Memories

Chapter Thirty-Five

He'd hurt these men one day, Charles decided. He might be a pacifist, but they'd gone too far. Raven didn't deserve this sort of treatment, nor did his children.

As the men continued joking, talking about who'd they'd pair together, toying with them, even putting the children over the walkie again as some unknown man hit his children so that they could all hear the whimpers, the screams, the hits, the begging- every last gory detail reaching their ears.

Emma watched Charles now- saw the signs prominently now. The subtle flare of his nostrils, the reddening of his cheeks, the blazing fire in his eyes, the acceleration of his breathing. So many signs all pointing to his mounting rage, to the explosion, as these cruel men played with them.

"Uncle," The girl warned as she focused, a bead of sweat racing down her face. She could feel one of the telepaths' mounting rage, feel how his power was slowly growing to where she couldn't contain it, didn't think anything could contain it, even the mutant himself. It was like nothing she'd ever encountered or experienced.

"Oh, don't tell me you feel sorry for them now?" He asked, disdain in his voice. No, she didn't feel sorry for them just now- she had always felt sorry for what she was doing; but Trask was family, and she knew he'd kill her if she didn't obey. That was the thing about family- you knew the worst about each other. She knew her uncle was a heartless murderer, and she wanted to survive.

She had to strain to reply, "No, Uncle, but-." She never got to finish the warning because just then she passed out from the force of the explosion of mental power. It had overcome her, leaving her unconscious, but breathing.

Emma hunched over, clutching her head in pain as she screamed. Raven collapsed at the same time, screaming and holding her ears as her form began flickering, her body withering on the ground. Erik was also holding his head, flinching and gasping in pain. Over the walkie, Jean was screaming in pain. The metal doors were crumbled from Erik losing control, metal being pulled out of the earth to fly around in a haphazard haze.

All of the men were shouting in confusion, pointing their guns around as Stryker shouted for them to shut up.

Jean stopped screaming, but the shouts from the children told the others that she passed out. Emma finally gained enough willpower to change to her diamond form, blocking her mind from the pain.

The other members of the group panicked, not feeling the calm psychic link with Charles in their heads anymore. It was like something had snapped it. Looking to Charles, they saw him clutching his head, his eyes screwed shut, shaking his head violently. Stryker was shouting for the mutants to stop using their powers. Trask was trying to piece it all together, looking around at all the mutants, even his niece. Stryker ordered the men to shoot the mutants using their powers- Erik, Emma, and Raven.

But, instead of firing, the men's eyes went hazy, turning the guns on themselves. Emma put a barrier up between Raven's and Erik's minds and the pain, alleviating their mental pain instantly. The group watched in wonder, looking to Emma as if asking are you doing this? But she shook her head, and everyone looked at Charles then.

But... It wasn't Charles. Well, it was Charles, but not exactly. His bright, loving, hopeful, imaginative, forgiving, caring, optimistic eyes weren't there anymore, but rather his eyes were icy and cold and distant and hard and hateful and everything in opposition to the eyes Erik had fallen in love with.

Charles started floating in midair, off of his wheelchair. Then, the whole group heard the snipers start shooting. Beast covered Raven with his own body, and Sean hugged Angel to him, kissing her hard right before he imagined the bullet would hit him. Darwin turned to granite, shielding Alex with his own body. Azazel grabbed Janos, ready to teleport them the hell out of there.

Logan grabbed the unsuspecting diamond Emma and kisses her hard before Logan released her and grabbed Sean away from Angel, shielding him with his bigger body. Emma quickly shook off her shock in an instant and did the same to the frozen Angel.

But, the bullets never hit.

Erik stared around the ragtag group of misfits- his family- staring at the blue psychic force field surrounding them that had stopped all the bullets. Everyone, after a moment, began staring too, uncomprehending. Only Jean had been shone to have this ability, but her force was a purplish-pink, and she was too far away to do this.

Then, everyone looked at Charles, who was still floating.

He wasn't looking at any of them.

"Charles?" Erik called softly, trying to reach out to the man he loved.

"No," A deep, dark voice- so much darker than Charles's posh, sweet voice- said. It had Charles's accent, Charles's sound, but it was heavier. It had so much more weight, was so much more chilling. It sounded ancient. A shiver even when down the White Queen's spine.

Suddenly, all of the men around them were screaming, yelling, withering on the ground in pain as the clutched their heads. Some were even ripping their own hair out. The screams echoed in all of their skulls, and Raven knew she'd have nightmares from this. Raven covered her ears, trying to hide from the sound of the men's agony.

Charles was driving the men insane, attacking every weak spot in their mind, torturing them with horrifying, gory images that would test the limits of any man's sanity. All of these men were watching the people they loved meet terrible, gruesome ends. They were being torn limb from limb, feeling all the same pain but not the actual sweet release of death.

"Professor, stop," Alex pleaded.

"They're harmless, now. Let them go, Charles," Hank tried.

"Charles, please, stop," Raven begged, still trying to block out the noise.

Then, the noises stopped. All the men stood up, blank-faced, and raised their guns to their heads. Everyone was shouting for Charles to stop, to let them go, that they had families and that they were just following orders.

That's when the guns went off. All around them, the men dropped like flies. Even Trask and Stryker were now dead, guns at their sides, dangling from their fingers, lying in pools of their own blood. Everyone stared around them in horror, except Erik and Emma, staring at the carnage suddenly caused by the beloved professor, the pacifist, the loving father-figure.

This wasn't Charles.

This was something much, much worse.

Screams were heard from miles away, no doubt the snipers' screams. Emma, not limited by the girl's powers anymore, could feel them all dying. Charles, or whatever possessed Charles, was making the men butcher themselves with the Swiss Army knives they all carried. Logan and Beast were almost overwhelmed by the smell of death.

"Hello? Professor? Anyone?" Ororo asked through the walkie, her voice weak and shaky. Charles collapsed to the ground, Erik just barely catching him in time before he hit the ground.

"Ororo, sweetie, is everyone okay?" Beast said through the walkie, desperately trying to keep his voice steady as he wanted to roar and rip someone to shreds. He could hear the children crying in the background, but nothing else.

"They're dead. All the men just turned their guns on themselves and killed themselves." Ororo whimpered, and everyone was shellshocked. Charles had never had that good of range.

They were almost across the whole country.

"We'll be home soon, sweetie," Beast said calmly as they boarded the jet, Erik carrying Charles as Darwin got the wheelchair, Beast climbing into the cockpit. Logan ran into the base and rescued the few mutants inside, and he picking up the unconscious girl on the way back to the jet with the rescued mutants following him.