Chapter 4
"Um, you know Professor, I'm really not wanting to go in there," Talon pointed into the Danger Room.
Kurt piped up, "Don't worry dude. We do this all the time."
Talon turned to the rest of the older students, "Yeah I know you guys don't mind, but just looking at the room, how do I know I'm coming out? I mean there could be laser turrets, with long snake-like arms that have claws on the end and trap doors and spikes in the floor, and- and- well the list is endless!"
The students were all glancing at each other as he finished. Talon caught the looks and turned to the Professor. "What's so funny?"
Xavier, suppressed a smile. "Talon, why don't you come up with me to the control room where you can watch the first round of training."
Talon, still puzzled, followed the Professor.
Scott took the lead. "Alright X-Men, let's show him how it's done."
"Hey Summers," Evan called, "don't lose your head. Talon might need it when he comes back." He laughed at Scott's expression.
"Did I miss something?" Jean asked, looking from one to the other.
"Yeah, what's so funny?" Rogue demanded.
"Oh! You should have seen it!—" The GO alarm cut Evan off.
X X X
"So would you care to join them?" Professor Xavier asked, as the students down below finished a short level and the Danger Room simulation came to a halt.
"Take ten, X-Men," Logan said into the microphone.
Several of the students waved at the observer platform, then sat down or relaxed against the wall. Evan made his way over to Rogue and Kitty and did an animated re-enactment of some story. From his gestures, Talon suspected that it was his unconventional use of Scott's head, earlier that day. Talon glanced over to where Scott was watching Evan. Jean had walked up to the laughing trio and Evan began the rehersal all over again.
Oh boy! Talon thought. He was going into a "Danger Room" with a guy who just had his ego bruised and could literally glare laser bolts!
"Well, ok... How does this work?" Talon asked with more confidence than he felt.
"Follow me," Logan said, starting for the door with Talon in step behind him.
Xavier keyed the microphone as the doors closed after them. "Stand by, Talon is going to join you." He then wheeled over to the computer and started making adjustments.
X X X
Logan paused outside the doors and turned to Talon, "You ready then?"
Talon had changed into the uniform Xavier had made for him. It was a black uniform with X patches on the shoulders and belted with an X marked buckle. Logan had said it would be easier for the other students to reconize him when the Danger Room went into full swing.
Talon felt very self-conscious in the thin material. There was no reassuring weight of armor panels or pouches of tools, or any place to carry the water bottle he now held in his hand. Unconsciously his hand went to his shoulder and dropped back to his side empty.
This is so embarrassing, he thought to himself. One thing to say for the suit however, it fit, right down to the bulge over his stomach. The material out-lined him almost too well. The boots, although the proper size, would need another week to break in, and already there were points threating to blister. With a sinking feeling, Talon knew there were things he couldn't hide forever. He leaned against the wall and pulled off one boot, then the other.
"Thanks, but these don't fit." Talon handed the new boots back to Logan, then pulled his old pair back on.
"Good luck." Logan took in Talon's raptor feet without raising a hair and noted the meticulous care Talon took when lacing up his boots.
Talon tied a bandana around his head as he lumbered towards the student group, and slid his glasses into place.
"What's wrong, bad hair day?" Rogue asked.
Scott stepped forward as Talon reached the group. Knowing Scott was the leader, yet not knowing how the command structure worked, Talon came to attention before Scott with his hands folded behind his back. Scott's "tough leader" composure faltered at the show of respect.
"Relax dude, this isn't the Marines ya' know," Kurt said, before Scott found his voice.
"Yeah, if you act like that, then 'fearless leader' might start getting ideas for the rest of us," Rogue chimed in with a southern drawl and a chuckle.
Kitty gasped in mock terror. Scott's face hardened. Talon relaxed his stance and let his arms fall to his sides. A small grin pulling at the side of his mouth as he took in the facial nuances of the other students.
"Is there anything you want to tell us about your abilities?" Scott asked, with a commanding voice.
Talon's eyes snapped back to Scott and his grin faded. All the students were looking at Talon expectantly.
"I can down two cheese burgers in nine bites," Talon said, experimentally.
"Why does that not surprise me?" Kitty hid a giggle as Rogue elbowed her playfully in the ribs.
With a "poof" Kurt appeared at his side. "Now you're talking my lauguage dude!" he said, slapping Talon's shoulder.
"We need to know each other's strengths and weaknesses in order to work better as a team," Scott reasserted, trying to get everyone back on track. "If you're going to be part of this team, we need to know about you. So stop acting like this is all a game, because it's not," Scott finished pointedly.
Talon shrugged, "I'm not sure what to say. I can do twenty push-ups, or swim all day, but I don't know enough to convert data about myself into useful information that would apply to the next simulation."
"What kind of abilities does your mutation give you?" Scott was getting a little demanding, taking a half-step towards Talon.
Yeah, like I'd just up and blurt it out to you, Talon thought,but said, "My abilities are limited to the reach of my arms."
Jean had stepped up beside Scott and put a hand on his shoulder. "Scott, why don't you put Talon with me? That way, he could learn how we work and I could look out for him."
Talon step back quickly, bumping into Kurt. "No! No, uh, you... scare me."
Jean shot him an angry look.
"Me then?" Kurt offered, oblivious to the silent exchange of fire.
"Ready down there?" Logan's voice broke over the intercom.
"Ok team, ready up, Talon..."
Talon stepped back and put a hand on Kurt's shoulder.
"... you're with Kurt." Scott finished.
The students split up into pairs. Talon watched them go, then turned to Kurt. "Kurt, you rock!"
"You know it!" Kurt said. The two exchanged a high-five.
"Lets start with the basics." Xavier's voice echoed from the hidden speakers.
X X X
After two hours of "basics" Xavier was less than impressed.
"He seems unwilling to work as port of a team," Xavier observed.
"The guy's lost, Charles," Logan corrected, "and Scott's been riding him constantly. It doesn't take a mind reader to see he's getting tired of it."
"He is new..." Xavier's voice drifted off as his mind played back the last hour. Talon was clumsy, confused and didn't always follow Scott's commands.
Beside him, Logan was also thoughtful. Before the Danger Room, Talon's abilities had been quiet, but impressive. Now all his skill seemed completely lost. What was the missing factor?
At Scott's orders, Kitty broke away from the group and went over to Talon. Kurt disappeared and re-appeared next to Rogue, Kitty's former partner.
Logan shook his head. "Summers isn't used to having another potential leader around and Talon does not like Summers' methods."
"Indeed," Xavier acknowledged, as his hands danced across the keyboard.
"Wait a minute-- not that one, Chuck." Logan said, understanding suddenly dawning on him. "Let's run something closer to home."
Xavier's hands froze in mid-air as Logan punched up a simulation.
"None of the students are familiar with that scenario," Xavier stated.
Logan nodded in agreement and began adding parameters.
Xavier did as Logan instructed, upping the simulater level to 'real-life' setting and muting the "Go" alarm.
"Alright T-rex, show us what you've got." Logan quietly folded his hands behind his head. This should be good.
X X X
Talon snapped out of his boredom. The Danger Room's blank walls were suddenly downtown terrain at night.
Silence descended.
Talon moved, catching Kitty by her shoulders. With a sudden jerk she was down, with Talon rolling himself between her and the ground to cushion her fall.
"Ouch! What's gotten into you Talon, you jerk!..." Kitty's voice trailed off when Talon placed his finger over her lips.
"There was a laser sight on your head, Kitty," Talon explained.
"A sniper?" Scott suggested.
"Not sure," Talon confessed, "but, about three-hundred and fifty-feet behind where we are now, there is a person with a laser sight. What it's attached to, I don't know."
"Jean?" Scott queried.
Jean closed her eyes for several seconds. "I don't sense anyone. Are you sure, Talon?"
Talon hated being addressed so immaturely. "Yes!"
Mentally Talon kicked himself; that had more venom than he'd intended. Talon took a breath and tried again. "I can tell the distance by the size of the laser dot. I can also tell that a human was holding it by the way the laser dot shakes. And don't forget that this is a computer simulation; your mental detection powers will not pick up any brain-waves because the humans are not real."
There was silence for several seconds.
Scott turned to Kurt. "Why don't you double check, just in case."
Kurt vanished without a word. In the mean time Talon took stock of their situation. He and Kitty were down behind a sidewalk planter, with a parked car between themselves and the street. The rest of the X-Men were across the sidewalk in the recesses of the building face. Talon and Kitty had been the only students to have begun the scenario standing on the open sidewalk, away from cover.
Kurt re-appeared. "There's someone on the roof, over the grocery store."
"Alright. Kurt, you and Rogue go take care of him," Scott ordered.
"Hey, bring me back his gear, if you can," Talon called. All the students looked at him. Talon took a breath to explain, then thought better of it. "Just do it. I'll explain later."
Kurt and Rogue vanished. By the time they re-appeared, both Talon and Kitty were going numb from the cold concrete.
"Finally." Kitty grumbled and started to get up.
Talon caught her shoulder again. "One moment Kitty, we don't know if they got the same person that was targeting you," he explained, while peeking over the planter. He then stood up.
"Ok, looks clear."
"Finally, finally!" Kitty grumbled again. She stood and stretched to get the blood flowing again.
Talon did the same, then began examining the gear Kurt and Rogue had brought back.
"So what now?" Evan asked.
"I'm not sure," Scott answered, "I've never run a scenario like this before. Have any of you?"
All the other students shook their heads. While they debated the possibilities, Talon stripped off all designation from the sniper's vest and sized it to himself. He examined the sniper's rifle next. It looked and functioned like a conventional military rifle but had a thicker, longer barrel that fired a heavy caliber bullet. Talon checked the vest and found a flashlight and eleven magazines. A radio was attached behind the right shoulder of the vest. Talon put the headset on and adjusted volume, then began panning through the frequencies. Above him the debate continued.
"...but we're not even sure where we are. How are we supposed to know that sniper was even a bad guy?" Jean asked.
"When you put it that way, how do we know if we're the good guys?" Rogue countered. "And I say we get the hell out of here and take down anyone that tries to stop us."
"But we'd be moving around blind," Scott protested. "Who knows what we'll blunder into."
"We have to do something," Kurt contributed.
"We could just step out, get shot, fail the simulator, and go to the movies!" Evan put in.
Silence...
Talon cracked open the rifle's chamber and found it loaded. He closed the bolt gently, checked the safety and looked up. "Let's stick to the facts. That sniper was going to splatter a fourteen-year-old girl's brain all over this sidewalk. In my book that makes him, and who ever ordered it done, a bad guy. It also tells me that they will eventually succeed, given the chance."
"But we don't know-" Jean began.
"We don't need to know!" Talon cut her off.
"Calm down, Talon," Scott ordered. "This is a lot more complicated than you think."
Anger flashed through him, but Talon took a deep breath and clamped down on it. "Yes sir," he managed, and meant it... at least, tried to.
"Kurt, take Rogue and scout the area. Report back in ten minutes."
Once again Kurt and Rogue vanished. Hardly a minute passed before there was chatter on Talon's stolen radio. "They're talking," he informed Scott. "I can't understand them; they're talking in code."
"Great big help that is," Kitty smirked.
Talon shot her an irritated look but then shrugged. He was about to say something when a transport chopper roared overhead. "Oh no!" Talon breathed, "I think they caught them."
"Who?" Jean asked
"Kurt and Rogue!" Talon replied.
"That's stupid," Evan shot back. "Something flies over and you think they caught both Rogue and Kurt."
As if on cue, Kurt and Rogue appeared. "They're on to us!" Rogue said, out of breath. "There's a base two blocks west with a motor pool."
"Rogue and Kurt, take point. Evan and Jean watch the roofs. Talon, Kitty bring up the rear."
The students moved out at a jog, and none too soon. The helicopter came roaring over the roofs and began firing on the students. A rocket hit near Kitty, knocking her to the ground. Talon caught the back of her shirt and pulled her back up. She had just scrambled to her feet when a second helicopter appeared over them and centered its weapons. Talon shoved Kitty out of the street, swung his rifle up, and fired at the pilot.
As suddenly as it began, it was over. Everything fading into the dormant grey walls of the Danger Room.
"What was that?" Kurt asked, in a shaky voice.
"You run that often?" Talon questioned, trying to slow his breathing as he willed his body, pumped with adrenalin, to stop trembling.
His stance looked quite ridiculous now that his rifle had vanished. He let his arms fall to his side.
"That's it for today, kids," Logan's voice said over the speakers.