As the X-men got home and sat around the living room, with their uniforms, already waiting for security system to go off, the glee and easiness they were feeling slowly got taken over by anxiety and insecurity.
"I can't take it anymore!" exclaimed Cyclops. "What are they waiting for??? It's already one in the morning."
"Calm down, Scott," said the Professor looking out the window. "I'm sure they will come."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Is everyone ready?" said Faye on the top of the black pickup truck they had stolen. In the middle of it was a mast with a huge pirate's flag.
"Ready when you are," said Myst sitting on the back.
"Alright, let's go. Shocker, when we get close to the mansion, you'll take over their weaponry."
"Fine by me," said Shocker, rubbing her hands together and creating little sparks.
"Ok, Brawn, let 'er rip," said Raven, and they headed in the direction of the X-mansion.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The mansion's security system went off. They all jumped up as a black pickup truck rammed into the front gate. The truck sped up and came to a screeching halt twenty feet from the X-men's front door. They jumped down from the truck, and waited for Raven's instructions.
"They're here," said Nightcrawler.
"We sure could use Mr. Logan's help," said Shadowcat.
"Yes, but we're going to have to hold these guys by ourselves," confirmed Jean.
"Let's go," said Cyclops, opening the door up.
They all ran outside and looked at their attackers. Storm flew out one of the windows and Beast jumped up from behind the other X-men. Inside the mansion, Charles Xavier left the living room and went downstairs toward Cerebro's room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Charles is going down to Cerebro," reported Tom.
Slowly, Raven stood up on top of the truck and held on to the flying flag. She looked at Monarch and nodded. Monarch, took her jacket off and spread out a pair of beautiful, colored wings. Storm, still in the sky, waited for them to attack first.
In the blink of an eye, Raven was gone. No one noticed the little mound racing toward the mansion, up the wall and onto the roof. They were still waiting for attackers to throw the first stone, Storm hovered in the sky and Beast paced around menacingly. From above, Raven watched the scene, waiting for Storm to pass by again. Storm, tired of waiting for an attack, decided to conjure up a tempest to at least show the little pirates that the X-men were strong enough to beat them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As the winds started blowing and blowing, Dome concentrated. His skin started glowing light green; suddenly his arms shot up and the green energy was released forming a protective field around the troupe. But, still, they wouldn't move a muscle.
As Storm hovered nearer the mansion's rooftop, Raven leaped on top of her. Storm gasped and tried holding herself up, but Raven held tight behind her. The two women wrestled fiercely as they hovered up and down around their heads.
"Nightcrawler, teleport up there and see if you can give Storm a hand. I can't get a clear shot from here," said Cyclops worried about shooting the wrong target.
"Okey-dokey," said Nightcrawler as he *BAMF*ed out of there.
Nightcrawler held onto Raven and tried pulling her away from Storm, but her grip was too much for him. Raven held tightly to her target and with one of her free feet she kicked Nightcrawler in the stomach. He gasped, gripped his stomach--losing grip from Raven--and started falling. He thought fast and teleported back to the ground, which he reached coughing and gasping from the kick he'd just received.
Back in the sky, Storm conjured up strong winds to keep them afloat, but Raven's struggles and hits made her lose concentration. They started plunging to the ground and, as they were closing in on it, Raven hit her right hand on Storm's stomach--a little flash of energy made Storm go flying sideways. Raven made her body change into one whole mass and she disappeared on a liquidy pool on the floor. Storm was still flying toward the ground when it started moving; an enormous box surrounded her and locked her up inside.
The X-men watched the scene, perplexed. They had seriously underestimated the Oracle's warnings about their leader, Raven. She appeared back inside the force field Dome was keeping up and waited.
Inside the little box, they could hear Storm's screams and pleas for release, but Raven didn't move a muscle. She was just standing straight, looking down, with a hood covering her head. The little wind that passed through Dome's protection moved her cape in a eerily way. Spyke and Beast tried breaking Storm's prison but they couldn't. Jean took flight and Cyclops tried blasting them into oblivion but nothing worked. Dome was extremely strong and too in control of his powers for them to break through.
Suddenly, the inside of the box was quiet. Storm wasn't screaming anymore. Raven, without looking up, raised her hand and the box opened, reveling a limp Storm, who passed out from her claustrophobic fit. Myst turned his head toward Raven, he thought he saw a faint hint of a smile on her face.
*She's as evil and deadly as she is caring and beautiful,* he thought. *I will figure out what secrets you hold, dear Faye. Yes, I will.*
Raven nodded towards Dome and Monarch. The former dropped the field he was maintaining, and the latter took flight. One by one, the Pirates started moving toward their respective targets. Brawn circled Beast; Monarch took on Jean; Dome was taking Spyke and Shadowcat; Shocker, who was just waiting for the right moment to feed off Storm's little mishap, looked on to Rogue and Nightcrawler; and Master Puppeteer waited for Cyclops. Myst and Raven didn't move; Myst was blind and took on a better fight from far away, but Raven had a bigger target in sight.
Cyclops and Spyke wanted to hit Raven for what she did to Storm, so they quickly maneuvered around Dome and Master Puppeteer and charged toward Raven, who was still immobile. Cyclops looked around and the others were busy with rest of the Pirates, so he put his optic blast on full power, while Spyke make a big stake to throw at her. As they attacked, Myst and Dome raised their hands. Dome made a force field around Raven, which protected her from Cyclops' blast, and Myst imagined the stake on his hand and not on Raven's path. She was safe, but even before, she did not move.
"Do you really think that you can take our leader with such a weak strategy?" asked Dome.
"You'll have to do better than that, four eyes," said Master Puppeteer.
"Just keep them busy," said Myst, holding the stake between his fingers.
He looked at Shadowcat, who was trying to make Shocker leave Nighcrawler alone. With a quick movement, he threw the stake at her. Shadowcat turned around and screamed, but thought quickly enough to phase through the stake that perforated the wall behind her.
Cyclops looked at Myst, just to notice that Raven was no longer with him. Wildly, he searched the premises for her form but couldn't find it.
"She's quicker than you think," said Myst.
"Stay out of this," said Cyclops, and tried to blast Myst; but all he did was hit a tree that wasn't there a second before.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Inside the mansion, Xavier tried to help his X-men with Cerebro's security systems, but nothing worked. He couldn't even see what was happening outside, but he had the feeling that it wasn't good. He felt a presence approaching him. He tried contacting it but the same force field, which was around the Oracle, was around that person. Behind him a little mount waited anxiously. Tom allowed one of the cameras start working again to diverge Xavier's attention from them. Raven came up and raised her left hand; it started getting thinner and thinner until it looked like more like a mummy's hand. Slowly, she approached Xavier and touched his head.
Xavier screamed, as his energy started leaving his body, and outside Jean felt his pain. She turned toward the house and Monarch struck her on the back. Jean plummeted toward the ground and Cyclops ran to catch her.
"The Professor is in trouble," she said as he caught her. "We have to go help him."
"Rogue, let's go inside. The Professor is in trouble," screamed Cyclops, placing Jean gently on the floor.
"A'right," said Rogue dodging one of Shocker's bolts.
Cyclops and Rogue tried to run toward the front door, but Shocker bolted past them and blocked it. Cyclops was about to blast Shocker out of the way when Master Puppeteer shot up tiny strings out of his fingertips, which surrounded Cyclops and prevented him to move. Master Puppeteer made his hand move and hit Rogue, who fell on her back.
Back in Cerebro's room, the Professor was laying down on the floor and Raven had put a hole on Cerebro's internal systems.
"Tom, where do I put the chip?" asked Raven.
"In the main drive. It's the biggest plate you'll see."
"Got it. How much energy did I take from Xavier."
"Just enough to keep him sleeping for two days."
"Oh, just great! And Daniel?"
"He's agitated. I'm trying to control him but it's getting really hard."
"Just keep him busy up until I can get out of here."
"Got it. That's the one, you'll have to put it anywhere as long as it's part of the drive I can get access without much work."
"I'll weld them together," she said, using her powers.
She got up and closed the hole back. Cerebro was unchanged, besides the scrambling chip that now laid deep in its entrails. Raven went by the Professor and placed her left hand, which was back to normal now, on his forehead. A little shot of green energy went from her hand to the Professor's body.
"Why did you heal him???" asked Tom, astonished.
"The X-men will need his guidance once we leave. Plus, I already got the scrambler on Cerebro so he won't be finding us any time soon."
"Sometimes I just don't understand you."
"You and me both," she said and left the room.
"I can't take it anymore!" exclaimed Cyclops. "What are they waiting for??? It's already one in the morning."
"Calm down, Scott," said the Professor looking out the window. "I'm sure they will come."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Is everyone ready?" said Faye on the top of the black pickup truck they had stolen. In the middle of it was a mast with a huge pirate's flag.
"Ready when you are," said Myst sitting on the back.
"Alright, let's go. Shocker, when we get close to the mansion, you'll take over their weaponry."
"Fine by me," said Shocker, rubbing her hands together and creating little sparks.
"Ok, Brawn, let 'er rip," said Raven, and they headed in the direction of the X-mansion.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The mansion's security system went off. They all jumped up as a black pickup truck rammed into the front gate. The truck sped up and came to a screeching halt twenty feet from the X-men's front door. They jumped down from the truck, and waited for Raven's instructions.
"They're here," said Nightcrawler.
"We sure could use Mr. Logan's help," said Shadowcat.
"Yes, but we're going to have to hold these guys by ourselves," confirmed Jean.
"Let's go," said Cyclops, opening the door up.
They all ran outside and looked at their attackers. Storm flew out one of the windows and Beast jumped up from behind the other X-men. Inside the mansion, Charles Xavier left the living room and went downstairs toward Cerebro's room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Charles is going down to Cerebro," reported Tom.
Slowly, Raven stood up on top of the truck and held on to the flying flag. She looked at Monarch and nodded. Monarch, took her jacket off and spread out a pair of beautiful, colored wings. Storm, still in the sky, waited for them to attack first.
In the blink of an eye, Raven was gone. No one noticed the little mound racing toward the mansion, up the wall and onto the roof. They were still waiting for attackers to throw the first stone, Storm hovered in the sky and Beast paced around menacingly. From above, Raven watched the scene, waiting for Storm to pass by again. Storm, tired of waiting for an attack, decided to conjure up a tempest to at least show the little pirates that the X-men were strong enough to beat them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As the winds started blowing and blowing, Dome concentrated. His skin started glowing light green; suddenly his arms shot up and the green energy was released forming a protective field around the troupe. But, still, they wouldn't move a muscle.
As Storm hovered nearer the mansion's rooftop, Raven leaped on top of her. Storm gasped and tried holding herself up, but Raven held tight behind her. The two women wrestled fiercely as they hovered up and down around their heads.
"Nightcrawler, teleport up there and see if you can give Storm a hand. I can't get a clear shot from here," said Cyclops worried about shooting the wrong target.
"Okey-dokey," said Nightcrawler as he *BAMF*ed out of there.
Nightcrawler held onto Raven and tried pulling her away from Storm, but her grip was too much for him. Raven held tightly to her target and with one of her free feet she kicked Nightcrawler in the stomach. He gasped, gripped his stomach--losing grip from Raven--and started falling. He thought fast and teleported back to the ground, which he reached coughing and gasping from the kick he'd just received.
Back in the sky, Storm conjured up strong winds to keep them afloat, but Raven's struggles and hits made her lose concentration. They started plunging to the ground and, as they were closing in on it, Raven hit her right hand on Storm's stomach--a little flash of energy made Storm go flying sideways. Raven made her body change into one whole mass and she disappeared on a liquidy pool on the floor. Storm was still flying toward the ground when it started moving; an enormous box surrounded her and locked her up inside.
The X-men watched the scene, perplexed. They had seriously underestimated the Oracle's warnings about their leader, Raven. She appeared back inside the force field Dome was keeping up and waited.
Inside the little box, they could hear Storm's screams and pleas for release, but Raven didn't move a muscle. She was just standing straight, looking down, with a hood covering her head. The little wind that passed through Dome's protection moved her cape in a eerily way. Spyke and Beast tried breaking Storm's prison but they couldn't. Jean took flight and Cyclops tried blasting them into oblivion but nothing worked. Dome was extremely strong and too in control of his powers for them to break through.
Suddenly, the inside of the box was quiet. Storm wasn't screaming anymore. Raven, without looking up, raised her hand and the box opened, reveling a limp Storm, who passed out from her claustrophobic fit. Myst turned his head toward Raven, he thought he saw a faint hint of a smile on her face.
*She's as evil and deadly as she is caring and beautiful,* he thought. *I will figure out what secrets you hold, dear Faye. Yes, I will.*
Raven nodded towards Dome and Monarch. The former dropped the field he was maintaining, and the latter took flight. One by one, the Pirates started moving toward their respective targets. Brawn circled Beast; Monarch took on Jean; Dome was taking Spyke and Shadowcat; Shocker, who was just waiting for the right moment to feed off Storm's little mishap, looked on to Rogue and Nightcrawler; and Master Puppeteer waited for Cyclops. Myst and Raven didn't move; Myst was blind and took on a better fight from far away, but Raven had a bigger target in sight.
Cyclops and Spyke wanted to hit Raven for what she did to Storm, so they quickly maneuvered around Dome and Master Puppeteer and charged toward Raven, who was still immobile. Cyclops looked around and the others were busy with rest of the Pirates, so he put his optic blast on full power, while Spyke make a big stake to throw at her. As they attacked, Myst and Dome raised their hands. Dome made a force field around Raven, which protected her from Cyclops' blast, and Myst imagined the stake on his hand and not on Raven's path. She was safe, but even before, she did not move.
"Do you really think that you can take our leader with such a weak strategy?" asked Dome.
"You'll have to do better than that, four eyes," said Master Puppeteer.
"Just keep them busy," said Myst, holding the stake between his fingers.
He looked at Shadowcat, who was trying to make Shocker leave Nighcrawler alone. With a quick movement, he threw the stake at her. Shadowcat turned around and screamed, but thought quickly enough to phase through the stake that perforated the wall behind her.
Cyclops looked at Myst, just to notice that Raven was no longer with him. Wildly, he searched the premises for her form but couldn't find it.
"She's quicker than you think," said Myst.
"Stay out of this," said Cyclops, and tried to blast Myst; but all he did was hit a tree that wasn't there a second before.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Inside the mansion, Xavier tried to help his X-men with Cerebro's security systems, but nothing worked. He couldn't even see what was happening outside, but he had the feeling that it wasn't good. He felt a presence approaching him. He tried contacting it but the same force field, which was around the Oracle, was around that person. Behind him a little mount waited anxiously. Tom allowed one of the cameras start working again to diverge Xavier's attention from them. Raven came up and raised her left hand; it started getting thinner and thinner until it looked like more like a mummy's hand. Slowly, she approached Xavier and touched his head.
Xavier screamed, as his energy started leaving his body, and outside Jean felt his pain. She turned toward the house and Monarch struck her on the back. Jean plummeted toward the ground and Cyclops ran to catch her.
"The Professor is in trouble," she said as he caught her. "We have to go help him."
"Rogue, let's go inside. The Professor is in trouble," screamed Cyclops, placing Jean gently on the floor.
"A'right," said Rogue dodging one of Shocker's bolts.
Cyclops and Rogue tried to run toward the front door, but Shocker bolted past them and blocked it. Cyclops was about to blast Shocker out of the way when Master Puppeteer shot up tiny strings out of his fingertips, which surrounded Cyclops and prevented him to move. Master Puppeteer made his hand move and hit Rogue, who fell on her back.
Back in Cerebro's room, the Professor was laying down on the floor and Raven had put a hole on Cerebro's internal systems.
"Tom, where do I put the chip?" asked Raven.
"In the main drive. It's the biggest plate you'll see."
"Got it. How much energy did I take from Xavier."
"Just enough to keep him sleeping for two days."
"Oh, just great! And Daniel?"
"He's agitated. I'm trying to control him but it's getting really hard."
"Just keep him busy up until I can get out of here."
"Got it. That's the one, you'll have to put it anywhere as long as it's part of the drive I can get access without much work."
"I'll weld them together," she said, using her powers.
She got up and closed the hole back. Cerebro was unchanged, besides the scrambling chip that now laid deep in its entrails. Raven went by the Professor and placed her left hand, which was back to normal now, on his forehead. A little shot of green energy went from her hand to the Professor's body.
"Why did you heal him???" asked Tom, astonished.
"The X-men will need his guidance once we leave. Plus, I already got the scrambler on Cerebro so he won't be finding us any time soon."
"Sometimes I just don't understand you."
"You and me both," she said and left the room.