X-Men Legacy

Legend: Thoughts = <>

Stray thoughts = ()

Flashback **

Com links []

 

Ok, guys, all the disclaimers apply, that means all thanks goes to Marvel

For the X-Men, I'm just making the story. And I do read all the other

Stories and they're great, keep up the good work. They inspire me!

Hey guys, this is the end of this arc, but I'm unsure of whether to continue or make one ultimate chapter the try and sum it all up. Some feedback would be appreciated.

My world was upside down. There wasn't any gray area, it's like the world had become entirely black and white. Magneto was right, the humans had began their assault on mutants and there's nothing we could do. Raiden had been kidnapped, we had been forced out of our homes, and now we had nowhere to go. Connor seemed quiet and unresponsive, in shock, I guess. I was too. It hadn't hit me that this was all something new. We were being hunted. We had surmised that the mutant killer's attack on the humans was orchestrated by humans. Bad people who wanted nothing more than to bring us down. It made perfect sense and I had played this game long enough to know what was going on. Plus, I have this feeling about it. I could feel something coming back to me, the wishing that I had my powers back because I would need them. Magneto had been right, the humans would pass that law. My future was happening in front of my eyes. I had tried to change it, but I had only ended up falling into this future again. We couldn't use credit cards or debit cards, we'd leave a trail, so as we stood at the motel door, neither one of looked at the other.


"How we gonna pay for this?" Connor asked.

I kicked the door as hard as I could, causing it to splinter and it swung open as I moved into it.

"I guess we're not."

 

Chapter 80: Notes From The Underground

"The MRD is rounding up mutants, has there been any signs of Pane?" Magneto asked.

"No." Mystique said.

John breathed a sigh of relief, so small that no one could hear it. He was happy that his friend, yes he had a friend, was okay.


"What is our next move?" Mystique asked, "The war's started."

"The couple were just pawns, someone is setting up the mutant race." Magneto said, "Finally, we will be allowed to strike back without Xavier's band of misguided fools there to stop us!"

"Do you really believe they will back down?" Mystique asked.

"Why wouldn't they?" Magneto asked, "Our first order of business, besides to help the wayward mutants avoid capture, we need to find Pane and restore his powers."

"Shall I ready our troops?" Mystique asked.

"Yes." Magneto said, "We need to find him, now."

At the X-Mansion...

"Chuck, we got bigger things ta worry about." Logan growled, "We need to save those mutants."

"Half of you shall be going to find Pane, we will need him to find the Mutant named Mega," Professor said, "The rest of you will go and try to help as many mutants as we can while I go with Beast to have a talk with our President."


"On the news, Professor, they said that someone murdered two people...is that true?" Kitty asked.

"Yes, Kitty, I'm afraid it is." Professor said, "I suspect Magneto and the Brotherhood will want Pane as well, so do be alert."

"Who's going on which mission?" Emma asked.

"You shall be accompanying Scott and Logan to find Pane while the rest of the team will be on their way to help captured mutants." Professor said, "I fear that we may already be too late."

"We'll find him, bub." Logan said, "Let's get to work."

-           

"We need to contact the X-Men, we can't be safe here much longer." Connor said quickly, "We need to get Raiden back."

I ignored him. My phone rang and I took it out of my pocket, checking the caller I.D., only to see unknown. I accepted the call, "Hello."

"Hello," The harsh voice said, "You might want to put this on speaker."

I did as he said.

"Good, now I have your friend. I am Mega." He announced.

"You give her back now!" Connor yelled into the phone.

"Sure, but it's all up to Pane." Mega said.

I looked to Connor, and then back at the phone, "What do you mean?" I asked.

"It will be his choice, save the girl or save more mutants." Mega said, "I will meet you, alone, in five hours at the old sanitarium. You will decide to save Ian or Raiden."

The line went dead, causing Connor and I to look at each other. I didn't know who to save, either way I'd lose someone important. I was supposed to protect Ian because he's just a kid, but Raiden is my friend...

"You're going to save Raiden." Connor said quickly.

"Connor..."


"Tell me you're going to save her!" Connor said.

"She wouldn't want to be saved at the expense of someone else." I said.

"I cannot believe...after all we've been through! She's saved us both and now..."


"Shut up, you shut your fucking mouth!" I shouted, "You think just because you like kissing her that she means more to you! I have a choice to make and it's not easy. Either I let a kid die or one of my best friends and we're on the run here!"

"If you don't save her, I'll never forgive you." Connor said, walking away and walking back, "Scratch that, I would freaking clobber your ass!"

I stared at him before averting my eyes.

"Damn you!" Connor said, walking to the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked, "We can't split up..."

"We're already split, bro." Connor said, "I'm going to save Raiden, our friend." He said, slamming the door.

He'll never understand

I looked around, half expecting to find someone. I found no one and I was back where I started, alone with a seemingly unsolvable problem.

-           

"Is that all you got?" Raiden asked, panting. Torture had become just another syllable in her repertoire. Soldiers had come in and interrogated her, getting nothing but a few auditory yelps and a lot of grunting.

"Well, aren't you the little soldier." William Stryker said, "I wish I would have had you around back in my Weapon X days."

"Pathetic sonuva..."

"Tell me about Pane. And the X-Men, they can't be allowed to undo what's taken me years to build." Stryker said.

"The couple's murder was your idea?" Raiden asked.

"Yes, I had a friend do the dirty work." Stryker said, "He happens to be a mutant."

"Where'd he come from?" Raiden asked.


"He was made." Stryker said, "His powers proved to be useful."

"What..."

"He drains life energy and captures the powers of whomever he drains." Stryker smiled, "Much like your friend Rogue. Some of her DNA is in him, makes his powers all the more dangerous."

"All this was so you could enslave mutants?" Raiden asked, "Bastard."

"Mutants have to be dealt with, they are a disease!" Stryker said, kneeling to her face, "You're a disease."

Raiden spat on him, "I hope it's contagious." She said.

Stryker wiped the spit from his face and backhanded her, "You little bitch." He said, "Bring in the kid."

Raiden looked over to the door, seeing a figure walk in with a bag over his head. Stryker ripped off the bag, revealing the boy to be Ian.

"Don't hurt him you bastard!" Raiden said immediately.

"Too late." Stryker said, punching Ian to the ground, "Now the fun starts."

-           

Connor walked the streets, hoping to find a solution, hoping time itself would speed up and he would be able to do what he needed to do. The streets were wild, chaos inhabited them. There were overturned cars and fires and riots. People were looting and fighting and it was just a big mess. Connor shoved his way right through the chaos, sometimes pushing too hard, causing the humans to fly into the air and land hard to the ground, or in one cause the hood of a car.


"Hold it right there." An armed soldier said, aiming for his shoulder blades, "I should blow your damn spine out of whack, mutie."

"Blow this, bub." Wolverine said, slashing the gun to pieces and throwing the soldier through a store window.

Connor turned, "Wolverine?" he asked.


"What're you doing out in the open?" Cyclops asked.

"Venting." Connor said, "What are you guys doing here?"

"Lookin fer you guys." Wolverine said, retracting his claws.

"It's a long story." Connor said.


"Start slow while we walk back to wherever Pane is." Wolverine growled.

-           

I still sat, mulling over what Mega had just told me, about my choice. Why did it have to be my choice? I found myself trying to get up, to move, but I couldn't. I was stuck there. I knew that the police wouldn't come up because of the state the streets were in, but I knew it was only a matter of time before someone came up. I looked around at the room. It was hardly anything to go to jail for, the sheets alone were reason to stay as far away from it as possible.

"You're hanging in some seriously odd places these days." Darkness said.


I looked up.

"The door was open." Darkness said, "Did you kick the door down?"

"Was the only way I could get in." I frowned, "Where've you been."


"I never meant for any of this to happen." Darkness said, "I'm indirectly funding the Sentinel Program."


I couldn't breathe, I just looked away, "Why are you telling me?" I asked.


"I enlisted." Darkness said.

I looked at him, "You huh?" I asked.

"I'm going to war." Darkness said.

I frowned, "Why?" I asked.

"I need to remember what it's like to not make decisions anymore." Darkness said, "Just to be another face in the crowd."

"Bitch." I said.

"What?" he asked.

"You're a little bitch." I said, "I'm running for my life and you're running away from you because you have too many decisions to make?"

"You have no idea..."

"I have to make a choice between saving two lives, the choice isn't easy." I frowned, "So you're leaving?"

"I am." Darkness said, "It's what I need to do."

I nodded, "Don't expect me to wait." I said.

"I don't." Darkness said, "I wouldn't ask you to."

There was an awkward silence between as the room began to shake. We looked at each other before the window frame flew off and we both looked wildly out into the gaping hole to see Magneto hovering just off the ground. A steel beam hovered up and wrapped itself around Darkness, confining him to the wall!

"Hello, Pane." Magneto smirked.

-           

"Fuck." Wolverine swore as they stood before Darkness, who hung between a steel beam and the wall. Wolverine extended his claws, slashing at the beam, "Where's Pane."

"First, who are you?" Cyclops asked.

"He's not a mutant." Emma said.

"My name is Darkness." Darkness said, "Pane was here, but some guy took him."

"What did the guy look like?" Cyclops asked.

"Metal helmet, had two guys with him..."


Wolverine sniffed the air, "Sabretooth and Toad were here." He said gruffly.

"So it was Magneto?" Cyclops asked.


"Yes," Emma said with her hands to her temple, "He was here briefly. Very briefly. Pane went with him."

"Is she invading my mind?" Darkness asked.

"Only the surface." Emma said innocently.

"Pane willingly went?" Cyclops asked, perplexed.

"He's got to go and save Raiden." Connor said, "We've got to get them back."

"I know where they went." Darkness said.

"Where, bub?" Wolverine asked.

Across town...

"Wha ah we doin `ere?" Toad asked.

"This is their office." Magneto said.

"Why are we here?" Toad asked.

"Because I've got proof of what they're doing, or I had it." I said, looking through the papers, "Damn it, they took it!"

They stared at me.


"The government did this, all of it." I said.

"I know." Magneto said, "The humans struck first, like I've always said."


"They took my friend." I said.


"You will need your powers." Magneto said.


I looked at him, "That's why you're here? To empower me again and use me." I said.


"Look at you, you're nothing more than a watered down Wolverine. You barely have an active power." Magneto said, "We can return you to your glory."

"The last time I had glory, I almost murdered everyone." I said.

"Your power alone could win us this war." Magneto said, his voice booming.

I thought about it and he was right. My lack of power was seriously making me the weak link. Even with all my experience, I was less than everyone else. The only thing I could do is Self-heal. Half the time my levitation didn't work and half the time I couldn't read a mind to save my life.

"The power is yours." Magneto said, "Embrace it."

"Not so fast, bub." Wolverine said, causing us all to turn.

Wolverine, Cyclops, Emma Frost, and Connor stood in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Professor sent us." Cyclops said.


"No doubt trying to harness the weapon for himself." Magneto said.

"No, he knew you'd try and kidnap him." Cyclops said.


"Scott, something is wrong." Emma said, putting her hand around Scott's waist.

I saw it and spasmed a little. Scott must have noticed because he slowly moved away from her.

He doesn't love her. He can't.

Emma looked at me, "That wasn't you." She said.

"What?" Cyclops asked.

"Of course he does." Emma said, trying moreso to convince herself than me.

"What's going on?" Cyclops asked.

I felt it suddenly too, "Predator X." I said.

Suddenly, Predator X crashed through the window, roaring at us! It immediately came after the first mutant it saw, Connor! Connor grabbed it's tongue and flipped it over, smashing it onto the ground! We all took the time to rending our plans on fighting him. The thing hopped up quickly, swatting Logan, Cyclops, and Emma with its tail and causing them to go flying through the wall! Darkness, Connor and I stared at the beast as it levitated into the air! Cyclops shot it with his beam, causing it to fly through the wall.


"What do we do now?" Darkness asked.


"We save...where's Pane?" Connor asked, noticing I was gone, "He has to save Raiden!"

"Maybe that's where he's gone." Emma said.

"No. He would have taken me." Connor said, "Someone's got to save her." He said, storming away.

"You're not going to get him." Cyclops said.

"Ms. Frost, I think you might find that you should keep your eyes on your boyfriend." Magneto said.

Emma looked between them.


"We need to find him and fast." Wolverine growled.

"We can work together." John said.

"I doubt that." Cyclops said, ignoring the Brotherhood.

§   

"Time's almost up." Mega said indifferently, "I really thought the scenario would have played out differently. It is illogical, of course, but Pane is never one for logic."

He stood on the scaffolding with Raiden tied to the railing. Mega stood over her, looking down on the burned rubble that was that was left of the government building! The building had been bigger than it looked and rebuilding had already started on the inside. The rubble was terrible and the smell was...unbearable.


"Pane knows that I would kick his ass if he saved me." Raiden said.

"Self-sacrifice, is that the standard for your little enclave? Is it really logical to feel?" Mega asked.


"Feelings are for humans...I don't know what you are." Raiden spat.

"Bitch." Mega said, "I am human. I am creation come to life. I am..."

"Really annoying to listen to." Connor said, appearing below the scaffolding.

Mega looked over the edge at him, "You are not Pane." He said.


"Smart. Now give me my friend!" Connor yelled.


"Pane has made his choice." Mega said, walking back to Raiden and putting his hands around her neck.

"Stop!" I shouted.

Connor and Mega turned their attention to me, "You came?" Connor asked.

"I didn't have a choice." I said.

"Who did you choose?" Mega asked from the scaffold.

"I chose to kill me." I said.

"What?" all three of them said in unison.

"You gave me a choice. My choice is for me to die." I said, "All you have to do is come down here and kill me."

Mega looked to be thinking it over.

"You want my power? Come on, you can't die." I said, "Come and get it."


Suddenly, he turned into sand and the sand began to glide down to me. I jumped into the air, hoping, and soon I was levitating up to the scaffold. I ran to Raiden and immediately began untying her. Under the scaffold, as the sand began to create a shape, Connor tried to punch it, but the sand figure hit him so hard he flew backwards! The now corporeal figure watched as Connor slowly got to his feet and raised his hand, causing a burst of fire to rock Connor off his feet. The side of his face was scorched! Mega raised his hands and skeletons and people with burnt flesh rose from the rubble. The zombies immediately attacked Connor. Before I could even turn around, Mega hit me in the back of my head!


"You can help him," Mega said, "Or you may help the one with strength."

Raiden looked down at me.

"Go." I rasped.

Raiden turned disappeared.


"That was an illogical decision. If she was your friend, shouldn't she have come to your rescue?" Mega asked.

"And do what?" I asked, picking myself up off the ground.

"Die." Mega said, grabbing my throat.

I choked as he held me just above the floor. I brought my hands up, causing him to drop me. I rolled across the scaffold, nearly being hit by his hand. Mega threw his hand up, causing energy to pulse from his hands! I jumped into the air, levitating higher than the energy! I landed on my feet this time and kicked Mega in the stomach! It was then that I heard the helicopter.

On the ground...

Connor was being wrestled to the ground by the zombies, but was putting up a pretty good fight! The zombies were thrown, but came right back. Connor struck the ground, causing it to buckle underneath him and the zombies!

"Halt!" Soldier said, piling into the burnt room.

Raiden's hand reached over and grabbed Connor, who then disappeared as well.

Up on the scaffolds...

"Pane!" Raiden yelled.

"Get out of here." I shouted back.

"No place to go." Mega said.

I frowned and waited for him to attack me, which when he finally did, I jumped onto his shoulder, wrapping my legs around his neck and flipping him over. I looked down at him, and then at the light shining in my face, I covered my face.


"Give up." Mega said, standing. He didn't even look winded.

I frowned, turning and running in the opposite direction of him and the helicopter! I ran to the window and smashed through, falling to the water below!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Well, if you liked it please tell me so I can start work on the next one. I really need feedback, especially if you like it. If you don't, I need advice and suggestions, please.