All characters not mentioned in the X-Men movies, comic books or by other fanfiction writers are the property of Alison Crawford. Please respect this and ask before you use any of my original characters. That means Sienna Stryker, AKA Chimera is owned and created entirely by this author. Please respect this disclaimer and ask before using....

Chapter 1:

Sienna was lounging on the couch of the senior student's common room with her legs up in the air and crossed at the ankles carelessly. Her long hair flew along the end of the sofa down to the floor in waves of magenta, blue and black. Chewing a wad of gum loudly, she was a far cry from the terrified mutant of the past at the mercy of her cruel father William Stryker. Perhaps the death of the bigot father at Alkali Lake had changed her, perhaps it was the realisation that she was no longer ruled by his memory or the cruelty wreaked on her by Stryker. She had finally realised that Sienna Stryker was the master of her own destiny, free to change her life forever. In fact, she had tried to get Xavier to let her change her name but he had refused flatly. So, Sienna had begun to change into a rebel of sorts, changing her clothing style, dying her hair various wild colours, getting a belly button ring and two earring holes in each ear, getting a tattoo, chewing large wads of gum and passing notes in class. In fact, she had become more provocative altogether, opting for clothes with just a little too much skin showing and a flippant attitude that peeked through at times. The reversal of the brain damage inflicted on her had helped her learn how to sleep properly and she soon relished her sleep time.

The staff had viewed the mutation in behaviour and appearance with mixed reactions. Storm had smiled a mysterious smile when she had seen the first dye job and while she didn't approve of a few changes, she was not against them. In fact, she had once told the Professor that this was something they could not reverse. Scott had seemed angry at first but had eventually resigned himself to the changing hair and manner, though she had received quite a few lectures from him for chewing gum. The newly appointed Havok had shared his brother's hesitation but had flipped when she came back with a belly button ring. Nightcrawler was the most opposed to the changes, a surprise considering his angelic scars. The two mutants had gotten into a big fight over it and he had teleported away and refused to speak to her for a week. Xavier, with his usual tact had ignored it completely and Wolverine had simply nodded and complimented her on her new look. When Jean had come back from Alkali and seen the new hair colour, she had reacted with vague interest but had not really noticed any of the further changes.

But no matter the reactions of the students or the faculty, Sienna had simply gone ahead and made them. Most often, she had reacted flippantly and simply pushed them away. So it was that she was lounging on the couch twisting a lock of thick dyed hair and thinking about something important, her relationship with Kurt Wagner, aka the Elf in Institute slang. The two had been slightly close before Alkali but their relationship took on a new edge as Kurt adjusted to life here. He had started teaching German and the two were officially dating, although Kurt sometimes hinted at something more but had always joked about it. Sienna had found herself attracted to the blue-skinned mutant and he had returned her affection with twice the amount of romantic interest. As Sienna mused on their relationship silently, she saw a pair of booted feet stop in front of her reclining form. Looking up, she smiled at Wolverine as he leaned against the doorframe and regarded the increasingly chameleon-like Sienna with a quizzical look.

"What are you grinning at, Wolvy?" asked Sienna as she sat up and began to braid the thick, wool-like strands and fasten them with beads.

Logan smiled. "Hey 'Enna, the Danger Room is free. Want a go?"

Pausing as she tightened the last braid, Sienna's eyes sparkled briefly before she vaulted off the couch. Walking past, she brushed against him as her scent wrapped him in its sensuous tones. Breathing in the smell of cinnamon and vanilla, Logan laughed and walked to the locker rooms where his suit was located.

---

Suiting up, he entered the danger room and bent over the controls module as he loaded a sentinel program. The sentinels had become more prevalent lately and they needed practise to keep on top of their opponents. Stretching his hands inside the gloves, Logan unsheathed the claws and then sheathed them back into his knuckles with a slight wince. Turning at a noise, he gasped as Sienna walked in. Gone was her old uniform, instead she had on a slim, form-fitting suit over body armour. The suit was jet-black with the belt buckle a glowing orange X and showing off all her curves to full affect. Around her forehead was a diadem that wrapped around her forehead carefully with small jewels and the gloves she wore were fingerless and similar to Remy's normal gloves. Finally, the heels of the boots she wore were tall and carried a lethal point and hidden blades. Twirling slowly, Sienna showed it off and smiled at him.

"You like?" she asked cheekily as Logan gaped and then forced his jaw up. Logan only nodded and she giggled slightly before freezing in place as the program kicked in and the form of a gigantic sentinel materialised in the room. Eying it carefully and at a nod from Logan, Sienna ran towards the creature but at the last moment flipped onto its back and grabbed it as she cracked its eye with one foot. Rearing, the creature tried to buck her off but she held on tight until the creature flipped her off and she landed on her feet, cat-like and immediately got back up again. Blinded by the cracked eye, the sentinel charged at them and each jumped away. Logan unsheathed his claws and charged the Setinel with a war cry, ripping at the unprotected cords that controlled the robot. Slicing, the enraged mutant finished it off as it shudder and burst into flames. The wreckage dissipated into the atmosphere and another sentinel immediately took its place.

"Use your power," Logan ordered Sienna and she nodded before closing her eyes and concentrating on entering the heavily guarded mind of the robot. The creators had been so focused on the physical abilities of the robots that they left the mind of each open to mental attacks, a thing Sienna was quite happy to exploit. Moving her power into the computer that controlled the mind of the robot, Sienna began to mess with it but soon found herself up against bigger mental defences than she had anticipated. Trying to get herself and her astral psyche out of the defences and back into her own body, Sienna pushed against the walls that had built up and escaped through a small mental chink. As she did so, she sent one last attack at the computer and it hit the bullseye and made the robot stop functioning. With a shudder, the robot collapsed and short-circuited.

"I can't use my powers, Logan" Sienna screamed at Logan as the clink of the third setinel became evident in the air. "The mental shields are too strong and it tried to trap me in the mind. We're gonna have to try something else!"

Cursing loudly, Logan charged the setinel and tried to slice it like he had the first one but the third setinel was wilier and had learnt from the mistakes of the first two and swatted the mutant away. Landing heavily on the ground, Logan got up slowly as the healing factor began to work and Sienna ran to his side. Dragging him up, she was swatted away by the setinel as it charged them and lay dazed on the ground. Standing slowly, she saw the creature turn on Logan and one cybernetic arm rose to crush him.

"Logan!" Sienna screamed and raced towards the duelling pair. Pushing him out of the way, she was hit full force by the arm intended for Logan and was thrown across the room into the far wall. Hitting it hard, she made a sickening thump as she fell unconscious and rolled onto the floor of the Danger Room. Lying there, she looked like a rag doll forgotten by her owner and the image sent Logan into a full-force berserker rage. Killing the robot, he rushed to the girl and cradled her in his arms gently as the claws retracted then raced towards the medical lab. Laying her down on a bed, he grinned cockily as she opened her eyes slowly.

"Did we win?" she asked sleepily.

Logan nodded slowly. "We thrashed them, 'Enna..."

Smiling slowly, she closed her eyes and slipped back into unconscious. Placing an icepack on her head, Logan hunkered down to wait until she woke again.

---

Outside, a figure watched the incident and smiled crookedly. "Well, let us see how she handles the next test." Then, the figure laughed mockingly before dissipating into the shadows...