Disclaimer: I do not own any incarnation of the X-Men in any
form. This story will start out with this fairly short chapter but will expand
to epic size.
A Very Real Threat
Saturday, May 1st 6:30
P.M. EST
Westchester New York. Xavier
Institute for the Gifted.
X-Men
assemble downstairs
The all
points bulletin emanating from Professor Charles Xavier's mind sounded
throughout the Westchester Mansion.
Storm and Rogue were the first to arrive followed by followed by
Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Spyke and Wolverine. Cyclops and Jean Grey were
already; Jean being devoid of color with her head slumped on Scott's shoulder
with the professor when they all arrived.
"A
situation has developed that requires our…. unique talents," began Professor
Xavier. "It appears that when I was
instructing Jean in the ways of our updated Cerebro systems what could best be
described as a hotspot of mutant activity flared up not more than 75 miles from
here, in a laboratory of some sort."
"What is
exactly meant by "hotspot"," inquired Storm.
" Fifty
mutants, at least, all with faint life sign.
Some with none at all due to reverberations in the telepathic sphere."
The words
"none at all cut" through the room like a bullet. There were collective gasps from those who had joined the
Professor and his two eldest students.
Kitty was the first to actually gain some form of composure to ask for
details
" I don't
get if some are dead, why are their thoughts still transmitting," inquired
Kitty
Jean decided to field this question standing
up with what little strength she had ,
"Sometimes when a thought is intense enough it creates ripples kind of like a
pebble thrown into lake." She held her
face into her hands and trembled ever so slightly at the glancing thoughts that
had pierced her mind like needles in the dark. Scott saw the opportunity to put
his hand on her shoulder letting more supportive thoughts flood from his mind
to her. "I saw death, for the first
time, real death, last thoughts last wishes, last….," she couldn't take the
previous invasion of her mind physically anymore as she slumped to the floor on
her knees covering her temple. Scott was quick to offer his hand, as Rouge and
Nightcrawler were quick to grab her other arm.
Logan was the first one to actually take in
the full scope of whatever Jean had seen through her mind's eye. He himself had been no stranger to mutant
labs, such as the one that had bonded adamantium with his skeleton so many
years ago. " Did you check it out
yourself Chuck."
The
Professor momentarily turned away from Jean to address Logan, " Yes I did
Logan, and it was not at all similar to the labs you are familiar with. The worse of it is I detected traces of
homicidal urges, with a dizzying amount of genetic knowledge. The institution flared too much with hatred
to be a simple laboratory."
Kurt took the opportunity to chime in after helping Jean
back to the couch. "Where is this
laboratory, if mutants are dying we should be there by…"
"
Kurt, I only was able to sense the complex for half a minute at most before a
powerful force seem to scramble Cerebro, but I was able to tell it was
underground and around 75 miles outside of Westchester. It may take a good portion of the night but
we must assemble in the Blackbird to be there." No sooner than the Professor stopped talking that the X-Men
rushed to their lockers to suit up and prepared for a battle, the type of which
that teenagers of their generation had only learned of in history books. A
conflict thought impossible in this day and age. They were slowly witnessing, albeit unknowingly, the start of
something with a surreal and frightening scope.
