Keeponrockin' – thanks =) I always love getting happy comments, and I'm glad you like the writing. Lorna is... well, Lorna. She's a daddy's girl if I've ever seen one, and I hope that's how she comes across in this =)
TristeAlma – I think I may have replied to you already, but I'll say it again here =) Lor's hair just kinda hit me when I was writing... I dunno, but I like it! Also, i have updated the score card, and about half the characters introduced in the previous chapter are cannon, so you can find them there!
Fantasyfan – Thanks! I don't think you had given me an alias for Indy, so I appreciate that =) You'll see more of her in this chapter!
Everyone, thanks SOOO MUCH for all your patience! I've been going crazy with exams this past week, so it's nice to be able to sit down and just write.
Here you go though, the long awaited Chapter 10!
Chapter 10: Fires of Hell
Selene glowered as she waited backstage, her raven-wing hair whipping back and forth as she paced angrily.
"It won't do you any good." Indigo leaned against the sound box, her arms crossed disapprovingly.
"Shut up Indy!" Selene bristled. "She can't do this to us. I was Mortified!"
"You're a teenager – get over it." Indy rolled her eyes expertly.
The sharp clip of heels on hardwood alerted the girls to Emma's arrival moments before the blond woman slipped behind the curtain.
"Hush girls. Let's not let the world hear our plan now, hmmm?"
"What the hell was that?" Selene snapped, ignoring Emma.
"An introductory assembly. Really Selene, you must keep your head out of the clouds. And you wonder why I elected Jono and James as captains over you." She tutted, turning on her heel and walking out while the young woman composed herself.
"Get your squad geared up. I want to be in the parking lot before those kids show up."
Indy almost asked Selene if she wanted to put a call out to the three missing members of her team, but quickly thought better of it. "But... Ms Frost said..."
Selene cut her off with a knowing smirk. "It's all about the subtext." She winked, walking out the back door.
Indigo was just straightening her ponytail when she heard the swarm of voices approaching. Giving her hair one last tug, she stepped into the light.
Three of Xavier's kids tripped over themselves and she sniggered. "Well, well, well," she mocked, "if it isn't the little X-Babies."
"Aww, Shadow, don't start the fun without us." Skylar, her second-in-comand, lead the rest of her squad into the light. Nymph, Mimic, Virus and Aura stood behind her, each wearing a cocky grin.
"Yea." Selene snapped the crop in her hand, leading her own squad in Jono's absence. "We want to play with the babies too."
One of the X-Men began shouting orders, and she cracked her whip again, signalling both teams into action.
Xander had taken his time leaving the auditorium, and now dawdled at his locker. He anticipated the parking lot would be a mad house, and had chosen leaving late over the possibility of scratching his bike.
As he was packing his books together, a dog ran down the hallway. Xander was oblivious to the sight, and to the desperate scrabbling of claws on laminate as the dog struggled to change direction in the sleek hallway.
It was only when a sharp set of teeth latched onto his pant leg and began to pull that Xander looked down, his eyes widening in realization.
The dog pulled again, more urgently. Throwing his belongings back into the locker, Xander followed the dog, grimacing mournfully as he tugged his motorcycle jacket on.
A few feet ahead of him, the dog yipped happily.
"Why is there like, a dog in the school?" Kitty's clear voice asked.
"I think it's from Alex – the thing almost tore my pant leg off." Xander explained, "I think they might be in trouble." The dog's impatient bark punctuated the statement.
"Two seconds!" Kitty bolted off, phasing quickly into a bank of lockers next to a code-access maintenance closet. As promised, she reemerged quickly, her arms draped in dark fabric.
"Xavier set it up last year." She explained, passing out the uniforms she carried, "we've had enough 'incidents' at the school or near enough he thought it was good to have as a 'just in case.' You can never be too careful. Plus, some of our clothes don't adapt too well to our abilities." She shooed Ava and Teala, to whom she'd been talking, into the girl's washroom to change, reminding them to hurry up.
"Where the hell are they?" Ray demanded, trying to fry Indigo.
"It's found them." Rebirth answered, feeling for the dog. "They'll be here soon, I hope." He dove quickly out of the way as Angelica, her body encased in flame, shot a burning funnel at him.
"Chill out hot head!" Bobby quipped smartly, encasing the fire haired mutant in ice. No sooner had he done so then did the ice begin to melt, the water evaporating before it hit the ground.
Kyra had her own problems. She had managed to come face-to-face with Dorothea. Kyra hissed a warning as Dorothea began to shift and change. Her legs melded together, growing longer and longer as they were covered by shiny, black scales, writing into what could only be described as a serpentine tale.
'She must be 10 feet long...' Kyra marvelled through her repulsed shudder. There was just something very wrong about a girl who was half snake.
Dorothea's grey eyes turned to slits and her nails grew into razor-sharp claws. Smiling wide, she revealed a small pair of fangs.
"Ick. What do they call you? Scales?" Kyra mocked boldly, "Medusa? Venom?" She babbled to hide her fear, crouching low.
With a dark smile, Dorothea replied, "Nymph." And lunged.
Selene wasn't doing much of anything, for which Ali was grateful, but she continued to watch diligently, taking note of the small directions the cold looking girl gave her teammates and quickly calculating counter moves.
"Daytripper!" She shrieked quickly at Amanda, who had been watching her boyfriend, rather than her opponent, "the scythe!" Amanda spun on her heel quickly, catching the animated Reaper's scythe hard on a gauntlet.
"Thanks Decode!" Amanda shouted back, turning her full attention to Marie-Ange and her deck of cards.
Ali fidgeted, scanning the area once more, feeling useless. Her hand-to-hand combat skills were more than a little rusty, so she was trying to stay out of the fray.
"Where are they?" she worried, scanning the grounds nervously.
"Decode!" Lynx's urgency managed to draw her attention. A form was rising from the ground in the shade of the school's gym half a foot away. Lynx struggled, trying to pull two chains free from where they were implanted in the ground thirty yards behind her. Decode pulled a neat double-backflip, landing cleanly, distancing herself from where Shadow was rising from the asphalt.
Alex put a hand out to steady his teammate, not caring that she brushed it off. "They're here." He said simply. Ali followed his eyes, spying Kitty's head peeking through a wall of the gym.
Ava and Xander jogged up from behind them, and Teala took to the skies.
"Dude!" Alex cursed mildly, looking at the latecomers. "How did you both manage to change?"
"Later!" Xander tackled him out of the was as Monet charged.
"I'll keep 'em at bay. Fill us in!" Ava demanded, her hands changed pink with lightning.
"It's the kids Ms. Frost pulled onstage they're mutants. And they're strong." His face was set in a grim line, "I don't know if we can win – they're kicking our asses." He remarked as an amaranth bolt flew over his head.
"Got it." Xander nodded, fading quickly into his smoke silhouette before disappearing completely.
"Psylocke" the voice whispered from a few inches behind the violet-haired mutant's ear. Expertly, she dove into a tuck and roll, popping up right in time to slash at Elle's ankle with a psychic knife, forcing the shifter to revert to her true form.
"What is it Smoke?" she hissed.
"Can you get in touch with Xavier?" Xander's voice was soft and fluid, "we need backup."
"I'm a telekinetic first." She shook her head sadly. "I'm still working with the professor to increase the range of my telepathy. The mansion is too far." She apologized.
Xander materialized just long enough to grimace, before floating softly away towards where Ava was still firing amaranth lightning bolts.
"Temp, I need your cell." Xander held out a hand expectantly as he materialized. Ava rolled her eyes and moved to reach into her pocket, still firing at Monet with her free hand.
She swore. "It's in my bag."
"Damnit... Rebirth?" the boy shook his head. Xander's eyes fell quickly on Ali. "Als?" he asked hopefully.
Ali smiled up at him, bringing out her phone and offering it up.
Xander shook his head, "call Xavier. Tell him we need backup, and keep it quick." He advised.
"Got it." Ali nodded sharply, moving a few yards back, away from the fray.
The phone rang once before Xavier answered. "Ali? Is everything alright?" He asked worriedly.
"No – Professor, we have a... situation. We need back up at the school."
"Alex's team –" Ali cut him off.
"Everyone's already involved Professor – these mutants, they're really strong."
"I understand. Allen is on his way. Jean, Scott and Rogue will head out shortly."
"Thanks Profess- eek!" Ali shriek, ducking a blast of radiation Angelica had aimed at her. "I gotta go!" she apologized hurriedly, ending the call.
"Alpha is on his way." Ali reported dutifully rejoining Xander.
"Great!" It was Ava who replied, firing another bolt at Monet, covering Alex, who was building an enormous tyrannosaurus from the decay around him, drawing off of Kevin's destructive wake. "Now, go give Psylocke a hand – Ditto over there is getting to be a bit of a pain." She nodded at Elle as she did.
"On it!" Ali nodded before darting off.
The Bayville High parking lot was a flurry of activity. The three X-Men teams were slowly being over powered, despite their greater numbers and their best efforts.
Bobby and Amara were throwing everything they had at Haruko, while she juggled a few brightly coloured spheres lazily. Haru was cocooned in an orb of fire and ice, but appeared unscathed. The mocking grin that graced her pale face only encouraged her opponents.
Paige stood triumphantly over Roberto, her body strong and imposing in its organic metal shell. Alex Summers was attacking her mercilessly, throwing everything he had at her as she laughed, brushing his efforts off.
Jubilee had been reduced to a weeping heap at Manuel's feet, while Rahne, in her anthropomorphic form, shook her head before charging. Missing her target, she spun sharply on her heel, launching herself at him again. She tackled him to the ground, rattling his head on the pavement and knocking him unconscious.
The ground began to churn and tremble, throwing all but Jay, Teala and Skylar, who were locked in a merciless battle in the skies, to their knees.
"Lance!" Kitty cried out angrily, 'Lance! Cut it out!" she continued to shout, but her cries fell on deaf ears as she searched wildly for her ex.
"Sorry honey." A handsome boy grinned cockily down at Kitty. His strong Mexican features were accented beautifully by his wild brown hair and deep eyes. "Your boyfriend ain't around."
Kitty stared wide eyed and slack jawed up at the boy, trying to figure out just who he was. "Julio?" she asked hesitantly, remembering a Mutant file the professor had shown her in Cerebro, but who they had been unable to locate. "Julio Richter?"
"Tha's right." He nodded down at her as he was flanked by two more boys. "Meet Chamber." He nodded to a stoic dirty blond with oddly grey skin, "and Warpath." A hulking boy with straight, black hair loomed over them all. "I see you've already met the res' of our team."
"Selene!" the one called Warpath growled as Selene trembled slightly, "you're dead." He warned her simply.
"Whatever!" She bit back courageously, "can we finish playing with the babies now?"
"I was thinking the same thing." Chamber smirked menacingly, unleashing a devastating psionic energy blast at Kurt, who barely managed to teleport away.
A black van chose that moment to squeal sharply into the parking lot, screeching to a stop just outside the field of battle. The driver climbed out calmly and leaned against the car frame. "You start the party without me?" Allen grinned lazily as two other figures scrambled out after him.
I do apologize that this is a little short, but I felt it was a good place to end the chapter, so it didn't get too overwhelming =)
Tune into Chapter 11 (up soon!) for the equally cheesy-titled Chapter 11 'Burn Bright' (or something like that...)
Finally, in chapter 12 we're going to see the official recognition of the J-Crew, and they're earn their own team name. I have an idea floating around in my head, but I want to hear your suggestion! =) So please review and tell me what you think.
Also, check out the poll on my page and tell me who YOU think is going to be the team's official leader ;)
'till next time X3 Emmy X3