United We Stand | By : Nathalia Category: X-Men - Animated Series (all) > General Views: 4528 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men Evolution, or any of the characters from it. I make no money from from the writing of this story. |
Summary: Re-write of my fic ‘To the Victor’.
After the School Board Meeting, the Brotherhood and the X-Men must unite or
fall.
Author’s Note: In this fic, Rogue never left
the Brotherhood and Pietro didn’t betray them. Magneto is still alive, but he
and the Acolytes are currently laying low. Also, Jamie was
pulled out of the Institute, instead of Rahne.
United We Stand
Chapter One.
The School
Board Meeting was in Chaos.
It had
started with the confrontation between Duncan Matthews and the X-Men, then the
Brotherhood boys had joined in, and everything went to Hell in a hand-basket.
The Human’s
had panicked, and were either running around screaming, or siding with Duncan
and Principle Kelly, trying to fight the mutants.
Of course,
fighting the Mutants would have been a lot harder if the X-men and the
Brotherhood were fighting together, rather than with each other.
Luckily,
there were a few exceptions to this. A cheerleader threw a large rock at
Kitty’s head while her back was turned. Lance hit her with a flying tackle,
knocking her out of the way. Rahne snarled, morphing into her wolf-form as she
leapt at a group of Humans that were sneaking up behind Toad.
Pietro was
beginning to wish that they hadn’t left Rogue back at the Boarding House. Yes,
she was still in a fury from when she found out that Mystique had been left at
Area 51, and no-one felt like going near an angry Rogue, but the girl was a
power-house in her own right, with Agatha Harkness teaching her to access the
powers that she had previously absorbed.
Slowly but
surely, the Humans began to overwhelm the Mutants through sheer force of
numbers. Pietro found himself fighting back to back with Cannonball. “Looks
like we’re in trouble now, huh?”
As much as
he hated agreeing with an X-Geek, Pietro was forced to acknowledge the point. “Yeah. I’m starting to wish we hadn’t left Rogue behind.
Getting out of here would be worth the risk.”
An icy tone
cut in from behind them, coming from a decidedly put out Rogue. “You won’t be
saying that after I’m done with you. Get the others over here, we’re leaving.”
Rogue was
not the kind of person you argued with, especially since she had learned
control, even if she couldn’t touch. Her green eyes glowed red as she hit
Principle Kelly with Cyclops’s optic blasts. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, the
Brotherhood weren’t the only ones to let out a quiet cheer at this as they made
their way over to Rogue.
The Goth
smirked. “I’ve wanted to do that all day. Avalanche, I want a chasm between us
and the Humans. Blob, throw something at any flatscan
that gets too close, and you and Lance are driving the Jeep back. X-Freaks, you
can go or stay, I don’t care, but I don’t recommend hanging around.”
A
dark-skinned girl screamed as Avalanche’s earthquake opened the ground nearly
beneath her feet as she ran toward Nightcrawler. The blue mutant grabbed her
before she could fall, and teleported to safety.
Several
other Humans looked ready to charge them, earthquake or no earthquake, but
quickly changed their minds at the appearance of a large black demon (a.k.a
Rogue using her mother’s shape-shifting powers). Casting a last look around,
Rogue tapped into Storm’s ability and rose on the winds, flying back to the
Boarding House as Quicksilver took off at top speed, Blob and Toad following.
Somewhat
surprisingly, it was Rahne who made the first move. Exchanging a glance with
Kitty, she ran over just as Avalanche was about to leave. “The Humans are
probably going to be keeping an eye on the Institute. Do you mind if we lie low
at the Boarding House until we figure out what to do?
Lance
frowned slightly. “You can stay for tonight, at least. After that, I need to
discuss it with everyone else.”
Several of the
senior X-Men looked reluctant, but agreed for lack of a better option. After
the events of the past month, Mutants would need to stick together to survive.
* * * * * *
If the
senior X-Men were reluctant about staying with the Brotherhood, Rogue was even
less pleased. She had not trusted the X-Men since Jean Gray had read her mind
and found out about her relation to Mystique. Things had not improved when
Rogue had discovered that Cyclops had been responsible for Mystique being left
behind in Area 51.
Luckily for
all concerned, she understood the necessity of the idea, even if she didn’t
like it. Bluntly informing the X-Men to stay out of her way and that any telepathic
snooping would have very unpleasant consequences (By the look on her face,
elaboration was un-necessary) she left them in the living room and told them to
stay there until she finished speaking with the rest of the Brotherhood.
By the
collectively worried glances that the Brotherhood boys shared, the X-Men
received the impression that this was not a good thing.
* * * * * *
Rogue had
not been pleased at her team-mates’ actions, and expressed this viewpoint in
explicit detail, with her opinions about the idea and actions in general and
the boys themselves in particular.
The
situation was not helped when Blob tried to point out that it had been
Principal Kelly’s idea and that if they were never going to be respected, they
could at least be feared.
Needless to
say, Rogue was less than impressed with that reasoning.
The
Brotherhood boys had already been squirming under Rogue’s verbal
tongue-lashing, and now visibly cringed as she exploded. “One of the biggest
Mutant-hating Flatscans we know says to do something and join forces with the
text-book definition of an anti-Mutant Dumb Jock, and you LISTENED? Much less thought it was a GOOD IDEA! How stupid can you get? Don’t answer that, I don’t
want to know!”
Never the
quickest on the uptake, Blob was about to reply, but the others quickly stopped
him.
Luckily for
all concerned, as the Goth girl looked ready to spit nails, Wanda chose this
moment to return, and Rogue snarled at them to stay put while she filled the
other girl in. Evan chose this moment to come out of hiding where several of
the younger X-Men had been listening at the door. “Man, I almost feel sorry for
you guys. Mystique wasn’t nearly this bad, and I only knew her as the
principal!”
Toad let
out a deep breath. “Mama’s Little Girl, yo. She’s been
in a worse mood than usual since Area 51, and tonight’s mess is really going to
put her on the warpath.”
There was a
collective wince at the loud “Those idiots did WHAT?” in Wanda’s voice. Oh,
shit.
* * * * * *
Wanda,
also, had chosen to express her opinions of the night’s events in a very vocal
manner. Leaving her to it, Rogue tried to work out how they were going to plan
the new situation.
An
unfortunate fact was that the Brotherhood House was not Xavier’s mansion, being
a lot smaller and without the same access to funding. It also did not have the
same defenses, and with the flatscans up in arms, it was only a matter of time
before the location was discovered and they had a mob on their hands.
Rogue felt
a headache developing, and wished for the Nth time
that her mother was there. The X-Men would have to double- or even triple-up in
what spare rooms they had, possibly with one or two sharing with the
Brotherhood.
Mystique’s
room was large, but Rogue balked at allowing any of the X-Men in there, and it
would be too much of a hassle to move all of the Brotherhood in there.
She decided
to call her Aunt Irene, or Destiny, for advice. Mystique and Destiny had some
large investments in the stock market, (Precognition was invaluable in such
cases) and with all of Mystique’s aliases, she had to have back-up
accommodation somewhere.
Rogue
decided to be grateful that at least the annoying Tabitha Smith was not among
the group; They had enough problems already.
Tabitha had
left the Brotherhood when Mystique had returned with Wanda, and while she had
stuck with the X-Men when Mutants were exposed and while they were in hiding,
her pride refused to allow her to stay with them afterward. As soon as the
Mutant Witch Hunt was called off, Tabitha had left, not looking back.
Truthfully,
the Brotherhood as a whole was thankful for it. In the short time that
Boom-Boom was with the Brotherhood there had been a short but vicious
power-play between the outrageous blonde bombshell and the proud Goth girl for
‘Queen of the Roost’. Rogue had won, but Tabitha had never learned to quit
while she was ahead, and Rogue had been on the verge of throwing the Blonde
out, Mutant or no, when Mystique and Wanda had returned.
* * * * * *
Rogue’s
headache had not improved as the night wore on. Pietro, almost invisible at
full speed, had been sent to raid the institute for food, while Rogue and Wanda
tried to figure out who would sleep where.
Wanda bit
her lip in thought. “Toad’s room smells worse than a garbage dump, and Blob
takes up too much space to really share with anyone. I think that our main
problem is that there are way more boys than girls. We may end up with
mixed-gender arrangements.”
Rogue
nodded agreement. “Kurt and Ah are related, and Ah can fit one more at a pinch.
We can squeeze most of the adults into one room, and have Wolverine share with
troublemakers.”
Wanda also
nodded. “I can fit someone in my room, very possibly two, and so can Pietro and
Lance. Same with the remaining spare rooms. Pairings to avoid? Evan and my
brother, obviously.”
Rogue
rolled her eyes. “Ah like the house in one piece, thanks. It’s going to be hard
enough with Cyclops and Lance in the same house, let alone the same room, but
Lance seemed to get along well enough with Xavier’s younger bunch, maybe even
Shadowcat. Ah don’t care about the cause of their fight; they are going to work together for as long
as necessary!”
Wanda gave
her friend an understanding look. Forced to step into her mother’s shoes in the
middle of all the anti-mutant chaos could not be easy. The mutants, X-Men and
Brotherhood, had to be at least civil to each other to survive this. “Lance
said that Iceman was the main trouble-maker, with Evan and Berserker as the
more boisterous. Jean and Cyclops will be easier if we just stick them together
and tell them to stay out of our way. Maybe stick the girl that turns herself
into lava with them.”
Rogue
massaged her temple, wanting nothing more than to lie down and sleep. “So,
Cyclops, Grey and Magma together. Iceman and Berserker with Wolverine. Spyke we
can stick with his Aunt and Cannonball. Shadowcat can go with Lance, and
Sunspot with Pietro. I’ll share with Kurt and Wolfsbane, and can you handle
sharing with the Human girl, Amanda, I think it is?”
Wanda
nodded. “She seems all right. Didn’t Agatha say she had the potential to be a
Sorceress?”
Rogue
sighed. “We’ll worry about that later. I need to call Destiny and then lie
down, so can you hand out room assignments. Feel free to Hex anyone who puts up
any unreasonable protests.”
* * * * * *
When Rogue
got off the phone with Destiny, she felt slightly better.
As it
turned out, Mystique and Irene did have a few alternate properties under a few
of Mystique’s aliases. There were two small apartments from when Mystique was
on a long-term mission, a city penthouse belonging to one of Mystique’s richer
identities, and a small manor size-ranged somewhere between Xavier’s Mansion
and the Brotherhood’s Boardinghouse.
The manor
was not isolated, but was far enough away from other people that the mutants
would not run a high risk of discovery and humans would not be around on any
regular basis.
There was
also enough room for all of the mutants to live comfortably, although one or
two may have to continue sharing a room. Best of all, it would be possible to
keep the more passionate Brotherhood and X-Men away from each other. Rogue
could tolerate most of the younger X-Men, and actually almost liked Amanda for
her acceptance of her brother, and Kitty had initially tried to befriend her
when Rogue had first arrived in Bayville, even though the Goth was sure that
the two girls would have driven each other up the wall.
Changing
into her pajamas, Rogue sighed under her breath. She would never say it out
loud, but she missed her mother, more than anything, and wished she was here. Mama would know what to do. Rogue was
not sure if she had the strength to fill her mother’s shoes as leader. Sure,
she and Lance were co-leaders on a day-to-day basis, but Mystique had always
been the higher up, the person for Rogue to look to when she needed help.
Rogue
hadn’t cried for years, but suddenly everything seemed just too much, and she
let the tears come, pulling the blanket over her head to muffle the sobs.
* * * * * *
There had
been a few objections to the sleeping arrangements, but Wanda’s hex-bolts and
the fact that the Brotherhood boys were in enough trouble with Rogue as it was
had shut them up.
Kurt had
been less than pleased with the reminder of his relationship with Mystique, but
the day had been hectic enough that he didn’t protest. Besides, he had always
been curious about his sister ever since he found out he had one, and maybe
this would be a chance to get to know her.
Kitty had
protested, loudly, about sharing with Lance, but accepted when Wanda had
threatened to call Rogue down.
Rahne had
been just short of terrified when she was informed of the sleeping
arrangements. She had had little experience fighting the Brotherhood and had
nothing against Rogue, but the girl scared her.
Amara had
been less than comforting after hearing her protests. “You and most of
Bayville. Suck it up, Rahne.”
It was
alright for her, Rahne thought,
somewhat viciously; she got to stay with the X-Men’s leaders, as opposed to a
girl who could kill her with a touch.
* * * * * *
There had
been a large amount of shouting from Lance’s room, but he and Kitty had
apparently managed to resolve their argument, at least for now. Most of the
Boarding House had also settled down for the night, with minimal fuss.
After
delaying as long as possible, Rahne quietly crept up the stairs and down the
hall to Rogue’s room.
She opened
the door, silently praying that Rogue would not still be awake and that one of
Rahne’s frequent nightmares wouldn’t make an appearance.
Kurt was
sleeping on a mattress next to Rogue’s bed, with another one for Rahne beside
him. Both Kurt and Rogue appeared to be asleep, and Rahne was surprised to see
a trace of tears on the Goth girl’s cheeks.
She
supposed that it made sense, with Mystique missing and Rogue being her
daughter, but Rahne still thought of it as a surprise. Rogue had always seemed
like such an unstoppable force, it was hard to think of her as showing emotion.
Oh, well.
It was not really any of Rahne’s business, and she would respect Rogue’s
privacy.
* * * * * *
She couldn’t move.
She was tied to a pole, surrounded by a
screaming mob.
Screaming for her blood.
She saw her adopted father standing nearby, his
face hard. Reverend Craig Sinclair was addressing the crowd, denouncing her as
the spawn of hell, some kind of were-wolf because she was a mutant.
Rahne tried to protest that she couldn’t help
what she was born, but her voice was drowned out as Reverend Sinclair’s wife
approached him, holding a lit torch.
Rahne tried to struggle as the torch was
lowered to the wood piled at her feet, but the ropes didn’t give an inch.
She screamed as fire met wood…
And woke up
with a start to find Rogue shaking her, Kurt’s concerned face peering over his
sister’s shoulder.
Seconds
later, the bedroom door slammed open, and Wanda and Amanda came flying in,
asking what happened.
Apparently,
Rahne’s nightmare had woken Rogue and Kurt as well. Rogue had let out a mental
yell for Wanda, who came at a run, accidentally stepping on Amanda as she did.
Rogue apparently also had nightmares from the people she had absorbed before
she had gained some control, and hence had had her room sound-proofed, so
no-one else was alerted.
Wanda and
Rogue exchanged a quick look, and then asked what the nightmare had been about.
Rahne
managed to hide her surprise at the question as she stumbled through an
explanation. At the Institute, no one had pressed the issue of her nightmares,
and after the first few times, had stopped coming when they heard her.
The other
girls’ faces had darkened, and Kurt looked outright furious, as she had told
them the details of her dreams, and Rogue wore a very foreboding expression as
she informed Rahne that she had a place with the Brotherhood if she didn’t want
to return to her adoptive parents, and that if they wanted to try and do
anything to her, then the Reverend would have to go through a very pissed off
Rogue, demonic-looking Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch to do so.
Despite the
threat in their words, Rahne found herself strangely comforted. Was this what
family was like? Standing by you no matter what, and listening when you were
upset?
Rahne could
barely keep her eyes open, and decided to worry about it in the morning. She
saw Wanda and Amanda making their way back to Wanda’s room as her eyes slid
closed and she fell into a dreamless sleep.
*
* * * * *
So, first chapter is up. Hopefully it will be
better than the original.
You’ve spent however long reading this, so take
another five seconds to tell me what you think.
Vanerina
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