Invasion
Bobby gripped Kitty’s hand, their knees anxiously tapping against each other’s as they watched the TV screen in the lounge. Rogue sat beneath them, her back propped against the couch as she stress-ate a bowl of popcorn.
“I can’t wait for this to be over.” Kitty lamented.
“I know, I just want everything to go back to normal so we can watch a comfort movie and fall asleep.” Bobby concurred.
“Are you kiddin’ me?” Rogue tossed her bowl to the side, standing up and pacing around the room. “I don’t think I’m gonna sleep for a week! No matter what their decision is. If they think this is somethin’ even worth considerin’...what else will they throw at us?”
Bobby untangled his hand from Kitty’s, standing up and stretching. “I’m gonna go get a popsicle; does anybody want one?”
“I’m not hungry.” Kitty curled in on herself and Bobby wanted to scoop her into a big hug. He wanted to hold both of his friends tight and promise they would all be okay, but he wasn’t sure they would be. Rogue had nowhere to go if Xavier’s was shut down, and Kitty had a family, but she would want to protect them from the violence that was likely to come with registration.
“Get me two.” Rogue requested.
Bobby gave her a salute and turned on his heels, holding his breath as he tried to maintain a smile when every muscle in his face wanted to fall to a frown.
He sauntered toward the kitchen, picking up speed the moment he was out of sight. His muscles were jittery; like he wanted to run, but he had nowhere to run to; like he wanted to fight, but he had no one to fight; he just needed to move.
He entered the kitchen, heading straight for the freezer. He opened the metal doors, digging around on the bottom shelf. “Hey, Stranger.” The familiar voice startled Bobby. He jerked back, hitting his head on the shelf above him. He turned to face his old friend, his hand on his head as he tried to hide his flinch.
“John!? What are you doing here?” A part of him wanted to run to his former best friend, a part of him wanted to throw the first punch. His stomach churned, conflicting emotions making him ill.
John’s eyes darted about as he stood before his first crush. Being back here was odd, it was familiar but lacked the warmth a former home should hold. He prepared to run if any of his former colleagues entered the room. “I came to get you. Magneto thinks there’s gonna be an attempt on the mansion. Let’s get out of here.”
Bobby stepped back, increasing their distance. “If the mansion’s in trouble, we should evacuate everyone. I’m gonna go get Scott.” He slammed the door of the freezer, abandoning all thoughts of popsicles.
“Wait!” John’s voice froze Bobby where he stood. “I don’t want them to know I was here.”
Rogue’s distraught voice carried into the kitchen. “No!” Bobby’s heart picked up speed. There was only one thing that could elicit that response from his toughest friend. Mutant Registration must have finally been ratified.
Bobby looked at John with horror, and John knew exactly what that meant. John reached for his phone to contact Mystique but an arm broke through the kitchen window, tossing a canister that released some sort of gaseous substance inside. John tackled Bobby to the ground, a loud bang deafening him. His ears rang and his head spun but he couldn’t afford to waste time. He flicked the trigger of his fire mechanism and blasted a fireball toward the aggressors. The heat triggered the canister to explode, the contents being set ablaze in the air.
Bobby iced himself over, grabbing John and shielding him with his body. Muffled screams broke through the ringing in Bobby’s ears. Once the screaming had stopped, he sprayed the room in ice, killing the fire with a hissing sizzle. He helped John to his feet and the two scrambled over shattered glass back to the living room.
“You still don’t think! Do you?” Bobby scolded.
“You’re one to talk.” John griped.
“I might goof around, but at least I know when to get serious. At least I’m not a liability!” Bobby regretted it the moment he said it, he had just reunited with his friend and they were already arguing.
John spotted Rogue fighting off three men all by herself and all thoughts of a response slipped from his mind. Great. Exactly what he didn’t want; former colleagues.
“Rogue!” Bobby called, freezing one of her attackers so she could knock the other two into him.
“Iceman!” Rogue turned, stopping when she saw John. “Pyro? What the hell are you doin’ here?”
“Magneto sent me to bail you all out.” John chased an MRD agent with a lion made of fire.
“Magneto!? Aw hell no!” Rogue stormed toward John, her eyes vengeful. She lifted him up by his shirt, his feet dangling off the floor. Well, this was new.
“New powers?” His voice was a mere squeak.
“Why’re you here, Allerdyce?” She interrogated.
“I’m here to rescue you. Promise.” He threw his hands up, frustration at the distraction evident in his voice.
Rogue set him down, giving him the most evil side-eye he had ever received. “How’d he know about this?”
“He’s a smart guy, Rogue. He knows humans well.”
Bobby searched the room for Kitty, but the Shadowcat was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Shadowcat?”
“She’s gettin’ a visual of outside. Seein’ if we can take em’ all.”
“We need to find Scott!” Bobby ordered. Scott always knew what to do, he’d have a plan. No. He’d have twenty plans.
John groaned but he had no better ideas. His job was to get Bobby to safety. Well, technically, his job was to help get everyone to safety, but he only cared about Bobby. He would never admit that Rogue held a spot in his heart, not even to himself. If Scott was the safest way to get Bobby out, then to Scott it was.
“Well, lead the way, Icecicle.” John motioned toward the hallway.
Bobby fought through the noise in his head, trying to pull all relevant pieces of information together. Where was Scott tonight? Where would he be now? Scott had gone to bed early. So he must have been in his room. That would be their first place to start. “Okay! Follow me.” Bobby led the two down the hall, his destination: the staircase.
An agent turned the corner, their bright flashlight in the mutants’ eyes. Rogue flew ahead before Bobby even had time to react. She punched the soldier in the jaw, rendering them unconscious.
“Okay, when the fuck did that happen?” John motioned toward Rogue’s new abilities.
“A lot’s happened since you left.” Bobby pulled John into a corner as a group of MRD swarmed past them. Rogue flattened herself against the ceiling, none of the soldiers looking up.
John pressed against Bobby’s cold chest, avoiding looking at the agents directly. “There’s too many of them.” He hissed in Bobby’s ear.
“Why do you think we’re hiding.” Bobby snarked back. “Where do you think they’re going?”
John shrugged as best as he could in their limited space.
Finally, the agents stopped coming, but a massive bang following a red flash knocked bodies back into the hallway. Many were severed, some decapitated. Must have been Havok. Bobby’s heart raced with excitement. If he could find Alex, he could find Scott, or at the very least, Hank. Hank was also a good choice, he often had plans, just not as effective plans as Scott, or nearly as many.
“Come on.” Bobby pulled John out of the corner, his icy hand stinging John’s wrist. John pulled his arm away, rubbing at the spot to warm it.
“Jesus, Bobby. You’re gonna give me frostbite or something.”
“Sorry.” Bobby mumbled, too focused on his mission to pay much attention to John’s words.
Rogue followed the two, her steps weightless like she was walking on the moon. “So you can fly now.” John mentioned.
“I can do a lotta stuff now.” Rogue shot John a pissed glare.
Scott, Hank, Alex, and Logan were finally in Bobby’s sights. Kitty ran through the wall, her voice echoing through the room. “We have to get out of here now! They’ve got these weird pillar things surrounding the mansion! I think they’re gonna blow us up!”
“The Stud-” Scott started to ask but Kitty cut him off.
“Storm got them all out. Mystique showed up and helped everyone out.”
Bobby ran up to his leader. “Scott!”
Scott looked at Bobby with terror, but his attention quickly turned to their former colleague. “Pyro?”
John wanted to shrink under Scott’s gaze. They had never gotten along well, John refusing to accept Scott’s authority as a teacher, and even less happy about his close relationship with Bobby; and Scott was always panicking over John’s ‘reckless’ behavior. “I came for Bobby.” He dismissed, refusing to give more of an explanation. “How do we get out of this death trap, Shades?”
Scott paused for a moment, his jaw visibly clenched. “Beast, Wolverine, stabilize me.” Beast grabbed Scott’s shoulders and Logan rolled his eyes, grabbing his waist. Scott blasted a hole in the floor, breaking through multiple stories. John thanked the universe for placing him in this room instead of below Scott’s blast.
Scott looked to Bobby and Bobby already knew what he was about to ask. “Iceman-”
“Already on it!” Bobby rubbed his hands together and shot a beam of ice into the hole. “Firepole!” He exclaimed.
“Alright, Summers’ and Pyro, y’all go last, okay?” Rogue ordered. John’s blood boiled at the command. Rogue wasn’t his boss. He was about to shoot a snarky comment back at her, but the woman cut him off. “Look, I’m not worried about Iceman, cause this is his element. And I sure as hell aint worried about Shadowcat, Beast or Wolverine fallin’, but Cyclops and Havok can’t catch themselves without blowin’ everybody else up, and sugar, I don’t even wanna think about what’ll happen to your breakable little body if you slip.” John was about to quip back, but her sentiment sunk in, and he was at a loss for words. She had a point. He let out a frustrated huff but shut his mouth.
They made their way down to the garage where Scott ordered everyone into the X-van, tossing Logan the keys to his motorcycle. Bobby, John and Alex piled into the middle, Rogue and Kitty sitting in the back. Hank squeezed into the front seat.
Logan led the way, straight toward the gates. Kitty and Rogue watched out the back as the MRD captured Wanda. Thunder boomed and lightning lit up the world illuminating the horror on everyone’s faces.
Scott had to order Logan to stand down, talking Kitty and Rogue out of jumping out to help the others. They had to escape, and for the first time, John was grateful for Scott’s leadership, forcing everyone to run, keeping them from capture.