May 4, 1975
Clarice teleported into the back room. Jean had psychically scanned the room first so they knew that it would be alright. She let go of Jean and the two of them crept into the room. Clarice couldn't believe that the Brotherhood would leave their base so lightly guarded, but she had always believed that the Brotherhood were less organized than the X-men.
There might have been an alarm system on the front door, but she was confident that Alex would handle that. Clarice could teleport past it, but Alex had always been adamant that she shouldn't teleport unnecessarily before a battle. As their only teleporter Alex had never wanted to exhaust herself, and she needed her crystals to teleport. It was rather limited.
She thought of the team going through the front. Clarice hoped Calvin was doing alright. This was his first mission as a member of the X-men, and he hadn't been trained like the rest of them. At least he was with Alex, Scott, and the Professor. He'd be alright. If bad came to worse he was an excellent long-distance runner.
She stopped when she saw a light from the adjoining room. Clarice and Jean stopped. Clarice looked around and sighed. It was the only other room that they could proceed through. She gave a worried look to Jean as shadows moved beneath the light.
"She had it coming."
Clarice recognized Mystique's voice. She supposed that they were talking about Lorna. She glanced over at Jean.
Do you think they know where she is? Jean thought.
You could try reading their minds, Clarice thought, I'm not sure who the other person is though.
Clarice took one of her crystals out of the quiver she had on her back, just in case.
"You're quite heartless you know."
Emma Frost. Clarice winced. The mind reading scheme had just gone out the window.
Don't worry. If we go in there, I can take her, Jean thought.
Can you? Clarice thought.
Well, I'm more suited to take her on than you are, Jean thought, Take care of Mystique, and I'll stop Emma from telling the whole house.
Alright, Clarice thought.
On my mark, Jean thought, Three...two...one!
They rammed the door open. Emma turned and Jean immediately put her hands to her head. Emma turned to diamond and charged. They'd neutralized the threat of psychic warning now, and Clarice hoped that Jean would be able to move quickly enough to avoid being hit with several pounds of diamond.
Mystique had been moving for Jean too, but she stopped when she saw Clarice. Clarice got her crystal ready, and she was shocked to see the pure hatred that flared in Mystique's eyes. She couldn't think of a cause for it. Clarice had rarely fought Mystique. Azazel had always been her traditional enemy until Black Tom had killed him. It certainly saved Clarice several stab wounds.
Although she didn't understand it Clarice threw her crystal as Mystique charged her. Mystique avoided it and Clarice had to flip backwards to avoid her grasp. Even so Mystique's foot came up and clipped her under the chin. One of the spikes on her foot bit into her skin, drawing blood.
Clarice stumbled but reached for another crystal. She brought it around in time to block Mystique's fist. There was more force behind it than she had expected from a move that quick. She grabbed another crystal and twirled them to block Mystique's subsequent flurry of fists and feet.
She looked over at Jean. Emma punched her and she was sent sprawling. Jean was clutching her ribs and Clarice instantly knew that, in the very least, they had been bruised. She saw Emma bring back her diamond fist and Clarice threw one of her crystals at her.
She felt Mystique's fist connect with her stomach, but she saw Emma teleport next to Jean, looking confused. People were always rather confused when they were teleported without any warning. Jean was able to knock her off her feet even as Mystique knocked Clarice into the floor.
Winded Clarice rolled to avoid Mystique's foot again. She used her other crystal to teleport behind Mystique. She aimed for the back of Mystique's neck, but Mystique whipped around and caught her fist at the last moment.
Clarice pulled out another crystal out of her quiver. She teleported the two of them to the ceiling. Mystique blinked, but Clarice managed to maneuver herself to the top when they hit the floor, meaning that Mystique absorbed the impact. She followed it up with another punch before Mystique threw her off.
Clarice landed on her feet and pulled out two more crystals. She knew that she had two more left. She looked at Mystique. She wasn't sure it was enough. It would have to do though.
Mystique moved forward again and shoved Clarice back. An explosion rocked the ground floor and Clarice fell to the floor. She teleported herself to the other side of the room when Mystique lunged for her. Clarice kicked her back, sending her through the door and into the next room.
A crash from behind her made Clarice whip around. Jean had brought down Emma, but she didn't look too good. She'd been hit by Emma's diamond fists too many times. She was wincing from pain, and Clarice realized that her ribs weren't bruised. They were broken.
"Get back to the Blackbird," Clarice said.
"I'm fine," Jean said.
She walked forwards and stumbled. Clarice caught her.
"Marvel Girl, please be reasonable," Clarice said.
The floor shook with another explosion. What was going on?
"I can't-" Jean said.
"Mrs. Xavier only has limited medical experience," Clarice said, "Strategically, you need to stay awake and alive in case something happens. This is non-negotiable."
Jean gave her an anxious look.
"But..." Jean said.
"You need to take care of yourself," Clarice said.
She helped Jean stand on her feet by herself.
"It's going to be alright," she said, "I'll tell them where you are."
Jean sighed and nodded. Clarice activated her crystal and pressed it into Jean's hand. A minute later there was a flash of pink light and she was gone. Clarice breathed a sigh of relief as she felt hands go around her neck.
Clarice flipped her head back, making contact with Mystique's skull. She kicked around as fast as she could, sending Mystique back into the other room. Clarice followed her and saw the Alex's team struggling with a girl Clarice vaguely remembered as Boom-Boom. Lance was fighting with Calvin, who was mimicking Emma's diamond skin.
Mystique's fist scraped against her face and sent her to the floor. Clarice threw a crystal at Mystique, teleporting her to the other side of the room. She reached for another crystal, but there weren't any left. She swore as Mystique came for her.
Clarice scrambled to her feet and blocked the first punch Mystique threw, but she couldn't block her kick. Clarice collapsed to the floor, but her new vantage gave her a clear shot to Mystique's stomach.
She pushed herself up, putting all of her force behind her fist. She knocked Mystique to the ground and followed it up with a kick to her head. Clarice got up, panting, her sweat mingling with her blood. However, Mystique was out.
Looking around the room, she saw that Calvin was having trouble with Lance. He wasn't a bad fighter, but Lance had a lot more training. The fight was getting quickly out of control. The Professor looked over at them, but she knew he was struggling with Boom-Boom.
Clarice took a deep breath and ran at Lance. She tackled him and shoved him to the floor, grinding his face into the ground. With another slam she made sure that he was out, taking a deep breath through her nose.
"Hey."
She looked up. Calvin was holding a hand out to her, looking dazed. He had bruises all over his face, and it looked like Lance had managed to pummel him pretty bad. Clarice was impressed that she was still standing and was even offering her a hand.
She frowned at the gesture, but accepted it. He helped her up and she looked around. She was about to go back to the fight when she heard Calvin cough.
"You're really amazing," he said.
Clarice felt herself blush. He was giving her that strange smile again.
"Thanks," she said, feeling uncertain.
"I mean it," he said, "And thanks. I'm a little new to this."
"I saw that. But you're doing good," Clarice said, "We'll get some training in together later."
He grinned.
"I'd like that," he said.
"Me too," Clarice said.
She gestured to the Professor, who, from the way Boom-Boom was stumbling, had nearly overcome the blocks she supposed Emma had installed.
"Stay with the Professor," she said, "I'm going to go and see if I can help."
"Got it," Calvin said.
Entering through the roof was not particularly fun, but Warren was the very definition of aerial support. Ororo could fly too, so they had often gotten paired up for such missions and simulations. It was how they had gotten to know each other.
He slipped in through the top window, Ororo close behind him. He was glad she was with him. She was one of the only members of the X-men that he got along with all the time. There were still a lot of issues between him and Scott, ones he doubted he would ever work out.
The issues had only been started with what had happened with Jean, who was still awkward around him because he was awkward around Scott. He'd lost a friendship when things had gone downhill. Ororo had stood by him afterwards as he felt the humiliation and anger welling up inside of him.
He'd never really gotten along with Alex. Warren supposed that it had something to do with the fact that he was Scott's brother, but his demands with so little information to justify it irritated him. For instance, the mission they were on. He didn't want to be on it, and he knew Ororo didn't either. However, he was less against it than he had been at the start. Scott's screaming show had, beneath the noise, made sense.
Sean seemed a little too uncertain sometimes. He had the redeeming grace of not being as strict as Alex was, but once again there was the uncertainty. Clarice was always silent and he definitely didn't feel comfortable around Calvin. He wasn't even sure if Calvin counted as a member of the X-men.
However, he got on with Ororo. They fought well with each other. They even shared a lot of opinions. If he had to go through the Brotherhood's base to rescue someone, there was no one else he would prefer to be with.
They moved around the corner of the hall. Ororo grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. He opened his mouth, but she put a finger in front of her lips. He stopped and Ororo mouthed 'Riptide.'
He peeked around the wall and saw Riptide leaning against the wall. He glanced over at Ororo. She had much better eyes than he did. She cracked her neck and closed her eyes. When she opened them they were white.
Warren got out of her way as lightning crackled along her fingertips. She stepped around the hall and Riptide looked up. Ororo sent out a lightning bolt. He ducked. The lightning bolt missed him and singed the wall.
Ororo gathered up more sparks. Warren jumped over her as Riptide started to form a tornado in his hands. He flapped his wings a few times to give him the extra push and tackled Riptide before he could send out the tornado. It was rough and he hit his head on the wall, but he brought him down.
Riptide struggled to get up, but Ororo was at his side. She reached down and Warren leapt away. She sent the electricity through Riptide, making him spasm shortly before knocking him out. Ororo grinned and, after her eyes returned to normal, held out her hand for a high-five. He grinned and high-fived her.
More footsteps came down the hall. Warren whipped around and his heart sank. Magneto was standing there, looking furious. Warren glanced at Ororo. He knew her well enough to know that, when he spoke, he spoke for both of them.
"Shit."