First off, I know nothing of the sexuality of any person mentioned in this story. And I don't know any of them and never will. Secondly, Stan Lee created X-Men and all its characters. Copyright of Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. X-Men Evolution is owned by the WB network. Third, email if you want at: xmanpaul@hotmail.com This story is based off The Ultimate X-Men comic strip. The story, however, will be quite different from the comic book. So read on if you want.
I'd like to thank Dash and Josh for reading over everything multiple times! Thanks guys!
'Indicates someone think to themselves' {Indicates communication over a comlink.}
Chapter 7
Marie saw him fall and screamed for him. Jean immediately turned around at the sound of terror in Marie's voice. When she realized that something was wrong, she headed back towards Paul.
"Paul? Are you all right?" Jean asked as she gently set herself and the other on the ground. "Paul?" she said louder.
"Oh god, my head. My head hurts!" Paul said with his hands grasping his head. The pain was only getting worse and he couldn't even stand up.
"What's wrong with him?" Marie asked.
"I don't know." Jean said as she grabbed Paul by the head. She closed her eyes and concentrated. "There's someone in there, but I don't know. They're strong. I might be able to repel them." Jean closed her eyes again and tried to build up a psychic wall in Paul's mind.
Whoever was hurting didn't want to leave and were putting up a fight. They were fighting Jena with all their might, but won't let them win Jean let a scream out as she strove to drive out the invader. Jean was now beginning to feel the pain. Paul was still writhing on the ground as Jean worked.
"Fight it, Paul!" she pleaded. "I need you help. See a wall being built in your mind. Like a fortress, a solid brick wall." She said through gritted teeth. The struggle continued for only a few seconds longer and the pain in Paul's head subsided.
"What was that?" Paul questioned as he stood up. "Are you all right, Jean?"
"Yeah, we need to get out of here. Whoever did that wasn't playing around. They're very powerful. I don't know if I can do that again." Jean answered.
"I didn't think you would be able to it in the first place." A new voice said. Everyone turned the direction it came from. "I'm very impressed."
"You did this, Seth?" Paul asked not quite surprised.
"Well, I had help, but yes." He answered smoothly.
"You did it all." Paul said realizing. "The town people suddenly freakin' out about mutants." Paul stated.
"Yes I did, and I'm not quite through yet. Simple human minds are nothing, but defeating you and that Professor of yours will be something to be proud of. " Seth said with a smile. Then from around the corner three new people walked into view. Two of them were twins with rather large, bald heads and the other was the mutant known as Sabretooth. They took up position behind where Seth was standing.
"We're leaving." Jean said more of a command than a request.
"That's fine, but there's something I want you to know before you go Paul." Seth said. Paul's face was stony, expressing no emotion. "Mr. McKnight felt no pain when I killed him. I thought you might want to know that his death was painless."
"What?" Paul face was definitely showing emotion now. The rage filled him and he let if flow. The amount of power that he threw towards Seth could have crushed a car. You could see the telekinetic blast ripple through the air as it headed for Seth.
Unfortunately, it had no effect on Seth at all. There was Seth with his hand extended and an evil smirk on his face; an unseen force absorbed the telekinetic energy. Paul was astonished. He knew Seth didn't have that kind of power. He looked and he saw the twins behind Seth had their eyes closed and were holding hands. It had to be them.
Sabertooth took a running leap at Paul, but was caught in mid-air and flung into a near-by building by Jean before he even got close.
"Paul, we need to get out of here." Jean said again.
"Fine." Paul said backing up towards the others behind him. Jean and Paul each took two passengers and started to move away from Seth and his friends.
"Why did they just let us leave?" Jean asked.
"I don't know." Paul answered. The rage was still inside him. Filling every inch of his being. `How can I love someone who kills other people that I care so much about?' Paul thought to himself.
The trip back to the studio was made in silence and when they landed in front of the building Paul walked straight in without a word. "SAM?" Paul said loudly walking into the back of the studio.
"Yeah?" Sam replied walking in from the bedroom.
"Ok, good you're ok." Paul said with relief.
"We need to get the Professor down here. If those mutants are as powerful as I think they are, he's about he only one who can help. And we need to move to different location. That guy probably knows about this place already." Jean paused. "So, that was your brother. I didn't realize he was that powerful."
"He didn't used to be able to do that. I used to be able to block him out. He's obviously been doing some training in the last week." Paul said staring at the wall absently. Jean turned around and started to gather her things together. Sudden she heard a muffled curse and a loud thud. She turned around to see Paul's fist embedded in the wall.
"Sorry, had to do it." Paul said with a shrug. He pulled his hand out of the wall and grabbed a rag to wrap around his hand.
"What are we going to do now?" Marie asked.
"Sorry, but I'm leaving." One of the other people they had saved spoke up. He stood silent for a second and then turned and walked out.
"You two are free to leave if you want. We're not holding you prisoner." Paul said to them.
"Ok, well thanks and goodbye." The girl said and followed the other guy out.
"And you?" Paul asked the guy remaining.
"Well, the way I figure it. I'm safer here than out there. Unlike those guys, I'm a mutant." He said with a shrug.
"Ok, whatever you want to do." Paul said tendering to his hand.
"We're going to the jet?" Paul asked Jean.
"Yup, seems the safest place to me." She said zipping up her bag.
"Fine, let's go." Paul said walking into his rooms to get his stuff. Paul had managed to pack up most his stuff so he picked it into the air and the five of them headed to the jet. When they arrive, Jean uncloaked the jet and walked aboard. Paul loaded the stuff onto the jet and joined Jean in the cockpit while the other waited in the back.
"Professor Xavier, this Jean. Please acknowledge." Jean said.
"What is it, Jean?" the Professor voice came out of the comlink.
"We've encountered some problems here. There are some very powerful telepaths here and they controlling part of the population. Sabertooth is here as well. They confronted us, but we managed to get away with no problems. I've been able to block them out of our mind for now, but I don't think that Paul and I can fight them effectively by yourselves." Jean said.
"Are you safe for the moment?" the Professor asked.
"Yes, for now. But we have to do something about this. They are controlling the people to persecute mutants, most of which aren't mutants at all." She says back to him.
"Fine, I'll be there as quickly as a can. There was a terrorist attack in Paris and I sent Scott, Ororo, Hank, Peter, and Bobby to handle it."
Paul was immediately anxious for the rest of his team, Scott in particular. He hoped that they would be all right and he hated that he wasn't there to help them.
"While you two were gone we rescued a mutant from the imprisonment. He and Rebecca will be accompanying me to your location. I will leave a message for the others telling them where we are. They should return sometime this afternoon." He replied.
"That's fine. We'll be waiting. Marvel Girl out." And that's exactly what they did. Nothing but wait for three hours. In those three hours, Jean worked with Paul on how to create and maintain a psychic barrier. It was a rushed lesson, but it was the best that would happen under the circumstances. They also found that the guy that remained behind was named Chad and had slight control over the wind. Nothing major he assured them.
The Professor arrived in what looked like a hybrid of a helicopter and small jet. It set down beside where the jet had landed. Upon landing a gruff looking mutant stepped off of the crafted followed by Rebecca and Xavier. Jean and Paul were there to meet them.
"Jean, Paul; I would like you meet Logan. Otherwise known as Wolverine. And you two already know Rebecca." He said rolling his wheelchair up to the two mutants. "Has anything happened since we last spoke?"
"No, sir. I neglected to tell you that one of the mutants that is controlling the people is my brother, Seth." Paul said.
"Well, him and at least to other mutants that we think are telepaths." Jean said.
"Magneto is already employing your brother into combat?" Professor seemed to ask himself more than anyone else. "He must being up to something."
"Do you think he's finally making his move?" Jean asked.
"Maybe, but there's not much we can do to find out. It's best that we deal with the current situation and deal with that later." Xavier said. "I'm sure you two have already done this, but Paul, I want you, Jean, and Logan to search the surrounding area and secure the perimeter. No needs in letting someone sneak up on us. At nightfall we'll go into to town and see what we can find."
Paul, Jean and Logan headed off in three different directions and in a few minutes had secured the immediate area. They all returned to the jets around the same time and all went aboard. The three of them walk to the cockpit where the professor was using Cerebro.
Paul wasn't sure what to think about the new guy. He hadn't said a word to him and to be honest, Paul thought he was a little scary looking. Not that his ugly or something, quite the opposite actually. It just seemed he wouldn't hesitate to rip a man apart with his bare hands.
"What have you found out, Professor?" Paul asked as they entered the small area. The Professor was sitting in front of Cerebro and Rebecca was leaned against the wall to the right.
"Well, I have isolated at least eight mutant signatures in the surrounding area and confirmed that Sabertooth and your brother are here. There's the twins telepaths and also, the mutants that were with your brother when attacked you at your school are here. I don't know their names, only their signatures. The other two are mutants form this area and I don't believe that they are involve with this situation." He said.
"Did you say Sabertooth?" Logan said his first words with an angry voice.
"Yes, Wolverine. Sabertooth is in the area." Xavier said calmly.
Wolverines only answered with a low growl and headed towards the door. "Wolverine, wait. You shouldn't take him on alone. Wolverine? Logan?" Xavier yelled after the quickly exiting mutant. Logan didn't stop just headed towards the back of the plane. "Paul." Professor X said with a sharp jerk of his head towards Wolverine. "Bring him back." He said simply and with a little annoyance.
Paul looked confused for a moment then realized what Xavier wanted him to do. He hurried after Logan and exited the jet as he was walked off into the woods.
"Hey!" Paul yelled. "You ain't goin' anywhere." Paul said to him. Wolverine stopped in his tracks and turned around to face Paul.
"And you're gonna stop me? Sorry kid, but your kinda scrawny. You don't got much of a chance on stoppin' me." He said with a small chuckle and turned to walk off again. He didn't get anywhere before he was lifted off the ground. "Hey, put me down!" Wolverine demand.
"Nope, sorry bub. Professor told my to bring you back." Paul said turning around and heading back to the jet with Logan in tow. Logan started to thrash about so Paul applied a little more mental pressure and held him completely still. "I might put you down if you promise to be nice, ok?"
"Put me the fuck down, now!" he was only getting louder and the smile on Paul's face was only getting big. Paul stopped and turned around.
"I ain't ever puttin' you down with an attitude like that. Just calm down and we'll all get along." Marie, Sam, and Chad just stared in shock as Paul took Logan back into the jet. They stood talking outside the two vehicles.
"You gonna be good?" Paul eyed Logan as they walked back into the cockpit. Paul still held Logan a few inches above the floor and he would hold him there until Xavier told him otherwise. "I got'em. What should I do with him know?"
"You can put him down." Xavier answered Paul as he typed something into the computer.
"I'm not sure I want to put him down. I think he'll try to kill me." Paul said innocently.
"Oh, I won't try to kill you. I might try to hurt you, but not kill you." Logan corrected with a smirk.
"Oh, that's reassuring." Paul said releasing Logan, who landed softly on the deck of the plane. "So, what's the plan?"
"Well, the mutants have taken up residence in the town hall and haven't been able to determine what reason's they would want to control such a small, insignificant number of people. We'll move in four hours. Is Chad willing to lend a hand?" Xavier asked.
"He said he was." Jean answered.
"Ok, get him in here." He said and Jean exited to get him. "Paul, you and Logan will our heavy hitters. Rebecca will provide you support, if it is needed. You three will take on Sabertooth and any other non-telepathic threats. But Sabertooth will be your main target." Jean and Chad came walking into the cockpit. "Chad, please join us. Could you detail, for me, what you know about your mutant abilities?"
"Um, I can create wind to a certain degree." He demonstrated with a slight breeze that blew through the small space. "I don't know to what limit I can use it, though."
"Ok, then. You will provide cover for Jean and I if we need it. Don't put yourself in danger if you can avoid it. Jean and myself will deal with the telepaths. In the meantime Paul, I want to work with you on developing your psionic abilities. We'll need as much help as we can get. Jean, can you provide Chad with a few points on how to control his powers? It just like learning any other power." She nodded and they headed outside. Paul stood still and waited for Xavier to say something. "If you would please excuse us, Logan. We have some work to do." Logan gave us a look of annoyance and walked out. Rebecca followed him out.
"So how do we do this?" Paul asked sitting down in front of where the Professor was sitting.
"Well, I'm not sure how far we can get in four hours, but I will have time to build a sufficient psychic wall and teach you how to hold it up." He said turning his chair so he was facing Paul.
"Ok, I'm ready." Paul said.
"I want you to close your eyes and take a deep breath. Clear your mind as well as you can. I realize that there is little we know about your telempathic abilities, but I still believe that we can use them against telepathy. Just concentrate. I promise that I won't be snooping around in there. Just don't think about anything specific and I won't hear a thing." Xavier said. He held his hand on either side of Paul head, centimeters away from his temples.
Paul did as the Professor said and tried to clear his mind of anything and everything. So much had gone on in the last couple of days. So much had changed in his life. Paul wasn't sure if all of it had even sunk in yet. But now was not the time to think about it. He had things to do and a town to save.
"This is a simple task of employing your telepathic abilities into forming a barrier. I realize that you may have never done this while actually knowing you were doing. If you have been able to block out your brother then you have done it." The Professor continued explaining the specifics of mental barriers and how they worked. Paul listened and tried to understand all that he could.
The Professor was able to build a barrier in Paul's mind and had taught Paul how to hold it up. But Xavier knew that the barrier wouldn't hold up long under direct attack. He'd done all he could, though.
The situation concerned Xavier greatly. He wasn't sure what this meant for the plans that Magneto had, but he knew that it meant something. Professor X hoped that his student would be able to deal with what was coming. It would be a long and hard battle. Xavier wanted peace, but he knew in a world like this one it wasn't possible. Magnus had ensured that.
He hoped that Paul would be able to adjust to the events of the last few days. Xavier knew it had to have been hard on the young man. Faced his own brother in combat twice, had a close friend's death, and being thrown into a new life. Paul seemed to be taking to everything well, but he had let a few thoughts slip while they were training. Strangely, most involved Scott and the feelings that accompanied the thoughts weren't ones that Xavier expected.
Paul also felt responsible for his friend's death. That the Professor had gotten loud and clear. Paul had been actively thinking on these things during the session and that had been the only reason that the Professor had picked up on them. Paul thought that if he had stayed then they would all still be safe. The Professor knew, however, that the opposite was true. Had Paul stayed here then there was a good chance that he would be dead and his friends worse off than they are now.
Paul had left the Professor a while ago and was now outside the jet with the others. Jean was practicing with Chad, Rebecca seemed to doing a little practicing on her, and Logan was leaning against a tree with a cigar in his mouth. Three hours had passed since Xavier and Paul had started the training and they had finally finished.
"Hey." Paul said to Rebecca as he approached her. She was letting the electricity flow from fingertip to fingertip. She was throwing rocks into the air and blowing them apart in midair. " Nice shot."
"Thanks." She said stopping what she was doing. "Sorry about the other night. I just freaked when I woke up. Honestly, I don't remember that much of it."
"No worries." Paul said sitting down on the ground. "How's your shoulder? I threw you into that wall pretty hard."
"Aww, its fine. It's a little sore, but nothing to bad." She said bending over and picking up another rock.
"Here, I got that for ya." Paul said. He could feel his mind expand and grasp the baseball size rock firmly. He gave it a toss into the air and within seconds it was blown apart.
"What's the deal Paul?" Jean asked as she walked up.
"Well, we're headin' over there in about an hour and I guess we'll figure it out from there." Paul said standing.
<Isn't that the mutant y'all told me is like one of the most violent people alive? > Paul sent to Jean.
<Yeah, I think it is. And the Professor hasn't told me anything about the whole situation yet. > She replied.
Paul said to her sarcastically. <I hope he's nice. Maybe I should go talk to him? >
<Ahh, maybe. Do you like being alive? > Jean asked him, but Paul was already walking over to him.
"Hey, you know those things will kill you, right?" Paul said to him in reference to the cigar.
"Thanks for your concern, but I'll take my chances." He grunted.
"So, I take it that you've fought Sabertooth before." Paul said, but didn't get a response from the other mutant. "I fought him once. Thought I killed him too, but apparently I didn't. He has some wicked healing power." Paul said.
"Yeah, he tends not to die when you want him to. But I guess you could say the same for me." He said knocking some ashes from his cigar.
"So you got that healin' power too?" Paul asked trying to get as much out of Logan as he could. He just nodded. "So how are we gonna deal with Sabertooth?"
Before Paul could get his answer the Professor interrupted. < Everyone on to the jet. There's been a change in plans. We're going now. > He said urgently. No one hesitated and everyone got on board.
"What is it, Professor?" Jean asked taking the pilot's seat. She began starting up the jet.
"A large amount of people have gathered at the town hall. At least five hundred." He said.
"That's almost the whole town." Paul said worriedly.
"I'm not sure what they are doing, but I don't want to take the chance that those people will get hurt." He replied.
"Won't those people be under the control of the telepaths?" Chad asked.
"I'm sure they will be, but when Jean and I engage those telepaths they shouldn't be able to maintain control of those people." Xavier said strapping himself as the jet lifted off the ground. The others did the same. It was only moments before they were setting the plane the down about 100 yards away from the town hall and the crowd of people. Paul and Logan were the first off followed by the others. Marie and Sam stayed behind.
While exited the jet they could hear the crowd shouting. They were shouting about mutants. Strangely, Paul could feel the anger and hate radiating off the people. They were very angry and suddenly they turned and directed that anger at the new arrivals.
"Jean, you and Paul will make us a hole through the crowd, then we'll head inside." Professor X said stopping his wheelchair beside Paul. Paul nodded to Jean and they both started towards the crowd. Jean and Paul were having to block debris that was being thrown at them from the crowd.
Paul and Jean pushed back the crowd like the wind moving leaves. They didn't hurt any of the people. Only moved from their path. Soon they reached the doors and with an extended hand, Jean ripped them from their frame. They all entered. For some reason the crowd didn't follow.
They entered the hall and walked through the foyer into and much larger room. This room had high ceilings and two stories. The room was completely open and the only furniture there was were the tables that lined the walls. At the far end of the room stood their opponents. Seth and the twins were standing on the second floor balcony. Sabertooth and the mutants known as Crush and Syphon were below.
"Rebecca, you and Chad stay out of this useless you have to get involved. Paul and Logan, your up. Take point." Xavier said.
"Professor? That orange lookin' mutant? I think that's Crush. I think he looks bigger." Paul said with a little shock. Crush had definitely changed. He was a little taller and it looked that he gotten more muscular. He definitely wasn't orange last time. Syphon looked different as well. He was no longer the skinny man he had been before. He had definite muscle tone and seemed more confident than he had last time.
Paul and Wolverine stepped forward and started towards the other side of the room. Jean and the Professor weren't to far behind. Chad and Rebecca stayed back as the Professor had told them too. There were two sudden shink sounds and Paul looked over to Wolverine. He had three claws extended from his hands. That was something that Paul didn't expect, but was something to think about later.
"Shall we get this over with?" Paul said. It seemed like a sarcastic comment, but that's not how Paul meant. He wanted this to be over. He was quickly tiring of these people. Paul was finding difficult to fight the rage that was building up in his heart. Seth had killed Mr. McKnight. He didn't think he could ever forgive that. But at the same time he heard his mother telling him to always love his brother, no matter what. He knew it. He knew he had to. Paul was the only real family Seth had left. Paul would be true to his mother's wishes if he had to die doing it.
Wolverine's response to Paul's question was only a growl. Paul didn't know for sure if it was his telempathic powers or what it was, but he could feel the hatred radiating off of Logan. To who it was direct Paul wasn't sure, but he pretty much figured it was Sabertooth.
Wolverine let out an inhuman scream and charged towards Sabertooth. Sabertooth didn't react he only stood still. Before Wolverine could reach his target his paced slowed and he started to stumble. Then he fell ground. Not in pain, but in what seemed like tiredness or fatigue.
Paul wasn't far behind Logan and saw him fall. He looked and noticed that Syphon had his hands extended and fists clinched. Syphon's range had increased since their first fight. Paul gathered his energy and sent it hurling towards. Syphon managed to jump out of the way, but it broke his power over Wolverine.
Jean had floated the Professor and herself to the second level of the building and they were heading towards their intended targets. "Jean, you focus an Seth. I will deal with the other two." Xavier said. He heard her acknowledge him telepathically.
Crush had certainly changed. He was like a bull charging at Paul. Paul almost had to focus hard to move Crush. The wall that Paul threw Crush into smashed in, but Crush just bounced off. Paul didn't worry though. He had the time. Wolverine and Sabertooth were trading shattering blows. It looked like, to Paul that is, that Syphon was headed towards the stairs and then to Jean and Xavier.
With one hand extended towards the approaching Crush and the other towards the retreating Syphon Paul reached out his mind. He sent the two mutants flying through the air and slamming into each other. Crush was more resilient to recover and he pulled Syphon up with him. Syphon nodded to Crush who then picked up Syphon since him flying through the air towards Paul.
Paul caught him in midair, but he started to feel the effects of Syphon's powers. He let Syphon fly before it could get to bad. In Paul moment of dehydrated distraction Crush managed to come up behind Paul. He picked Paul up and threw him very hard towards the door at the other end of the room. Paul more than reached the door before he realized what was going on. He hit the ground outside hard and his shoulder hurt severely as he got up. The crowd that had been outside early had disappeared.
Back inside Crush and Syphon looked to each other. "You help Sabertooth and I'll take him." Crush said jerking his thumb towards where Paul had been thrown. Syphon nodded and they both headed their own ways.
"I'm having trouble busting through his mental barriers Professor. They are incredibly strong." Jean said.
"Yes, they are. I think the twins are channeling their power through Seth. I'm having problems as well." Xavier told her. They had positioned themselves yards away from their opponents. Neither group had moved. "Jean, I will punch a hole through his barrier and you move in a take care of it."
"I'll try." She replied. To anyone who might have watched this battle might have thought nothing was going on but a bunch of staring, but so much more was happening. "My god." Jean said softly. "He experimented on them. All three of them." She said disgusted.
"Jean, cut him off from the twins." Xavier commanded. Jean focused all the telepathic energy she could gather into finding and severing the links between Seth and the other two. Once the links were found she built a fortification of mental energy around the connection and cut Seth off from the twins. He fell to the ground.
The twins had more mental discipline than he did, though. They renew their attack by pulling back momentarily and then sending a surge of telepathic energy to Jean and Xavier. Jean was nearly knocked off her feet by the rush of power, but she held her ground. Seth began to crawl away and was ignored by Jean and Xavier. He was no longer the main problem.
Paul stood and reached for his shoulder. It hurt terribly. He didn't have time to deal with that now. He started back inside. Paul passed Rebecca and Chad who were watching from the corner of the room. "Are you all right?" she asked him.
"I'm fine." Paul answered harshly. He continued inside and it was seconds before he saw Crush.
"Ok, now y'all have really pissed me off!" Paul said angrily. The pain and hurt that he had stored up over the last few days released upon Crush. Crush had started outside to finish the fight him Paul, but didn't get far before he was thrown back inside by the now enraged Paul. Crush slid across the wooden floor and quickly regained his footing.
That didn't matter must because he was quickly lifted off the ground and thrown, once again, into the wall. Paul didn't stop there. He sent the orange mutant slamming into the opposite wall. Syphon barely had time to get to Sabertooth and Wolverine before he heard a cry of pain from Crush.
"Get away from him!" Syphon yelled running towards Paul.
"You should stay out of it. I don't think you're as durable as him." Paul said callously. He lifted his hand Syphon flew into the nearest wall. Crush had gotten up, but was meeting the wall head own again before he could think straight.
"This is pointless, Wolverine." Sabertooth said as he forcibly removed Wolverine's claws from his stomach and picked up Wolverine up. Sabertooth's wounds quickly healed themselves. He tossed onto the floor and pinned him down. He began hitting barbarically. Wolverine slipped his right leg in Sabertooth's armpit and pushed back as hard as he could. He managed to force Sabertooth off him enough to slip out.
He swung his body around and nailed Sabertooth with the heel of his boot in the face. He quickly circled with another kick to the face before Sabertooth could recover. Sabertooth stood and they began punching blocking all over again.
Syphon lied unconscious on the floor, but Crush, bleeding from his month and nose, was still standing.
"Do you really want to do this again?" Paul asked Crush as he held him in the air.
"Do I have a choice?" Crush asked curtly.
"Y'all have brought this upon yourself. You attacked innocent people. There are repercussions for your actions." Paul said harshly. Paul was about to throw Crush into the wall once again, but something hit him in the back and sent him to the ground. Crush fell to the ground and Paul looked up to see Seth standing behind him.
"We're leaving!" Seth yelled.
Paul saw Wolverine flying towards a wall and he extended his mind and caught him before impact. He set him down and stood.
"No one said you gave the orders." Sabertooth answered. "But yes, we are leaving. Tell your bald friends." He said to Seth. Paul walked over to Logan to make sure he was all right, and of course he was. Seth and the others stood in front of the door and Paul and Logan were in front of a wall.
"They are already outside." Seth answered after a few seconds. He closed his eyes and seemed to focusing on something. Suddenly, his eyes shot open in shock. "Sentinels! Six of them. They'll be here soon."
"Let's go." Sabertooth said.
"You aren't goin' anywhere." Wolverine said.
"You can't stop us." Sabertooth responded flatly.
"I can." Paul stated simply. He picked all four of them off the ground. Crush was holding the still unconscious Syphon in his arms. Sabertooth growled, but that didn't his situation any.
Suddenly, Rebecca and Chad both stepped into the room and Rebecca raised her hands into the air. She let an electric bolt go and it hit Wolverine squarely in the chest. He went flying backwards into a wall.
"Rebecca, want are you do?!" Paul yelled at her, but she didn't respond and a bolt came flying at Paul. He easily blocked it, but not without diverting some the energy he was using to hold the others in place. As soon as Sabretooth hit the ground he made a break for it. Paul quickly picked Seth and Crush back into the air and tired to throw Sabretooth back towards the wall behind him. He over-compensated and Sabretooth flew through the window instead.
A slightly breeze began to blow through the room and quickly pick up to gale force winds. Paul anchored himself in place with his teke and looked Chad. Chad was still standing at the end, but Paul could tell that he was concentrating of the use of his powers.
An unexpected pain hit Paul. His head was already hurting from the sustained use of his abilities and this was only making it worse. It was the same pain that he had felt early in the day when Seth had first made him know. Paul was about to deal with the situation, but was interrupted before he could.
< Paul, get everyone outside we have to leave. > Professor X told him.
< I know, Sentinels. Six of them, right? > Paul answered back.
< No, try more like twenty or thirty. We can't take on the kind of firepower. They'll be here soon. > Jean said.
The pain in Paul's head hadn't subsided, but he was still able to function. This pain wasn't as intense as it had been last time. Paul knew Seth was the source, but this time he didn't have the twins backing him up. Paul dug down deep into his mind and used the power to throw Seth from the room. He heard Seth hit the ground with a thud and as that happened the wind in the room dissipated. Paul then assumed that Seth had been the reason that Rebecca and Chad had attacked.
"Oh god." Rebecca said to herself. "Are you guys all right? I could stop myself. I tired, but couldn't. " She said running over to Logan who was now standing.
"Yeah, I'm fine lil'one." Logan replied.
"We gotta go." Paul said and headed outside towing Crush and Syphon along. Wolverine, Rebecca, and Chad quickly followed.
When Paul got outside he saw that the Professor and Jean were still engaged with the twins and Sabertooth was headed their way. < Jean, behind you. > Paul sent to her. Jean turned out quickly and put out her hand. Sabertooth went flying backwards.
"God, I hate telekinetics." Sabertooth scolded as he got up.
Paul looked around everywhere; Seth was nowhere to be seen. Paul sent Crush down beside Sabertooth. "It's over. You can't accomplish anything here." He said to them. Paul looked over his shoulder towards Xavier and the twins now laid unconscious on the ground. "You have been defeated."
"Mutant signature identified and confirmed. Terminate target." Came an eerily metallic voice. Paul, Logan, Rebecca, and Chad turned to see six sentinels above their heads. They fired upon the mutants, but they all reacted immediately and the shots hit the ground harmlessly.
Paul took to the skies hoping to distract the sentinels away from everyone else. He succeeded with the six that were there, but he saw more closing in on the area quickly. Paul was a bit quicker than the sentinels and he put some distance between them before he turned to face them. They fired yellow energy beams at him, but he put his hands up and blocked the energy. The strength of the impact pushed him back through the air, but he still maintained control.
Rebecca joined in on the battle. She, apparently, had good control over he powers. The electric current rolled off her like the wind over a desert, and the electrical force propelled her into the sky and she followed after Paul at an almost equal speed.
Jean had the twins floating in the air and was headed back towards the jet. Once she got the twins to the plane she could help out, but the professor wasn't capable of getting them there. She set them down the back hold of the jet and headed down the ramp. Chad had followed her to the jet. "Stay here. If anyone tries to get inside make sure they don't." he nodded.
Paul picked up two cars off the street about 50 yards below him and sent them hurling into one of the sentinels. It didn't seem to do much damage, but it did slow it down. He had to think of a different way to deal with them. He stopped in the air and wrenched two of the metal light poles that lined the streets out of the cement. He hoped he was right in assuming that the main computers for the sentinels were located in their heads and he sent the poles into two of the sentinels' eyes. They both promptly fell from the sky and crashed into the ground.
Rebecca caught up with the group sentinels chasing Paul. She extended her hands and focused as much energy she could muster out towards her opponent. She let out a scream and the electricity leapt from her hands and collided into all four sentinels. The voltage that Rebecca had sent into the sentinels nearly disintegrated where the bolts made contact. The brief engagement left Rebecca feeling empowered. She had yet to channel that much energy and she hadn't been completely sure she could do it until now.
"Good shot!" Paul yelled to her and received a "Look out!" in response. Paul turned around with only enough time to put up a shield blocking the shots form two incoming sentinels. Paul reached out his hands and gasped the sentinels as best as he could. He poured as much power as he could into the attack and he brought his hands together in one quick motion. The sentinels slammed into each other and plummeted to the ground.
"Where are Sabertooth and the others?" Xavier as head got on board the jet.
"They ran off. I've got his scent, but I thought you might need me for something else. Plus there was much I could do to them alone." Logan answered.
"Ok, watch the twins. They're in the back hold. They might wakeup." He answered him.
"Should get this thing moving? Won't the sentinels attack the jet?" Logan asked Xavier who sat at the controls of the jet.
"No, the jet is shield against their scans." He answered back. Logan headed to the back.
"Rebecca, there are five coming from that direction. You take those." Paul told her pointing to his right. She nodded and headed that way. Paul flew to the two that were headed straight for him. When he reached them he realized he hadn't seen the other two that had now surrounded him. They all began to fire at him as they closed in on him. His teke shield was holding up, but if they continued to fire he didn't know how it would. They were close enough for him to try his last trick.
Paul head was starting to ache. He couldn't keep this up much longer. He concentrated all his energy on one sentinel and slammed it into one of the others, then the next, and then the next. There was a single sentinel approaching and he forced the remains of the one he just used into it. Once he was sure that the robots had been destroyed his mind gave way. Paul began to fall from the sky along with the wrecked robots. He managed to soften his landing, but he still hit the ground pretty hard. He blacked out among the fiery remains of the five sentinels.
Jean had dealt with four of the sentinels on her own and was now headed for Rebecca. The electrical mutant was holding her own for now, but she might need some help. A long bolt of electrical current laced through the night sky and sent a sentinel towards a flaming heap of already destroyed wreckage.
Paul came to by the raindrops that he felt hitting his face. Then he realized that the remains of a sentinel was falling towards him and he was about to try and deflected it but a red beam of light lurched from off to his right and impacted the wreckage. The remains were force in another direction of the falling and they slammed into the ground many feet away from Paul.
Paul tried forced his body to work, but it refused. He did manage to crane his neck to the right. What he saw was a relief. Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Beast, and Iceman had somehow made down to North Carolina. They walked up to him.
"We got this. You take a rest." Storm said as she and Scott helped him to his feet. Paul nodded his thanks. Storm lifted into the sky and the others ran to join the battle. The rain was coming down pretty hard and Paul was pretty wet.
"Come on, I'll get you to the jet. You look pretty drained." Scott said wrapping his arm under Paul's to support him. Paul could barely hold himself up and was happy too receive the help.
"You should help them. I can make it on my own." Paul managed weakly.
"No, they've got it. There's only about eight sentinels left to deal with anyway." Scott said as they started to the jet. They walked at a slow pace and had to avoid a lot of fallen debris. They caught by surprise when Seth stepped out from behind a half wrecked building.
"What the hell!" Scott said. Confused why the guy looked like Paul. Before either of them could react Scott doubled over in pain.
"Seth, what are you doin'?" Paul asked weakly as he bent down to grabbed Scott by the shoulders. The rain looked like it had soaked Seth to the bone. Paul had never seen his brother so terrified. He could remember a time when he saw Seth terrified and that was very unsettling to Paul. He was no longer sure of what Seth was capable of.
"What I'm doin' is killing you both." He said showing no emotion.
"No can't kill me." Paul said more fiercely.
"Oh no?" Seth said reaching behind his back pulling out a pistol. His hands were shaking as he held the pistol.
"Making it stop! Please!" Scott screamed in pain.
"Why are you doin' this, Seth? What have I done to you that was so bad?" Paul tried to summon the strength to jerk the gun away from Seth, but he couldn't. "Stop this! You're hurting him!" Paul said clucking Scott in his arms.
"Why?" Seth asked, his temper flaring. "Why? You got to have everything." He said waving the gun a little. "You got the better powers, you get to have the friends, and..." he stopped.
"And what?" Paul yelled back. "And what, Seth?" Seth was silent for a few moments as the rage visible built within him. "Wha..." Paul started again, but was interrupted by Seth before he could finish.
"She loved you!" Seth yelled at Paul. "Seth LOVED you and she never loved me." He said more softly. If Seth was crying Paul couldn't tell from the rain.
Paul realized what this was about. Seth thought that their mother hadn't loved him. `But how would he know? He left right after she got really sick.' The question raised in Paul's mind. Always love him. He's your brother. He could hear the words coming from his mother mouth. He would be true to her.
"She did love you Seth. You just didn't stick around long enough to know it. You left when she needed you the most. You left and your leaving came with a prize. A prize that you had to pay." Paul said back to him.
"No, she drove me away. SHE NEVER LOVED ME!" Seth yelled back at Paul with the gun trembling in his hands.
"She loved you, Seth!" Paul yelled back standing and taking a few steps towards Seth. "She told me so when she was dieing. And I LOVE you Seth and I always will. I swore it to her." Paul said closing the small distance between them. "Give me the gun Seth."
"She told you that?" Seth asked weakly.
"Yes, and she told me to always be there for you. I'm here for you now." Paul said taking the gun from Seth's hands and tossing it away. Seth almost immediately fell into Paul's arms crying.
"I'm sorry. So sorry." He sobbed. The pain that was inflicting Scott had stopped now. "I didn't mean for so much to happen. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Seth continued to repeat into Paul shoulder as he cried.
"Paul?" Paul heard the concern in Jean's voice.
< Can you put him to sleep or something? > He sent to her. She nodded and walked up to them. She put her slender hand to Seth's forehead and his body went limp.
"He should wake up in a few hour well rested.'" She said.
"Good." Paul said having trouble holding the unconscious Seth up.
"I got him." Jean said as she picked Seth up into the air. "The sentinels have been taken care of."
"Good." Paul said. Scott had to support most of Paul's weight on the walk back to the jet Paul was still terribly tired. The last encounter with Seth only served to weigh on his emotions. That weight was, perhaps, as bad as the physical. "Everyone's all right?"
"Yup, no injuries. Sabretooth, Crush, and Syphon got away, but we have the twins." Jean said as they walked up the ramp into the jet.
"Can we please go home?" Paul asked tiredly. Everyone was on board already and seated ready to go.
"Of course, we just have to get the chopper." Xavier said as Jean sat down the pilot's chair and lifted the jet into the air.
They landed in the clearing where the other craft was landed and Storm, Scott, Paul, Bobby, and Peter got off. Along with Marie and Sam. Enough of Paul's strength had returned so that he was able to walk on his own now. Paul said his goodbyes to his friends and they headed into the jet-slash-helicopter.
Before Paul knew they were it they were home and they were heading to their rooms. The Professor said that they could put Seth and the others in the med-bay and sedate them for now. Paul agreed he didn't really want to think about that now.
"Paul, you wanna...um...stay in my room tonight?" Scott suggested shyly.
"Umm, yeah. Just let me get changed. I'll be there in a minute."
"Ok." Scott smiled and went into his room. Paul went to his room, changed into some pajama bottoms and a t-shirt then went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he was done with prep for bed he headed for Scott's room. He knocked on the door and opened it up when he heard Scott tell him to come in. Scott walked out of his closet with a pair of pajama bottoms on as well and a pair of his red goggles.
"Hey." Scott said with a smile.
"Hey." Paul said shyly as he shut the door. They walked up to each other and fell into a hug. Paul let all of the weight of the day fall off and just relaxed into Scott's arms. Paul couldn't believe how good Scott's skin felt against his. Paul could feel the tears welling in his eyes, but he held them back. He would cry. He didn't cry, ever. Not anymore.
Scott gently ran his hand up Paul's back and that sent shivers through Paul's body. Paul decided that he could stand to do this forever. It felt right. It felt like if fit. They just stood there for a while and then Scott backed off a little.
Scott was a few inches taller than Paul and he bent down just slightly to kiss him. Scott moved in slowly and took Paul's lips in his. Scott dropped his hand to Paul's back and pulled him into his own body. The kiss gradually became more passionate and Paul felt Scott's tongue brush against his lips. Paul moaned as Scott pulled him into a tighter embrace and opened his month slightly. Fire works started going off in the back Paul's head and he lost himself in the kiss.
A few minutes later Scott broke off the kiss and pulled Paul's chin up a little with his finger. He looked Paul in the eyes and smiled. "Let's get some sleep." Paul nodded and let Scott lead him by the hand to the bed. Paul's head rested on Scott's chest and his arms wrapped around his waist. Paul snuggled into Scott and got very comfortable. Scott just pulled Paul closer and took in the sweet smell of his hair. They both soon fell asleep in each other's arms very, very content.