"Omega?"
The Omega team all stood. Omega, organizing. It makes sense to Logan. Whatever. "We need money. Organize a circus again. That brought in a lot of cash last time. Go!"
They all left, talking together, planning, talking. It was nice to know that they were happy. Moving on. "Tenor?"
Tenor, teleport. That one was Kurt. "We should find another location. We have been here for too long. Everyone take a partner and go."
They paired off and teleported away. Kurt walked up to me. "You asked for me?"
Finally. "Yes. Professor Xavier asked us to find Hank. Will you go and get him?"
Kurt smiled. "Natürlich"
He disappeared in a puff of smoke. I wish he would at least take a step back before he did that. Now I would smell like sulfur all day. Scott walked up, followed by a tired-looking and slightly ragged group of mutants. "The new recruits, Maia."
Great. "If I could have your attention? Thanks. Now, I need you all to line up and, one at a time, show me your mutations. You will be expected to work to earn your keep, and your mutations will help you to be placed."
They looked nervous, like they always do. I focus in on the outward mutations. There is only one in this group, a girl of about 7, with red skin, a pointed tail, and 3 eyes locked on Scott. This must be the one he rescued. Ah well. They lined up, showing off their powers. Fire-bender. Hoverer. Teleporter. Shape shifter. Oh, telekinetic. The last boy in line walked up, then began duplicating. He got to 5, and I began to take notice. When he got to 10, I was impressed. We lost our duplicator last week. "How many times can you duplicate?"
He reabsorbed his duplicates. "35 times."
I hated to do it, but... "The blue tent, please."
He walked off. Scott ran up. "Infiltration and Deception, Maia? He is 12 years old!"
I hated it when he talked to me like that. I was in charge, I was the one keeping him away from the Brotherhood. He could at least treat me like an equal, not like I was still in his auto mechanics class. "Scott! Our duplicator left us last week. He thought he could do better on his own. I just found out he joined the Brotherhood."
Scott stopped short, his face red. "This is Molly." He gestured at the girl. "Her mutation is vocal. It can cause sleep or pain, depending on her mood."
Great. We need another talker. They were these machines that translated thoughts to voice, when the user was unable to speak. They were necessary, but expensive. I sighed. Logan walked up behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders. "Maia, where were you last night? I couldn't find you."
"I was covering a shift for one of the younger kids. He was sick with the flu."
"Maia, that's the third night watch you have had had in four days. You need to sleep."
I leaned back into him. I was tired. The camp would survive for a few hours without me. I handed my clipboard to Aqua. "Come and get me in a few hours."
Logan led me back to our tent. As soon as I sat down, Jean ran in. "We lost another flyer, Maia. One of the young boys, David. He fell in the river, and we can't find him."
I sighed. I would have to rest later. But before I could get to my feet, Logan put a hand on my shoulder. "You need rest, Maia. Let me handle this."
I smiled, grateful, and kicked off my shoes as they left. I lay down, and was out in a second.
I awoke to the sound of the proximity alarms. Crap! I jumped out of bed, running out of the tent without even putting on my shoes. I could see them, surrounding our camp, about a hundred guys in army fatigues, all with weapons trained on the camp. Everyone was running, getting into defensive positions, getting into their places. We had rehearsed this, but I didn't think there would be so many of them. I glanced up at the trees, and saw them there, too. We hadn't planned for that. "Snipers in the trees! I need all shields up NOW!
All around the camp, the shield generators whined to a start, and not a second to soon. A barrage of darts shot out of the trees and foliage, bouncing off the crackling shield. I knew that each one was filled with a knockout drug and a powerful chemical that would block all powers for 2 hours after being shot.
They stopped shooting when they realized that their darts weren't penetrating the shield.
The Major yelled at us through a megaphone. "We have you surrounded. There is no escape. Give up, and you will be treated kindly. Refuse, and we will continue."
The shields around me suddenly cut out. They didn't power down, the way they would if you shut them off, but stopped, like the power had been cut. Which, as I found out later, was exactly what happened. "What the..."
The man on the megaphone kept talking. "We now have your leader in our custody. If any of you try and stop us, she dies."
Wait, what? I was just standing there, trying to figure out what was going on, when I was grabbed from behind. I felt the hypodermic dart enter my neck, and the world dissolved into technicolored bubbles.
Hey guys, HomoLupeusLover here. Quick poll: Have you been catching my movie references? There is one in almost every chapter.
Any Requests on movies I should quote? I am always looking for new ones. Tell me your favorites and keep an eye out for them in later chapters! Later!
PS: REALLY? None of you have any ideas? That is sad, people. That is just sad.