Usual: Characters? NOT MINE. Money? Don't got none. Everyone belongs to the company that owns them, and none of them belong to me! Except Kelsey McMannin, she's mine. She was the unnamed student-narrator in an earlier chapter, I've given her a name now! Whoo hoo!
It's been about seven years since the first chapter took place. Xavier outed the school publically, and it is full of young mutants and the constantly shifting rooster of X-Men. Please remember, I told cannon to take a flying [BLEEP] about four years ago, so this does NOT fit with the current MU storyline.
**Telepathy**
((inner thoughts))
//memories//
Tsunami
Well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount
But nothing really matters much, it's doom alone that counts
And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
- "Shelter from the Storm" by Bob Dylan
"A note!" Her scream shrilled though the mansion, and the X-Men gave a collective wince. "A fucking note!" The sound of Jubilation Lee tossing things against her wall caused all of the younger students to run for cover, while the veterans of Westchester quickly convened in the Den. "Goddamnfuckingsonofabitchbastard!"
Ororo watched as Scott's jaw tightened at each echo of something smashing. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Jean, can you get anything out of her? What's going on?"
Jean shook her head almost immediately. "She's completely locked down. Whatever made her so angry, she took the emotional charge and has used it to tighten down her shields. If I didn't know exactly where to look for her, I never would have found her- she's almost totally psionically invisible. Once I did locate her psyche, her shields resemble the briar-wall from Sleeping Beauty. I'd get cut apart by the brambles before I even reached the walls." She sighed, leaning against the back of the couch as a BOOM softly resonated from upstairs. "If we want to know why she's blowing things up, someone has to go talk to her. Physically. In person."
"Logan was here today." Remy walked into the room, carrying a box of Sugar Bombs. "P'tite got a note. He slipped in durin' the picnic. If you ask Remy, it's a pitiful excuse for a note. The homme just say 'alo. P'tite a little pissed 'bout his methods. She gave Gambit de box of cereal so she wouldn't "accidentally ignite perfectly good sugar." Jubilee will head down to de Danger Room in a bit, she just blowin' off some steam first."
Scott swore softly. "This has got to stop. It was bad enough when Logan was around, but this is absurd! He's not even here, and he's still hurting people!" The sound of something smashing echoed from upstairs, and everyone winced again. "And we need to get Jubilee into some anger management courses." Another boom shook the walls slightly as they heard Jubilee take the stairs two at a time and slam her way down the hall toward the Danger Room.
"You wanna be de one to tell le p'tite dat she gotta go to therapy?" Remy grinned from ear to ear as he began eating the
Sugar Bombs. "Homme, Remy be takin' bets on de odds of your survival."
*****
Kick. Spin. Uppercut. Roundhouse. Flip. Slide. Duck. Punch. Slice. Twist. Throw. Jubilation Lee cut loose against
the holographic SHIELD agents that the computer provided. Twirling her sais with glee, she ripped into the onslaught of
opponents, the bracelet on her wrist effectively suppressing her explosive potential. This was to be a fight! She would not
use her powers to make it easier on herself. Letting loose with a scream, she hurled herself towards her next group of
would-be attackers, laughing the entire time.
*****
"And this, students, is what we call "Jubilee-with-a-deathwish". A.k.a.- something you are NEVER allowed to do." Emma Frost stared down at her one-time student, her eyes unfathomable. She had only recently been coaxed out of teaching retirement in recent weeks by Hank McCoy of all people. Scott and Xavier had been trying for years, but it was Hank who had said the magical words which had caused her to return to the mansion part-time.
//There are things that only you can teach these children, Emma. They are tired, they hurt. Possibly more than those poor things from Genosha. Show them that it is possible to bend with the storm rather than break and shatter. Teach them beauty, Emma. Show them how to retain a pretense of elegance, no matter how ugly things get.//
((Oh Hank.)) Emma mentally shook her head. ((Appealing to my pride would be the typical tactic, but you had to go and appeal to my survival instinct. How very clever.)) She straightened up, looking at the six children peering out of the observation booth at her erstwhile apprentice. "Only Jubilation, the senior X-Men, and few members of X-Force are allowed to practice with the safety systems of the Danger Room off. And only Jubilation is foolish enough to wear a power suppresser while in the middle of a high-level training session. She is a pyrokinetic, as far as anyone can figure out, as well as a telepath. However, she prefers to rely on her physical strength, stamina, and fighting prowess in a battle. Can anyone tell me why?"
"Never give away the advantage." Kelsey McMannin kept her nose to the glass with a morbid fascination as she watched the older woman slit the throat of her adversary. "If they think she has a purely physical mutation, such as agility, they will not be expecting a pyrokinetic attack or telepathy at a crucial moment." The twelve-year-old reminded Emma eerily of Domino at times, with her fascination with violence. Unlike the other students in Emma's special class, Kelsey was the only one without an offensive power, and she tended to compensate by augmenting her physical and mental training.
"Very good, Kelsey, but that is not the only reason." Emma moved foward to stroke the little girl's head. "Jubilee has had her powers stripped from her multiple times. She was a prisoner of O:ZT and her torture was overseen by Bastion himself." Her mouth tightened into a line of distaste at the memory as her new students gasped. "After that, she made an oath to never rely on something so delicate as a mutation. Your minds and bodies are weapons, just like your Gifts. Never neglect them. Come along, it will be a long time before she manages to wear herself out completely. You may come back to study her fighting techniques during your freetime if you wish." With that, Emma Grace Frost ushered her new charges out of the observation booth. Carefully prying Kelsey away from the glass, she propelled the little girl through the doorway with a firm hand. She would NOT allow these children to follow down the same destructive path that Jubilee seemed to twirl down with such fierce determination at times. Violence was all well and good in the proper context, but unless Jubilee learned how to bend soon, she was going to shatter all over again. Only it would be worse than what happened after Jono had left, and Emma had no doubt that if Jubilation Lee broke again, there would be a body count.
**I heard that, Em.** The thought coiled around Emma's mind, whisper-soft. **It's not nice of you to go around telling the kiddies that I'm nuts. They'll start to think I'm another Bishop, and I'm much more fun that he is.**
**Heaven forbid you ever take anything seriously.** Emma mentally shot back at the woman still below her in the Danger Room. **I thought you had your power-negating bracelet on?**
**I did. I turned it off to 'talk' to you.** The mental chuckle twirled happy circles in her head. **I had the observation booth mike on. You were coming over the loudspeakers down here.** Jubilee laughed at Emma's mental swearing. **I know, I know. I'm a bad girl. I'm a bad, wicked woman who does her best to work around the rules instead of with them. Anything else?**
**I'm enormously proud of you for it.** The two women psionically smile at each other as Emma continues to walk down the hallway after her charges. **Are we still on for a movie in my quarters this evening? I recently acquired the entire James Bond dvd collection.**
**Emma, have I ever told you how much you are my personal hero?**
**Yes dear. Many times, usually after you borrow my platinum credit card.**