Invasion
Flashes of color from the TV projected on the wall behind Scott, the only source of light in his otherwise dark room. The volume was a dull murmur, low enough to keep any of the students from hearing through the walls; not that every single person at Xavier’s wasn’t glued to their screens just as intently. Scott clenched the remote in his hand, the professor’s desperate pleas falling on deaf ears.
“If you ratify this act, where will it end? Where will the line be drawn between human and mutant? Will you round up every powered or extraordinary person to test their DNA? If you ratify this act, will you be able to confidently assure all your citizens that they will be free from persecution? As a genetics professor, I can attest that the X-gene is not the only mutation; under this act, I fear for all individuals with mutations, all individuals with physical differences, and all the world does not deem desirable. I want to believe that everyone, sick and healthy, powered and non-powered, old and young, mutated and not, will be safe in this country and the world; but senators, you must make that first step in assuring everyone’s safety. ”
The politicians gave their usual bullshit answers that did nothing but scare those marginalized and appease the powerful. Scott focused on Jean, his eyes never leaving her crimson hair. She stood hopeful beside Charles, her hands clasped in front of her, her knees subtly bending back and forth, a nervous tick she had developed a few years prior. ‘It’s okay, Jean. You’re doing great.’ Scott projected, aware that she was too far to hear.
An abrupt knock on his door pulled Scott away from his TV. The shadows of feet under the crack in his door danced on his carpet. He ignored the deep tug in his chest at the prospect of comforting one of the students when he could barely control his own anxiety at the situation. “Come in.” His voice was assured, but his mind hesitated.
“You sure about that?” Logan’s gruff voice entered his room, the man peeking his head in before fully stepping inside and closing the door behind him. Relief chased the rapidly forming ball of anxiety inside Scott’s chest, distributing it through the rest of his body where it always lay dormant.
Logan looked around the room, pushing the scent of distress out of his mind, a task he had come to associate with Scott. “You gotta loosen up.” He chuckled. “Why’s it so dark in here?”
‘In hopes that everyone will think I’m sleeping.’ Scott restrained his sass, focusing on productivity. “Logan, do you need something?” He huffed, trying to keep his attention on the screen.
“Yeah, your TV.” Logan nudged Scott over, pushing his way onto the man’s bed to sit next to him. Scott’s detergent filled Logan’s lungs as he moved, a sweet smell that reminded him of Jean.
“Don’t you have your own TV?” Scott griped, Logan’s hairy thigh brushing up against his, an unwelcome sensation that tore his focus from the one thing he actually cared about. He shifted away, ending up at an odd angle in the corner of his bed.
“Broke.”
“I thought the professor bought you a new one last month?”
“Yep. Broke.”
How on earth did Logan manage to break a new TV every 2 weeks? The professor isn’t made of money, he knew that right? Scott’s astonishment was quickly broken by the only word he had dreaded hearing the entire night. “Wait! What did they just say?” But he didn’t need to ask, the answer was written all over Logan’s pale face.
Logan’s heart sank as the world shrunk around him. Scott’s voice the only break from the ringing in his ears. “Ratified.” It was all he could force out. His body weighed five million tons, trying to drag him to the floor.
A piercing bang followed by the shattering of glass jolted Scott’s racing heart back into a steady rhythm. This: he could do. Falling back into his training, Scott jumped to action, the Wolverine right behind him. Scott switched his visor to night mode, ripping open his door and rushing down the hallway. “Wolverine! Where are they?”
Heavy equipment Logan was all too accustomed to pounded its way up the stairs. “Second floor, making their way up. They’re military.”
Students filled into the hallways, confused grumbles and nervous questions overwhelming the small space.
Ororo’s commanding voice took charge, silencing the students' clammer. “Everyone be calm! Follow me in an orderly fashion. We will treat this as any other emergency. Remember our fire drills.”
“Storm!” Scott called for the woman’s attention. “Get everyone out! Wolverine and I will clear you a path!” He turned to Morph. “Morph! Hold them off at the west staircase as long as you can. Buy us as much time as you can.” The goddess nodded at her leader, making room for the two X-Men to pass as their faceless colleague transformed into the Juggernaut to complete their task.
Logan pushed his way through sweaty, fearful, teens. This was the real nightmare. He followed Scott to the edge of the west staircase, a few uniforms marching their way up.
“Colossus!” Scott called. The heavy metal man stomped to his leader’s side. Scott motioned toward Logan. “Throw him.”
Logan flipped around to confront his friend, mouth agape. “Excuse me!?” But Scott didn’t budge, he stayed focused on the task at hand, a trait that Logan simultaneously admired and resented. “Fine.” Logan relented. He crossed his arms over his chest and let the large man pick him up. The flight down the stairs was short, the sharp pain of crashing into a line of men enough to get the Wolverine fired up. The blood pumping in his ears deafened him as adrenaline consumed his entire being. He slashed and tackled his way down the stairs, Scott’s optic blasts flying overhead to distant targets. Before he knew it, they were at the bottom of the stairs on the main floor.
Soldiers filled into the space like ants swarming a picnic, Scott’s blasts only disrupting a few men at a time. They were coming too strong, too fast. “Just shoot them!” Logan griped, but Scott couldn’t do it. “Let go!” No. It was too risky. He could hurt an unintentional victim. He could kill someone. He could destroy the mansion. He could--a red blast shot past his face, hitting a man with a gun pointed straight at Scott’s head and knocking the soldier over.
Scott swung around to find his savior. Warmth and relief overshadowed all fear. “Alex.” He rushed to his little brother. “Are you okay?”
“Really not the time, Scott.” Alex blasted soldiers away. Hank swung around the room, knocking heads. “We came looking for you, glad we found you, but…you really couldn’t have picked a better spot to hide out?”
“Very funny.” Scott continued hitting two to three targets at a time, barely making a dent. They weren’t going to make it out of this if they didn’t change their tactics. “I think it’s time-”
“Already on it!” Alex positioned himself in the center of the room in a braced stance. Hank and Scott dropped to the floor, Logan too busy to notice anything had changed. The lights were bright and the blasts loud, but the screams were even louder.
Wolverine got hit, everything but his spine severed in two. It was an agonizing 60 seconds, but his body slowly repaired itself while he crawled to his feet. The room had been cleared, no help to Scott.
Scott rushed Alex, pulling him into a tight hug. “Are you okay?” He checked every inch of his brother’s face, his shoulders, his stomach. He appeared unharmed, and his annoyed expression confirmed this.
“Scott, not in front of Hank.” Alex mumbled.
“Sorry.” Scott backed away, falling back to Logan, not wanting to interfere with his brother’s crush. He offered the struggling man a hand up, but Logan swatted his hand away.
“I don’t need your help.” Logan glared daggers into Scott’s soul. The stupid man almost got himself killed, and for what? Because he didn’t want to financially burden the professor? He didn’t want to damage the interior?
Scott pulled his hand away, backing away from his friend. The rejection hurt, he couldn’t deny that, but most of all, it just confused him. Everyone seemed to be mad at him for something, but no one ever told him why.
“We have to get out of here now!” Kitty ran into the room, her eyes wild. “They’ve got these weird pillar things surrounding the mansion! I think they’re gonna blow us up!”
What!? Scott’s mind raced through all of their options, all of the things they needed to do, all of the ways to escape. “The stud-”
“Storm got them all out. Mystique showed up and helped everyone out.”
“Scott!” Bobby pulled Scott’s attention away from Kitty. His heart warred between relief and panic. Why wasn’t Bobby out of the building with the others!? Rogue and John appeared behind Bobby.
“Pyro?” Scott barely had time to process everything.
“I came for Bobby.” John dismissed. “How do we get out of this death trap, Shades?”
Scott’s head spun, but he had no time for indecision or mistakes. He pointed his head at the ground. “Beast, Wolverine, stabilize me.” Hank jumped at the command, holding Scott’s shoulders down. Logan rolled his eyes, roughly placing his hands on Scott’s waist. His fingers dug into Scott’s skin, payback for something Scott didn’t know he did, but the man ignored the pain, he had no time for it. He opened his visor to half power. The beam broke through the floor, and the next floor, and the next, until he finally hit the garage. He closed his visor and his two anchors let go. “Iceman.” He motioned to the hole.
“Say no more!” Bobby rubbed his hands together before shooting a beam of ice into the chasm. “Firepole!”
“Alright, Summers’ and Pyro, y’all go last, okay?” Rogue ordered the group. John made to speak back but Rogue 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 opened his mouth to sass at Rogue, but he paused, closed his mouth, and huffed a resignation.
“Alright, you heard the woman, let’s head down.” Scott ordered the group.
They slid down to the garage. Scott rushed to the rack of keys on the wall, tossing Logan a pair. He grabbed the keys to the X-van for himself. “Everybody get in the van.”
Logan smiled at the keys in his hand. It would be a shame to let such a beautiful bike be destroyed along with everything in the mansion, he could think of it as doing Scott a favor. He hopped on the bike, grabbing a helmet to not be arrested, after all, as far as Logan was aware, there were no rules about not riding a motorcycle in your underwear, but there sure as hell were laws about wearing helmets.
Scott climbed in the van, checking that everyone was in. Rogue and Kitty had to cram in the very back together, Kitty the only one able to share a seat beside the untouchable woman. Hank sat in the front, too big for any other seat. Alex sat in the middle between Bobby and John. Scott pressed the button to the garage door. Once Logan laid their path, Scott followed close behind. He sped into the yard, making for the gate. Kitty and Rogue watched the chaos behind them. “Wait! Ororo and the students! They never made it out of the courtyard! We have to help them!” Kitty cried.
“Oh my god. They got Wanda.” Rogue whispered in disbelief.
“If they can capture the Scarlet Witch, then we don’t stand a chance. We need to regroup and get to the professor, he’ll know what to do.” Scott’s chest ached at his own words. He didn’t even know where the professor was, or if he had been caught like them. He could be right where all the other mutants were about to be taken.
Logan motioned to Scott to turn his vehicle around, he was ready to fight. But Scott shook his head, rolling down his window to shout an order at Logan. “No! We can’t get captured too! There’s nothing we can do right now.” He hated that Scott was right. Everything in his bones wanted to just let loose, to lose control and wipe everybody out, but Scott was right. Even if Logan managed to make it out, not everyone would, most, if not everyone else would be captured, or worse. Scott had nearly died earlier; many of their weapons were lethal. They couldn’t lose anyone else. He couldn’t lose anyone else.
Logan flipped Scott his middle finger, but did as he was told. He ignored the cries of his housemates, the thunder clapping behind him, the distinct voice of Bolivar Trask, the new head of the Mutant Registration Division.
Scott blasted the gate open and the mutants fled their home. The drive was tense and fast, with no particular destination in mind. Where could they go? Where would be safe? The younger of the X-Men debated their possible safe haven.
“We can’t go to my house. My parents would immediately call the cops on us.” Bobby pointedly looked at John, who threw his hands up with a faux innocent look on his face.
“The mansion was all I knew.” Rogue lamented.
“Wait! I know someone who might be able to help!” Kitty snapped her fingers, the bright hope in her eyes reassuring. “I just don’t have my phone. Scott, give me the van’s phone.”
Kitty set up a meeting with her mysterious friend. She refused to tell them who she was calling, saying she didn’t want to get their hopes up if he couldn’t help.
It was nearly dawn when they stopped at a closed gas station just outside of the city. The first glimpse of the sun’s light could be seen on the horizon, and it was almost beautiful, if not stained by the events of that night. All Scott could think about were the problems that daylight would create for them.
“He’s here!” Kitty’s voice tore Scott out of his doom-planning. He looked up to see red and blue spandex. Spider-Man stood beside their van with his hands on his hips in what he probably thought was a hero-stance.
“Wow, you guys look rough. I saw the ratification on the news. Are you okay?”
“We’ll be fine if we can get outta plain sight before the sun comes up, Bub.” Logan huffed.
Spider-man thought for a moment. “I actually might have somewhere where you can hide out for a while. But it’s gonna take a bit of convincing, so I’ll need you guys for emotional leverage.”
“What does that mean?” Logan eyed the web-slinger suspiciously.
“It means the person with the hideout isn’t exactly keen on being involved in powered matters.”