Skylan D. Water: It was wasn't it? This one should be even better.
Summary: Quicksilver leads Magnetos and his Acolytes to Hero Prep and trap students and faculty, all except for a rag-tag group of mutant students and Kid Flash. Can these chosen few defeat Magneto and the Acolytes, or is Hero Prep doomed?
Main Characters: Kid Flash, Quicksilver, Wolverine, Sabertooth, Magneto, Mystique
Supporting Characters: Cyclopes, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Jean Grey, Magik, Colossus, Storm, Flash (Barry Allen), Batman, Agent 003
Barry Allen, also known as the Flash, was running for his life. Around him, cars were flying across the sky and metal was being twisted and wrenched toward the scarlet speedster. Flash dodged another car and tried to cut hard to the right, but he ran straight into a powerful fist and fell to the ground.
Sabertooth grinned as he lifted Barry Allen up over his head. Desperate to escape, Flash flailed at superhuman speeds, until finally Sabertooth lost his grip and Flash ran off, free…or so he thought.
A blue streak shot through Central City, chasing after Flash. The blue streak wasn't nearly as fast, but it was cutting Flash off, not chasing directly behind him. Once he was close enough, the streak crashed into Flash and the two super fast object tumbled across the street. Flash ended up on his back, Quicksilver standing over him panting.
The Flash, Scarlet Speedster, the defender of Central City, was broken. His costume was torn, shredded, blood soaked. Underneath bruises and cuts were clearly visible. The lightning bolt logo was partially torn off, fluttering in the breeze.
Quicksilver brought down his fist hard, slamming Flash into the pavement. Quicksilver through yet anther punch, breaking Flash's jaw. The next punch gave him a black eye. The one after that tore his mask. The following one broke his nose. By now Flash's face was an unrecognizable head covered in a torn mask and blood. Quicksilver sent one, final punch, caving in Flash's skull…and killing him.
"Congratulations Pietro," Magneto said, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "You've gotten your revenge."
Quicksilver shrugged off his fathers hand. "This isn't the revenge. This is just the message."
Batman entered the office, finding it to be pitch black. He attempted to switch to night vision, but for some reason his night vision lenses were just as blind as his own eyes.
"Dark lights," a voice explained from the darkness. "Rather than give off light, they give off darkness. A friend of mine used to call the "darks"."
Batman showed no reaction to the voice's words. "What's this about 003?"
Even though he couldn't see him, Batman heard Agent 003 heard tense and loosen his body. "There's trouble down on the surface. It…concerns someone you know."
"I knew it. I knew this would happen if I left Gotham. I told you, I'm the only one who can handle that responsibility. If you hadn't–"
"Save your breath Bruce," Agent 003 sighed. "Batwoman, Oracle, and Robin have things well under control in Gotham. But…we have other problems."
A monitor flickered to life, somewhat illuminating the room and showing Agent 003's silhouette. Batman watched as the screen showed, first a shot of Central City taken form the air. The screen then showed cars shake as a red streak shot by too fast for even the trained eye to track. Batman knew it was the Flash, but what he didn't know was why the Flash's city was of any current importance to Agent 003.
"What's this?" Batman asked, losing his patience with 003. He'd never quite gotten along with the headmaster of Hero Prep.
"Wait for it," the agent told the Caped Crusader.
A blue streak shot across the screen, and the shot paused. With technology that no country had access to, the shot was enhanced until Batman could just make out who the streak was.
"The student who disappeared last week," Batman remembered. "Quicksilver."
The silhouette that was 003 nodded. "Up until now, he'd been missing. But, it would seem he found some new friends."
The screen clicked to a picture of Quicksilver alongside four other figures Batman knew from his all-encompassing database: Pyro, Mystique, Sabertooth, and Magneto. Batman tensed. If Quicksilver was working with Magneto, there was a very good chance he would show Magneto how to find Hero Prep, and the Master of Magnetism could easily tear apart the flying school.
"Have you informed the others?" Batman asked.
003 shook his head. "No, although Xavier already knows."
[Hello 003. Hello Batman.]
"I'll never get used to telepathy," 003 laughed.
A device on 003's desk chirped, drawing the headmaster's attention. With a click of a button, 003 checked what was wrong. The silhouette tensed.
"Xavier, Batman, inform the staff we have a problem and get the students to the gym, they'll be safe there," 003 told them.
"What's going on?" Batman asked.
003 opened his mouth, but Xavier beat him to it. [A magnetic disturbance is approaching the school.]
"That's it, we're going to Plan X," 003 announced. With a click of a microphone his voice was projected across the school. "Staff and students, this is Agent 003. We have a code V. I repeat, we have a code V, this is not a drill. All classes are on Plan X, report to the gym immediately. All classes are on Plan X, report to the gym immediately."
003 shut down the mic and turned to Batman. "Get down there and make sure everything goes okay, then get with the other Leaguers."
But Batman was already gone. 003 sighed. "This is what I get for working with superheroes. Somewhere 002, I know you're laughing at me."
"Plan X?" Rogue asked, confused.
"That's right you weren't here on orientation day," Shadowcat remembered. "Plan X is an extreme situation where everybody but the Leaguers has to get to the gym for safety."
"We gotta get to the gym," Cyclopes said.
"Run and hide while the grown ups have all the fun?" Wolverine grumbled. "I hate this school."
"The school hates you too Wolvie," Kid Flash chuckled and gave the feral mutant a quick noogie before dashing safely out of range of Wolverine and his claws.
Wolverine growled. "Shouldn't you be in the gym?"
"Yeah, except they sent me to come look for you guys. Oh, they also sent–"
"Oh! Glad I found you guys," Nightcrawler said as he appeared in a puff of smoke.
"–him," Kid Flash finished.
"Alright, let's get to the gym before it goes to X Mode," Kid Flash told the others.
The group made their way to the gym as quickly as they could, but the found the doors shut tight and the entire building glowing with a blue forcefield. Wolverine growled in anger and slashed his claws across the forcefield.
"We're locked out. The place is sealed, even against telepathy and teleportation," Cyclopes said.
"How about supersonic vibrations?" Kid Flash asked with a smirk, and his body became blurred. His hand reached out to try and vibrate into the gym, but a charge of electricity ran through his body and he jerked back.
"Okay, not getting in that way either," Kid Flash said.
"Idiot," Wolverine mumbled.
"Guys," Jean Grey spoke up. "I think we have other problems."
The group turned around to face five figures levitating towards the school. Wolverine sniffed the air and snarled. The other mutants of the group tensed up, and Kid Flash scratched his head in confusion.
"Did I miss something?" Kid Flash asked.
Wolverine's claws involuntarily shot out of his hands, but he didn't notice the pain. "Magneto. Somethin's not right though…"
"What is it?" Rogue asked.
"I ain't smellin his old crew…all I'm getting is–"
Wolverine stopped as a smell entered his nose that he almost recognized. A memory he didn't even know he had came into his head.
"You okay Jimmy?" my brother asked me.
I wasn't feeling too okay. I'd just killed another man with those…those…things that came out of my hands. They hurt so much coming out…they hurt more coming back in.
The door to our cell opened, and two men stepped in. I immediately cowered behind my brother, hoping he could protect me like he always could. He snarled at the men, but they didn't flinch.
"Hello James. Hello Victor," one of the men greeted.
"What do you want with us?" I squeaked.
"We here to make you better," the man told them. "To help you take your abilities to the max. Victor, come with us."
The other man grabbed my brother, and even though he struggled, kicked and even bit, the man didn't lose his grip.
"Victor!" I cried after my brother, but they were already taking him away.
"Victor!" I cried again.
"Jimmy!" my brother called after me.
I laid there in the cell, crying and wanting my brother back. But after a few hours, I knew, I would never get my brother back. Never.
"Move!" Cyclopes ordered, snapping Wolverine out of his memories. The group of students dove into the bushes as Magneto and those with him landed on the school grounds.
"Fools," Magneto laughed. "Practically this entire facility is made of metal. I'll tear it apart as soon as Xavier is dead."
Quicksilver looked to the gym. "In there…Kid Flash is in there. The coward. At least the real Flash had the courage to face me before I killed him."
Kid Flash heard Quicksilver's words and stepped out of the bushes before anybody could stop him.
"You what?" Kid Flash snarled.
Quicksilver smiled. "Speak of the devil. I came for my rematch buddy. This time, instead of race, we fight."
"You really wanna do that?" Kid Flash asked. "Already forget what happened last time?"
"FLASH! GET DOWN!" a voice barked, and the speedster obeyed as explosions lit up the area. Batman swung in on a grappling line, followed by Green Arrow, Mr. Fantastic, and Martian Manhunter.
"You've got exactly thirty seconds to retreat," Batman told Magneto. "Then this gets ugly."
Magneto just laughed. "I think you'll find you're no in any position to give orders Batman. Didn't you learn you're lesson the last time?"
Batman threw a batarang, which Magneto tried to intercept. But for some reason he had no control over the throwing weapon. The blade sunk into Magneto's shoulder, and then he learned why.
"Actually, I did," Batman said. "High density plastic works just as well as metal."
Magneto pulled out the batarang with a grimace. "Very well. But you forget what you're standing on."
Batman remembered too late that pretty much the entire Hero Prep facility was made of metal. Even underneath the grass, there was a cold metal surface. The floor rippled and shook, and suddenly Batman was entangled in a metal cobweb that would take even him time to escape.
The three other leaguers attacked, and Magneto smiled. Batman had come prepared, but Green Arrow hadn't. Magneto easily sent all of his arrows back at him, until the emerald archer found himself pinned to a wall by his own arrows.
Martian Manhunter attacked, but a wall of flame from Pyro's lighters put him out of action. Pyro laughed and kicked the fallen Martian. "And they said you were tough."
The only Leaguer still standing, Mr. Fantastic attacked with everything he had. His left arm wrapped around Mystique and threw her into Pyro, while his right arm shot after Magneto himself. His arm was snatched, however, by Quicksilver, who gave an evil grin before taking off with Mr. Fantastic's arm. Sabertooth grabbed the heroes legs so he would just get dragged, and soon Quicksilver had stretched Mr. Fantastic across the school, tangling him in everything imaginable. With a laugh, Quicksilver plucked a taut cord of Mr. Fantastic's abdomen, and it gave a satisfying thrum.
Kid Flash ran for his life, smacking into Sabertooth after about five feet. He groaned as the feral mutant lifted him over his head.
"Put him down!" Cyclopes ordered, revealing his and the other students' position. He fired off an optic blast, and Sabertooth was sent flying back ward, dropping Kid Flash. The young speedster staggered to his feet as the others readied themselves.
Kid Flash shook off his headache. "You guys take the others, Quicksilver is mine."
He shot off, leaving the mutant students to fend for themselves. Wolverine's claws shot out, Cyclopes held his hand ready on his visor's controls. Storm's eyes turned white and lightning sparked across her body. Colossus turned to his metal form. The four evil mutants also readied for a fight.
"Take them down!" Cyclopes yelled.
Wolverine jumped forward, but was tackled by Sabertooth. The feral mutant was only slightly bigger than Wolverine, but he felt much heavier. Wolverine shoved his opponent off of him with difficulty and slashed three deep cuts that went to the bone. But where white bone should've been, Wolverine saw only shiny silver metal.
Sabertooth grinned and gave wolverine a punch that left his head spinning. He followed by sinking his own talons into Wolverine's stomach and smashing him into the ground. Wolverine forced Sabertooth off of him and rolled away while his stomach healed. Sabertooth jumped forward, but was met with a kick to the face and an elbow to the chest, sending him to the ground. Wolverine jumped on top of him and slashed across his chest, but the cuts healed just as quickly.
Sabertooth kicked him off and lunged forward, pinning Wolverine to the ground. Wolverine tried to head butt his opponent, but found it hurt him more than Sabertooth. Sabertooth smiled and kneed Wolverine in the groin. Angry now, Wolverine stabbed Sabertooth in the throat, and blood splattered everywhere. Sabertooth rolled off of Wolverine, clutching his throat.
Wolverine jumped onto Sabertooth's back and stabbed his opponent in the stomach. Sabertooth roared in anger and hurled his opponent across the school yard before jumping after him.
Colossus, Rogue, Storm, and Nightcrawler surrounded Mystique, who only smiled and drew two pistols from her belt and open fired. Rogue jumped behind Colossus while Storm let the winds deflect bullets away from her and Nightcrawler teleported out of the way.
Colossus charged forward, and threw a powerful punch toward the changeling. Mystique dodged effortlessly and kicked off of Colossus's chest before running across the yard and into one of the classrooms. Rogue ran after her, Nightcrawler close behind.
Rogue found herself inside Batman's classroom, the lights off and all desks overturned. The only thing that kept her alive was that the guns made a noise as the safeties disengaged. Rogue dove behind a desk just as bullets peppered her position, and Mystique jumped out of her hiding place to search for Rogue. Rogue however, took the offensive by jumping onto Mystique's back and wrapping her legs around her waist while her arms strangled the blue skinned mutant.
Mystique didn't panic as her oxygen supply was cut off, and calmly fired a bullet into each of Rogues knees. The girl let out a scream of pain and fell the floor, and Mystique turned to her with her pistols raised.
"No!" a German accent cried, and Mystique turned to see a blue furred mutant enter the class. Nightcrawler didn't know it, but he was looking at his mother.
Mystique however, did know her connection to Nightcrawler and froze at the sight of him, giving him and opening.. He teleported out of her line of fire and reemerged behind her, giving her a powerful mule kick while simultaneously whipping the gun out of her left hand with his tail.
Down to one gun, Mystique fired again and again at Nightcrawler as he teleported all over the room. He disappeared again, and the next sensation Mystique felt was a fist hitting her in the back of the neck. Landing on all fours, Nightcrawler used his tail to disarm Mystique of her other weapon. She drew a knife and stabbed, which he nimbly avoided. He knocked the weapon out of her hand with a roundhouse kick and jabbed, hitting her in the face.
She knocked him to the ground with an uppercut and stomped down hard, but he was gone. Nightcrawler landed behind her again and jabbed, hitting her across the face. Before she could recover, he'd already teleported in front of her and kicked her in the stomach. She doubled over, and Nightcrawler performed a back flip kick, hitting her under the chin and sending her to the ground. Mystique's figure lay motionless on the ground, and Nightcrawler figured he'd won.
Gently as he could, he lifted the bleeding Rogue in his arms and teleported out. When she was sure they were gone, Mystique stood up and recovered her weapons. She wasn't done yet.
Storm, Colossus, and Magik were hiding behind a forcefield Magik had created while Pyro sent a column of flame at them.
"Anytime you guys feel like joining in, I'm all for it," Magik grunted.
"You got it sis," Colossus smiled and jumped out from behind the forcefield in his armored form. The flames licked across his body, but to no effect. With one punch from the armored mutant, Pyro was on his knees gasping for breath. Colossus lifted Pyro into the air but was knocked back as the fire-jockey sent out a powerful wave of heat.
Flames were blazing all around, and they were suddenly swept toward Pyro as he held his arms into the air. The flames formed together into a massive fire tornado, which threatened to tear the school apart. It was met however, by a fierce thunderstorm that quickly put out the flames with its rain and hail. Storm struggled to keep the weather attack going as she turned it to a blizzard, blanketing Pyro in a thick layer of snow. Magik fired a blast of energy, which froze the snow into a solid block of ice, trapping Pyro inside. Storm collapsed, exhausted, and the blizzard died down.
"That is the ugliest ice sculpture I've ever seen," Colossus laughed.
The ice suddenly shattered and Pyro fell to the floor, free. Mystique jumped onto the scene guns already blazing. Magik blocked bullets directed at her with a forcefield, and the projectiles pinged harmlessly off of Colossus.
"That all you got?" Colossus asked.
Mystique jumped up and over Magik's forcefield ad tackeld the young sorceress. The two rolled across the yard, and Colossus was suddenly looking at two Magiks punching each other trying to get the upper hand.
"Help!" Magik yelled.
"Don't listen to her!" the other Magik yelled. "She's a fake and I can prove–"
The second Magik was silenced by a powerful jab to the face. She colloapsed to the ground, unconscious. The victorious Magik smirked, but was suddenly punched in the jaw by Colossus.
"My sister may be good with magic," Colossus said, "but she's a lousy fighter."
Mystique reverted to her normal appearance and grimaced just before Colossus punched her lights out. The mutant reverted to his human form, but too early. A ball of flame hit him from behind, knocking him to the ground with a shout of pain.
"You're done Magneto," Cyclopes exclaimed and fired an optic blast, but metal floor panel blocked it. Several more panels were ripped out of the ground and hurled and Cyclopes, but Shadowcat tackled Cyclopes and the metal projectiles passed harmlessly through them. Magneto fired a magnetic blast at the ground, and a ripple went through the ground, knocking Cyclopes and Shadowcat off their feet.
A light post was torn from the ground and hurled at the two, but was caught mid-flight by another invisible force. Jean struggled against Magneto's own power as they fought for control of the light post. While he was distracted, Cyclopes fired another optic blast, which knocked Magneto out of the sky. All the metal that had been floating around dropped to the ground, and Magneto lay motionless on the floor.
"Did we win?" Shadowcat asked.
Three more sign and light posts were torn out of the ground, one wrapping around each of the three heroes. Before Jean could try to break Magneto's control, Magneto used his powers to yank off Cyclopes' visor, and he accidentally hit Jean with an optic blast.
"Jean!" Cyclopes yelled with his eyes now squeezed shut.
Shadowcat phased through her bindings and ran towards Magneto, his attacks doing nothing against her. She got close enough to throw a punch and tried, but he blocked it and kneed her in the stomach. The old man wasn't as helpless as he look. He followed up by hitting her across the face with a right hook and finished his attack with an uppercut to the stomach.
Shadowcat fell to the floor, stunned. Bits and pieces of metal formed over Magneto's fist, and he knocked out Shadowcat with one armored punch.
Kid Flash crashed through the library doors, Quicksilver right behind him.
"I gotta admit Kid, you suck at this. Even against four others, your old man lasted longer than this. But in the end, I still killed him!"
Kid Flash stood uneasily. "You keep saying that. You know what? I don't believe you. You killed the Flash? Prove it!"
Quicksilver smiled. "With pleasure."
He dashed to the nearest computer and with superhuman typing speed brought it to one particular page.
"Take a look here."
Kid Flash looked to the computer, and immediately wished he hadn't. There, on screen, was a picture of Barry Allen's corpse, Quicksilver standing victoriously over it, Flash's mask in his hand.
"I still have that too," Quicksilver chuckled. He dug what looked like a red rag out of his pocket. "Here, catch!"
Quicksilver tossed the rag at Kid Flash, who caught it with one hand. It wasn't a rag. It was the tattered mask of the man who had been a father to Kid Flash for as long as he could remember.
All I did was cry. That's pretty much all I remember anyway. Crying. The lightning bolt struck, shattered a rack of chemicals and fried my parents to a crisp. The chemicals spilled all over me. They burned into my skin, energy coursed through me like fire. I was three years old.
And I cried. I was young, but smart enough to know that after half an hour of crying and begging for the charred corpse of my father to get up, that he wasn't getting up. I wanted the comfort of my mother's arms, to escape the pain. But she didn't get up either. There wasn't much of her left anyway. And I cried. Pain and crying is all I remember feeling that day. And then, he came.
One moment he wasn't there, the next he was. I thought he was an angel. Didn't know he was just fast. He took me in his arms, told me it would be okay. Told me it would be okay again and again, like if he said it enough it would be true. I just hugged him and cried.
Barry Allen, the Flash, my uncle, became the closet thing I had to a father.
"You…" Kid Flash choked on his words, tears threatening to surface.
Quicksilver dashed forward, punching Kid Flash in the gut and knocking him back a bit. Kid Flash fell to his knees, the mask clenched tightly in his fist. Quicksilver figured he'd won. But before he could even think about coming at Kid Flash again, there was a hand clenching his throat tightly, choking him.
"Monster…" Kid Flash seethed, and threw him against a wall. "I'LL TEAR YOU APART!"
Wolverine, his uniform now in tatters, slashed with both claws, cutting the major arteries in Sabertooth's thighs. While those cuts healed, Wolverine stabbed Sabertooth in the stomach and tried to kick him in the head.
Sabertooth caught the kick and threw Wolverine into a wall. He lunged forward and jabbed Wolverine hard in the gut.
"Adamantium enhanced fists hurt, don't they runt?" Sabertooth snarled.
Wolverine responded by growling and stabbing Sabertooth in the eye and sinking his claws into the villain's brain. The mutant roared in pain and kicked Wolverine across the yard, smashing him into the dorms. Wolverine felt the pain of going through a wall as he stood and surveyed his surroundings. My room…
Sabertooth leapt into the room and grabbed Wolverine by the throat before smashing him into any object within reach. First it was the bed post, which splintered on impact. Next it was the window, which left cuts all over Wolverine's face and back. Then it was a wall, which cracked when Wolverine was slammed into it. Finally, Sabertooth threw his prey into the closet doors, which broke apart when Wolverine hit him.
Wolverine was in his closet, dazed and with more broken bones then he could name. But even still, he could see the Muramasa blade in the corner of the closet, safely sheathed.
Just as Sabertooth grabbed Wolverine's ankle, Wolverine grabbed the deadly sword and unsheathed it. He was yanked and thrown out the window by Sabertooth, who jumped down after him. Wolverine hit the ground first, and pointed the sword to the sky. Sabertooth saw the blade and dodged, but Wolverine still managed to give him a cut on his side.
Sabertooth roared, but to his surprise, the cut didn't heal. Wolverine slowly stood, sword raised.
"What is that thing?" Sabertooth growled.
"A very handy weapon right now," Wolverine told him.
Sabertooth gave a low snarl and looked to the edge of the school, only a short dash away. Out of options, the mutant ran for the edge and jumped off. Wolverine ran forward and watched his enemy plummet until he was out of sight.
"Good riddance…" Wolverine muttered, and searched for a word he could call his adversary. "…bub."
Pyro stood over Colossus in his human form, ready to finish him. Nightcrawler, still carrying Rogue, appeared on the scene just in time. He couldn't set Rogue down, getting her up was hard enough the first time. So he teleported next to Pyro with Rogue, and once they were next to him Rogue took off her glove and gave Pyro a quick slap across the face. He fell to the ground, and Rogue felt his powers, memories, and the like flow into her.
"Nice vun!" Nightcrawler congratulated. "I vas just going to kick him."
Quicksilver rolled across the ground, his costume in tatters, his face and body bruised, and blood running from his nose. Kid Flash walked up to him, barely a scrath on him.
"You killed the only real father I ever had," Kid Flash said, and punched Quicksilver in the jaw.
"You took pictures of his corpse, put them online, for kicks," Kid Flash growled and kicked Quicksilver in the groin. The evil speedster moaned. He wasn't even trying to fight back anymore.
Kid Flash bent down to Quicksilver and grabbed the collar of his costume with his left hand while his right blurred with vibration. Very slowly, he vibrated his hand through Quicksilver's head so that his fist was in his skull, still vibrating too fast to be solid, and so far not harming Quicksilver.
"I could kill you right now if I wanted," Kid Flash threatened. "And maybe I don't even have to want to. My arm could just get tired. God knows you deserve it."
Fear was the only thing in Quicksilver's eyes. Kid Flash held his position for a few seconds…and then reluctantly retracted his hand, sparing Quicksilver's life. Still angry, Kid Flash stood.
"You killed the first Flash, but he's won't be the last one," Kid Flash promised. "Good night, and good riddance."
Kid Flash kicked Quicksilver in the head, knocking him unconscious.
Nightcrawler, was on his own against the master of magnetism, dodging debris and shrapnel that swirled around the villain.
"You cannot beat me child," Magneto stated.
Nightcrawler jumped forward, but was smacked backward by a light post like it was a baseball bat.
"You can't even touch me."
Magneto sent a sign post flying, and it hit Nightcrawler over the head, knocking him to the ground. The teleporter tried to stand, but was smacked back to the ground by a floor panel. Magneto laughed and continued to batter the blue-furred hero, who was too weak now to try and escape.
He was so busy pounding Nightcrawler, he didn't see the clawed figure lunge at him until it was too late. Magneto lost control of every object as three claws shot out of his chest.
"Bub…" a gruff voice grunted, "you don't mess with the elf unless you want me to be your new best friend."
The claws were pulled out of Magneto, and the dying supervillain turned to see Wolverine, who had been speared by a sign post before he had gotten to Magneto. With a loud grunt, he pulled out the makeshift spear and tossed it aside.
"Who do you think won this fight?" Wolverine asked Magneto's corpse. "Must be me, because I'm still breathing."
The heroes of the Plan X were relaxing in the rec room along with Alfred and Aunt May.
"Well, we know who to call next time there's a Plan X," Aunt May laughed as she mended Wolverine's costume.
"Oh no, you can still leave it to the Leaguers," Logan said. "That was a one time thing."
"Aw, come on," Shadowcat laughed as Alfred bandaged her head. "It was kinda fun."
"I seem to recall you getting knocked squirt," Wolverine chuckled.
"And I got shot," Rogue reminded, rubbing her healed knees. She'd have to thank Wolverine for letting her borrow his healing factor.
"I had to get a new visor," Cyclopes added.
"I experienced third degree burns," Colossus put in.
"Do you know how many buildings were trashed?" Magik asked.
Shadowcat only shrugged. "Like I said, fun."
Wally West stood in front of the mirror checking out his new Flash costume. He had dropped the "Kid" from his name and gotten a new costume, all in honor of his fallen mentor. But that wasn't all…
"Ready to go?" a voice asked.
Flash jumped. "Headmaster 003, I-I didn't know you'd be sending me off."
003 laughed lightly. "It's not everyday a student leaves early without swearing to destroy us. You sure you want to leave? We could still teach you quite a bit. You could become a great hero."
Flash shrugged. "Much as I'd like to prove there's more to me than running fast, I have to go. With Barry…gone, criminals in Central City are gonna go nuts. The city needs a hero…and I'm all they've got."
003 nodded his understanding. "I know. Take care of the city, and yourself."
Flash promised he would and followed 003 out the dorms and out to the waiting transport. Flash's school friends were there to send him off as well. After hugging Batgirl goodbye and receiving a (painful) slap on the back from Iron Man, Flash boarded the transport just before the ramp closed though, Flash caught Iron Man's final goodbye.
"Where ever he is now, Allen would be proud of you."
"Well that could've gone better," Batman stated. "They tore us apart."
"I know," 003 said blankly. "Plan X was never meant to be for the protection of the students Bruce. It was a test. Are they organized and disciplined enough to get to the gym before it enters lockdown? And if they aren't would they cower in fear of any invading supervillain, or would they fight back. Both Flash and the other "X-Men" took this test."
"They're inexperienced and they put their lives at risk," Batman said.
"Exactly. They passed with flying colors."
Next time at Hero Prep: Mr. Terrific's top students, known by their group name "The Ultimates", take a field trip to the surface, where their powers are put to the test against a supervillain who has New York in a grip of fear. to defeat them, they'll need the help of New York's mysterious new superhero, known only as Daredevil.