1 To be a Thief Part One
"It's a simple enough job. You steal the books from this old Australian base and I'll give two million just like you want," the cloaked Spanish man told the charming thief.
"Why you want these books mon ami?" Gambit asked.
"That is of no consequence to you my good man. Suffice to say they have some monetary value and if you really want to help your friend with cancer I think you would do this job without question."
"Of course.I never did catch your name."
"My name doesn't matter. Getting those books is the only thing that matters. Now I suggest you hurry. Every minute you waste is another minute the cancer takes over your friend's body."
"I still don't know how you found out about that, but believe me I will mon ami," Gambit said walking away from the man cloaked in black.
"Gambit you already know more about me than you know," the cloaked Spanish man said walking in the opposite direction of Gambit. There was a faint tinge of regret in Gambit. He wasn't sure if working for this guy was all that good of an idea especially since he didn't even care to mention his name, but he was willing to do anything to help a friend especially in a cause so noble as this one. Of course what qualifies as noble is all in the eyes of the beholder. Sometimes rose tinted lenses cover that beholder's view and sometimes they have an immense fog covering their eyes.
2 Australia
"According to the computer there was a huge EM storm off of Isla Frost. It definitely didn't seem natural. Do you think it could be Magneto?" Tessa asked Storm who was looking over Tessa's shoulder at the green-colored computer monitor.
"No Magneto is gone and this time for good. While I may not agree with Wolverine's methods I'm not arguing with the results. Plus the storm went away so that means either Emma's X-Men got rid of it or Magneto, which I'm sure we would have heard of by now, decimated them."
"Point taken. Those little kids wouldn't even stand a chance against Magneto. Polaris, Iceman and Emma combined might put up a challenge especially if Bobby and Polaris began to explore their full potential."
"In time they will begin to grow in both power and maturity. Give them time though Tessa. No can and should become all-powerful in one day. Look at what happened to Phoenix."
"Another point taken. I'm just about finished putting the X-Men on Isla Frost into our database. I've just got to do Vermin. The kid's bordering on being a Beta Mutant."
"I really hate classifying mutants like that. I think any mutant has unlimited potential with time."
"I have to agree, but that time is something not all mutants have."
"True. So how many mutants do we have in our database right now?"
"I would have to say around 200."
"Good. With all this technology around this base I'm surprised that you, Betsy and Neal have enough money for everything."
"We practically fund this whole operation. Psylocke might have to start modeling again," Tessa said with a faint tinge of humor in her voice. That was something Storm wasn't use to seeing from Tessa and that meant she was getting adjusted here. Storm was glad to see it.
"Have you been working on the diaries?"
"Diligently, but for every verse there is either fifty different interpretations or it is indecipherable. Only as the prophecies get closer will they become more evident."
"I hope so. I truly do hope so."
"We are going to need a lot more than hope Ororo. We are going to need miracles to get all these prophecies down straight," Sage sighed.
Meanwhile a floor below the conversing Sage and Storm, Bishop and Psylocke were training. Both were great hand-to-hand combatants and both had strong potential in their abilities.
"Psylocke I've been meaning to ask you if Shadow King is still in your head. You use your telepathy freely now as if he is obliterated or is no longer a threat."
"Bishop you may not believe me, but the Shadow King is still in my head, but only because of the Crimson Dawn. My telepathy has been growing at a rapid rate and I think that is because Shadow King's telepathy is being absorbed into my own making him basically dead weight in my head. I don't know why the Crimson Dawn is doing this, but it's probably because it seeks to make its wielder always more powerful. Of course the Crimson Dawn may have even been angered about the fact that the Shadow King shifted me and Jean's powers just so he could escape out of me*."
(*In an as yet untold tale)
"Glad to see at least someone is improving in their mutant abilities," Bishop said still angry at Neal's carelessness during the battle with Kuragari in the Crimson Dawn dimension.
"Give Neal time Bish, luv. Not everyone can be X.S.E. now can they?" Psylocke asked gently.
"Lets just get this rumble started," Bishop grunted. Psylocke hated not being able to get through to him. Bishop was one of the most stubborn men she knew probably after Wolverine. Both of them had plenty of reasons to be like they were, but Psylocke always tried to break down those walls and find out what was at their core. She had somewhat succeeded with Wolverine, but failed in her many attempts with Bishop.
Bishop tumbled at Psylocke and he would have knocked her to the ground if she hadn't propelled herself into the air. She charged up her psi-dagger in mid-air and charged straight down at Bishop. Before she even managed to touch her he backhanded her to the floor.
"Not very ninja-like," Bishop snickered. Psylocke got hot in the face very quickly. Her skin began to change into a dark-green color. Her eyes grew red as fire and a tail sprouted from her back. Spikes popped out of the backs of her clothes and she growled baring her teeth. Bishop was in shock of what do to do. Could this just be a telepathic trick by Psylocke? Was she being controlled by the Shadow King or was his dark side becoming one with her?
Bishop wasn't going to take the time to find out. He pulled out his gun, set it for stun and aimed it at a still transforming Psylocke. Just as he was about to fire Psylocke leapt on him. Her tail was wrapped around his neck and she began to squeeze. Bishop was gasping for air, but he was determined to stay focused. He fired his gun directly in Psylocke's snarling face sending her into a wall. Bishop took in fresh air all the while grabbing his bleeding neck. Psylocke's scales were sharper than they seemed. Bishop ignored the blood and set his gun to its highest power level. He knew Psylocke would definitely be able to a take a blast the likes of which he was about to deliver from what he had just saw. Bishop grasped the trigger of his gun and fired again and again. The blasts were all in vain as Psylocke slipped into the shadows. Bishop knew she would pop up behind him so he quickly turned, but there was no Psylocke.
He began to look all around him in every direction. Suddenly he was thrust into the air. Psylocke had been under him the whole time! Bishop felt an immense pain in his back. It was where Psylocke had sent him up into the air with her tail. The blood freely flowed from his back. Bishop was beginning to lose conscious and it was just as Psylocke leapt in the air after her prey.
Psylocke finally managed to pull herself together, but the damage had been done. Bishop was a bloody mess full of cuts and slashes. Psylocke didn't have time to call for help because the scales on her body began to one by one painfully disappear. The pain was too much for Psylocke and she passed out.
Meanwhile across the base Havok was speaking with one of the newest X- Men, Savitar. They were both walking down a corridor to see Beast for no particular reason except to talk.
"You remind me a lot of myself Neal. I was young like you, my powers were out of control like you and I was definitely afraid to use them. Even though some members on this team give you a hard time don't stress them. Eventually you will in time prove to them just how valuable an X-Man you are."
"I would think at least by now I would have contributed something to the dream or at least to the X-Men."
"I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I overheard Bishop and Storm talking about you. Storm was basically saying you would probably be better suited for the school and just as I was about to jump in for you defense Bishop did instead. He said something about a mutant named Neal Sharaa surviving to his time as pure plasma being. Though his Neal was never an X-Man he was becoming important to the X.S.E. before Bishop left for this time. Perhaps that's why Bishop is so hard on you because he knows just how much you can be."
Neal could only smile at hearing this. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea joining the X-Men after all. Of course he wasn't going to let Bish know he knew his little secret.
"See now that's what I'm talk-ARGHH!" Havok yelled as he fell to the ground writhing in pain. Neal bent down to try and touch him, but he was blasted away by the plasma field now surrounding Alex's body.
"What the hell is going on here?" Tessa cried as she came running down the hallway.
"Havok just fell out! I don't know what's wrong with him!" Savitar said hysterically.
"Calm down Neal!" Tessa said as she bent down to touch Alex. Neal was just about to warn her, but she touched Havok's skin without any problem.
"Pick him up and let's get him to the infirmary. Beast is definitely going to have his hands full with three patients."
"Three patients?"
"Yes, that is what I was just about to tell you guys. Storm and I found Psylocke and Bishop in the training area both knocked out except Bishop was a bloody mess."
"Come on let's hurry! I've got to get to Betsy!"
3 Two Hours Later
"Glad we got rid of all the riff raff," Tessa said to Beast as she checked the vital signs of her three incapacitated teammates. When she got to Havok she was surprised to see that nothing was absolutely wrong with his vital signs.
"Hank, Alex's vital signs are normal all over. I don't think his problem is a psychical one."
"Mental perhaps," Beast suggested. Tessa nodded. Beast was going to advise her against entering Havok's mind not knowing the dangers, but he knew Tessa was a woman who went her own way so she didn't try to stop her.
Tessa gently touched the mind of Havok and used her telepathy to enter into his mental domain. She searched around looking for any anomaly, but could find none. Just when she was about to give up she sensed a disturbance. As she began to probe further and further the disturbance clearer and more powerful. Whatever it was it was big. Tessa then decided it was obviously too much for a telepath like her to handle so she began to pull out, but before she could the disturbance reached out and touched her mind.
As Beast was working on stabilizing Bishop he heard a loud thud. When he turned to look he saw Tessa on the floor convulsing and drooling. Beast leapt to her side immediately and placed on her on a table where he would try to bring her back to normal hoping she wouldn't go into a coma.
4 Two Hours Later
"Give me a report Hank. What is causing my team to drop like flies?"
"Ororo honestly I can only guess at what might be the cause. From the surveillance tapes in the training room I'm surmising it has to do with the Crimson Dawn."
"Psylocke only seems to be bringing us trouble, but of course that can be said of a lot of X-Men."
"Indeed."
"I would expect more from you Hank or are you too busy staring at that computer."
"That and I'm trying to send Trish an e-mail," Beast smiled.
"It's a simple enough job. You steal the books from this old Australian base and I'll give two million just like you want," the cloaked Spanish man told the charming thief.
"Why you want these books mon ami?" Gambit asked.
"That is of no consequence to you my good man. Suffice to say they have some monetary value and if you really want to help your friend with cancer I think you would do this job without question."
"Of course.I never did catch your name."
"My name doesn't matter. Getting those books is the only thing that matters. Now I suggest you hurry. Every minute you waste is another minute the cancer takes over your friend's body."
"I still don't know how you found out about that, but believe me I will mon ami," Gambit said walking away from the man cloaked in black.
"Gambit you already know more about me than you know," the cloaked Spanish man said walking in the opposite direction of Gambit. There was a faint tinge of regret in Gambit. He wasn't sure if working for this guy was all that good of an idea especially since he didn't even care to mention his name, but he was willing to do anything to help a friend especially in a cause so noble as this one. Of course what qualifies as noble is all in the eyes of the beholder. Sometimes rose tinted lenses cover that beholder's view and sometimes they have an immense fog covering their eyes.
2 Australia
"According to the computer there was a huge EM storm off of Isla Frost. It definitely didn't seem natural. Do you think it could be Magneto?" Tessa asked Storm who was looking over Tessa's shoulder at the green-colored computer monitor.
"No Magneto is gone and this time for good. While I may not agree with Wolverine's methods I'm not arguing with the results. Plus the storm went away so that means either Emma's X-Men got rid of it or Magneto, which I'm sure we would have heard of by now, decimated them."
"Point taken. Those little kids wouldn't even stand a chance against Magneto. Polaris, Iceman and Emma combined might put up a challenge especially if Bobby and Polaris began to explore their full potential."
"In time they will begin to grow in both power and maturity. Give them time though Tessa. No can and should become all-powerful in one day. Look at what happened to Phoenix."
"Another point taken. I'm just about finished putting the X-Men on Isla Frost into our database. I've just got to do Vermin. The kid's bordering on being a Beta Mutant."
"I really hate classifying mutants like that. I think any mutant has unlimited potential with time."
"I have to agree, but that time is something not all mutants have."
"True. So how many mutants do we have in our database right now?"
"I would have to say around 200."
"Good. With all this technology around this base I'm surprised that you, Betsy and Neal have enough money for everything."
"We practically fund this whole operation. Psylocke might have to start modeling again," Tessa said with a faint tinge of humor in her voice. That was something Storm wasn't use to seeing from Tessa and that meant she was getting adjusted here. Storm was glad to see it.
"Have you been working on the diaries?"
"Diligently, but for every verse there is either fifty different interpretations or it is indecipherable. Only as the prophecies get closer will they become more evident."
"I hope so. I truly do hope so."
"We are going to need a lot more than hope Ororo. We are going to need miracles to get all these prophecies down straight," Sage sighed.
Meanwhile a floor below the conversing Sage and Storm, Bishop and Psylocke were training. Both were great hand-to-hand combatants and both had strong potential in their abilities.
"Psylocke I've been meaning to ask you if Shadow King is still in your head. You use your telepathy freely now as if he is obliterated or is no longer a threat."
"Bishop you may not believe me, but the Shadow King is still in my head, but only because of the Crimson Dawn. My telepathy has been growing at a rapid rate and I think that is because Shadow King's telepathy is being absorbed into my own making him basically dead weight in my head. I don't know why the Crimson Dawn is doing this, but it's probably because it seeks to make its wielder always more powerful. Of course the Crimson Dawn may have even been angered about the fact that the Shadow King shifted me and Jean's powers just so he could escape out of me*."
(*In an as yet untold tale)
"Glad to see at least someone is improving in their mutant abilities," Bishop said still angry at Neal's carelessness during the battle with Kuragari in the Crimson Dawn dimension.
"Give Neal time Bish, luv. Not everyone can be X.S.E. now can they?" Psylocke asked gently.
"Lets just get this rumble started," Bishop grunted. Psylocke hated not being able to get through to him. Bishop was one of the most stubborn men she knew probably after Wolverine. Both of them had plenty of reasons to be like they were, but Psylocke always tried to break down those walls and find out what was at their core. She had somewhat succeeded with Wolverine, but failed in her many attempts with Bishop.
Bishop tumbled at Psylocke and he would have knocked her to the ground if she hadn't propelled herself into the air. She charged up her psi-dagger in mid-air and charged straight down at Bishop. Before she even managed to touch her he backhanded her to the floor.
"Not very ninja-like," Bishop snickered. Psylocke got hot in the face very quickly. Her skin began to change into a dark-green color. Her eyes grew red as fire and a tail sprouted from her back. Spikes popped out of the backs of her clothes and she growled baring her teeth. Bishop was in shock of what do to do. Could this just be a telepathic trick by Psylocke? Was she being controlled by the Shadow King or was his dark side becoming one with her?
Bishop wasn't going to take the time to find out. He pulled out his gun, set it for stun and aimed it at a still transforming Psylocke. Just as he was about to fire Psylocke leapt on him. Her tail was wrapped around his neck and she began to squeeze. Bishop was gasping for air, but he was determined to stay focused. He fired his gun directly in Psylocke's snarling face sending her into a wall. Bishop took in fresh air all the while grabbing his bleeding neck. Psylocke's scales were sharper than they seemed. Bishop ignored the blood and set his gun to its highest power level. He knew Psylocke would definitely be able to a take a blast the likes of which he was about to deliver from what he had just saw. Bishop grasped the trigger of his gun and fired again and again. The blasts were all in vain as Psylocke slipped into the shadows. Bishop knew she would pop up behind him so he quickly turned, but there was no Psylocke.
He began to look all around him in every direction. Suddenly he was thrust into the air. Psylocke had been under him the whole time! Bishop felt an immense pain in his back. It was where Psylocke had sent him up into the air with her tail. The blood freely flowed from his back. Bishop was beginning to lose conscious and it was just as Psylocke leapt in the air after her prey.
Psylocke finally managed to pull herself together, but the damage had been done. Bishop was a bloody mess full of cuts and slashes. Psylocke didn't have time to call for help because the scales on her body began to one by one painfully disappear. The pain was too much for Psylocke and she passed out.
Meanwhile across the base Havok was speaking with one of the newest X- Men, Savitar. They were both walking down a corridor to see Beast for no particular reason except to talk.
"You remind me a lot of myself Neal. I was young like you, my powers were out of control like you and I was definitely afraid to use them. Even though some members on this team give you a hard time don't stress them. Eventually you will in time prove to them just how valuable an X-Man you are."
"I would think at least by now I would have contributed something to the dream or at least to the X-Men."
"I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I overheard Bishop and Storm talking about you. Storm was basically saying you would probably be better suited for the school and just as I was about to jump in for you defense Bishop did instead. He said something about a mutant named Neal Sharaa surviving to his time as pure plasma being. Though his Neal was never an X-Man he was becoming important to the X.S.E. before Bishop left for this time. Perhaps that's why Bishop is so hard on you because he knows just how much you can be."
Neal could only smile at hearing this. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea joining the X-Men after all. Of course he wasn't going to let Bish know he knew his little secret.
"See now that's what I'm talk-ARGHH!" Havok yelled as he fell to the ground writhing in pain. Neal bent down to try and touch him, but he was blasted away by the plasma field now surrounding Alex's body.
"What the hell is going on here?" Tessa cried as she came running down the hallway.
"Havok just fell out! I don't know what's wrong with him!" Savitar said hysterically.
"Calm down Neal!" Tessa said as she bent down to touch Alex. Neal was just about to warn her, but she touched Havok's skin without any problem.
"Pick him up and let's get him to the infirmary. Beast is definitely going to have his hands full with three patients."
"Three patients?"
"Yes, that is what I was just about to tell you guys. Storm and I found Psylocke and Bishop in the training area both knocked out except Bishop was a bloody mess."
"Come on let's hurry! I've got to get to Betsy!"
3 Two Hours Later
"Glad we got rid of all the riff raff," Tessa said to Beast as she checked the vital signs of her three incapacitated teammates. When she got to Havok she was surprised to see that nothing was absolutely wrong with his vital signs.
"Hank, Alex's vital signs are normal all over. I don't think his problem is a psychical one."
"Mental perhaps," Beast suggested. Tessa nodded. Beast was going to advise her against entering Havok's mind not knowing the dangers, but he knew Tessa was a woman who went her own way so she didn't try to stop her.
Tessa gently touched the mind of Havok and used her telepathy to enter into his mental domain. She searched around looking for any anomaly, but could find none. Just when she was about to give up she sensed a disturbance. As she began to probe further and further the disturbance clearer and more powerful. Whatever it was it was big. Tessa then decided it was obviously too much for a telepath like her to handle so she began to pull out, but before she could the disturbance reached out and touched her mind.
As Beast was working on stabilizing Bishop he heard a loud thud. When he turned to look he saw Tessa on the floor convulsing and drooling. Beast leapt to her side immediately and placed on her on a table where he would try to bring her back to normal hoping she wouldn't go into a coma.
4 Two Hours Later
"Give me a report Hank. What is causing my team to drop like flies?"
"Ororo honestly I can only guess at what might be the cause. From the surveillance tapes in the training room I'm surmising it has to do with the Crimson Dawn."
"Psylocke only seems to be bringing us trouble, but of course that can be said of a lot of X-Men."
"Indeed."
"I would expect more from you Hank or are you too busy staring at that computer."
"That and I'm trying to send Trish an e-mail," Beast smiled.
