Genosha: For Free Trade: Giving Up

[x-gambit.livejournal.com]

Despite their fight, they find themselves at the mercy of their kidnappers, and a familiar face.



“Lock the bloody prisoners down, Mudd!” The fight was sudden and one-sided. The mutants that had been able to react had used their powers to the upmost, and surprisingly, the soldiers hadn’t fired their weapons, relying on buttstocks and fists. For a moment, as more of them shook off the effects, it seemed like they were going to fight their way clear of the trap. Kane caught sight of an old man, paunchy and with a white mustache raise his arms, like a Baptist preacher about to give a sermon. Because they could react, they were staggered by an invisible blow that seemed to resonate through the bones. Around them, the manifestations of their powers died like a candle flame snuffed out. The man that Garrison had held easily by one arm now felt a hundred times heavier, and he staggered under it.

“About time. Commander Braddock, I want this mob subdued. Now.”

~Here. You are laid bare, there is nothing and no one left to protect you. Resist and suffer the consequences.~

There was no mistaking her; purple hair cut short under a command beret, violet eyes assessing them as nothing more than a new challenge. It was Betsy Braddock, but the set of her jaw and the lines of her face were wrong, as if it was another person staring out at them through her eyes. She motioned, and a new squad of troops raced in, armed with truncheons and riot shields.

Korvus caught the first baton swung with an underhanded grip. Even without his mutation he was still well conditioned and skilled. He twisted it out of the man’s grip while pressing in toward him, instead of attempting to pull it away. He broke the soldier’s nose before being overwhelmed by his companions and their strikes.

Having shaken off the disorientation, Angelo had dropped into a defensive crouch as the soldier came at him. He’d learned to fight long before he had powers, and how to do it and not get pulped while being smaller than the other boys. He ducked under the truncheon and actually managed to slip past the man’s riot shield, then went for his throat and face with both hands. That didn’t last long, as he was wrenched off and held firmly by two other men, arms twisted behind his back.

As their powers were taken, Yvette had dropped to the floor with a cry, the sudden pain of her skin and limbs softening and shrinking more effective in making her helpless than the following blow from the soldier she’d been engaging. As she was hauled upright, she realised she was naked - cheeks flaming in horror, she ducked her head as best she could, hoping her long hair would cover as much of her exposed body as possible. She’d wondered secretly what it would be like to have control of her powers and be naked with someone else, but this was a horrible nightmare.

Fred’s reaction to Yvette being attacked was something akin to a hailstorm coming out of the clean blue sky. He was already expanding and growing when their powers suddenly dissipated; the shock of the sudden twisting of his physiology to normal made Fred crumple to the floor, groaning loudly from the pain.

Layla had been trying to evade as much as possible. She didn’t have useful powers, she wasn’t as skilled a fighter and the fact that everyone was naked still had not worn off past the initial stage of shock. Somewhere in the renewed fighting she had wound up on the ground, though she couldn’t remember if she had gotten hit or pushed or if she’d crouched down in an effort to go unnoticed. When she was hauled up by her hair, though, she went from hiding to fighting...or at least she attempted to. Her legs kicked out wildly and her arms swung just as erratically. She got lucky with a shot to the stomach but another hard yank drew a pained cry and a moment later someone else’s hands had her arms twisted up and pinned behind her. “Get off me! Who’re you? I didn’t do anything!”

Molly felt topsy turvy, like she’d just gone upside down on a roller coaster and suddenly she was cold in places she should not have been cold. She saw skin. She didn’t see her shoes, or....anything else. Her eyes widened and she immediately tried to cover herself but before she could do that there were men coming at her. Her hands balled into fists and she ducked one of the men and tried to throw a punch at another but an explosion of pain when her fist hit the man’s chest made her eyes water and she let out a scream. She started to reflexively pull her hand back to hold it close to her chest when the man she’d just tried to punch grabbed her arm, then her other arm, and yanked them behind her back, holding her in place. She couldn’t move or pull away like she could before. Her eyes searched wildly for some avenue of escape and when she found none she began to tremble. She kept her eyes lowered, not looking at the others.

It would have been a much more disconcerting situation to be naked in front of one’s peers had they not been surrounded by soldiers such as Sarah currently found herself. It had to have been a nightmare, didn’t it? Only instead of being in the middle of a battle or something she was supposed to be at the front of the classroom, and everyone else was supposed to have their clothes on while they pointed and laughed at her. No, something wasn’t quite adding up here. Something was very, very wrong, and that became more apparent when Sarah realized all the fighting going on around her. When one of the soldiers approached her, she scrambled to remember her self defense training, resisting as much as she could, but there was nowhere to run, no way to get away from them for long. She struggled as they held her, her eyes going wide as she realized there was no escape. Letting out a loud scream which turned into a whine as one of the soldiers covered her mouth, she looked around to see if anyone else had managed to break free but she couldn’t tell whether they did or not.

Megan saw her peers drop one by one and felt all her fighting spirit flee. Her skin was burning, the dust summoned by her fight-or-flight response, but then immediately began to diminish like it was being vaporized out of her skin. There were suddenly too many soldiers and nowhere to fly. Her wings felt flimsy, like they wouldn’t be able to support her weight even if she tried to fly. And so she tried not to resist, hoping they would go easy on her. Like Alice taking the bottle marked “drink me”, she hoped to shrink down very small and seem as non-threatening as possible as she was taken into captivity.

Cammie took it in stride, though the sudden feeling of having nothing in her arm was odd, it didn’t take away the fact that she still knew how to kick ass and had the scars to prove it. She didn’t have the muscle to take people on head on, so when a punch failed to reduce someone to vomiting, twitching and/or dead she had to spend a lot of time ducking and weaving and less time actually trying to grab people. It was a totally different style of fighting and she wasn’t as good at it once you took away her one touch ability to stop any fight (literally) dead. The litany of swear words spoke to how well that was going.

“You people are insane.” Garrison said, as he was securely held by two men as a third snapped the plastic ziptie over his wrists, binding them secure. A few minutes ago, and he wouldn’t have even noticed tearing them apart. But now, they held him as surely as any human. “You’ve kidnapped over a dozen American citizens and a federal law enforcement officer. You don’t think that the US going to have a problem with that?”

“Finish securing them.” Anderson said, ignoring him momentarily as she checked her men. Braddock had swiftly quelled the fight, but at least a half dozen men were critically injured and would be in the hospital for a long time. Her lips thinned to an angry line. “You are currently prisoners of the Genoshan government, held as accomplices to mutant terrorism. If your leader, Xavier, cooperates and ceases his interference in Genoshan affairs, you will be released over time. If he does not, you will be tried under Genoshan law and sentenced accordingly. If there is another outburst or any attempt to escape, the entire group of prisoners will suffer for it. Do I make myself clear?”

The odd thing was that the anger in her voice wasn’t that of the FoH or the normal anti-mutant groups they’d encountered. It was military, professional; aghast that they would attack her men without quarter.

“No, you’re not fucking clear!” Adrienne shot back as she was secured by two of the remaining men, “You can’t just take us out of our own fucking country and hold us prisoner this way! This is completely illegal! Where’s your authority, huh? These are children, they’re not even of legal age for Chrissakes! Don’t you fucking touch them!” she spat when one of them moved towards Megan, twisting against her captors until she was hit on the side of the head with something and crumpled to the concrete.

“Outbursts will not be tolerated. You will be treated directly in accordance to how you conduct yourselves. If you obey orders and don’t cause problems, you will not be harmed. If you fight back, you will be punished if necessary.” Anderson’s face was hard and cold.

Megan couldn’t believe this was happening. Her legs were shaking and she hoped the guard didn’t notice as he bound her wrists. She tried to be as invisible as possible, with her wings folded closed and her arms crossed protectively over her body.

“At least let the kids go”, Angelo spoke up as loudly as he could from face down on the floor, twisting his head up painfully to look at Anderson. “Look at Molly, she’s thirteen. She isn’t an accomplice to anything.”

“Ms. Braddock!” Yvette tried to get the former teacher’s attention. “It is us! Your students, remember? You cannot be letting them do this?” Although technically Yvette had only been Betsy’s student during the woman’s insane “class” held during the Shadow King crisis. “Please, help us!”

Braddock studied Yvette, her words barely registered. “No,” she offered the girl, then with a cold removed glance turned to her men. "Show them the kindness of Genosha."

Pain shot through Marius' head as a man hauled him to his feet. The Australian glanced at Betsy's unreadable face and gave a feeble laugh. "Think we're out of luck, 'Vette," he managed while the magistrate jerked his arms roughly behind his back. "Just one more set piece to insanity."

Amara struggled against the man that had caught her wrist, refusing to let them just tie her up without a fight. It wasn't much of a struggle - he was taller and stronger than Amara was, all she managed to do was win herself a bruise or two and her arms yanked behind her back so they could be restrained. She tossed her hair back when he stepped away, glaring at everyone and anyone, daring them to stare at her.

A pained yelp came from the scrawny blonde when the zip ties tightened around her wrists. That didn’t stop Layla from trying to struggle, useless as she realized it was. The zip tie handcuffs that went around her ankles, though, those kept her still. She was left teetering to keep her balance instead of trying to kick out at the person behind her. She tipped too far to the left - and she would swear someone pushed her - and fell, landing hard on the floor. “Wait, you guys know her?” she asked from the floor. They were kidnapped and naked and restrained and people knew one of the people who was doing it? “What the fuck?”

“I don’t know,” Laurie replied, backing up from the guards advancing on her and turning to help Layla up. “But I think we need to go quietly until we find out just what’s going on.”

Her last words were whispered, hopefully only audible to Layla, she didn’t want any more violence when it was obviously futile. She allowed her hands to be tied behind her back without a struggle.

Callie groaned. Her head had not stopped pounding since they were taken from New York, and it was beginning to make her nauseous. She hoped this was all a bad dream, but the detail and the unrelenting headache were convincing her that this hope was useless. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and make everything disappear.

Matt was well and truly blind right now, his world startlingly limited without his enhanced senses or his cane. With his hands bound behind his back, he grew quiet, entire body straining to understand what was happening. Even when he had been arrested previously, he’d had his enhanced senses, even if he hadn’t understood them. He’d never been this blind before in his life. It was absolutely terrifying, more so than when he first woke up in the hospital, the world was dark and his other senses assaulted. “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. ” he whispered, fearing that if he spoke any louder his voice would quaver. His rosary had been in his pocket, but he had no idea where it was now, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.”

Korvus glanced to the man escorting him as the group was led away. “A university study has found it will be easier for you to dehumanize your inmates and continue this abuse if you wear sunglasses. The lack of eye contact will assist you in the establishment a sense of anonymity that will allow compartmentalization more easily. I prefer aviators, myself. They are classic authoritarian sunglasses.” The remarks would have been clearly sarcastic from anyone else but the young Indian man rarely had the tone for it.

A preliminary attempt at elbowing one of the men and trying another self-defense move that Wade had taught her had been promptly thwarted. Meggan’s wrists were jerked roughly behind her despite her struggles, and quickly bound with the zip ties. She gave a small hiss of pain as they cut into her wrists. “But we haven’t done anything,” she softly protested, trying to look over her shoulder as they were led off. With everything going on, she didn’t want to accidentally be the reason for somebody else to be hurt, so she held her tongue. Not only was the lack of clothes upsetting, but so, too, was the distinct lack of being able to sense anything at all empathically. Having been with it for as far back as she could remember, its absence was as jarring as the cold.

Cammie was trying to wiggling out of the hand restraints and getting bloody wrists for her effort. The fact that the blood didn’t smell just seemed wrong to her, but it did make her wrists a bit slicker. Though all that served in the end was allowing the ties to cut even deeper. She couldn’t think of anything to say beyond a continuing litany of curses, some of them extremely creative.

Everyone was mad. The good guys were mad. The bad guys were mad. Everyone yelled. The good guys fought. And the good guys had no clothes on. Molly didn’t understand that part (or anything else going on really) but she knew it made her embarrassed so she still kept her eyes down at everyone’s feet, pretending like they were at the beach with no shoes on, and wished her hair was long enough to cover herself.

One of the bad guys still had her arms and she felt them try to put a cord-thing around her wrists but her hand still hurt from when she tried to punch the guy and she whimpered and reflexively pulled her hand away. It made the bad guy mad and he pulled harder and put the cord-thing on her wrists anyway.

“I…I wanna…” Molly sniffled, trying hard to breathe through sobs that sounded like tiny squeaks. Her eyes were blurred with tears. “...go home…”

She didn’t understand. Why were they doing this?

“Anderson!” Kane shoved a guard aside with his shoulder, earning another vicious kidney shot as he did so. The Canadian had absorbed some payback when they tried to subdue him, hurting a couple of them badly before they piled on and applied the boot. He ignored the blood oozing from his split eyebrow and lip. “You want us, fine! The others are fucking kids, man. They don’t have any part in this.”

For a second, Garrison caught the flicker of disquiet behind her eyes. She didn’t like this either. Maybe there was an opening. “We’ll stay here willingly, no trouble, if you just send the kids back.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I’ve dealt with fanatics before. You might be willing to play martyr, but maybe the younger indoctrinees will make Xavier and Magneto think twice about attacking Genosha.” The moment disappeared behind renewed purpose in her gaze. “Take them away. All of them.”