Chapter Three: Demonstrations
No characters belong to me. The X-Men and associated characters belong to Marvel. GI Joe and related characters belong to Hasbro. Althea Delgado (as she exists in this fic), Xi, Brittany, Daria, and Quinn Delgado, and Claudius Delgado belong to Red Witch. Only Watson the butler is mine (as far as I know).
"Would you like me to try to enter your mind, Elisabeth?" the Professor asked suddenly as the X-Jet passed over the British coast.
"If you think it best, sir," she said, nervously. She couldn't believe that bitch Emma Frost had entered her mind without knowing it!
The Professor closed his eyes, and Elisabeth could feel a very small, almost delicate push in the back of her head.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"You're in my mind," she told him. "I can feel you, but you're not doing anything."
"Do you mind if a take a look around?" he asked. "I'd like to see what Ms. Frost may have done to you."
"Please do." Elisabeth frowned slightly. She very much wanted an answer to that herself!
Taking much care not to harm Elisabeth's mind, Charles Xavier began to probe her.
***
Inside the cocoon, Kwannon could feel the bald gaijin probing. She fully withdrew into her prison, and waited the probe out. She couldn't afford detection- not yet.
***
When he was done, Xavier took care to remove himself gently. He was beginning to get the hang of his newest student's mind. It was incredibly sensitive, which was odd for a telepath. But not completely unheard of…
"I can't find anything wrong with you, Psylocke," he told her. "It seems all that she did to you was read your mind."
"That's strange- I don't remember ever having an attack like that- well, ever."
"I don't think that you would. 'Passive' telepathy, like simply reading your thoughts, wouldn't affect you. Actively entering it, however… I should have been more careful. I have encountered a mind like yours once before." His tone turned slightly grim.
"You mean- telepathic and sensitive at the same time?"
"Yes." The Professor's tone indicated that he was done with the subject.
"I see." Elisabeth was silent for a moment. "So- what can you tell me about this school of yours?"
"Yes," Elizabeth I joined in, "we got a look at it and your students yesterday, but I would like to know about it, too."
"And please be honest," James added. "No offence, sir, but I got the impression that the students we met were… what one might call 'trophy students.' Do you remember their names, dear?"
"Scott Summers and Jean Grey, dear."
"Right-o. Scott Summers and Jean Grey."
"Well," the Professor smiled, clearly happy for the change in subject, "I suppose that not all of our students are as well behaved as Scott and Jean."
A noise that sounded suspiciously like "You can say that again," came from the cockpit.
"Be that as it may, Elisabeth should get along very well with the others. She is clearly willing and able to handle some of the pranks that might get sent her way."
This time, the noise sounded almost like "Like firecrackers and iced bedsheets."
"What about training, Professor?" Elisabeth asked.
"As for training, we will be teaching you how to use your powers- but you've got a bit of a head start on us there. We will also be teaching you how to defend yourself physically. Your parents tell me you're a fencer and have taken self-defence lessons?"
"Yes, sir. I've got some karate, and my fencing coaches keep begging me to consider going out for the next Olympics. It's not really fair, though- I mean, I've got a bit of an advantage- well, to be perfectly honest, I don't want to risk being the first mutant to have whatever rank I get taken away."
"Perfectly understandable."
"What can you tell me about my schooling, sir?"
"Ah, yes. Bayville High is actually a prestigious school, for a public school, and your teachers are some of the finest on the eastern seaboard." An ahem-noise from the cockpit prompted him to add "Well, most of them are."
"And what about any danger my daughter might face, headmaster?" Elisabeth I asked, a little worried.
"Now I won't lie to you. My X-Men have been in a number of dangerous, and even life-threatening, situations. Of course, we do what we can to keep the students out of harm's way, of course, but that's not always possible. The students of Bayville High, and the people of Bayville in general, pose no threat to her."
"I see," James said, grimly. "Well, if it's those damned robots you're hinting at, well-" he looked at his wife, "safety in numbers, and all that."
"Precisely," Xavier agreed. "And as it stands, we do have… allies that we can call on when we need them."
"Unreliable allies?"
"No, not really," Xavier sighed. "They always pull through in the clutch- they're just… just…"
"Insane?" Ororo said, audibly.
"I'm afraid so." The Professor sighed, looking pained.
"Who are they?" Elisabeth I asked.
"The ones that Elisabeth will be working with most closely are called the Misfits. They're formed of teenage mutants, just like the students at the Institute are. I must warn you- half of them have long histories with my original students. To be honest, Elisabeth, because you are my first new student in a while, and have no history with either group, I hope you can help to be another bridge between the groups."
"Another bridge, sir?"
"One of my students has a special relationship with one of the Misfits. You'll find all about that soon enough. One of my students was with the mutants I spoke of, long before they became the Misfits. She's still friends with some of them. My newer students don't have the same degree of ill-will towards the Misfits that my original students do. Also, my youngest student is on good terms with the Misfits- well, all but three. And, one of my students has recently struck up a friendship with one of the Misfits. In spite of all this, the teams still get along like oil and water."
"I see. Well, I'll do my best, sir. Is there anything else about them I should know?"
"Just one thing. The Misfits are sponsored by GI Joe, and-"
"GI Joe?" Elisabeth asked, surprised and delighted.
"Well, Professor, you're in luck with the bridge thing here!" James said happily.
"You see, my niece and my nephew-in-law are members of GI Joe," Elisabeth I explained. "Their names are Brittany and Edwin Van Mark-Steen. I believe their codenames are Bree and Lifeline."
"Ah, yes. The nurse and the medic. We've met. We don't see them much, but we've met. They're two of the relatively saner Joes- no offence intended, of course."
"None taken," James laughed. "We've met the Joes a few times. We know what they're like, bless them. Once, they saved our lives from COBRA. Another time was at Brittany's and Edwin's wedding. The Joes are barking mad, the lot of them. They throw bloody marvellous parties, though. I don't quite remember Edwin's bachelor party, but I do remember enjoying it immensely- but that has no relevancy to the here and now," he finished quickly, as his wife looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Quite," Elisabeth I agreed, dryly. "The point is, Brittany is also my god-daughter, and she and my children are quite close. If you want Elisabeth to try to forge a bridge between them, you have an asset."
"So which Joes do you see on a regular basis, sir?" Elisabeth asked.
"Just the Misfits' adult handlers- Roadblock, Cover Girl, Low Light, Spirit, the Blind Master, and of course, Shipwreck, whose daughters are Misfits."
"Oh, him," Elisabeth I said with distaste. "I remember him."
"She means Shipwreck," James explained, frowning himself.
"Shipwreck got right pissed at the reception," Elisabeth explained.
"ELISABETH!" Elisabeth I shouted.
"Well he did," James pointed out. "Anyway, I heard that this was shortly after his wife left him, so we can hardly fault him for that. However, he kept throwing himself at my wife, who he hadn't met until the reception."
"I know what Shipwreck's like," Ororo audibly groaned from the cockpit.
"You too, hmm?" Elisabeth I asked, sympathetically. "Anyway, it took me the better part of the evening to convince him that I was not, in fact, single, and that I was- and still am- very happily married, and a mother of three."
"His daughters helped with that," James remembered. "You say they're mutants, too? Well- it really is a small world, I suppose."
"Quite," Elisabeth agreed. Althea Delgado and her triplet sisters… oh, she remembered them, all right… Althea was one of the very few people who she didn't have to actively lock out of her mind. Elisabeth walked in on Althea entertaining her bored sisters with some water tricks prior to the wedding. Of course, she was obligated to display her own powers, and learned what she really was from the girls. Althea, while a stranger, respected Elisabeth's right to secrecy, and she made her sisters respect it, too. Elisabeth was still grateful for that. If what the Professor said was at all accurate, then the various teams involved had some rather bad blood between them. Pity- Elisabeth would be obligated to come her comrades' defense if it came to a fight, but bloody hell- surely they all had greater enemies than each other to worry about!
"Storm," the Professor said, noting Elisabeth's pensive look, "perhaps now might be a good time to let Elisabeth learn about the X-Jet."
"Yes, of course," Ororo replied. Elisabeth went to the cockpit, and spent the rest of the trip observing the X-Jet's controls.
"Now," the Professor asked the Braddocks quietly, "what can you tell me about Emma Frost?"
***
Logan looked at the X-Jet land with some surprise. It wasn't one of Ororo's trademark perfectly smooth landings. Time for a diagnostic again.
The doors opened, and the Professor came out, followed by the Braddocks, Ororo, and a tall kid that had to be Elisabeth. She was tall- taller than the other girls at the Institute (and some of the guys). She looked like a younger version of her mother, but her movements… Logan frowned internally. It was nuts, but she didn't quite move like anyone he'd ever seen before. It was just a few very subtle things that only he would notice, but she seemed… off. She almost moved like… but no, that was impossible. She's a western girl, and if they really had their hands in her, she wouldn't be here without a major fight.
***
Inside her prison, Kwannon reacted in horror at the sight of the new man. She knew him- oh yes, she knew him- every member of the Hand knew him! He wasn't wearing his eye patch, but there was no mistaking that hair, or that posture. For many years, this one had been living with the greatest price the Hand had ever put on anyone's head, and he still lived! This gaijin, this Patch- or whatever his name was- was here, and he could ruin everything!
***
"Charles," Logan said gruffly and by way of greeting, "everything okay with the X-Jet?"
"Of course, Logan," the Professor replied pleasantly. "We merely decided to let Elisabeth pilot it for awhile."
Logan didn't react openly. He let a kid handle the X-Jet? Okay, this kid had her pilot's license, so it wasn't exactly like letting Iceman handle the controls, but still… still, he hated to admit it, but she handled the jet pretty damn well for a kid.
"Psylocke," Xavier introduced, "this is Logan, or as we call him, Wolverine. Logan, this is Elisabeth Braddock. Her codename is Psylocke."
"Pleased to meet you, sir," Psylocke said as she freed a hand and held it out.
"Likewise," Logan grunted as he shook her hand. Firm handshake… good sign…
"Well, now we'll take you to your room, Elisabeth," the Professor said. "Oh, and if you're up to it, I think Logan would like to gauge your fighting skill, so that we know what we need to work on with you."
"Of course, sir," Elisabeth nodded.
"Well, now that you're here safely, I think we'll be going," James said. "Don't worry- we'll be back tomorrow to see you off properly."
"Won't you stay for dinner?" Ororo asked. "After you hosted us, it's the least we could do."
"That sounds lovely," Elisabeth I smiled. "But hopefully, this meal won't be disturbed by a mutant bent on world domination."
What the
hell?
"Charles…"
"I'll explain later, Logan." The group headed up to main floor.
"ME!" a voice came as they got to the main floor.
"NO, ME!" another voice shouted. There was a great commotion accompanying the voices. In the lobby, two teenaged boys were wrestling while a third looked on.
"Ray! Roberto!" Ororo snapped. "Stop this!" They did.
"What's goin' on?" Logan growled. The two boys rose to their feet. The shorter one had longish black hair. The taller one had short blond hair, with three odd looking orange spikes made of hair sticking up. They started talking at once.
"Bobby," Xavier asked the third, brown haired boy, "what is happening?"
"They're arguing about who gets to go driving first," Bobby said.
"I see," the Professor shot them a look saying 'We'll discuss this later.' The boys got the hint, and went off, looking embarrassed. Bobby followed.
"I'm terribly sorry about this," Ororo said apologetically.
"Oh, it's alright," James grinned. "My boys get into wrestling matches all the time."
"It was like coming home," Elisabeth said, smiling. This place didn't seem so bad, so far.
"If there is no objection," the Professor said, "Logan, why don't you show Elisabeth to her room?"
'That's strange,' Logan thought. 'He always does it himself.'
"Fine by me," he replied. Elisabeth shrugged, and Logan escorted her upstairs.
"I understand you're the physical trainer here, sir," Elisabeth said, making conversation.
"Never heard it like that before, but yeah. I'm also the survival trainer."
"I see. I imagine you're strict?"
He looked at her. His smile was… disturbing.
"That's one way to put it," he said, almost pleasantly.
A purple blur shot by Elisabeth's head.
"What was that?"
"Lockheed!" a young boy called, running down the hall. "Lockheed come back here!"
"Hold it, quarter-pint," Logan said, putting a hand out to stop the boy… who suddenly split into four boys! "What's gotten into half-pint's dragon?"
"Did you say dragon?" Elisabeth asked.
"Lockheed got into my Pixie Sticks again, Mr. Logan," one of them panted.
"Dragon?!?"
"It's not my fault!" two of them exclaimed.
"Dragon?!?"
"I hid them just like you showed me! He must have found them. Look out! He's coming back!"
Logan grabbed Elisabeth and shoved her to the floor as he and the boys hit the deck. Logan covered her and as many of the boys as he could.
Looking up, Elisabeth saw the blur again… and it was breathing fire!
"Great," Logan groaned. He let Elisabeth get up. As she did so, she noted that where there were four identical boys, there were now eight.
"I gotta go get the fire extinguisher," he muttered. "You know where the new girl's room is, kid- you take her there!" He stormed off.
"Is he always like that?" she asked the boys.
"Yup," they replied in perfect unison.
"Hi! I'm Jamie!" one of them said.
"Jamie Madrox!" another piped up.
"They call me Multiple!" yet another one said.
"Because I make clones!"
"What's your name?"
"Do you have a codename yet?"
"How old are you?"
"Where are you from?"
"Uh, let's see," Elisabeth began. "I'm Elisabeth Braddock, my codename is 'Psylocke,' I'm sixteen, and I'm from Malden, England."
"Hi!" the eight… no, wait, there were six of them now! Four, two… and back to one.
"Oh, don't worry," he said. "I can absorb them back into me. Do you wanna go to your room now?"
"Ah, yes, please. Was that a dragon?"
"Yup. That's Lockheed."
"Well, I once read a journal stating that dragons existed, but I thought it was just a crank!"
"Oh, no- there are dragons. Lockheed's Kitty's dragon."
"Kitty's dragon?"
"Jamie!" a voice came from behind them. Turning around, Elisabeth saw the torso of a young woman sticking out of the wall.
"Have you found Lockheed?" she asked, worried.
"Yeah. He went thataway."
"Thanks!"
"Kitty! Mr. Logan saw him too!"
"Oh, no! I am like, so dead!" The girl noticed Elisabeth. "You must, like, be the new girl. Hi- I'm Kitty. I'd talk more, but I gotta go find my baby dragon before Mr. Logan does!" The girl went back into the wall.
"So that's Kitty," Elisabeth said, faintly.
"Yuh-huh. They call her Shadowcat. She can phase herself through stuff."
"And she has a baby dragon."
"Uh-huh. Mr. Logan really hates it when Lockheed gets into my Pixie Sticks. It makes him hyper, and when that happens..." he gestured to the burning objects.
"Right."
"It could be worse, though- Mr. Logan could have found out that Lockheed got into the secret stash of booze he thinks no one else knows about."
A sudden, bloodcurdling yell shook the mansion.
"Don't tell me," Elisabeth said when it finally died down. "Let me guess- he just found out, right?"
"Probably," Jamie winced.
"As if on bloody cue," Elisabeth muttered. What kind of a madhouse had she chosen to live in?
"Well," she said after a moment, "my room is which way?"
"Oh, this way!" her guide said. He led the way.
He led her down a hallway full of doors. Finally, he stopped.
"Here we are," he said, opening it for her.
"Thank you, Jamie," Elisabeth smiled as she entered. She quickly exited it again. "Tell me, Jamie, do the lovers come with the room, or are they just borrowing it?"
"Huh?" Jamie looked in the room. "SAM! TABBY! You're supposed to be looking for Lockheed!"
The two on the bed looked at the two standing outside. The boy was tall and skinny with shoulder-length blond hair. The girl had blond hair, and entirely too much makeup.
"We were, uh, we were…" the boy, Sam, tried to stammer.
"We were lookin' in here," the girl, Tabby, said for him. "He wasn't in here, so we decided to take a break."
"A smoochie break," Jamie grumbled. "Mr. Logan saw Lockheed."
"I thought I heard a scream," Tabby smirked.
"Well, as glad as I am that the dragon is not in my room," Elisabeth said sweetly, "perhaps you could… search… elsewhere?"
"Oh! You must be Elisabeth. Ah'm Sam Guthrie. They call me Cannonball. Mah girlfriend here's Tabitha Smith, codenamed Boom-Boom."
"Charmed," Tabitha said, in a tone that said she was anything but. 'She's upset that I interrupted her snog time,' Elisabeth thought, 'but it's not my fault they chose my room.'
"Well, uh," Sam said, clearly embarrassed, "maybe we'd best get back to the search. Maybe we can find Lockheed before Logan does."
"Great," Tabby grumbled unenthusiastically. They filed past Jamie and Elisabeth, and Tabby gave Elisabeth a slight glare, which turned into a nasty smile. She then locked her arm through Sam's, and sped up her pace.
"Uh oh," Jamie said, noting the look. "That's not-"
Elisabeth's trunk exploded open. Its contents flew through the hall.
"Good," Jamie finished.
"What was that?"
"Tabby," Jamie groaned. "She can create time-bombs. She put a firecracker on your luggage."
The two managed to get her belongings back in the trunk quickly. Elisabeth managed to carry the trunk into her room without spilling anything.
"I think I'll save unpacking for later," Elisabeth said.
"Okay," Jamie shrugged. They went back for the lobby.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, the air in front of Elisabeth exploded into black, vile smelling smoke. Standing in the centre was a blue demon with three fingers on each hand, two toes on each foot, and a pointed tail. He was wearing a red and black suit.
"Hello!" he said, grinning. "My name's Kurt. Kurt Vagner. My friends call me Nightcrawler, or ze Fuzzy Elf. And you, fraulein?"
"I'm Elisabeth Braddock," she said, faintly. Life seemed hell-bent on shocking her today.
"Velcome to the Xavier Institute, Liz!" he said, and grabbed her arm. Elisabeth's world exploded in black smoke, and when it cleared, she was standing in the lobby. Jamie was walking down the stairs.
"I can teleport," Kurt said by way of explanation.
"I see." Good lord, she'd said that a lot today!
"Vell, I'll let you get on your way, Liz. See you at dinner!" He teleported away again.
"Please don't call me Liz," she said, even though she knew he couldn't hear her.
"There you are," Logan's voice grated behind her. She turned. He was carrying what looked like a clothes box, and was heavily scratched. "It's time to see how good you are. And quarter-pint," he called up to Jamie, "no more Pixie Sticks until I say so!"
Jamie opened his mouth to protest, but when he saw Logan, he (wisely) didn't.
"Yes, Mr. Logan," he grumbled.
"Good." He turned back to Elisabeth. "This way."
He led her back to her room. He handed her the box.
"Get changed, Psylocke," he said as left the room. Elisabeth opened the box. Inside was a black uniform, with a gold belt and shoulderpads with a black X on a red field. She quickly put it on, and took a moment to look at herself in it. She looked good, she nodded with approval, and exited the room.
"This way," Logan grunted, and led her to the end of the hall… which opened up into an elevator! They entered the elevator.
"The Danger Room's down here. It's where you'll do most of your training. Until you start your survival training."
"And then I'm all yours, right?"
"Something like that." That disturbing grin, again…
The elevator opened. Going down a metal corridor, they entered an empty room.
"It doesn't look like much now, but we're only going to test your fighting ability."
"It gets better?"
"Yeah." That grin again... "Now hit me."
"Sir?"
"Hit me. Any way you can."
Elisabeth obliged… and was quickly on her back.
"That's it?" he asked.
She got up again, and looked him in the eye. He was good. She tried again with another manoeuvre… and wound up on her back again.
After a few more repetitions, each with a different move but always the same result, he said, "Seems we got a lot to work on."
"Maybe we do," Elisabeth agreed.
***
Kwannon was angry. The child may be well trained for a gaijin of her age, but she was no match for this one. Nowhere near.
"Come on, girl!" Kwannon screamed. "You have my knowledge- use it!" This girl had the training of a ninja of the Hand. Kwannon could not permit such an ignominious defeat for any disciple of the Hand, not if she could prevent it!
Reaching out with her mind, she forced as much of her essence out of the prison as she could.
***
"Maybe we do," Psylocke said slowly. The girl had some training, and had naturally good reflexes and strength. She had as much potential as any of the other students, and more than most. Logan nodded, and then noticed something. Her expression changed- her eyes narrowed, and a wicked smile crossed her face.
"Or maybe…" she struck him, and it connected. Logan went flying. He got up right after he landed, and he scowled. It was a modification of a relatively simple kick, but Logan had only ever seen one school routinely use it.
Elisabeth exulted. She didn't know she could do that! And yet, she did it. Not only that, but she could feel something happening. She noted all the weak points in Logan's defences. She didn't know how she knew them, but it didn't matter. She felt invigorated, as if she had been confined for ages only to be suddenly released now.
Logan extended his hand, and beckoned for her to attack again. Elisabeth grinned. For some reason, she wanted nothing more than to oblige him, so she did.
***
The X-Men, and their guests, sat down to dinner.
"Are your Mr. Logan and my daughter going to be done soon, headmaster?" Elisabeth I asked. "We really should be going after this."
"I can't imagine what's taking them so… long…" the Professor stopped as the sound of sword fighting slowly became audible. The Professor wheeled out of the dining room, followed by Ororo, Hank, and everybody else.
Elisabeth and Logan were fencing in the lobby. With real swords and no masks or other protective gear.
The students gaped. So did the adults. Finally, after a few seconds of watching, Logan disarmed Elisabeth. They bowed to each other.
"Logan?," Xavier demanded, "what is the meaning of this?"
"I'm evaluating her, Charles," Logan replied evenly.
"In the lobby?"
Logan gestured to the wall, where a pair of swords used to hang.
"It's the only place I could get these," he replied, as if it was obvious.
Xavier hung his head in his hands. It had finally happened- prolonged exposure to GI Joe had driven Logan insane!
