The X Conspiracy Chapter 2

"Trevor Fitzroy," Hank McCoy stated warily. He, Nightcrawler and Storm had gathered in the War Room in the subbasement of the Xavier compound. Storm had contacted other members of the team who were away on missions or vacations. An attack at the mansion was very serious and with the Professor in Washington she had thought it best to have as many X-Men home as possible.

Nightcrawler crouched low near a computer console having recovered quickly from the fight. His lamp-like eyes swung in Hank's direction questioningly.

"I caught his scent right before the lightning struck," Beast explained stroking his indigo whiskers, "He must have teleported them away." Storm frowned. No question Shaw's White Rook would have been there because it explains how they got onto the grounds in the first place. So why hadn't they seen him during the fight? Or had he been hidden by Lady Mastermind? No, she thought, Kurt knocked her out and her illusions had faded, so where did Fitzroy go during the attack?

"We need to check the grounds and the entire facility," Storm announced. "Hank, activate security measures to scan for any foreign devices, Kurt and I will check for anything out of place."

"You suspect Shaw ordered Fitzroy to plant cameras or a bomb?" Kurt Wagner asked in his German accent. He moved from the console toward Ororo.

"I do not know for certain, Kurt," Ororo said turning to leave. "Though I am sure they either left something behind or took something with them."

Scott Summers pulled his cherry red mustang into the garage next to the mansion. His wife, Jean, gave him a reassuring smile as they stepped out of the sports car. They were very accustomed to being called away from vacations due to emergencies. It was part of the job, but he could not help feeling more irritated as this was their anniversary.

Sensing her husband's negative mood, Jean tele-sent him an image of the two of them making up for lost time in the hot tub. Scott smiled, his eyes hidden behind ruby quartz shades.

They entered the mansion and were immediately greeted by Nightcrawler. "Sorry you had to cut your time short, but we have a situation." Kurt brought them up to speed on the attack, Fitzroy, and their search of the compound. "I have been checking the rooms systematically but have found nothing odd," the blue skinned mutant informed. "Hank conducted sensor sweeps and found no foreign devices or explosives, but Ororo feels certain something is not right."

"She should," Scott said heading to the elevator that led to the subbasement, "because from what you have told me it seems as if they were only trying to distract you. We had better check the lower levels as well, although if a bomb was planted down there sensors would detect it immediately."

"Beast is checking the lab and armory," Nightcrawler said casting his yellow eyes over them. "I should probably check the hangar." Scott nodded in agreement.

"While you are there, Jean check Cerebro," Scott said turning to his wife. Cerebro was a large room where a powerful telepath could amplify their powers. It was most often used to find other mutants by the Professor, Jean, or Emma. "I will check the Danger Room. The elevator came to a silent halt and the three X-men parted ways to continue their search. Scott threw a quick look over his should and caught a glimpse of Kurt bounding down the hall around a corner and out of sight. He turned his attention to his wife. Jean's fiery red hair cascaded down her back, swaying slightly with her steady gait. I must be the luckiest bastard alive, he thought to himself before rounding the corner and entering the X-Men's training facility.

The door to the Danger room hissed as it slid open and he crossed the threshold. He found himself on city street, busy with pedestrians. To an average person this sight would have been startling and seemingly impossible but Scott knew better. As field leader of the X-Men, Scott, code named Cyclops because of the destructive energy that erupted from his eyes, was very familiar with the alien technology of the Danger Room. Hard light holograms that were ultra realistic and robots made up this phony environment. Still, with all it false hoods Cyclops had to appreciate how real it all seemed. The feeling of appreciation was quickly replaced by annoyance at the thought that someone left a program running. These sophisticated holograms required a lot of energy to sustain, and he remembered ho how pale the Professor had turned when he opened the last power bill. Seething he crossed a grassy patch beside the sidewalk to find the control panel with intentions of deactivating the scenario. Before he could take three steps a loud crash grabbed his attention.

Standing well over fifty feet tall, a gigantic chrome robot with glowing red eyes appeared from behind an office building across the street. "Halt mutant." The robot droned with seeming indifference.

"Sentinels," Cyclops hisses, "I hate Sentinels." He turned to face the behemoth face to face and eyed it cautiously. Although this was a simulation the robots could still cause bodily harm especially if the safety protocols were deactivated, but only Wolverine trained in that manner. Removing his glasses he unleashed a powerful blast of crimson energy from his eyes. The beam struck the robot's right shoulder and Cyclops was pleased to see that the arm was completely severed. The huge arm crashed to the pavement sending the fake pedestrians fleeing in simulated terror. Cyclops prepared to assault the soulless thing again but it was faster than he expected. The automaton raised it's left arm in a flash its palm exploding sending a bright hot flash of light in Cyclops's direction. Startled he attempted to dodge it with no avail. The wave of light singed the blue sports coat Cyclops had been wearing and stunned him badly. "Shit," Cyclops swore. He cringed in pain and inspected the damage. He had minor burns to his shoulder and his jacket was nearly disintegrated. Someone had definitely turned the safety protocols off. He rolled quickly on his side simultaneously firing a devastating blast hitting the advancing Sentinel's bucket shaped head, downing it permanently.

Climbing to his feet, Cyclops stalked over to the control panel that was hidden behind a poster of Beyonce. He was troubled to discover that the panel was unresponsive to his command codes. Cursing once more, Cyclops whirled around and spied two hulking Sentinels round the corner a block away. "Great," he said aloud. If he had his uniform on he would have been able to contact his teammates with his com link. He needed help. He could not even get the door of the Danger Room to reopen. He was trapped.