Enter the Ninja (Trainee)

"So not only to the Joes send their little pet mermaid, but those pesky kids from Bayville show up as well," Zartan the Master of Disguise smirked. He turned to his sister Zarana. "I told you that one of them would show up. Our dear brother Zandar was too sloppy in his hacking."

"Computers were never his specialty," She sniffed. "But I had no choice. I knew my skills weren't as good as his. You were gone at the time and I wasn't about to let one of the Dreadnoks do it!"

She pointed at the motley lot of mercenaries behind her. The Dreadnoks were Zartan's personal mercenary army. Torch, Ripper, Buzzer, and Monkeywrench, big hairy bikers that would make the Hell's Angels run for their mommies. They had the personal hygiene of monkeys but weren't half as smart. The only manual dexterity they had besides pulling the triggers on weapons was picking their noses.

"You do have a point," Zartan admitted.

"So now what do we do boss?" Ripper asked.

"Well Cobra did set up this club not only to hide some of it's less orthodox activities, but to see if we can find any mutants," Zartan said. "I say we found them."

"But why can't we just grab 'em?" Torch asked.

"Idiot," Zarana hit him on the head with a magazine. "We don't have the resources here to hold 'em, much less catch 'em!"

"I have a better idea," Zartan smirked. "Why don't we see just what these 'X-Men' are capable of? And I know the perfect test subject to try them out on," He smiled at the image of Althea on the monitor.

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Althea Delgato was sitting at a table in the back, trying not to draw attention to herself. She had only just got inside and was checking the place out. Now if I can just find out where the back door is…She thought to herself.

Two teenagers walked over to her table. "Mind if we sit here?" The girl with brown and white hair asked. Her voice twanged with a Southern accent.

"It's a free country," Althea shrugged.

"Thank you," The black haired boy said. They sat opposite her. "Do you come here often?" He asked in a German accent.

"Do you always hit on girls when you're already out on a date?" Althea asked.

"Oh no, we're just friends," The girl said. "I'm Rogue and this is Kurt. We're kinda new in town."

"Really?" Althea's instincts kicked into gear. "Rogue huh? Were your parents hippies or something?"

"Uh something," Rogue blinked. "We saw you at the game today. You're Althea right?"

"Yeah," Althea nodded. "So where are you guys from?"

"Well we go to school in Bay…" Kurt started.

"New York," Rogue finished quickly. Something told her that it wouldn't be a good idea to talk too much. "So you go to school here?"

"For now," Althea said. "It's not too bad. My dad's in the military so I travel all over the world with him."

"That must be nice," Kurt said. "Have you ever been to Germany?"

"No but I have been to a lot of other places," She said. Okay who are these guys and why are they so interested in me? Most times only guys talk to girls they are interested in places like this. Couples don't just go chatting with a stranger unless they want something!

"So are you guys here on your own?" Althea asked.

"No we're with a group of students," Kurt said. "Our school came here for the soccer championships."

"Oh really?" Althea looked around and saw Jean and a boy with red sunglasses looking her way. Uh oh…I think I get it now. Red wants a little revenge for the game!

"Uh if you'll excuse me," Althea said. "I think I just need to use the ladies room, be right back!" She took off.

"Hey isn't the ladies room in the other direction?" Rogue said. "Oh great, she must have spooked or something!"

"We'd better get the others," Kurt said.

"I'll get them," Rogue told him. "You sneak into the boy's room and see if you can port around and find the computer room."

"Right, that's the main objective," Kurt nodded and did so.

Meanwhile Althea had snuck in the backroom without complications. Her hidden communicator crackled. She turned it on. "Hey will you keep it down?" She snapped. "Two minutes earlier and you would have blown my cover!"

"Sorry," Falcon said. "But I promised your old man that I'd keep an eye on you."

"Will you relax?" Althea hissed into her communicator. "I am a ninja after all!"

"You're a ninja in training," Falcon reminded her.

"Look I can still take on the bad guys so don't sweat it!" Althea said. "I've packed a few surprises in my jacket and boot just in case. I'm going to find the computer room. I'll be out soon. Over and out!"

She headed through the corridors, encountering no resistance. She found the door and opened it. "Jackpot," She nodded locating one of the computers. She took out a special disk created to store information that had been transferred. She worked on the computer. "Phew! What smells in here?" She muttered.

Hiding behind a couple of crates Kurt had only teleported in a few seconds ago. He kept himself hidden. He watched her download some files from the computer. "Soon this will tell me everything I need to know," She said to herself. "Can't believe how lousy security is in this place."

Kurt realized that he needed to get in touch with the X-Men fast. Having no choice, he teleported out. "What was that?" Althea ran over where she heard the sound but found only smoke. "Man what is it about this place? Hey what's that…?"

She bent down and saw that the crates were covered by a tarp. She lifted it and to her shock found the Cobra insignia. "I knew it!" Althea spat. "I'd better go while the getting is good." She went back to the computer. "Still downloading? Come on, come on!" A minute ticked by. Then two. Finally the disk finished downloading. "About time," She snapped as she put the disk in a special pocket.

Just then Scott and the other X-Men ran into the door.

"Is this the meeting of the Computer Lover's Anonymous?" Althea said the first thing that came into her mind. Then she saw Jean. "YOU? What are you doing here?"

"Look Althea we wanna have a talk with you," Jean said.

"I'll bet you do," Althea spat. "Couldn't stand a blow to your pride so you got your freak friends to gang up on me?"

"That's not why we're here!" Jean said.

"Oh then why are you and your friends stalking me?" Althea asked.

"Hey we know what you are!" Evan blurted out.

"Oh and what exactly is that?" Althea raised an eyebrow.

"Uh…" Evan gulped.

"Smooth move Evan," Kurt rolled his eyes.

Scott told her "Look we know you have that disk and we want it! You'd better give it to us. We don't want any trouble."

"Fine," Althea shrugged reaching into her jacket pocket. "Neither do I."

What she pulled out instead was a smoke bomb and threw it at their feet. By the time they recovered, she was out the door. "She's getting away!" Scott said. "After her!"

They went downstairs into the club. "I can't find her!" Jean said. "Too many minds to pinpoint her!"

A man walked up to them. "Hey are you looking for a girl with long black hair and blue streaks?"

"Did you see where she went?" Jean asked.

"Right out the back door," He pointed. "She's probably went towards the abandoned warehouse on the docks. You'd better get her. No telling what kind of unsavory characters are out there."

"Thanks we will," Scott nodded. They went after her.

Zartan chuckled to himself. "Well this is turning out to be interesting. Got to get back to the control room. This should be quite a show."

Meanwhile outside the club, Logan was sniffing around. "Find anything?" Ororo asked on her communicator.

" No, I'm going to check out the perimeter," Logan said. "Logan out."

Not too far away two figures were in a jeep. "It's too quiet," Lady Jaye said. "She should have called in by now."

"Something fishy is going on," Falcon said. "I'm gonna check out the perimeter." He took off leaving her to watch the front of the club.

Meanwhile not too far from the club was a warehouse and pier. Althea was hiding among the numerous boxes trying to call in.

"Althea to Falcon, come in Falcon," Althea called on her communicator. "Come on where are you? I've been compromised! Oh great! Busted!" She spat. "Guess I'll have to…what the…?" She saw the group of teenagers from the club. Only now they were wearing uniforms. "When did they have time to change their clothes?" She muttered to herself.

"She's around here somewhere," Scott said. "Split up."

Great! Althea thought. Some kind of military unit. Now I know Cobra's involved! No way I can take 'em all on head on. But maybe I don't have to…She grinned as a plan formed in her mind.

Scott and Rogue searched one area. "There!" Rogue saw something. It looked like her jacket. "I got her!" She tackled it, only to find it was just her jacket hanging on a piece of wood. "Huh?"

"Surprise!" Althea shouted as she threw two capsules at their feet. Before they knew it a gas surrounded them.

"It's some kind of…" Scott sputtered before he fell into unconsciousness. Rogue lay next to him.

"Two down, three to go," Althea nodded as she put on her jacket again. "Whoa!" She dodged something sharp. "What the heck…?" She turned around.

"Guys she's here!" Evan shouted into his communicator. "She's taken out Cyclops and Rogue! I'll try to pin her down!" He shot more spikes at her.

Althea dodged them using several flips. "Pretty cool trick! Let's see how well you do!" She tossed some throwing stars at him. Two of them pinned his uniform to a crate, trapping him.

"Uh oh," Evan gulped as he saw her coming towards him. With a flying kick her foot connected with his jaw and he was knocked out cold.

"Though so," Althea panted. "Can't take his own medicine." Some strange sound caught her ear and before she knew what had happened some furry arms was holding on to her.

"Gotcha!" Kurt shouted. "Whoa!" He yelped as he was thrown off. He teleported and landed beside her. He tried to kick her but she grabbed his leg.

"Got you," Althea said as she flung him around. She tossed him into some crates. Kurt barely had time to teleport away from her next attack. "Okay you little…whatever you are where are you?"

"Right here!" Kurt ported on top of her. He intended to pin her to the ground. Unfortunately she managed to turn the tables and pin him down. A swift fist knocked him out cold.

"Not bad for amateurs," She muttered as she stood up. She looked at the mutant below her feet.

Hey, Althea thought. I recognize these uniforms! These are the same nuts that were fighting that robot in Bayville months ago! These morons are the ones who exposed mutants to the world! What are they…? WHO'S IN MY HEAD? GET OUT OF MY MIND YOU CREEP!

Jean felt herself being pushed out of her thoughts violently. It happened so fast her vision blurred. She got her bearings back just in time to dodge a sharp shuriken.

"YOU?" Althea shouted. "I recognize that uniform! You are one of those morons from Bayville! Way to go Red! Why didn't you just take out an ad saying 'Hey World! Look at us! We're Mutants?"

"Hey you don't know what happened!" Jean shot out. "How did you do that?"

"A little trick my ninja master taught me," Althea said. "Keeps nosy telepaths out! Now I know who tried to hack into my file!"

"Are you a mutant too?" Jean asked.

"That's for me to know and you not to find out!" Althea shouted as she tossed her final gas bomb at her.

"Oh no you don't!" Jean shot the gas bomb right back so it exploded around Althea. To her surprise Althea walked out unscathed.

"Here's a tip Red," Althea said. "Always inject yourself with the antidote for your sleep bombs in case of emergencies!" With a scream she lunged herself at her.

And stopped in mid air. "What?" Althea struggled to free herself but couldn't. "Oh great!"

"And here's a tip for you," Jean smirked. "Never directly attack a telekinetic!"

Althea grunted. "So that's how you got that goal! I knew it! I knew there was no way an amateur like you could make a shot like that for real!"

Althea pulled several throwing stars and threw them at a net filled with boxes over Jean's head. The net was cut loose and the boxes fell on top of Jean, who was forced to release Althea from her hold. Jean lay there unconscious. "Final tip," Althea said. "Always watch where you're standing."

Althea stormed over to a groggy Kurt and grabbed him by the throat. "Okay furball," She growled. "What does Cobra want with those files on mutants? Talk before I rip your tail off and stuff it down your throat!"

"Vas is Cobra…?" Kurt gasped. "I don't know anything about it! I swear!"

"You wouldn't be lying to me now would you?" Althea pulled out her knife hidden in her boot. She had an evil look on her face as she waved it under Kurt's nose.

"Nein," Kurt gulped. "We…we don't know anything about this Cobra."

"Then what are you doing here?" She snapped. "Speak up before I turn you into a rug!"

"We wanted to find out about you," Kurt gasped. "To see if you were a mutant and join us!"

"Join…?" Althea looked at him. "You mean you clods are simply recruiters for some kind of freak gang? You seriously need to work on your sales pitch."

"I think you have a point," Kurt gulped, eyeing the sharp blade.

"I don't have time for this," Althea snapped. "If you're not with Cobra then you're just wasting my time. If I ever see you twerps around here again, we'll finish this! And I won't go so easy on you like I did this time!" She tossed Kurt to the side like a rag doll and took off. She dove into the water.

"Jean," Kurt stumbled over to her and started pulling away the boxes. "Jean are you all right?"

"I'll let you know as soon as this freight train stops running through my head," Jean moaned. "Where'd she go?"

"Don't know," Kurt said. "She just swam off."

"Did you find out anything about her?" Jean asked.

"You don't want to know," Kurt grumbled. "Let's just say if she is a mutant, she is definitely not interested."

Meanwhile Zartan laughed at them all from the safety of the control room. "You owe me twenty dollars Torch," He sniggered. "I told you she could take them out."

"Amazing," Zarana looked at the screen. "And she didn't even use her powers. Too bad she got away with the disk though."

"A mere casualty of war," Zartan shrugged. "I think Cobra Commander will be most pleased at the information we bring him. Yes, I think there will be some very interesting plans for the X-Men in the near future."

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Several hours later they were back at the Institute. "We tried to find her, but she got away," Scott said.

"I don't know if she's a mutant or not but she is definitely a very good fighter," Kurt said. "My body still hurts from the pounding she gave me."

"Yeah she took us all on and we got creamed," Rogue grumbled.

"Hey it's not our fault!" Evan snapped. "She had all these ninja gizmos. Gas, throwing stars…the works!"

"Evan as X-Men we're supposed to be ready for anything," Scott told him.

"Well we certainly weren't ready for her," Jean grumbled.

"Did you run into any resistance Logan?" Xavier asked.

"Well let's just say there's one guy that lived to tell a very interesting story," Logan chuckled. "But she obviously had help. Did you find anything about her Chuck?"

"No," Xavier frowned. "In fact, according to Cerebro…she doesn't even exist."

"What you think that may be part of her powers?" Scott asked.

"No," Xavier said. "I believe that something was blocking her from Cerebro's scanners. She may have some kind of electronic apparatus on her that keeps her hidden from mutant scanners."

"Hey!" Kitty said. "Maybe it was that shell necklace she was wearing! I mean she wears it all the time and it looked metallic."

"It's possible," Xavier folded his fingers. "But we may never know."

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"Well thank you all so very much," Althea stormed into the Joe's office, dripping wet and blue from her exposure to salt water. "Where the heck were you guys?"

Falcon held up his sliced rifle. "Let's just say I ran into some opposition."

"Yeah well here's the file," Althea took it out of her waterproof pocket. "Think you can make heads or tails out of this Mainframe?"

"No sweat," Mainframe, the GI Joe Computer specialist went to work. "Just give me a minute to work my magic!"

"I ran into a little 'opposition' myself," Althea told them. "Mutants. They aren't with Cobra though. Seems to be a group acting on their own looking for new recruits."

"Here we are," Mainframe brought up the information on the computer. "It's official. It's Cobra all right. And from the looks of it, we weren't the only ones that got hacked into."

"Can you find out what other information they got?" Lady Jaye asked.

"Some of it," Mainframe said. "Just let me work some more magic."

"Well it's pretty easy to guess what Cobra's after," Falcon said. He unconsciously looked at Althea.

"Mutants," She said, her eyes narrowing.

"That's it!" Shipwreck threw up his hands. "I'm taking you out of that school and you are going back to being tutored on the base!"

"But Pop," Althea started.

"No but's young lady!" Shipwreck said. "We are going back to the Pit in a few weeks anyway! I am not going to take any more chances with your safety! Understand?"

"Fine," Althea huffed. "It's not like I have any friends there or anything."

"Here's the report," Mainframe brought up the information on the monitor. "They're called the X-Men. According to the data they are a group of teenage mutants that are self-proclaimed 'protectors of mutants and humans alike'."

"Terrific," Falcon rolled his eyes. "Just what the world needs, teenage vigilantes with super powers."

"They go to this school run by a Charles Xavier," Lady Jaye continued. "Intelligence believes he's some sort of telepath. Oh and look where this school is located."

"Bayville," Falcon shook his head. "Why am I not surprised? Hawk is gonna love this."

"The X-Men huh?" Althea looked at the screen again. "Why do I have the feeling that this isn't gonna be the last I hear of them?"

Next chapter: The Joes are assigned to infiltrate Bayville High and spy on the X-Men and the Brotherhood! Trouble is, Cobra wants them for their own purposes as well. Find out who's going undercover and as what!