Chapter 8

The light from the overhead lamps suddenly flooded the room, and Donna turned her head and shut her eyes. She could hear cries around the room as their eyes painfully adjusted to the brightness. “Look alive, my ugly little mutants,” the tall man said in his loud, booming voice. He looked down at David and ordered, “Announce me, boy.”

“Presenting the World’s Biggest Scum Bucket,” David replied with a wry grin.

The tall man smiled, too, as his foot crashed into David’s face. “You try, girl,” he said, pointing to Angel.

“He is Bastion,” she said, looking at David.

“Ah, correct. You also have a weakness for a certain foolish boy,” he said smugly. “No matter, you shall be rewarded,...Angel, wasn’t it?” Bastion motioned to two armored guards behind him and commanded, “Strap her into the machine.”

Angel’s eyes grew wide with fear as several gasps were heard around the room. “No, please--don’t,” she pleaded.

“I’m sorry, Angel,” Bastion sighed, “but someone’s got to be an example for the others. Consider yourself lucky. You’ve always said how you much you hate this place, now you’ll be the first to leave it...and this world.” The guards dragged her over to a large machine in the center of the room.

“Leave her alone!” David yelled.

“Silence him,” Bastion snapped, and a guard backhanded David to the wall.

Donna glanced around at the other prisoners. Most had fallen deathly silent. Some were weeping for Angel, who was being strapped into the machine. A few were stone-faced, refusing to give in and show fear. Still others, like David, wore expressions of hate or anger.

In David’s case, only pure and unchecked rage was shown. His heartbeat speeded up, and his blood flow increased. He remembered how helpless Nate felt when he was unable to save David’s previous body from death. He remembered when he promised Rose that he would look after Angel, because of her impulsiveness. Most of all, he realized how much he cared for her. And for the first and possibly the last time in his life, David Grey made a huge sacrifice. One that could effect him for years, even decades to come. Yet he did it all for one simple reason: He refused to see the only girl he’d ever cared for,--maybe even loved--die because a madman said it should be so.

David reached deep within himself and drew on a mutant power he’d never known he had before, even as it coursed through his veins. It barreled from his chest at high speed, slamming into the machine. Three seconds passed in silence before the machine exploded in a huge fireball, sending Angel flying through the air. She was saved from the engulfing flame only by the large TK shield that was surrounding all of the prisoners. As if in slow motion, the chains fell from their hands. They all suddenly realized what had happened, what they were now capable of, and how they would tell of this day from then on with joy in their hearts. Because then, thanks to the determination of one young man, they were free.

Bastion and his men scrambled to escape the fire, but X-treme slammed the double-thick steel doors shut. “I’ve had enough of your bloody war on mutants, Bastion. Whether you’re trying to start another Holocaust or just plain out of your mind, I’m shutting you down now.” Bastion actually seemed to be afraid.

But Donna tugged on X-treme’s arm. “David, we have to get out of here. Besides, he’s not worth it. If you kill him, you’ll be sinking to his level.”

X-treme clutched Angel’s unconscious body closer and stared down at her face. “All right everyone, this way!” he yelled over the roar of the flame, smashing a huge hole through the wall.

The others followed instantly. They didn’t question X-treme, complain, or disagree. He had given them their freedom, and for now, he was their sole leader. They left Bastion and his guards to their own fates, and maybe to their deaths. Though few of the mutants would have argued that he deserved to live. Some even hoped that he died, so that the world might be a better place in which to live.

They ran into the night, and would've go on, but they were halted by their leader. “My brothers and sisters, hear my voice! Today, things have changed! Today, we are free! To travel your own paths, to make your own decisions, to do whatever your hearts desire! All that I ask is that you use your powers to do good in this world, so that one day we might be accepted into society.” With that, he raced into the darkness, followed only by Donna.

“Hey, wait up!” she cried, and X-treme stopped.

“You may come with me if you wish, Donna, but I warn you. The paths I take are ones less taken, and the rules I live by don’t exist in any lawbook.”

“But what about Angel?” Donna asked.

X-treme stared again at Angel’s face. There was silence for a few seconds until he finally replied, “I will find the one person who can heal her. But to do that, I must find my brother, Nathan. He will know how to help her. Come if you wish, my friend; the choice is yours.”

Donna nodded. “I’ll keep a look out for Bastion’s men from the air.”

X-treme agreed, and they zoomed into the night, each with their own agendas: Donna to find the friends she had lost, and X-treme to heal the woman he loved. "Perhaps," he thought, "Nathan can offer some inner peace as well. For who could know more about restless spirits than Nathan?"