Chapter 39 - Plans Abound

"What did you say?" Kitty exclaimed as Storm and Rogue looked at one another.

"I said that my sister is Emma Frost and I need to help her so she doesn't have to help those jerks anymore." the girl said as she tried to leave once more but was once again stopped.

"What do you mean she's helping the people here sugar?" Rogue asked for clarification.

"These men in masks showed up and grabbed me in the middle of the night and after awhile an old man showed up talking to a tablet before he showed me my sister and told her that if she didn't do as he asked then I would end up like the others or even worse." the girl told as she looked at the exit with an anxious expression. Rogue looked at Storm and nodded before turning back to the girl.

"Okay, what's your name sugar?" Rogue asked quickly.

"Cordelia." the youngster said quickly.

"Okay Cordelia, here's what we're gonna do. I need ya to go with the others and help get them to safety. Storm and me are gonna go find your sister and let her know you're safe and that she can stop helpin' these guys." Rogue said as she guided Cordelia towards the others.

"I want to come with you! She's my sister and I want to help! I-" Cordelia argued but a head shake from Rogue and a hand on her shoulder stopped the rest of what she was about to say. Looking over her shoulder at the owner of the hand showed that it was Storm.

"We need you to help the others since you probably know more about them than we do. Also if your there then your sister won't be able to concentrate on helping us stop that old man. Don't worry, Kitty and Nightcrawler will go with you to help with the others." Storm said making Cordelia look down and nod.

"Kitty, Nightcrawler, go with and make sure that they get out of here safely." Storm said to which Kitty and her blue companion nodded and began to herd the children out.

"Um, I think I'll go with as, uh, added support!" Toad said as he looked with a hopeful expression that they would believe his excuse.

"Sure, make sure you keep an eye out." Rogue said with slight amus.e.m.e.nt at his excuse. As Toad started to follow the group he got a solemn look upon hearing Callisto call him a coward as he walked past her.

"Okay, lets keep going. Now we need to keep an eye out for Emma and assume she's hostile till we can inform her of her sister's release." Storm said as Rogue, Callisto, and her left the room for another area.

"So it looks like the whole reason that this happened is thanks to one of your group becoming a turn coat." Callisto commented as she continued forward.

"Not of her own accord." Storm said with a frown.

"Doesn't matter, this is all on your heads." Callisto said only to have Storm step in front of her.

"I hope that you aren't having any plans on harming Emma. We will deal with her ourselves." Storm said as she crossed her arms across her chest with a look of disapproval.

"I don't think that I can trust you and your bleeding hearts to do anything! So if I have to I'll do what you can't!" Callisto said as she got into Storm's face with an angry snarl.

"Enough! Storm let's go. We need to find Emma as well as the others and you, we'll handle the issue with OUR teammate you just worry about the brotherhood." Rogue said looking from one woman to the other. Callisto brushed past bother with disgust and kept walking as the other two soon followed.

***

"Finally!" Devin grumbled as he looked at the now dismantled mech in front of him. He had managed to pry the arm off and then shove the tip of his sword through the joint and into the c.o.c.kpit of the machine, stabbing the pilot through the neck. The others had successfully brought down theirs as well though Beast was nursing some bruised ribs as one mech had gotten a lucky swipe in and launched him across the hall.

"McCoy, you good to go?" Devin asked the blue, furry man.

"Yes, sore but ready." was the response as Beast nodded.

"Good, now, once we get in try not to kill anyone if you can help it. If we kill everyone then no one will be able to tell us what is going on or where the captives are." Devin said as he looked around at the members of his group. Each nodded back in response. Opening the massive metal doors revealed a room that looked like the control center for NASA. Long rows of consoles with people wearing long, white, lab coats looked up in surprise and fear at their entrance.

"Alright everybody stay calm and no body move. We aren't here to hurt you but we will if we have to. If you refuse to work with us then we will have to take drastic measures so please answer our questions. Now, which one of you knows what Stryker's plan is for our friends?" Devin said before looking around at the assembled group while Beast moved to a computer to begin typing.

"No one tell him! If we do Stryker will kill us all." one male scientist yelled to which Devin rubbed his eyes in annoyance and sighed.

"There's always one who refuses to cooperate. Fine, drastic measures it is then." Devin said as he approached the man who had spoken only for Cyclops to stand in the way.

"What are you doing Summers?" Devin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I've been silent up to this point because I wanted to get the Professor back safe and sound, but I can't condone you torturing one of these scientists." Cyclops said as he folded his arms and widened his stance. Devin saw that Colossus stepped forward to stand slightly off to the side and behind Cyclops. Apparently he also couldn't stand the thought of Devin interrogating the scientist either.

"Look Summers, we need to find out what Stryker has planned and one of these scientists might know what is happening. Besides after everything that we have seen and done, you choose now to grow a conscience? No, move." Devin said as he stood only a foot in front of Cyclops.

"Look Scott we need to stop whatever is happening here and fast. So get out of the way." Wolverine said as he stepped up beside Devin.

"No Wolverine, this is wrong and the Professor taught us better." Cyclops said.

"Your Professor has nothing to do with me so get out of my way now." Devin said in annoyance.

"No." Cyclops said firmly. With that reply the tension in the room continued to rise and just when things were about to explode a clear voice spoke up.

"I'll tell you what you want to know." a feminine voice said from the top of the risers with the consoles mounted on them. A woman standing at the top of the risers was looking at Devin with determination. She was an Indian woman in her mid to late twenties with a red mark on her forehead and glasses perched on her nose while gold hoop earrings dangled from her ears. Her raven hair was pulled up and pinned to the back of her head. She had a slim build and was wearing a pink blouse, navy skirt, and low, black heels under her lab coat.

"Ah finally, someone with some sense. Great! Now please tell us what Stryker has planned and where we can find our friends he kidnapped." Devin said as he smiled at the woman who grew more stern.

"Don't say anything Rao. Stryker will-" the man from before started to say before being cut off with a scream as Devin, with a quick flick of his hand, launched one of his regular knifes through the air past Cyclops' shoulder and into the scientist's arm.

"Please keep all comments from the peanut gallery to a minimum, thank you." Devin said as he continued to look at the woman.

"Now, Miss?" Devin said as he gestured for her to speak.

"Dr. Kavita Rao." the woman introduced herself as. Devin recognized that name for some reason but couldn't seem to remember where he had heard it.

"Dr. Rao, thank you for helping us with this. Once we have what we wanted we will be on our way." Devin said to her with a smile.

"I'll tell you what you want on two conditions." Rao said as she held up two fingers.

"Interesting and what might those two things be?" Devin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The first is that I want to go with you as I was kidnapped by Mr. Stryker to help him with his genetic experiments and to keep the mutants that he abducted alive." Rao listed off for Devin. It was then that he finally remembered where he had heard her name before. She was the genius geneticist that had gone missing two months ago on the news the other day.

"I'm fine with that as long as you don't get in the way and the second condition?" Devin said as he motioned for her to continue.

"On one of the upper levels there are numerous young mutants that Stryker has abducted and had other scientists experimenting on. I want your help in freeing them from here. They have suffered enough at the hands of the others and I have tried my nest to either save them or ease their suffering, but they need more help than what is provided here." Rao said as she finished listing off her demands.

"Sure we can grab them on the way back up once we have settled matters here. So Dr. Rao, what exactly is going on and where can we find our friends and Stryker?" Devin said as he finally gets to ask the questions.

"Stryker has been looking for a way to wipe out the mutant population. He has been doing experiments to find a means of committing genocide on mutants while leaving the human population unharmed." Rao started causing all of the mutants to frown.

"So has he found a way to do that yet or are we still in the clear for the moment?" Devin asked as he began to worry for the kid's safety.

"He has though we still haven't tested the final product yet as it was just recently finished and required a certain mutant to operate it." Rao said as Devin knew what he was trying to accomplish.

"He's gonna use Xavier to find every mutant on the planet and trick him into killing them using a Cerebro knock-off isn't he?" Devin said as he looked the doctor in the eye. The shocked look on her face told the whole story.

"Wait, then why did he kidnap Wanda and Magneto?" Mystique asked as she looked from the doctor to Devin and back.

"Magneto would be one of the biggest obstacles, especially if he found out what Stryker was up to." Devin said as he looked back at Mystique.

"The Scartlet Witch was abducted as her reality warping abilities if amplified as well would have allowed Stryker to cleans the presence of mutants from the history of Earth. Thus destroying the very fact that mutants existed." Rao said, causing alarm in everyone including Devin.

"We need to find that chamber and shut down Stryker's plan now!" Devin said as a sense of urgency flowed through everyone.

"I've got it!" Beast shouted as he pulled up a map of the facility. Devin walked over to look over his shoulder at the screen. Unnoticed by the others, Devin also slipped the same usb drive that he had copied the adamantium process onto into a slot that began downloading everything they had here as well.

"The red square is where Magneto and the others are being held. The blue circle is where the Professor and the machine are located." Beast said as everyone else had to examine the map on a larger screen.

"Mr. McCoy I want you to prime this place for self-destruction. I don't know about you guys, but I don't think that this place should exist after this." Devin said as he saw mostly the Brotherhood nod though he got nods from the other as well.

"Mystique, you take the rest of the brotherhood and go release Magneto and the others and get them topside. Wolverine and McCoy, you two are coming with me to get the Professor and shut down that machine. Summers, I need you and Colossus to head back towards the surface while picking up those captured mutants and keep an eye out for the others, because I'm sure they are trying to make their way down here. Find them and get back to the Blackbird and be ready to take off." Devin started divvying out jobs as he memorized the map.

"I'm going with you to get the Professor." Cyclops said as he stepped up.

"No you have your job so shut up and do it. We don't have time to argue. Colossus grab him and get going. Kitty might need you." Devin said, turning from one man to the other. The mention of his loved one caused Colossus to spring into action. Scooping up Cyclops and trowing him over his shoulder, the giant metal man sprinted from the room before Cyclops could argue followed by Dr. Rao. Mystique and her group hurried up and left as well to get their leader as well as the others. Devin nodded to Beast and Wolverine and ran out leaving a room of silent scientists. Devin stopped for a fraction of a second and peaked back in.

"Sorry guys but not only did you aid and abet in Stryker's plan but not one of you spoke up so I guess this is the end of the line. Bye!" Devin said as he smashed the control console next to the door, causing the massive doors to seal shut. The last sight Devin got was the scientists making a mad scramble for the door and failing.

'Who knows which ones of those scientists help torture those mutants that were captured and I don't have time to sort them out.' Devin thought as he caught up to Wolverine and Beast. A slow burn of rage at what might have happened to the kids made it's way into the pit of his stomach along with a subtle glow beginning to grow in both dragoon spirits had they been showing.