「 The Professor & I 」VOLUME II

(265) Brotherhood

Charles' POV

My heart pounded fervently, watching as the enormous levitating block smashed densely onto the vacated part of the overhanging bridge, heavily undermining its integrity, when Lynn slipped into a hazy unconsciousness.

"Lynn!" I shouted anxiously and jolted forward with my back stiffened in dismay, automatically drawing the attention of all in the room, as I slammed my palms to the grills beneath.

Disregarding all the rattled gazes I earned or the clamorous noise that readily masqueraded into the background commotion, I hastily took over Kurt and transported into the dim hall.

Gingerly, I towed the shiny helmet off Lynn's head flopping limply from her neck and as the erratically expanding cracks in the unsupported scaffold branched off critically towards her end, I enveloped her in his arms, teleporting her out to relative safety before gushing water inundated into Cerebro through its rupturing embankments, submerging everything within under the sea of chilly liquid.

"Scott, hurry!" I frantically ordered simultaneously as I released Kurt's mind and tightened my arms snugly around Lynn's comatose body.

As Scott accurately demolished the bindings around her wrists, Lynn slumped naturally towards the ground and into my loving embrace she fell. Her knocked state tumbled clumsily from the scrimpy piece of timber into my arms and I eagerly pampered her icy torso under the cozy warmth of my gabardine blazer.

"What just happened?" Kurt sputtered nervously, constantly running his fingers from his forehead to his chest and along his shoulders in the shape of a cross as he wrestled to recover from the symptoms resembling a brief blackout and the odd exhaustion he had no means of accounting for.

"I'm terribly sorry, Kurt," I frankly apologized but his confusion was barely appeased.

"But could you please take her? We need to get out of here, now," I begged, gazing up at him pleadingly, while monitoring the increasing flow of droplets seeping through the seams of the door.

Despite not yet fathoming the ambiguous origins of his strange condition, Kurt, unmistakably as compassionate as he used to be, gladly accommodated. Easily, Kurt hoisted Lynn's frail frame into his arms and just as effortlessly, Scott hurled me comfortably onto his back.

Conscientiously, Raven rounded up the children while Jean cautiously prepared Jubilee for our expeditious exit and with Storm professionally leading the way, we were safely ushered through the rapidly disintegrating base.

After weaving through several flights of stairs and a series of corridors, we definitely seemed to have travelled a long way across the covert facility but avenues to the outside world remained apparently shrouded by metal and concrete of the highly organized factory setting.

"We have to go through the spillway!" Storm announced loudly, practically shouting to ensure her voice was not drowned out amidst the noisy ruckus of the surrounding alarms and machines.

Actively yet obediently and in a surprisingly orderly fashion, the kids scooted over in the direction indicated by Storm's outstretched finger but just as they approached the said aperture, large sliding doors emerged from both sides of the hatchway, accelerating towards the middle.

Before any of us could really forestall it, the first layer of latches sealed shut and the little ones thumped their tiny palms wildly against the massively sturdy material, albeit only amplifying the insignificance of their underdeveloped strength.

"You don't want to go that way. Trust me," Logan bellowed from behind.

All of us swung our heads back, noticing behind a curtain of white steam stood a muscular man and intermittent illumination from the vigorously pendulating fluorescent lamps dangling above lit up his face.

Countless beads of perspiration glistened his forehead and the evident signs of his probable race against time continued to trickle from the ends of his frizzy black locks as he had his clenched fist pressed against the main console governing the escape routes.

Cacophonous roars of weighty gliding mechanisms once again screeched through the thunderous environment and fresh waves started to spew through defective breaches splintered by prior shocks. Our startled crowd hurriedly backed away, simply gaping as the auxiliary gates slithered arduously towards each other, filtering out the threatening stream of cascading water at the last propitious moment.

"C'mon! There's another way out of here!" Logan urged breathlessly, blinding us with a brief flare glaring gleams reflected by the polished exterior of the shiny fangs he swiftly yanked out from the panel mounted into the wall.

"Go. Follow him," I endorsed confidently, spontaneously alleviating the skepticism plastered onto the apprehensive adults.

Immediately, Storm and Raven herded the group of young ones and quickly trekked the trail specified by the resounding echoes of Logan's marching treads. Jubilee, though still rather unnerved, made good progress alongside her slightly floating chaperon and Kurt's impeccable stamina surely deemed it an elementary task for him to manually ferry Lynn around the area, with Scott and I being the final convoy of our getaway party.

Soon, the creaking of old hinges lanced into the air and drafts of cool breezes in addition to crisp sunlight began to spill into the meshed tunnels, ending our hunt for the outlet of this intricate maze.

The picturesque landscape that greeted us on the other side was showered with the pure greatness of winter, but it also taunted us with the raw harshness of the bleak weather.

Descending elegantly from the overcast skies were flakes of frozen crystals, flowing gently with the graceful winds that howled across the vast pasture.

It was beautiful, but freezing.

What was supposedly green had been blanketed under a thick layer of white where the incessant supply of frost had slowly collected but apart from the magnificent ridges, towering pines and an abundance of spirited tides crashing upon the shores cloaked under fleece-like snow, there was no sign of anything that could bring us away from this scenic place.

"The helicopter was right here!" Logan claimed in consternation while the others stared blankly at the barren spectacle, unable to contain their utter disappointment and the growing sense of betrayal that promptly penetrated their faces.

"Yeah, right," Scott scoffed, totally unconvinced.

"I swear!" Logan snapped agitatedly, gazing at me with an extremely lost and forlorn expression.

"He's telling the truth," I asserted, detecting awfully faint hums of the missing aircraft's engine accompanied by a dreadful set of voices whisking into the distance.

"Erik and the girls took the chopper. And they have John with them," I revealed in a dejected tone.

"Magneto captured Pyro?!" Kitty blurted in disbelief.

"No. He volunteered himself for the Brotherhood," I clarified and the children gasped in horror.

"We should never have believed him!" Storm hissed grudgingly, flicking her cape furiously behind her.

"Erik is everything but predictable. It's not your fault," I consoled earnestly, albeit maintaining only a weak smile to the guilty faces of Jean and Storm.

"Wait, how did you girls get here?" Scott investigated keenly and their eyes instantly kindled with life as with the ideas that suddenly rang in their minds.

"Our jet's on the other side!" Jean declared in excitement, her face beaming with the radiance of opulent faith again.

"But it's just Bobby and Rogue in there. Are you planning for them to fly it here?" Storm challenged tentatively, staring at Jean suspiciously, but she merely smirked, subtly turning her gaze towards me.

"No. He is," Jean answered intelligently.

XXXXX

It's Friday and I'm now perched in a coffee shop of the university I'm supposed to be at for a conference that begins in more than an hour. Just chilling out and enjoying some quiet time. I wish everyone a happy weekend! 😘