hello, I am Dr. Halden, and I will be conduction your registration." "Aren't you a bit young to be a doctor?" Hydrogue asked, trying to be pleasant, not offensive. The young doctor smiled. "Well, I am an intern, not a full doctor as of yet." "I see." First, I need to get a photograph of you." Hydrogue was a bit surprised at this, but had no issue with a simple picture. "And now, on to the survey. Let's start with your full name." "Alexander Daniel Wental." "May I call you Alex?" "Please do." "Thank you. Where are you from Alex?" "Salt Lake City." "Age?" "18" "Birthday?" "April 29th." "What is your mutant class? If you don't know, I can help you classify yourself." This was the moment that Hydrogue was concerned about. He saw the disturbance it had caused when Jean had revealed herself to be a Class 5 mutant, and she was already well known to the military and government. What would happen if he, an unknown teenager, revealed himself to be another? He could not take that chance; he was not ready for the repercussions yet. "Class 4" he lied. "Could you please explain the nature of your power?" Dr. Halden's green eyes flashed with great curiosity at this question. It was easy to tell that he was here because of a genuine fascination with mutants and the abilities, in addition to his professional capacity. "I can turn my body into water, and manipulate water around me." Hydrogue was not glad to have to sell himself short, but he accepted it. To demonstrate, he changed his form to his liquid water form for a few seconds, watching in amusement as Dr. Halden gawked and scribbled notes down furiously. After reverting to normal form, Alex smiled his charming smile, pleased at the excitement the young doctor showed for mutant powers. After a few more questions, they came to the final portion of the registration process. The young doctor produced an empty needle from one of the boxes beside him. He held out his hand toward Hydrogue and said "I need a small blood sample." Hydrogue didn't love this idea. "Why?" "It is part of the documentation; all mutants will have their DNA on file, in order to ease the investigations into any crimes committed by mutants." He truly believed this to be the case, though Hydrogue suspected that there were less savory uses for mass amounts of mutant DNA in the hands of government scientists. "I don't plan to commit any crimes." The young doctor's expression softened. He did not want to do this to the adorable guy in front of him. But there could be no exceptions. "I am sure you don't. However, it is a requirement of the Registration, and if you refuse^Å." his voice trailed off as his left hand touched upon a small black case beside him, which Hydrogue instinctively knew to contain a vial of the mutant `cure'. "Please," said Dr. Halden. "Don't make this more difficult than it is." Grudgingly, and against his better judgment, presented his right arm, fist closed, palm toward the sky. Dr. Halden took the arm in his hand, admiring the solid muscle under the skin, the result of weeks of hard physical training with the X-Men, as well as Hydrogue's past athletic history. The skin was lightly tanned, though a bit white due to the fact that it was the underside of the arm. The veins were just visible running along the bicep and up the forearm, and the young doctor couldn't help but lick his lips at the beautiful limb of the beautiful boy. He tied a tourniquet around the bicep, which caused the veins of the forearm to bulge prominently. The needle was inserted with great skill, and Hydrogue felt no pain and little discomfort. Dr. Halden filled the syringe, and his eyes opened wide at what happened. The vial was completely filled with, no blood, but water. He looked at Hydrogue with a slightly amused but partially aggravated look, only to see that Hydrogue was equally as surprised by the result. "What the hell?" Both boys said at once. "You have water for blood?" Hydrogue briefly flashed back to the previous night, when he had cut himself and bled water. "This is new to me" he lied. "Well, I suppose it will still contain DNA. Probably." Dr. Halden smirked at Hydrogue. He was intrigued by this young man, more so than most other mutants. And not just because of the beautiful sapphire eyes and small but killer athletic body. He seemed to be a genuinely warm and kind individual, which was a rare find. He seemed untainted by the stigma against mutants, and seemed to have retained his trust in the common man, remarkably. Too bad registration did not involve a physical exam, he though to himself. "You are finished with the Mutant Registration. You will be mailed your registration card within the week, which will act as identification. It is much like a license to drive; only it is a license to be a mutant in the U.S." Hydrogue got up from the table and walked back towards the huge double doors of the mansion. He watched as his friends all returned from their own registrations one by one, and together they observed this history-making event which was occurring in their very own yard. The troops milled about, some still alert, but most a bit more relaxed after the capitulation of the Professor. The sky grew dark as the time passed. As student after student registered, Hydrogue grew more and more concerned about the course of history. He knew that the mutant rights movement was taking a huge step backwards this day, but was powerless to do anything to change that fact without forcing a war with humanity. ********************** Slowly, Hydrogue began to notice a sensation of dread growing in the back of his mind. A chill ran down his spine, and he knew that something was terribly wrong. Suddenly, the Professor's voice spoke in the back of his mind, and the message elevated that sense of dread a hundred-fold. With no further warning, hell erupted. A blinding flash lit the sky as both of the helicopters which remained hovering over the premises exploded within a second of each other. Fire spewed out and shrapnel rained from the sky. Many students screamed, and everyone either ducked low or dove to the ground. As the blinding light subsided, Hydrogue looked into the air and saw two previously-invisible shapes shimmering into view. In the air now hovered twin stealth-assault helicopters, each with a missile tube still smoking from the first attack. The soldiers were quick to reply with what they believed to be overwhelming force. A rain of gunfire flew into the air from dozens of uniformed men and women, but every last bullet stopped dead about 20 feet away from the helicopters. Suddenly, the weapon was yanked out of every single soldier's hands. The mass of guns grouped in midair, and with a horrible screeching noise, they were crushed into a ball, which then fell from the air, crushing a jeep under the massive weight of so much twisted metal. All eyes stared at the hovering vehicles overhead, waiting for the next move. They did not have to wait long. The side door to one of the helicopters opened, and Magneto stepped out, and walked on projected magnetic fields in mid-air, eliciting awed gasps from students and soldiers alike. "We are here" Magneto began, "to put a stop to the atrocity which is occurring here today." "Eric.." the Professor began. "Silence!" Magneto's face was livid with anger and disgust. "You, Charles Xavier, the great fighter for Mutant Rights, are a traitor to your own cause. You allowed these humans" he spoke the word with distain, "to subjugate you and your students. You have set back Mutant Rights by 50 years, and I will not stand for it." Magneto faced the large-chested general and made his demands. "You and your men will burn ALL of the information you have acquired here today, and every DNA sample you took. You will also destroy all of the wretched `cure' you brought with you. You will then leave this place, never to return. If you do not, we will be forced to destroy you all. The casualties we just inflicted are enough to show you our resolve." A terrible silence fell over the grounds, the students and soldiers alike waiting for the General's reply. Hydrogue knew what was at stake. The General had clearly been ordered to extract registration from the student's of Xavier's school, and the force he brought with him was evident that the President had authorized the use of force if needed. But surely nobody had foreseen the interference of Magneto and the Brotherhood. He could engage a superior force with unknown powers, of be forced to return to his President as a disgrace. "This is not the way Eric," said the Professor, in a final attempt to resolve the situation. "Your way has been tried, and it has failed Charles. The humans only know how to respond in one way, with force. They attack what they fear, and what they do not understand. We mutants are both of those things. They know that we are better, superior and they fear for their own illusions of power. They do not know what true power is." The General clearly was not going to give in. By some unseen signal, the troops responded with impressive coordination. A renewed volley of bullets rained on the helicopters as the troops drew their side arms to replace their lost assault weapons. Simultaneously, troops uncovered and manned huge machine guns mounted on the backs of several jeeps, and their bullets joined the fray. All of the bullets were stopped by Magneto's power long before they caused any damage. Both helicopters dropped low, and several mutants spilled out of them onto the ground. Several of the mutants Hydrogue recognized from Magneto's recent visit to the X Mansion, and others were new to him. As soon as the mutants were on the ground, the attack began in full. Magneto gestured with his hands, and two of the machine-gun-backed jeeps spun into the air and crashed down, destroying the vehicles and crushing any soldiers in their paths. A young guy with spiked blonde hair threw lighting bolts from his hands, blasting soldiers and vehicles. Screams issued from the students, and there was a rush for the doors of the mansion. Hydrogue and his friends stayed outside; wanting to be present should the X-Men need them. A roaring noise grew in the background, and from over the trees came two military fighter planes, apparently called by the General. Missiles issued forth from both jets, and the grounded helicopters brought by Magneto were completely obliterated, replaced by enormous fireballs and shrapnel. The towers of flame which resulted grew high into the air, and then suddenly began to behave unnaturally. The towers of fire merged into one and grew in intensity. Together they took the shape of a gargantuan hand, which reached up and swatted one of the jets from the sky as it passed. Hydrogue stared in disbelief at the fire-hand, and then saw that at the base of it was Pyro, his face alit with glee at the savage destruction within his grasp. Few people loved to use their powers as much as Pyro did. The hand made a fist and began to smash the tables which had previously been used for Registration, destroying them and burning the documents and DNA samples which still lay on them. As the fire-hand wrought destruction, Magneto continued to crush and throw vehicles around, and the electric-boy shocked everything in sight. Having been robbed of their weapons, the soldiers charged the mutants to engage them hand-to-hand. A stocky teenager, which Hydrogue recognized as Eco, one of the mutants who had `visited' the mansion a few weeks prior, intercepted the coming soldiers, using the strong, thick vines imbedded in his arms and torso to batter them away, pick them up, and crush them like bugs. Beside him stood the Amazon woman Animal, whose arms had transformed into those of a tiger, which she then used to tear soldiers apart. Mystique used her incredible flexibility and significant skills to battle soldiers, and almost seemed to be dancing around them. Behind them stood Holy, a young attractive man with short white hair and golden eyes, who produced brilliant flashes of light to blind the charging men. *************************** Enter the X-Men. Storm came down on the other mutants from up high, coasting on the winds. She blasted at Magneto with her lightning bolts, but was stopped by a powerful electromagnetic field which Magneto surrounded himself with. With a flick of his wrist he sent a loose door from a smashed jeep careening into Storm's side, knocking her form the air. Cyclops and Wolverine attacked together, with Cyclops blasting from his eyes and with Wolverine's slashing claws. Eco lost several vines to Wolverine's claws before managing to get a hold of his wrists and toss him into a nearby tree. Mystique expertly dodged the optic blasts, and got in close to Cyclops, where they engaged in close-range combat. Colossus came roaring in in his full metal glory, with the massive red bulk of Demon right behind him. The spiky-haired blonde mutant blasted the pair repeatedly with lightning bolts, but all the bolts were draw to Colossus' metal body, and seemed to do no more than irritate the metal man. Colossus was mere feet from splattering the young guy into the dirt when he suddenly stopped, lifted into the air, and flew backwards at an incredible speed. Colossus slammed into Demon hard, sending him careening away. Colossus smashed headlong through one of the great stone pillars which supported the overhang above the main entrance to the mansion, and continued on, blasting apart one of the great stone doors, and disappeared within. "You really must learn where best to apply your powers Electrode" chided Magneto. "Electricity versus metal? Please." He then resumed his harassment of the troops. Iceman and Rogue came into the fray, both shooting icy blasts from their hand, thinking to extinguish the destructive fiery hand. They never got that far though, as the white haired Holy came at them both with a great samurai sword. In the first strike, Holy cut a line across Rogue's side, shallow but painful, and then he swept in, nearly taking off Iceman's head. Iceman ducked in time, but received a metal boot in the temple for his trouble. *********************** Hydrogue knew he had to do something, but did not know what. First he started to rush to Bobby and Rogue's aid, to help his friends, but he knew he had a bigger target. He was unsteady and uncertain of himself, as he had never before used his powers against someone else for anything more than a mere squabble. Never before had the possibility of causing harm, even death, occurred to him. He reached his left arm out towards the nearby lake, and focused on it in his mind, banishing his doubts and fears. Hydrogue raised his hand into the air, and as he did, the water of the lake surged upward in the form of a huge arm and hand, several times the size of the towering fire hand of Pyro. Hydrogue balled his hand into a fist, and his water hand mimicked the action. Pyro finally realized what was happening as the hand blocked out the rays of the setting sun. He looked up at the gargantuan fist, but never had a chance to flee. The fist came smashing down on Pyro hand his fire, extinguishing the flames, and washing young Pyro halfway across the grounds in a massive mudslide. Hydrogue winced as he felt the stinging sensation in his arm. He looked at his left arm fearfully, but saw that it was unhurt. He felt the stinging again, and knew then that the feeling came from his `other' arm, the water arm. Electrode was blasting bolt after bolt into the arm, causing him significant pain. Hydrogue lost his focus momentarily, and the arm fell apart, raining tons of water down onto the combatants. He started to summon another powerful attack when he was distracted by another deafening roaring sound in the air. It appeared that the military either did not know or did not care about the differences between the mutants under Charles Xavier and the mutants under Magneto. They did not seem to deem it necessary to focus on the enemy at hand. As the remaining fighter jet came racing back over the trees, Hydrogue stood in open mouthed horror as its pilot launched twin missiles straight at the mansion, which was now full of frightened mutant children hiding from the battle. Hydrogue had no time to react, only time to feel the guilt of failure. The missiles raced in and detonated their payload as they struck their target, the blinding flash causing everyone in the vicinity to cover their eyes. The heat and the flames rolled down from the explosion, causing many burns and starting many secondary fires. Hydrogue, having been standing at the front gates, three floors directly underneath the epicenter, was nearly vaporized, but managed to turn to water form and hold his body composition together. As the flames cleared around him, Hydrogue reverted to his normal form, and dared to look up. What he saw surprised him. Above Hydrogue stood a completely intact Xavier Mansion. The entire structure was surrounded by a weird, rippling bluish-white energy, and floating in the air in front of it all was Jean Gray. Her red hair blew about her face as though caught in the wind, and her face was set in a terrible expression of anger. Most horrifyingly, her eyes had turned to wheels of fire, and burned with an inner light. Jean Gray was royally pissed off. She waved her arms in front of her as the jet came racing in, and suddenly the whole structure split in to pieces. It was as if all of the rivets and welds which held the plane together suddenly vanished, and the parts fell away, and then the parts themselves dissolved. The pilot however, continued moving with the jet's momentum at its last course and speed. He barely had time to scream as he struck Jean's impenetrable barrier at several hundred miles per hour. Nearly every bone in the pilot's body was shattered beyond recognition in less than a second. The pilot's body, if you could call it that anymore, fell to the earth with a sickening THUD, and never moved again. ************************** The General had heard about the extent of Jean's powers, and knew that she could destroy them all very easily. It was with that thought in mind that he launched an experimental weapon, one he had truly not expected to need today. A rocket-propelled ball was launched in Jean's general direction, and all who saw it thought it a strange thing indeed. Then dozens of small doors opened on the surface of the sphere, and from them shot dozens of pins, the majority headed in Jean's direction. She stopped every one of them without even appearing to notice. The pins stopped in mid flight and dissolved into nothing. Hydrogue felt a sharp pain, and saw, to his horror, that one of the pins had struck him in his right arm at the deltoid muscle. The pin certainly hurt, but caused no real damage, and Hydrogue promptly pulled it out of him arm. Suddenly he felt very warm, and was sweating and shaking profusely. He felt his connection to the water all around him failing, and the world felt horribly small to him. He looked to the sky with fear, and the brilliant blue color of his eyes drained away, leaving them a soft brown color. Hydrogue realized, with great terror, that the dart had contained the mutant cure. "No" he said, his voice barely more than a whisper. ******************************* Jean gray was waging a terrible battle inside her own mind. Her rage at what the military had done, at what they were still doing, was the greatest and purest rage she had ever felt. With that rage came access to the full extent of her incredible powers, which raced through her body like a power conduit. But that anger also gave access to Jean's other self, the Phoenix. Jean knew where the nigh-invisible line between what she could and could not do in the name of defending her home, but the Phoenix did not. Either that or the Phoenix did not care. The two personalities battled inside their shared mind, with random attacks lashing out at the helpless human officers. Jean tried to calm herself, to wrest full control back from her personal demon, but made slow progress. It was during this struggle when somehow, inexplicably, a bullet actually made it through the joint Jean/Phoenix defenses. The bullet was poorly aimed, and struck high on the right shoulder, but it was enough to snap both minds' focus and knock them from the air. Jean's body fell back and struck the brick wall of the mansion hard, and fell the three floor drop to the ground, and crashed into the bushes, scraped and bloodied and unconscious. ************************* Hydrogue was driven to his knees. He reached within himself with all of the powers still available to him, and he attempted to use water molecules as a net to catch the insidious poison, and drive it from his body, the same way he had removed alcohol from his system in the past. As he brought his molecular nets towards his arm, where the `cure' was still contained, he lost the ability to control the molecules, as if the poison had a range of effect, negating powers as they grew close. Hydrogue focused everything he had on cleansing his body, throwing molecular net after molecular net at the poison, hoping to force it out with sheer volume. Water started to leak out of the small puncture hole in Hydrogue's arm like a bleeding wound. He knew he was driving the poison from him, but did not know if he could hold on to his powers long enough to complete the task. Hydrogue looked up at the sound of running footsteps, and saw Holy coming towards him in his shining silver armor and great curved samurai sword. Hydrogue rolled forward, causing Holy's initial swing to pass high over his body, and came up behind him. As Hydrogue came up, he kicked back hard as soon as he had footing, and felt a solid connection with the back of Holy's knee. Holy fell to the ground, but rolled to the side and came back to his feet remarkably fast. Hydrogue reluctantly spared some of his powers to summon in his left hand an ice sword like the one he used in his first duel with Cyclops. He knew he could not use his powers in this fight, as he had to continue to force the cure from his body. He had to fight with his left hand, as the cure would negate his power over the sword if he held it in his right hand, which was infected. Hydrogue summoned back all the memories of his training sessions with Cyclops, the resident master of hand-to-hand and weapon combat. Though Hydrogue had beaten Cyclops in their first duel, he rarely did so again, Cyclops no longer taking his small size and innocent face to be non-threatening. His skill had increased significantly, and he would need it all now, without his water-sensing powers available to him. Hydrogue and Holy rushed together, crossing swords and quickly pulling away, dancing around each other. Holy's longer sword came around in a diagonal hi-to-low cut from the right, and Hydrogue hopped back out of range, and rushed in after the follow through, thinking to end it quickly. Holy stopped his momentum quickly, and snapped his elbow back, catching Hydrogue in the side of the face. Hydrogue rolled with the blow, absorbing some of its energy, and spun in a circle to his right, bringing his ice sword around with him. Holy managed to get his sword up high to block, and kicked straight out hard with his right leg, going for Hydrogue's kneecap. Hydrogue moved incredibly fast, sliding his leg to the side, and as Holy's foot came between his knees, he closed them together, trapping it. He threw him self down to the left, spinning Holy's leg and driving them both to the ground. Hydrogue punched out with his right hand, scoring a solid hit on Holy's nose, and was rewarded with a flood of blood. As both men hit the ground, Hydrogue absorbed the fall by striking back at the ground, and then rolled back and up to his feet. Having been punched in he face just before impact, Holy had no time to brace, and hit the concrete hard. His training did not fail him though, and he still rolled to his feet quickly. Holy came in at Hydrogue with a murderous look in his eyes, slicing with strength and speed only attainable by an enraged man. The silver and white robes and armor that Holy wore were soon stained with the blood which poured freely from his nose, but he seemed not to notice. Holy's speed was a thing to behold, his form seeming to almost blur as he moved. Hydrogue barely managed to hold back the tide, and received several nicks on his arms and legs from Holy's sharp sword. Holy feinted a powerful strike inform above, and as Hydrogue moved to block, pulled back and cut the young water mutant across the stomach. Hydrogue pulled back just in time, losing the bottom section of his shirt and getting a deep but not too deep cut across his abdominals. The strange water-blood of Hydrogue flowed from his wounds and splattered the ground, joining Holy's red blood. Hydrogue knew he was in trouble. He could not fight an opponent so skilled while trying to concentrate on ridding his body of the cure poison. The split focus was too much, and he did not know if he could survive an extended attempt. With what little remained of his powers, Hydrogue tried to summon an ice bolt to blast Holy with. But as he did so, Hydrogue's eyes momentarily regained their brilliant sapphire color and holy knew what was coming. Holy threw his sword at Hydrogue, who had to break concentration in order to block the unexpected attack. Hydrogue swung his sword out wide to the left, sending Holy's samurai sword harmlessly to the side. This left Hydrogue wide open, and Holy came in close, extended his right hand toward Hydrogue's face, and released his power. The light which burst forth from Holy's palm was brighter than any natural light on this world. The light blasted Hydrogue's unshielded eyes, overloading their capacity to adapt. A searing, burning pain ripped through Hydrogue's eyes, traveled down the optic nerve, and exploded in his brain. The brain, in an act of self-preservation, sought to protect Hydrogue from the pain, and he fell to the ground, unconscious, and seeing no more. *************************** Demon saw his friend fall as he pulled himself free of the wreckage of a military van he had been thrown into when Colossus's moving body hit him. He watched as the white-haired guy in silver armor picked up his sword and held it high, pointed down. Never had Demon moved so fast in his life. The muscles in his massive legs propelled him across the distance in mere seconds, and he closed in. As Holy's sword traveled down to pierce the heart of Hydrogue, Demon caught it in his bare, red hand. Holy looked up in horror at the demonic being before him, snarling and holding a samurai sword by the blade, and not noticing the biting pain. Demon twisted his hand, snapping the metal sword like a twig. He balled his fist and drove it with all his considerable strength into Holy's mirror-like chest plate. The light elemental flew backwards a dozen yards before colliding hard with the remains of a jeep. Demon initially started to go after Holy, to crush the bug that sought to kill his best friend, but then turned back, scooped up his wounded and vulnerable friend, and carried him into the mansion, where he would be safe. Demon tried hard not to let the children he passed see the tears in his eyes as he held Hydrogue close to his chest. ********************* Rogue winced at the pain in her side as she climbed over debris and bodies to get to where she had seen Jean fall. She spotted red hair between some of the bushes and hurried over. She found Jean lying on her back, unconscious and with a broken leg, but clearly alive. Rogue reached forward to brush some of the hair from Jean's face, when her eyes suddenly opened. Jean's mouth displayed a wide and wicked grin, and her eyes flashed with menace. With inhuman quickness, Jean's hand snapped up and grabbed Rogue by the throat. Rogue gasped both with shock and with the sudden lack of air, and her eyes bulged with disbelief. The skin to skin contact activated Rogue's uncontrolled powers, and Jean's power began to flow into her. Dark veins raised on both women's faces as the Rogue absorbed more and more power. An uncontrolled wind picked up, and bushes tore apart, as Rogue could not control the incredible telekinetic powers she now had access to. Despite the fact that life force was draining form her body, Jean was still smiling horribly, her red eyes filled with glee. For you see, Rogue's power acted as a conduit through which energy could flow. This conduit opened the door that the Phoenix so badly desired. The Phoenix personality grasped the outgoing energy with all of its massive mental strength, and flowed out of Jean Gray's body, and into the body of young Rogue. Young Rogue, who could not possibly muster the mental strength to suppress the Phoenix, and who did not have mental barriers in place to aid her in doing so. There was a crackle, and a pulse of red energy blasted out, breaking the connection between the two bodies. For a moment, both women lie still, but soon Rogue rose into the air, her hair billowing wildly and eyes glowing red. She grinned an evil grin as she felt her new freedom. Rogue/Phoenix built up her energy, and in a single motion, vaporized every remaining member of the military contingent that she could see. The battle fell silent, and all looked upon her in awe, as she hung in the air, wreathed in flame and laughing maniacally. She approached Magneto, who welcomed her with open arms, seeming to know what had just transpired. "Welcome my darling, my goddess" Magneto greeted Rogue/Phoenix. "At last you are free." "Yes" she responded, her voice a strange multi-harmonic combination of Rogue's and Jean's. "Now let us leave this place, we have much work to do." Magneto bowed, and summoned his Brotherhood to him. Most were still in good shape, with minor injuries, but both Holy and Pyro were carried by others. Rogue/Phoenix waved her hand, and the whole group glowed red, and seemed to blow away in the wind. /////////////////////////////////////////// OK everyone, that's it. I know I took FOREVER to write this, but I was on vacation, sorry. Please let me know if you liked it, and as always, I am open to suggestions. Stay tuned for Chapter 10, which will answer every question you ever had about Hydrogue! -Matt- phoenixfire543@yahoo.com