Chapter 6: Hellfire attacks!
As the students began exploring the Museum Gabriel and Hope took their leave. Kenji split off on his own leaving Bart, Idie, and Laurie on their own.
" Oh, man what was going on with Hope and Gabriel? They a thing?" Bart asked.
" They apparently had to leave for their movie date. That just leaves us." Laurie replied as the group walked down the hall. "Hm? Oh, hey look. It's Kenji." Laurie said as she spotted the boy staring at the very first model of the sentinels.
" Hey, what are you looking at man?" Bart asked the boy.
" This is the original design for the sentinels. It's insanity. A boy makes their leaders tell the truth. Their response is to parade genocide machines on television. They may as well be showing a schematic for a death-camp." Kenji explained bitterly. His hatred for the humans showing clear as day.
" It's a part of mutant history." Laurie replied.
Kenji looked back at the girl and jumped to his feet in anger. " Mutant history? How appropriate. As the news quite clearly shows, they'd be much more comfortable if mutants were history. You know, if we weren't tied to Hope, I think I'd be like this quire boy, or Magneto, or his old brotherhood. As I sit in the shadow of this, I know I won't turn the other cheek." Kenji exclaimed.
' Wow, he's really hurt by this. I guess I never really thought much about the constant strife the mutants suffer on a daily basis.' Bart thought to himself sadly.
Laurie walked up to Kenji and got in his face. " You know turning the cheek isn't about being stoic. It's a form of protest. You hit me once? Hit me again. Point being, then the world knows exactly what they are and what you're not. That violence only demeans. Because turning the cheek means the striker can't hit backhanded. And to strike normally in Christ's period admits social equality. Alternatively, use the unclean hand." Laurie explained to the man.
" I thought you were on my side." Kenji spat back with venom.
" It's not about sides. It's about freedom." Laurie stated.
Upon hearing her words, Bart felt like he had caught a glimpse of the real Laurie.' Such an inspiring stance. I don't think I've ever heard someone talk about something so profound in my life. Laurie, you really are amazing you know that.' Bart thought to himself as he smiled at the girl. Bart turned his head as Kenji and Laurie talked and saw that Idie was walking away in a mope. ' These guys are fine. I should probably go with her.' Bart thought to himself. He turned away from the two and walked to catch up with Idie.
" Hey Idie, you doing, okay?" Bart asked the girl.
" Yeah, I'm fine." Idie replied.
" Hey, you wanna look at some of these exhibits together? Maybe get something to eat real quick? My treat." Bart offered the young girl whose stomach growled in response.
Idie's face turned red as she nodded.
" Hahaha!" Bart laughed. " Alright, what do you want? I'll run and get it real quick." Bart told the girl.
" Just a chocolate bar and a soda please." Idie replied.
Bart rubbed the top of the girl's head and in an instant raced over to the snack stand grabbed a box of popcorn, Idie's Hershey chocolate bar and a sprite placed the money on the register and in an instant reappeared right in front of Idie, blowing her hair back, with snack. " Here ya go, Idie one soda and one Chocolate bar." Bart said as he handed the girl her snacks.
" Thank you, Bart." Idie said to the boy before beginning to walk again with Bart right beside her.
The two looked at many portraits of X-Men past ranging from photos of Jean Grey as the Dark phoenix, the original hellfire club, The very first iteration of the brotherhood of Evil mutants, and finally to the picture of one their oldest and most hated enemies Stryker. The two mutants looked up at the man's photo in silence until another mutant arrived.
" I know people like him have to be in here. It's part of the story. Doesn't mean I like it much." David explained as he looked at the man's photo.
" Er... Hello, you're prodigy." Idie stated as she turned to look at the man.
" Prodigy?" Bart asked.
" David or Prodigy a member of the new mutants and new X-Men. But you guys can call me whatever you like. Idie and Bart, right?" David explained to the two.
" Hey, David. You know this guy?" Bart asked the man.
David walked up to the photo and scowled." Yeah. The last school, out east. They came for us after M-day. A bus full of students was leaving. He had his men fire a rocket into it. We all came to Xaviers to learn. I learned what my friends smelled like as they burned." David explained much to the shock and horror of Bart and Idie both. " They weren't even mutants anymore. They were depowered. The dumb, stupid..." David growled.
" Dude, I'm sorry." Bart said to the man as he placed his hands on his shoulders.
" I'm sorry." Idie also stated.
" Thanks. But you know the sickest thing of all? It could be worse." David stated before walking away leaving the two new students alone.
Bart sighed and patted Idie on her shoulders. " Not exactly how I imagined this night going. What do you say we try and have a little fun?" Bart asked the girl in an attempt to cheer her up.
Idie nodded and followed beside Bart as they walked to the next display aptly named alternate timelines and the first display played was that of Rachel Summers, who at this point in time was still with the starjammers.
" Whoa this looks cool." Bart said as he looked up at the woman's life-sized manikin.
" Hi. I'm Rachel Summer. I was a hound. And that... Oh, I just. Okay: In the future I'm from, they gathered up Mutants and put them in concentration camps. They didn't go willingly. They had to be had to forced. And before they could be forced, they had to be found. Hounds did that. I was a hound. I did that. Because I was scared. And they beat it into me, in so many ways. They trained and conditioned me. But mainly, I was so scared, and I just did it. And when I talk about it, I can see people just looking at me like... Well, that's not real. Because to most people, it's an alternate future. A world that hasn't happened. It's a world that doesn't exist. But it did exist. It was reality. It happened. And. I don't like talking about it." Rachel explained.
" Whoa this is heavy." Bart stated as he looked at the young woman who appeared to only be slightly older than him begin to cry.
" But I have to. Because if I do, and we realize where we can end up, maybe we can stop it or anything like it happening again." Rachel continued explaining. At this point Rachel looks up in pain and slowly these Marks begin appearing on her face. " I still have my tattoos. I mask them psychically, because I don't feel like crying every time, I look in the mirror." Rachel explained before her tattoos ended up disappearing once again. " But even if you can't see it. It's still there. It still happened. Like my timeline. And if that happened there, it could happen here." Rachel's display explained before cutting off.
Bart and Idie both watched as the display looped in slight sadness over the woman's tragic past.
Unaware of the tension, Laurie approached her two friends after having finished her conversation with Kenji. " Hey, Idie! Bart! Sorry I lost you guys. Things got intense with Kenji. He left. What are you guys doing?" Laurie asked.
" We were watching the lady. She seems sad." Idie replied.
" Yeah, come on let's go. I want to try and enjoy my popcorn." Bart said as he and Idie turned and walked away with Laurie. " You know she looks a bit like Hope." Bart stated.
" No, she doesn't! They've both just got red hair!" Laurie exclaimed. " Not everyone with red hair looks the same. Do I look like Hope?" Laurie asked as she ran her fingers through her hair.
" No, Hope doesn't even come close." Bart stated
" What does that mean, Bart?" Laurie asked the man as her blue skin turned slightly purple.
Bart stopped and immediately realized what he had said. However, before he could reply loud explosion drew his attention. The doors in front of him and the two girls blew open. Using his speed time seemed to slow down around Bart.
[ Fit For Rivals-Crash] Song insert.
Bart dropped his popcorn and Grabbed both Idie and Laurie and immediately sped them both away from the coming inferno.
" Whoa Bart! What happened?" Laurie asked as she was suddenly across the room that was on fire.
" I don't know, I saw the doors suddenly burst open and I pulled you both away." Bart explained to the girl.
" Well, whatever's happening we need to run! Idie come on!" Laurie yelled to the girl.
" No, I need to help evacuate. If the buildings on fire, I can get more people out. You and Idie leave!" Bart told the girl before running into the flames. Laurie grabbed Idie and turned away and ran thinking the girl was right behind her. However, Idie had turned back and followed Bart into the room towards the sound of gunshots.
' Oh man, this is bad. The X-Men are down. These mad men are rounding everyone up and I have no idea what to do.' Bart thought to himself as he peeked around the corner. Suddenly his attention was gained by the voice of Cyclops in his head.
' Bart, what's going on?' Scott asked the boy.
' The X-men are down and are getting dragged away right now. There are armed masked men all over the place. I think they're going to kill the hostages.' Bart explained to the man telepathically.
' Can you get them out of there?' Scott asked.
' What?' Bart asked in disbelief.
' If you were to run as fast as possible, could you get everyone out of the room and take down the men?' Scott asked again.
' I don't know. I only run fast. I don't know how to actually fight.' Bart replied.
' Come on, Bart you're the only one there right now. Either you help them, or they all die. You can do this.' Scott explained to the boy.
' No, Slim! He's still a kid.' Logan explained to Scott telepathically. ' Kid you just stay hidden, we're on our way.' Logan said to Bart.
Bart nodded and stayed in his hiding spot, but as he continued watching one of the hellfire soldiers grabbed a woman and held his gun to her head. Bart watched as the woman cried and pleaded with the man to spare her however it seemed the man was dead set on killing the woman. Bart gritted his teeth and took a deep breath. ' I can do this.' Bart said to the two men telepathically.
' Good luck Bart.' Scott replied.
' NO!' Logan yelled. ' DAMN YOU SUMMERS!' Logan yelled telepathically.
Just as the man was about to pull the trigger, Bart sped into the room and snatched the guns from all of them men's hands.
' Gotta do this quick.' Bart thought to himself as he snatched the guns. Once he had successfully disarmed the men he attacked. His first target were the men surrounding the hostages. Bart slowed down his speed so that he didn't accidentally kill those he hit as hitting at the speed of light is lethal to normal humans. His first target was the man by the woman. He ran up to him and punched him in the face, he then turned and ran to the next one and hit him with his shoulder, knocking him off his feet in slow motion. He then ran up to the next man and punched him multiple times in his face and chest, however due to the speed at which Bart hit him he hadn't felt the blows yet. Bart, then turned and headed towards the men carrying the X-Men away. Bart jumped into the air and drop kicked the first man in his back causing him to slowly drop Emma, catching the woman as she fell, Bart then turned, and shoulder bashed the last guard currently carrying Namor.
Once Bart had finally stopped moving, everything he had done to the men had hit them all at once. Bodies went flying across the room smashing into walls and ceilings as the men all grunted in pain.
The hostages all shouted in terror as the red blur they had seen suddenly vanished and the men holding them hostage had been sent flying.
" Everybody all right!?" Bart asked the terrified people. One by one they all began nodding. " Good, listen all of you stay where you are okay. I'm going to free the X-Men and then we're going to get you all home safe and sound. All right?" Bart explained to the people.
As Bart was talking the last of the soldiers, who wasn't in the room at the time, walked in and pointed his gun at Bart.
" WATCH OUT!" One of the female hostages shouted in terror.
Bart turned to try and see what it was the woman had screamed about, but before either man could take action a massive wall of flames had engulfed the Hellfire soldier.
" AHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The man yelled in agony as his flesh was burned away in a grizzly and cruel manor.
Bart looked at the man in utter horror before turning and seeing who it was. " Oh no." Bart mumbled as he turned to see Idie standing across the room, her hands on fire, and tears streaming down her blank face. Bart walked over to Idie and hugged the girl before she passed out in his arms. Bart looked down at the girl and felt a tear run down his face. ' She's only 14. Dear god, I'm so sorry Idie. I should have checked to see if they were all gone.' Bart thought to himself as he held the unconscious girl. Bart carried Idie over with the rest of the civilians and placed her down beside them. He then turned and got to work freeing all of the X-men.
One hour after the attack, Scott and Logan had arrived with ambulances and firefighters to help the Injured. Bart was fine so; he didn't need help. Instead, he opted to have the first responders help Idie. The poor girl whose innocence was snatched away from her by the very people she thinks so highly of. Bart was so distracted by what had happened he was unaware of Hope, who had come back with Gabriel, and Laurie arguing right beside him.
" How could you leave her?" Hope asked in anger.
Laurie rubbed the top of her head in confusion as the girl yelled. " I didn't! Not deliberately anyway! I thought she was right behind me." Laurie explained to the woman finally drawing Bart's attention.
" You should have checked! Or you should have gone back! Leave no man behind!" Hope yelled.
" I'm not a soldier, Hope!" Laurie shot back and turned her back to Hope.
" Yes, you are! You're fine in the field. Tokyo. Berlin. You were the best of us when things went bad in England." Hope explained to the girl their many battles where Laurie was important to the team.
" It's different!" Laurie yelled back to the girl.
" No, it's not!" Hope exclaimed.
" It's different!" Laurie exclaimed once again, thought this time much more weaker. Almost as if the fight was leaving her body.
" How is it different?" Hope asked in an attempt to understand her teammate.
Laurie turned around with tears in her eyes and snapped at Hope. " Because you weren't there, Hope!" Laurie exclaimed.
Bart looked up at the woman as he sat on the ground and felt his heart hurt a little seeing the girl crying. One of the few things in the world Bart hates is seeing a woman cry.
" Don't you get it? I'm not like you unless I'm around you. We aren't Normal when we're around you." Laurie explained making Bart look at the woman slightly confused on what she meant. Hope, on the other hand was angry at what the girl said and got in her face and glared at her. Laurie not one to back down did the same.
' What the hell does that mean? Is, Hope some kind of courage booster? Is that what she does. Bolster courage and strength? I could see how that'd be crucial in a battle. If the troops loose morale and courage, then they're already close to losing. But maybe I should just keep listening.' Bart thought to himself. However, his and the others attentions were grabbed by Idie who had walked over to the group.
" Idie!" Bart exclaimed as the girl walked over tiredly. Her face displayed nothing but a broken young girl.
" Idie. Are you okay?" Kenji, Even the bitter man had been saddened seeing the young girls broken and exhausted face.
" I'm fine, Kenji. I'm okay. Just... Is there anyone else I need to kill?" Idie asked making her teammates hurt. Laurie started crying again. Gabriel and Kenji hung their head in sadness and Hope did the same. But Bart felt like his heart had shattered upon hearing the girl's question. " Because if not. I think I'd like to sleep a little." Idie stated.
Bart walked over to the girl and rubbed her head as he pulled her into a tight hug.
" Bart?" Idie called out to the man.
Bart didn't reply, instead he picked Idie up in a bridal carry and held the girl. " No, idie you don't need to kill anyone else. It's over. It's all over. You saved my life tonight. You saved these people. You did good. So, rest. Just rest now. You've more than earned it." Bart explained to the girl as he held her in his arms.
" Thank you, Bart." Idie said to the man. She started crying and closed her eyes as she leaned into Bart's chest allowing the exhaustion and the depression of killing someone take over her body and pass into slumber. Bart looked down at the young girl and felt the tears he had been holding back suddenly come flowing forward. It was the first time since he got his powers that Bart had realized firsthand how painful it was for mutants every day and just how painful it will be in the days coming. For if they are more than willing and happy to force a child to choose between death or being a killer, what would they do to him? Bart carried idie back to the X-Jet where he sat with the girl in his arms on the flight back in silence.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone