Disclaimer: I do not own rights to any recognizable characters. This story takes place after Amazing X-Men 19.
At the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, a quiet day was rare. This day appeared to be a very rare jewel indeed. Rachel Grey AKA Marvel Girl and Piotr "Peter" Rasputin AKA Colossus were in the Danger Room instructing some of the school's younger students in the art of combat while Kurt Wagner AKA Nightcrawler sat in the control room monitoring the proceedings. They were running a basic simulation—defeat the numerous bad guys and save the world, when Rachel suddenly cried out in pain. No one was in her vicinity, so the cause of her discomfort was not evident. Kurt hit the button to stop the simulation. As the room returned to a large empty metal chamber, the students froze, looking about them to see what had happened.
Rachel began speaking: "Pomogite nas! Pomogite nas, pozhaluysta! +46.25 +38.98." She repeated the message.
In a cloud of brimstone-scented smoke and with a signature "bamf" sound, Kurt used his teleportation powers to move from his position in the control room to a spot next to the young woman.
"Is that Russian?" he asked, studying his friend. She seemed to be in a trance repeating the words over and over. He was reluctant to touch the red headed girl in her current state.
"Da," Piotr answered. The large Russian converted from his metal form to flesh as he stepped towards the others.
He translated: "Help us! Help us, please! Then…some numbers."
"What does it—" Kurt's question was interrupted by a beeping sound from the control console in the room above. He teleported back to from where he had come.
Rachel gasped, then dropped to bended knee. She fell silent. Piotr helped her return to her feet.
"What happened?" she asked, cradling her head.
"You were in a trance and speaking in Russian," he informed her. "How do you feel now?"
"Major headache."
Kurt spoke through the sound system in the room: "Training session over. Peter, Rachel, we're wanted in the mission prep room. Everybody else, class dismissed!"
He pressed the button to open the Danger Room's doors. The students began to file out slowly, dragging their feet, hoping to catch a snippet of conversation about what had ended their training session so abruptly. A second later, the German mutant again stood beside his fellow teammates.
"Rachel, are you okay?" He gingerly touched the girl's shoulder.
"Yeah. I think another telepath was reaching out for help. The voice was so loud in my head though and I couldn't communicate back."
"Well, then, meine freunde, shall we go?" He didn't wait for a reply. He placed his free hand on Piotr's shoulder. With a single thought, he teleported them to the X-Men's mission prep room. Several of the other X-Men were already present: Ororo Monroe AKA Storm—the current leader of the X-Men, Jean-Paul Beaubier AKA Northstar and Dr. Henry "Hank" McCoy AKA Beast. A few seconds later, Robert "Bobby" Drake AKA Iceman joined them.
Hank brought up a display of a world map on one of the computer screens in the room. "We had five mutant signatures show up at latitude +46.25 longitude +38.98." He pressed a button and the map zoomed in to a point in Russia near the Ukraine border and Sea of Azov.
Colossus leaned closer to Kurt. "The numbers Rachel was reciting..."
"Ja," Kurt agreed.
"The signatures didn't last long, but we were able to pinpoint the location," Hank continued. The map continued to zoom until it revealed a satellite picture of several grey buildings surrounded by large trucks and other vehicles. "We don't know much about the compound. It appears military, but is listed as abandoned by the Russian government. Satellite images show some recent activity, but we can't get a reading on the inside of the facility. It appears to be protected by some kind of security field. We will be going in blind."
"Not completely," Kurt spoke up. "Rachel was contacted by a possible telepath at that location, perhaps one of the mutants."
"Yes?" Hank asked. "What did they tell you?"
Everyone turned to Rachel. She shot Nightcrawler a dirty look for bringing attention to her episode in the Danger Room. "Not much. I believe it was a male telepath from the voice in my head. He just begged for help and gave those coordinates." She shrugged.
"Well, then it sounds like we have some mutants in need of the X-Men's help," Ororo stated. "Suit up! Wheels up in fifteen."
Soon, all the members of the X-Men that had been present during the briefing minus Hank were strapped into one of the X-Men's SR-71 Blackbirds and headed for Russia. Kurt was piloting and Ororo sat in the copilot seat. The rest sat in various seats in the back of the plane. They were all dressed in their respective uniforms.
Kurt landed the plane in an open field near the facility where the mutants were supposed to be located. They approached the compound silently, hoping for the element of surprise. They stopped their advance once they reached the edge of a growth of trees that hid them in order to take account of the situation. Hank tracked their progress from the school back in New York.
There was no one outside the facility and everything looked quiet. However, Ororo knew better than to trust appearances. She ordered Kurt to teleport near one of the buildings' windows and report back what he saw inside. With the sound of imploding air and a cloud of smoke, he materialized outside the building. Looking through a window, he saw an armed man walk by the darkened room inside.
"Storm," he whispered. There was no response on the communicator in his ear. "Storm," he repeated. "Ororo!" he said a little louder after a few seconds of silence.
He decided to try a different tact. He reached out with his mind and called "Rachel!" Still nothing. Whatever was blocking them from reading the mutants inside the building must also have blocked his communicator and Rachel's telepathic powers too.
He peered back through the window. He decided to scout on his own and then return to his team. He teleported into the dark room, melting into the shadows. Only his bright yellow eyes were visible to any passerby. Not hearing any noises from outside the room, he stuck his head out the door to see a long empty hallway. He decided to move in the same direction as the man he had observed.
Ororo tried to raise Kurt on her communicator, but could not. She repeated a few minutes later. Concerned, she told Rachel to try to contact him telepathically. Rachel tried for a few seconds, then shook her head. Ororo decided they could wait no longer. Kurt could have been captured by now. They had to strike before being discovered. Ororo, Jean-Paul and Rachel took to the air. Bobby created an ice ramp and skied along it in his ice form. With Piotr running in the forefront, they moved quickly to the building. Ororo hit the electronic lock on the door with a small bolt of lightning, frying it. Piotr then punched the door inward knocking it off its hinges. He caught it before it crashed to the floor and gingerly leaned it against a wall.
They entered the building and were met almost immediately by two armed guards. Piotr jumped in front of his team as they fired, using his metal form as a shield. Jean-Paul flew around the Russian taking out the guard on Piotr's right. Ororo sent a strong wind to take the other man head first into a wall. The man slumped to the floor. They continued their journey deeper into the building, taking out all opponents they encountered.
They eventually cleared their way to a large central room. They were greeted by ten men pointing AK-47s and flanked by a young woman and man both with blond spiky hair and cold blue eyes. They appeared to be siblings. Behind them stood a man in his 50s with thick salt and pepper hair and a bushy moustache. He wore an olive uniform that looked vaguely military, but had no markings or patches. He was stocky, but not overweight and of average height. With a word from his lips, the others attacked the invaders.
Kurt turned a corner and ran into a young woman running in the opposite direction. They separated and looked each other up and down. She stood 5' 6" to his 5' 9". She had long wavy hair the color of midnight that could have used a good brushing and eyes of emerald. She was slender, but muscular. Her skin was milky white as if she did not spend much time in the sun. She wore loose white pants and a white long sleeved shirt. Her shoes were lightweight canvas sneakers. The black leather gloves on her hands seemed out of place with the white uniform. She looked haggard, but brightened almost immediately.
"Inger frumos!" the woman exclaimed as if greeting an old friend. She broke into a wide smile. She did not seem phased by Kurt's appearance. Most people recoiled from his indigo fur-covered form complete with pointed ears, yellow eyes, three digit hands, two toed feet and blue spike tipped tail.
"Was?" Kurt asked surprised, slipping into his native language.
They stood blinking at each other, searching for a solution to their language barrier.
"English?" the girl asked.
"Ja. I mean, yes."
She reached down and pulled something out of the pocket of her pants.
"Take me here to end fighting," she said in an accent that wasn't quite Russian. "Up one floor and 218.3 meters to southwest."
She held up what looked like a cell phone. On the small display was a room that looked like a control center. There were several consoles with buttons and switches and several large display screens in the center of the room. There were also two armed men watching the screens intently.
Kurt hesitated. He didn't know this woman. It could be a trap. His mind raced with questions.
What fighting? Why does she ask me to take her somewhere and give me directions and an image of the room? Does she know I am a teleporter and can only teleport to places I can see or have seen? How can that be? Why should I trust her?
But, then that was what he did. He always trusted in the good in others. He held out his hand and she accepted it. In a flash, they stood in the center of the room she had shown him, each behind one of the guards. The two armed men barely had time to turn before Kurt punched the nearest one. The man fell to his knees, but wasn't down. Kurt gave him a right hook that sent him to the ground, out cold. He turned in time to see his companion give the guard in front of her a high kick to the face. The man went down immediately. This was no damsel in distress he decided.
The woman moved quickly to the console. With her back to him, Kurt noticed splotches of something red on the back of her shirt. She pressed several buttons, then turned a microphone to her and hit the button to broadcast to the entire facility.
She spoke into the microphone in Russian: "Viktor, your inhibitor is off. Free Mutant 2 from his mind control, if you can.
"Daniil, Koulakova, surrender! It is over!
"Guards, put down your weapons and leave. You will not be harmed. This is not your fight."
She turned back to Kurt, switching to English. "Please, ask your telepath to free Mutant 3 from her mind control," she beseeched him. She turned the microphone in his direction.
He approached the center screen, which showed the X-Men battling armed guards and several mutants. "Who is Mutant 3?" he inquired, taking in the chaos of the image before him.
His companion pointed to a woman with very short spiky blond hair who was throwing bolts of pale blue plasma at Jean-Paul.
Kurt leaned down and spoke into the microphone: "Marvel Girl, please try to free the fräulein with the spiky blond hair from her mind control." He turned towards the girl beside him. Now that he was so close, he could tell it was blood on her shirt, but who's he wondered.
Before he could say anything, she asked him, "Shall we go join them?" She gave him a sly smile and motioned her head towards the view screen.
He smiled back and offered his hand again. She stood and accepted. Suddenly they were in the room they had been watching from the control room.
"Daniil! Give up! It's over!" she shouted in Russian at a mountain of a man. The intended recipient of the decree almost matched Colossus' height and build. He could have passed for Piotr's brother. He had a similar high and tight haircut with hair the same shade of black. His eyes were a steel blue like the X-Man's, but had a cold, brutal edge to them. The only things that distinguished the two doppelgangers were Daniil's goatee and his lack of the ability to turn to metal. He spun at the sound of his name.
"Hah! It's not over, Witch, till I squeeze the life from your body!" he retorted.
He moved surprisingly fast for his size towards the girl who looked like a doll before the approach of this behemoth. He was more than twice her size and weight, but she did not flinch. Kurt feared he was about to witness this woman's death before he even learned her name. He looked around, but found the other X-Men occupied. Some of the guards had heeded the woman's warning and fled. The rest were battling the X-Men with the aid of the plasma wielding girl and the male mutant who could fly and had what appeared to be sonic powers. Kurt noticed the older man shouting orders and reasoned this must their leader.
He turned back to the two combatants in front of him just as they met. The girl was nimble. She sidestepped her attacker and swung around in a blink of an eye landing a punch to the man's back. He stumbled. He reached out wildly and almost caught hold of her long tresses. She came back with a side kick while he was still off balance. However, the man recovered quickly and backhanded her with one of his huge mitts. She was thrown backwards. Kurt teleported to catch her. He noticed blood on her lips as he helped her regain her balance.
"Why don't you go get your pig stickers, Witch? Then you might have a chance!" Daniil taunted.
Nearby, Mutant 2 stopped his attack and landed. He seemed dazed. He shook his head a few times as if to clear it.
The young telepath Viktor Petrov had managed to free the mind of the brainwashed mutant. He informed Ororo and Bobby that the man no longer posed a threat. Then, he looked around searching for someone he could not locate. His head snapped in the direction of the northwest door and he took off running.
Mutant 2 looked around trying to make sense of the scene before him. He spotted Mutant 3 and yelled "Nevena!" As he moved towards her, Bobby put up an ice wall between them believing he was going to the woman's aid. The blond male turned and hit the man of ice with a sonic blast. Their battle was renewed.
Kurt teleported in front of Daniil catching him with a strong upper cut to the chin, then teleported and punched him in the kidneys. The man ended up on his knees.
Suddenly the dark-haired girl went rigid; her eyes clouded over. A white aurora bordered in green encircled her eyes. "Nu…" she whispered. The trance only lasted a second, then her eyes and posture returned to normal. A determined look crossed her face.
Daniil was already rising. She ran straight for him. She blocked every attempt he made to strike her. Once she was right up against him, she placed her left foot on his right knee and climbed him like a cat scaling a tree, twisting around his body with lightning speed. A moment later, she was sitting on the man's shoulders. It was so fast; it was hard to follow her movements.
Kurt thought, this woman is highly trained in combat.
The woman raised both arms above her head. She brought all her weight down and struck the giant on top of the head with her hands interlocked in a fist. Daniil returned to his knees dazed. She did a back flip off his shoulders, then turned and ran towards the northwest door.
Kurt was as stunned as Daniil and stood frozen. The larger man recovered first and started after his nemesis.
"Colossus!" Kurt yelled at his teammate.
The metal man finished taking out a guard and turned to see what his fellow X-Man wanted. He realized what it was just in time to clothesline Daniil as the slightly smaller man ran past.
Kurt teleported to the door through which the fleeing woman had exited. She stopped when she reached a wide walkway that encircled a large open atrium. Kurt teleported right beside her to see what had caused her to pause.
Anton Koulakova—the graying man Kurt had seen giving orders—was floating above the open courtyard, clutching at his throat. A tall thin young man not much more than 17 years of age with shoulder length brown hair and hazel eyes stood on the walkway near him shouting in Russian: "…to die, you monster!"
"Viktor! Stop! Do not do this!" the girl yelled.
Kurt didn't understand the words, but from the tone of the voices, he could guess what was going on.
The young telepath turned to look at the girl. "Sonya! You of all people should know what a monster this man is! He deserves to die!"
Kurt did pick out the word 'Sonya'. He deduced that must be the girl's name.
Koulakova hung in the air gasping for breath. Sonya took a step towards Viktor.
"Viktor, don't do this. Koulakova is a monster and he will pay for his crimes. He will be locked away...far away from the sun. He will be a prisoner for a long, long time, longer than we were..."
She continued to approach the young man, her arms outstretched, speaking in a clear, calm voice. "But we are free now. Let us go downstairs and free your family. You can go home. Don't do this. Don't be like him."
"But..." Viktor looked at Koulakova, then back to Sonya.
"You don't want to live with Koulakova's blood on your hands. You are better than him. Just release him and I promise he will pay."
She had reached the boy by now and placed her hand on his shoulder. She felt his body trembling. He lowered his head and a tear ran down his cheek.
Koulakova inhaled deeply. He could breathe again. Viktor used his telekinetic powers to move the man back over the walkway to safety. He released his hold on his captive and he dropped several feet to the ground.
Sonya turned and walked to Koulakova who was using the walkway railing for support, still trying to catch his breath. She looked him square in the eyes and pulled her right arm back.
"This is for Viktor and the other mutants!" With all her might she punched him square on the jaw. The man staggered backwards.
"This one is for our families!" She hit him again.
"And this is for me!" A swift roundhouse kick and the older man was down for the count. She towered over him making sure he was really out.
"Sonya?" Kurt asked coming up behind her. She turned to him.
"Da. Sonya Pavlovich." She bowed slightly.
"I am—" he started, holding his hand out.
"The X-Man Nightcrawler," Viktor said in perfect English, approaching the couple. "We know or I should say Sonya knows. She knows all.
"I'm Viktor Petrov, by the way. Thank you for answering my psychic call." He shook Kurt's hand enthusiastically.
"I am clairvoyant, but I do not know all," Sonya corrected.
"Clairvoyant…That explains a lot," Kurt said under his breath.
"Well, shall we go release the prisoners and lock Koulakova up?" she asked. "Who wants to carry the dead weight?"
"I should probably get back to my team," Kurt replied.
"They are fine. Just cleaning up. See?"
Sonya held up her apparatus which displayed a scene of the X-Men. All remaining guards had been subdued. Colossus had Daniil on his knees and was showing him no mercy. The two blond spiky haired mutants were hugging each other and Rachel. Jean-Paul, Bobby and Ororo looked on.
"I can project my visions onto objects made of glass like this empty cell phone," she explained.
"Empty cell phone?"
"Da. I removed all the insides. Only the case and glass screen left. I don't like to be tracked."
"Easier to carry than crystal ball," Viktor added smiling.
"That never stops being funny," she sarcastically told the young man.
Kurt quickly changed subjects. "Well, since it looks like I'm not needed at the moment…'lay on, MacDuff.'"
"MacDuff? Who is this MacDuff?" Viktor asked confused.
"Shakespeare..."
Viktor still looked confused.
"Never mind. Lead on…" Kurt picked the unconscious man off the ground and slung him over his shoulder. Sonya led them to the nearest stairwell and headed down.
"So, you are the one that contacted Marvel Girl?" Kurt asked Victor.
"Da. It was Sonya's plan. She upset Koulakova to a point that he and Daniil beat her—"
Kurt stopped dead. "Was?! This monster beat you? That is why your back is covered in blood…He deserves no mercy!" His face distorted in anger, revealing his fangs beneath snarled lips.
"Nu, you do not mean that," Sonya soothed. "The wounds…are not that bad. I'll live. I had to distract them so Viktor could lower facility's shields and contact your telepath. Then, he raised them again so Koulakova would not suspect," Sonya explained as they resumed their journey down the stairs.
"So you were prisoners of Koulakova?"
Sonya answered: "Da. Anton Koulakova was Russian military until he decided to go freelance. He mostly handled Russian government's dirty work for them.
"First, he recruited Daniil, then deciding he liked using mutants for his missions, he kidnapped the Bulgarian siblings Nevena and Nedyalko and another Russian called Borislav who was sadly killed two years ago. They were not willing recruits, so he brainwashed them into obeying him. Then, he captured me, but was unable to brainwash me because my powers always show me the truth. Viktor was last to be captured. He was also able to beat the mind control. So, to keep us in line, Koulakova used inhibitors that blocked our powers when we didn't need them…" She pointed to a slender silver metal ring around Viktor's neck.
Viktor concentrated and the ring disintegrated. He wiped the pieces from his clothes. "Forgot about that…" he mumbled.
He took over the story: "He also used physical and mental punishment including kidnapping and threatening our families. He also held the families of the scientists working here hostage."
They had reached the bottom of the stairs and walked down a long hall in silence. Kurt couldn't find words. He had seen so much pain and suffering in his life, but it still chilled him to the bone when confronted with such atrocities.
They reached the end of the hall. There was a deserted desk with a computer on it and a closed metal door. Sonya stepped to the computer. She removed one of her gloves and touched the console. She closed her eyes for a second, then began typing. The door behind her opened. There were clicking noises from the corridor beyond the door, then silence. Sonya stood up, replaced her glove and started through the door. The two men followed. On each side of the corridor were jail cells. Some were empty; some contained frightened people who cowered in the back of their cells. Sonya and Viktor went down the row opening the cell doors and coaxing the people inside to come out.
Sonya helped Kurt place Koulakova on a cot in one of the empty cells. As she placed his arm on the cot, she removed a bracelet from his wrist and pocketed it without the X-Man noticing. Once everyone was free, she returned to the computer and entered the code to lock all the cells. Seven freed individuals now joined them. Viktor located his parents and younger brother. They hugged and all spoke at once.
"We should get back upstairs," Sonya suggested.
"Your family is not here?" Kurt asked.
"Nu, Koulakova threatened to capture them, but I always folded to his will before he did. They are still safe in Romania."
"Ahhh…I didn't think your accent was quite Russian. And you don't say nyet. So…you are Romanian."
"Da."
Kurt and Sonya led the track back down the hall and up the stairs. The prisoners asked lots of questions the whole way, so Kurt was unable to learn more about the mysterious Romanian. Viktor and Sonya explained to the ex-prisoners that the X-Men had defeated Koulakova and they were free now. The group finally reached the large room where the rest of the X-Men waited. They had been joined by two men and a woman in lab coats. When Kurt's group entered the room, the new arrivals let out cries of joy and ran to the ex-prisoners. Everyone was hugging and talking until the sound was almost unbearable.
Kurt and Sonya approached his fellow teammates. He introduced everyone and recounted what he had learned from Sonya. The decision was made to lock the guards and Daniil up in the cells with Koulakova.
Ororo contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. and offered them the prisoners. It turned out Koulakova and Daniil were on their list of wanted criminals and they were all too happy to take the Russian off the X-Men's hands. They dispatched a plane from one of their Eastern European bases to pick him and his men up.
The only thing left was to return Koulakova's victims to their rightful places. Since the scientists were all local, they requisitioned several of the compound's trucks for their journeys home.
Ororo offered the remaining mutants a place at the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning. All, but Sonya quickly refused. She seemed hesitant to give an answer and asked to speak to the X-Men's leader and Kurt alone. They walked outside into a hall where they could speak privately.
Sonya tentatively started: "As I have said, I am clairvoyant. Sometimes visions come to me in my dreams. I have had such a vision of Nightcrawler and myself. I'm not sure what it means, but I have a feeling that it is important."
"A vision about me? What did you see?" Kurt inquired.
"We are standing in front of an object floating in the air that shimmers like the sea in the morning sun. We are bathed in the light from this object. There is another with us. A man, I believe, in a strange outfit whose face is hidden from me. He also floats in the air. The vision only lasts a few seconds, but I have seen it many times. I get a feeling of urgency…like this event must come to fruition. It is as if…the world depends on it."
Ororo and Kurt were shocked. They weren't sure what to think.
"Can you show us the vision?" Kurt asked.
Sonya held up her broken cell phone and projected the image she had described onto its screen.
"I know…it sounds crazy. I wish I knew more. I wish I could see more. I had hoped that when I met Nightcrawler in person, I would learn more, but I haven't." She inclined her head and looked at Kurt with a questioning look. "But maybe..." She stepped directly in front of him. She removed her gloves and held up her bare hands. "May I?"
"I…" He leaned away from her unsure what she was asking.
"My connection is stronger when I am in physical contact with the subject. Bare skin against bare skin is best. If you will allow me—"
"Ja…" He leaned back towards her.
She placed her hands on one of the few areas of his body that was not covered by his uniform—his neck—and closed her eyes. She concentrated. No visions came to her. She moved her hands up till they rested on his cheeks, her fingers spread through his curly dark hair and encircling his pointed ears. She pulled his face towards her and leaned forward until their foreheads touched. Her warm breath rustled the fur on his face. Their breath became one. Kurt squeezed his eyes shut concentrating on the sensation of the heat of her hands against his skin.
She broke the bond after a few minutes and stepped back.
"I don't understand. I have always been able to read someone when touching them. I get nothing from our contact. It's very odd. I should have seen something. A glimpse of your past or future. I get nothing…" She sounded distraught.
"Well, if what you say is true and you and Nightcrawler do have some kind of connected destiny, then you must come to America. You can stay at the school and the X-Men can train you. Maybe as the event approaches, you will be able to see more," Ororo decreed.
"I agree," Kurt concurred.
"I—I guess so. But there are some things I must do first. There is a helicopter in the hanger. I will use it to return the other mutants to their homes. And I wish to spend a little time with my family. Then, I will make my way to your school."
"I can come get you when you are ready," Kurt offered.
"Not necessary. I will be on the doorstep of the school at 10:56AM on the 23rd."