Later
The seven of them came to at nearly the same time. Charles looked up and saw Kitty Pryde standing over him.
"Did it work?" She asked with expectant eyes. Charles said up and looked around the Danger Room. The rest of the team were sitting up on the air mattresses that were scattered around the floor.
"How long were we out?" Said Charles.
"About seven hours."
Seven hours to her had been nearly two months to them. Eight weeks of instruction from Charles and Logan. While Logan drilled them on the aspects of every type of combat, Charles had taught them all to focus and hone their powers like knives. They had fought together over every terrain, in almost every sort of weather, against countless enemies.
"Coffee?" Colossus said as he rubbed his eyes.
"I have some in the Blackbird," Charles said, standing.
"We'll get it on the way."
He looked around at the young men and women before him. All of them, save for Logan, younger than him. All of them preparing to risk their lives for a cause. He thought of it as
his cause, but after today it wasn't just his. It was theirs.
"We're finally ready," he said to himself before turning to the young mutant.
"Kitty, find Illyana. Stay with her and prepare to stay in the panic room while we're gone. Everyone else, get ready. We're leaving in five minutes."
*****
Krakoa
South Pacific
"Ahhhh!"
Scott sat on the edge of his cot, listening to the screams two cells over. The screams belonged to Hank. That serum they stuck them with had cancelled out their mutations. While he and Jeff hadn't felt anything except reasonable discomfort, Rex and Hank had it worse. Rex's case was milder compared to Hank. Hank's entire bone structure and body warped itself back to what constituted a "normal" human.
"Agh... Oh, god..."
Scott had lost track of how long they had been imprisoned. The only way he could keep track was the experiments. The scary looking man in the crisp suit would have each of them hauled away one at a time for his poking and prodding. The doctor remained silent through out, but Scott noticed the twinkle in his eyes any time he broke out a scalpel. If anybody was going to kill them, it was going to be the doctor.
There was a rattle three cells over as the soldiers stomped in and out. The door clanged shut and was locked. Scott couldn't see, but he heard whispers between Jeff and someone else.
"It's Rex," Jeff said to him. Scott felt his stomach sink. Still no Jean. None of them had seen Jean since the raid on the mansion. Whoever these people were, Scott hoped for their sake that they hadn't harmed her.
"Is Rex alright?"
"He said he's holding up, Creepy Guy just took some of his shedding scales for DNA, nothing too brutal this time."
Scott cursed to himself and walked away from the wall. He sat down on his cot for several minutes and tried his hardest to reconnect with the Professor.
"Ahhh!.... Ohhh...."
He'd been trying ever since he first woke up, but so far he hadn't felt that buzz in the back of his head, nor had he heard the Professor's voice echoing in his skull. Scott didn't know why he was holding out hope. If these people had them, they almost certainly had the Professor. Hank started screaming again, and that was when it hit home. He had to realize that the Professor would not come for them. They were on their own. Nobody would save them... except themselves.
"Jeff," he said, standing up and walking to the wall.
"What is it?" He whispered back.
"When's the last time they injected us?" He asked, referring to the constant power dampening shots they were given.
"Ohh...."
"Been awhile. I can feel the soreness and stuff starting to go away. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious," he said, walking away.
Scott plopped back down on his cot and stood facing the cell door. If Jeff was right, it wouldn't be long until they were coming back to inject them again. Scott was at the end of the cell block and was always last. The guards always came in in pairs, one of them injecting them while the other held them at gunpoint. The last few times they had come in, Scott had noticed they were laxer than that had been at the start. He knew why. They thought that he wasn't a threat without his powers. They just thought all he could do was shoot beams from his eyes.
In the Danger Room, he had trained many scenarios. One very similar to this one. While Rex and Jefferson leaned on their powers more than they should have, Scott tired not to. He could do just as much damage with his mind and fists than he could with his optic blasts.
And, shortly, he planned on showing his captors that first hand.