DISC. I do not own any characters through out this story the only one that belongs to me is Angel. Other than that I own nothing…but I did make some egg nog.
Chapter 7: Riddle
"Jean we think we know what the riddle means" John comes running down the stairs with Bobby, Kitty, and Rogue coming down behind him.
"well?" Jean waits patiently for a reply
"ok the only way to surpass a flame. Well surpass is like better than but not being good at English and we aren't either so decided she probably thought what we did, surpass means destroy or something like that" Rogue just simply smiled
"defeat it at its core. Well fire doesn't have a core its not solid. Kitty like Rogue just smiled
"so it being a riddle it makes sense and Kitty made a point that the bottom of a flame the blue part isn't hot you can run your finger through it and not get burnt well you can't leave your finger there then you will get burnt but that's not the point" Bobby leaned against the rail of the stairs
"so in other words if we have to fight Angel we have to get her weak spot which everyone has. If we attack her right after she throws her fire it should hit her pretty hard" This now being said by John they all stand feeling proud of themselves
"So she tells us how to defeat her then, well if you all feel like it they'll be back they missed a file well dropped one actually but you can help, but you have to go through training and can't tell any of the other students"
"yeah sure I'm up for it" –Kitty
"Well I do like her powers, I'm in" –Rogue
"I get to fight her and not can't in trouble, hell yeah" –John
"well, I really have nothing against Angel and I do believe her powers have an advantage over mine however I do know karate so I guess I'm in too" –Bobby
"very well then follow me to the one room in which you've never been" jean signals them to follow her, they walk down a long corridor there is a picture of the president on the wall, jean turns it slightly counterclockwise and a small panel opens up revealing a key pad which Jean types in a code quickly and then the wall pushes out a little then folds up like a garage door, they step into a large white room which for now appears to be empty
"First you will all go one at a time, then teams of two, then a team of all of you. Everyone understand?"
They all nod in agreement
"John your first, see that x in the center of the room, go stand on it when you get your safety suit on, rest of you come w/ me.
John walks over to the X in a black safety suit, and Jean opens a door revealing stairs leading to the control room up top. Jean speaks over an intercom "ok you'll have to defend yourself until you can shut this down" John nods acknowledging he understands "go"
A large metal arm w/ a spherical laser ball thing at the end unfolds from the ceiling and it begins to fire, the first shot goes right by his neck above his left shoulder, he dodges and when the laser moves lower for a closer shot which goes right below his right shoulder and he grabs on and swings himself up top it. Jean swings the laser trying to shake John off then John grabs a fireball in shoves it in the spot where the beams are coming from and then it shuts off having exploded. John raises his arms in victory and everyone else claps, he jumps off and kitty comes down the stairs in her suit as John goes up.
" All right kitty here we go" Jean brings out another mechanical arm with laser and fires 3 shots in a row and 1 knicks her ankle, when the arm moves over head she phases her hand through pulling out some cords that almost instantly shut down the laser. "Very good can kitty come on back"
kitty goes back and Rogue in her suit comes out.
"Ready?" Jean asks Rogue as she's about to start the arm
"no wait can I think real fast?"
"it was a rhetorical question, go"
Same as before a metal arm with laser comes out of the ceiling, but as it unfolds rogue grabs on instantly before it can fire. She takes off her gloves and begins picking the screws as Jean tries to throw her off. With one quick swing rogue loses her balance but still hold on and manages to pull herself back up and she finally gets one screw out and begins of the at the second. Jean rolls the laser up words so now it's pointing at rogue, rogue kicks it so it faces downward again and as it begins to roll back up the second screw come off and falls to the ground "and you thought you needed time to think? Get on back here. "All right last but not least, Bobby your up
"good job "Bobby congratulates rogue as he goes down and she comes up the stairs
"thanks"
"OK then... Begin" the same arm with laser comes down the Bobby freezes it over Jean fires through it in almost hits him. Bobby begins to run around the circles but Jean follows every move she begins to fire at him and she almost hits his foot suddenly he quickly backs up and freezes the arm in the places where it bends and moves, this allows arm to no longer move and Bobby freezes screws to laser can't turn. Bobby hops up top the laser and freezes an ice sickle on the laser, breaks it off and walks over to where the main gears are and stabs them shutting down the laser arm thing.
"alright come on back" Jean calls him back
Bobby hops off and runs up into the control room.
"Now it's obvious to me that you all have your own very unique ways of doing things, not that it matters because you all completed your tasks. Aright this time your task will be more challenging, however I will grant you a partner. Kitty you're with Rogue, John you're with Bobby, and guys you're first. So if you'll head on down there you can start on my go. And girls don't try to learn from their mistakes your task is 100 percent different from theirs. Alright on each wall is located a red button, your task is too push them all. Go"
On the word the guys split Bobby goes to the right and John heads left. However once the pressure was off the X the floor slid upwards making John slide Bobby's way as Bobby tumbles front wards over his head crashing onto the wall, when finally able to stand again Bobby pushes the first button and the floor levels out.
As John and Bobby make their way to the button across the room a laser bot comes out of the wall above the first button and begins firing at them. Bobby and John both head back to the X but then the X raises up about 8 feet and begins to spin rapidly
"ok how 'bout on the count of 3 we hump off and head for whatever wall we end up facing" John looks to Bobby for a reply to his statement
"alright and we'll destroy that laser thing later"
The laser comes up above them and fires more
"if we can live that long 1, 2, 3" –John
They both jump off kinda crooked from being dizzy. John reaches the button he's facing and the lights go off, then a loud whistle sounds and freezing air covers the floor freezing it, john not noting turns around to where Bobby is and he slips and falls.
"John I know you like it dark when you're asleep and all but it would be nice if I knew where the bot that shooting at me is"
John gets a fireball in his had emitting a soft glow of light then he sees the bot and shoots the ball at it blowing it up. John creates another ball of fire and walks over to Bobby very carefully so he doesn't fall, using the fire for light Bobby hits the 3rd button. Upon this button being hit the unexpected happens the wall w/ the 4th and final button is now covered w/ red buttons exactly like the one they're to push.
A sign of hope appears because the lights come on and this ice finally melts. Bobby and John make a mad dash towards the final button, they hit all the buttons they can however no luck can remain good. For every button they hit that isn't the one they're supposed to a laser bot comes out
"Shit this ain't gonna work. Ok new plan you destroy the bots I'll push the buttons" Bobby waits for John's reply to his offer
"why me"
"you have an easier time destroying them"
"fine"
Bobby continues pushing buttons while John creates and throws numerous fire balls at the bots. Finally Bobby hits the correct button and John destroys the final bot. The room turns to normal
"Great job guys, you handled yourselves very well. Training isn't easy, you have to learn that you can't always tell what your opponent is going to do. Girls you task will be"
The room now fills up w/ water about 10 feet deep. There are 5 circular floating pads 4 in each corner of the room and the X has raised up in the center.
"like the guys, you will have to press each button, however you must also get the water out of the room."
Jean uses he powers to lift Rogue and Kitty onto the X
"on my go, Go!"
Rogue briefly touches kitty's face absorbing some of her powers, then they jump off the platform which then sinks back to the bottom where it originally was. Unlike Bobby and John, Kitty and Rogue move together. Since Rogue can now use Kitty's powers the phase up from under the platform w/ the first button. Kitty pushes the button and now the water increases its depth to about 30 feet.
"Kitty no offense or anything but uh I'm pretty sure Jean said that we wanted to get rid of the water"
"you know just shut-up" Kitty says playfully
They jump off the platform and swim to platform 2, when rogue hits the button a large whirl pool forms in the center off all the buttons causing everything swirl in a circle.
"Rogue you know what that's worse then what I did, how the heck are we supposed to get to the other platforms now?"
"we can uh I don't know, lets move onto part 2 and worry about the buttons later, I have an idea to get the water out. I'll get in the control room zap John and use his power to evaporate the water"
"well we can try it"
Rogue phases up behind John and touches the back of his neck then goes back in the water w/ kitty. Rogue creates as many fireballs as she can and she tosses them all in random spots in the water, by the time the power runs out the water level is down to around 8 feet, however the whirlpool still remains. Kitty and Rogue swim through the whirlpool and manage to pull themselves up on the 3rd platform. When kitty presses the button the water level rises yet again, Kitty pushes Rogue off the platform onto the 4th platform.
Rogue quickly pushes the final button, and upon pressing the button all of the platforms disappear making rogue and kitty fall back into the water and w/ the water having raised Kitty and Rogue now float in 18 foot water, and since the water ain't deep enough rogue can't zap John again.
"Rogue what are we gonna do? No wait I change my mind I've got an idea, zap me again and we'll swim down get against the wall and let the water flow through us to outside"
"guess its worth a shot"
Rogue again zaps kitty and they get against the wall and much to everyone surprise kitty's idea works and in little time all the water is outside
MEANWHILE AT THE BROTHERHOOD
"Maaaaaggggggggggnnnnneeeeeeetttttoooooooo!!!" Magneto hears his name being called from Angel's room, actually everybody heard and all run to her room
"Good god child what on earth is it?" Magneto stand sin angel's doorway w/ everyone else behind him. Angel is curled in a ball wrapped up in a bunch of blankets in front of the heater
"I'm freezing and the thermostat don't go any higher"
"It's over 110 degrees in here"
"I don't care if its 210 degrees in here I'm cold and need a warmer room"
"everyone back to your duties, child your room is as warm as everyone else's, Mystique you stay"
"Don't you have a fireplace in your room?"
"yes I do, however its in my room, I can have a fireplace built in your room, it would be ready in a week"
"but I'm cold now"
"have your powers really grown that intense? This is wonderful, but your not getting my room"
"ok look at me, my lips are freakin blue I'm shiverin like crazy, but I could be warm but no I can't have the warm room, but I'll make you a deal magsy you give me your room and I won't go back to the x-mansion where I know I'd get a warm room"
"you wouldn't dare"
"oh wouldn't I, we both know I'm good 4 changin sides"
"fine, but only until we have a fireplace built in here" Mystique chuckles to herself but is overheard by Magneto "Do you find something funny"
Still giggling w/ a smile she's trying to keep to herself she replies to magneto "Of course not, nothing here is funny"
"I didn't think so" Magneto turns around and walks towards the kitchen
"what did you think was funny" Angel questions Mystique
"well I'm not telling him this, but if he switches rooms w/ you my room will be larger than his, I have the master bedroom, the room you're moving into is just a living room with a door. And I find that quite funny"
"yeah I guess it is" Angel smiles
"Angel! Toad! Report to the kitchen now!" Magneto pages Angel and Toad over an intercom system.
"what now?" Angel questions magneto forgetting who shes talking to
"The both of you lost the most important file of all that you brought to me, you must have dropped it"
"I thought u said you counted them all?" Angel questions Toad
"I did while we were in the office"
"err you should've counted them in the van!"
"quiet both of you, I'm sure Charles has located the file by now and knows we'll be after it. I'm sending all of you to retrieve it, be ready to go tomorrow morning"
"alrighttttt" angel replies shivering
"are you still cold?"-magneto
"I don'tttt know whattt it isssss I just keepppp gettinggg colderrrrr"
Magneto's eyes grow large and Toad just stares in shock "good lord child"
BACK AT THE MANSION
"Great job girls. Good usage of your powers. Now I know I told all of you that you would have one large thing to do as a group however that's not going to happen today I've just been alerted by the professor that training needs to be over and if you're going to help you need to go to bed now"
"its only 7:45"
"Bobby I'm aware of the time, but if you're going to help us you need to go to bed now" Everyone mutter fine and they all exit to their rooms. The professor wheel in front of Jean
"I've been reading Angel's mind, it seems that we're going to be up for quite a battle tomorrow"
"how strong has she become?"
"stronger than most, if only we could reach her, help her control these powers they're advancing far too fast for her to understand how to control them she's almost fire itself"
"so she really was referring to herself in that riddle?"
"every last word. Make sure not to kill her, just get her back"
Chapter 7: Riddle
"Jean we think we know what the riddle means" John comes running down the stairs with Bobby, Kitty, and Rogue coming down behind him.
"well?" Jean waits patiently for a reply
"ok the only way to surpass a flame. Well surpass is like better than but not being good at English and we aren't either so decided she probably thought what we did, surpass means destroy or something like that" Rogue just simply smiled
"defeat it at its core. Well fire doesn't have a core its not solid. Kitty like Rogue just smiled
"so it being a riddle it makes sense and Kitty made a point that the bottom of a flame the blue part isn't hot you can run your finger through it and not get burnt well you can't leave your finger there then you will get burnt but that's not the point" Bobby leaned against the rail of the stairs
"so in other words if we have to fight Angel we have to get her weak spot which everyone has. If we attack her right after she throws her fire it should hit her pretty hard" This now being said by John they all stand feeling proud of themselves
"So she tells us how to defeat her then, well if you all feel like it they'll be back they missed a file well dropped one actually but you can help, but you have to go through training and can't tell any of the other students"
"yeah sure I'm up for it" –Kitty
"Well I do like her powers, I'm in" –Rogue
"I get to fight her and not can't in trouble, hell yeah" –John
"well, I really have nothing against Angel and I do believe her powers have an advantage over mine however I do know karate so I guess I'm in too" –Bobby
"very well then follow me to the one room in which you've never been" jean signals them to follow her, they walk down a long corridor there is a picture of the president on the wall, jean turns it slightly counterclockwise and a small panel opens up revealing a key pad which Jean types in a code quickly and then the wall pushes out a little then folds up like a garage door, they step into a large white room which for now appears to be empty
"First you will all go one at a time, then teams of two, then a team of all of you. Everyone understand?"
They all nod in agreement
"John your first, see that x in the center of the room, go stand on it when you get your safety suit on, rest of you come w/ me.
John walks over to the X in a black safety suit, and Jean opens a door revealing stairs leading to the control room up top. Jean speaks over an intercom "ok you'll have to defend yourself until you can shut this down" John nods acknowledging he understands "go"
A large metal arm w/ a spherical laser ball thing at the end unfolds from the ceiling and it begins to fire, the first shot goes right by his neck above his left shoulder, he dodges and when the laser moves lower for a closer shot which goes right below his right shoulder and he grabs on and swings himself up top it. Jean swings the laser trying to shake John off then John grabs a fireball in shoves it in the spot where the beams are coming from and then it shuts off having exploded. John raises his arms in victory and everyone else claps, he jumps off and kitty comes down the stairs in her suit as John goes up.
" All right kitty here we go" Jean brings out another mechanical arm with laser and fires 3 shots in a row and 1 knicks her ankle, when the arm moves over head she phases her hand through pulling out some cords that almost instantly shut down the laser. "Very good can kitty come on back"
kitty goes back and Rogue in her suit comes out.
"Ready?" Jean asks Rogue as she's about to start the arm
"no wait can I think real fast?"
"it was a rhetorical question, go"
Same as before a metal arm with laser comes out of the ceiling, but as it unfolds rogue grabs on instantly before it can fire. She takes off her gloves and begins picking the screws as Jean tries to throw her off. With one quick swing rogue loses her balance but still hold on and manages to pull herself back up and she finally gets one screw out and begins of the at the second. Jean rolls the laser up words so now it's pointing at rogue, rogue kicks it so it faces downward again and as it begins to roll back up the second screw come off and falls to the ground "and you thought you needed time to think? Get on back here. "All right last but not least, Bobby your up
"good job "Bobby congratulates rogue as he goes down and she comes up the stairs
"thanks"
"OK then... Begin" the same arm with laser comes down the Bobby freezes it over Jean fires through it in almost hits him. Bobby begins to run around the circles but Jean follows every move she begins to fire at him and she almost hits his foot suddenly he quickly backs up and freezes the arm in the places where it bends and moves, this allows arm to no longer move and Bobby freezes screws to laser can't turn. Bobby hops up top the laser and freezes an ice sickle on the laser, breaks it off and walks over to where the main gears are and stabs them shutting down the laser arm thing.
"alright come on back" Jean calls him back
Bobby hops off and runs up into the control room.
"Now it's obvious to me that you all have your own very unique ways of doing things, not that it matters because you all completed your tasks. Aright this time your task will be more challenging, however I will grant you a partner. Kitty you're with Rogue, John you're with Bobby, and guys you're first. So if you'll head on down there you can start on my go. And girls don't try to learn from their mistakes your task is 100 percent different from theirs. Alright on each wall is located a red button, your task is too push them all. Go"
On the word the guys split Bobby goes to the right and John heads left. However once the pressure was off the X the floor slid upwards making John slide Bobby's way as Bobby tumbles front wards over his head crashing onto the wall, when finally able to stand again Bobby pushes the first button and the floor levels out.
As John and Bobby make their way to the button across the room a laser bot comes out of the wall above the first button and begins firing at them. Bobby and John both head back to the X but then the X raises up about 8 feet and begins to spin rapidly
"ok how 'bout on the count of 3 we hump off and head for whatever wall we end up facing" John looks to Bobby for a reply to his statement
"alright and we'll destroy that laser thing later"
The laser comes up above them and fires more
"if we can live that long 1, 2, 3" –John
They both jump off kinda crooked from being dizzy. John reaches the button he's facing and the lights go off, then a loud whistle sounds and freezing air covers the floor freezing it, john not noting turns around to where Bobby is and he slips and falls.
"John I know you like it dark when you're asleep and all but it would be nice if I knew where the bot that shooting at me is"
John gets a fireball in his had emitting a soft glow of light then he sees the bot and shoots the ball at it blowing it up. John creates another ball of fire and walks over to Bobby very carefully so he doesn't fall, using the fire for light Bobby hits the 3rd button. Upon this button being hit the unexpected happens the wall w/ the 4th and final button is now covered w/ red buttons exactly like the one they're to push.
A sign of hope appears because the lights come on and this ice finally melts. Bobby and John make a mad dash towards the final button, they hit all the buttons they can however no luck can remain good. For every button they hit that isn't the one they're supposed to a laser bot comes out
"Shit this ain't gonna work. Ok new plan you destroy the bots I'll push the buttons" Bobby waits for John's reply to his offer
"why me"
"you have an easier time destroying them"
"fine"
Bobby continues pushing buttons while John creates and throws numerous fire balls at the bots. Finally Bobby hits the correct button and John destroys the final bot. The room turns to normal
"Great job guys, you handled yourselves very well. Training isn't easy, you have to learn that you can't always tell what your opponent is going to do. Girls you task will be"
The room now fills up w/ water about 10 feet deep. There are 5 circular floating pads 4 in each corner of the room and the X has raised up in the center.
"like the guys, you will have to press each button, however you must also get the water out of the room."
Jean uses he powers to lift Rogue and Kitty onto the X
"on my go, Go!"
Rogue briefly touches kitty's face absorbing some of her powers, then they jump off the platform which then sinks back to the bottom where it originally was. Unlike Bobby and John, Kitty and Rogue move together. Since Rogue can now use Kitty's powers the phase up from under the platform w/ the first button. Kitty pushes the button and now the water increases its depth to about 30 feet.
"Kitty no offense or anything but uh I'm pretty sure Jean said that we wanted to get rid of the water"
"you know just shut-up" Kitty says playfully
They jump off the platform and swim to platform 2, when rogue hits the button a large whirl pool forms in the center off all the buttons causing everything swirl in a circle.
"Rogue you know what that's worse then what I did, how the heck are we supposed to get to the other platforms now?"
"we can uh I don't know, lets move onto part 2 and worry about the buttons later, I have an idea to get the water out. I'll get in the control room zap John and use his power to evaporate the water"
"well we can try it"
Rogue phases up behind John and touches the back of his neck then goes back in the water w/ kitty. Rogue creates as many fireballs as she can and she tosses them all in random spots in the water, by the time the power runs out the water level is down to around 8 feet, however the whirlpool still remains. Kitty and Rogue swim through the whirlpool and manage to pull themselves up on the 3rd platform. When kitty presses the button the water level rises yet again, Kitty pushes Rogue off the platform onto the 4th platform.
Rogue quickly pushes the final button, and upon pressing the button all of the platforms disappear making rogue and kitty fall back into the water and w/ the water having raised Kitty and Rogue now float in 18 foot water, and since the water ain't deep enough rogue can't zap John again.
"Rogue what are we gonna do? No wait I change my mind I've got an idea, zap me again and we'll swim down get against the wall and let the water flow through us to outside"
"guess its worth a shot"
Rogue again zaps kitty and they get against the wall and much to everyone surprise kitty's idea works and in little time all the water is outside
MEANWHILE AT THE BROTHERHOOD
"Maaaaaggggggggggnnnnneeeeeeetttttoooooooo!!!" Magneto hears his name being called from Angel's room, actually everybody heard and all run to her room
"Good god child what on earth is it?" Magneto stand sin angel's doorway w/ everyone else behind him. Angel is curled in a ball wrapped up in a bunch of blankets in front of the heater
"I'm freezing and the thermostat don't go any higher"
"It's over 110 degrees in here"
"I don't care if its 210 degrees in here I'm cold and need a warmer room"
"everyone back to your duties, child your room is as warm as everyone else's, Mystique you stay"
"Don't you have a fireplace in your room?"
"yes I do, however its in my room, I can have a fireplace built in your room, it would be ready in a week"
"but I'm cold now"
"have your powers really grown that intense? This is wonderful, but your not getting my room"
"ok look at me, my lips are freakin blue I'm shiverin like crazy, but I could be warm but no I can't have the warm room, but I'll make you a deal magsy you give me your room and I won't go back to the x-mansion where I know I'd get a warm room"
"you wouldn't dare"
"oh wouldn't I, we both know I'm good 4 changin sides"
"fine, but only until we have a fireplace built in here" Mystique chuckles to herself but is overheard by Magneto "Do you find something funny"
Still giggling w/ a smile she's trying to keep to herself she replies to magneto "Of course not, nothing here is funny"
"I didn't think so" Magneto turns around and walks towards the kitchen
"what did you think was funny" Angel questions Mystique
"well I'm not telling him this, but if he switches rooms w/ you my room will be larger than his, I have the master bedroom, the room you're moving into is just a living room with a door. And I find that quite funny"
"yeah I guess it is" Angel smiles
"Angel! Toad! Report to the kitchen now!" Magneto pages Angel and Toad over an intercom system.
"what now?" Angel questions magneto forgetting who shes talking to
"The both of you lost the most important file of all that you brought to me, you must have dropped it"
"I thought u said you counted them all?" Angel questions Toad
"I did while we were in the office"
"err you should've counted them in the van!"
"quiet both of you, I'm sure Charles has located the file by now and knows we'll be after it. I'm sending all of you to retrieve it, be ready to go tomorrow morning"
"alrighttttt" angel replies shivering
"are you still cold?"-magneto
"I don'tttt know whattt it isssss I just keepppp gettinggg colderrrrr"
Magneto's eyes grow large and Toad just stares in shock "good lord child"
BACK AT THE MANSION
"Great job girls. Good usage of your powers. Now I know I told all of you that you would have one large thing to do as a group however that's not going to happen today I've just been alerted by the professor that training needs to be over and if you're going to help you need to go to bed now"
"its only 7:45"
"Bobby I'm aware of the time, but if you're going to help us you need to go to bed now" Everyone mutter fine and they all exit to their rooms. The professor wheel in front of Jean
"I've been reading Angel's mind, it seems that we're going to be up for quite a battle tomorrow"
"how strong has she become?"
"stronger than most, if only we could reach her, help her control these powers they're advancing far too fast for her to understand how to control them she's almost fire itself"
"so she really was referring to herself in that riddle?"
"every last word. Make sure not to kill her, just get her back"