A/N: Now the main story begins. Written from the perspective of Neil Rosiçky aka Oculus.
Chapter One: The Eve of the War
JULY 2003
Could we have done more to save her? Was it our fault that Jacqueline had lost her mind? Should we have been paying her more attention, trying harder to help her get through her mental problems? She'd disappeared right at the end – should we have searched longer and harder in an attempt to find her? If what the Professor said was right, and she'd joined Magneto, surely that meant she was no longer the person we'd known and loved. Could we bring her back? Could we turn her away from evil? Had she become irreversibly insane and depraved? I didn't know. None of us knew. I knew one thing, however. Jacqueline had been our friend, our leader, had saved our lives countless times, and had been through hell and back with us. Whatever it took, we'd do everything we could to convince her to turn back to our side.
These thoughts tormented me daily, wrapped in heavy swathes of guilt. I, of all people, should have done more to help her. I was the one who'd first used my telepathy to venture into her tortured mind and discover her problems. I should have gone back in and tried to mend the damage, heal the traumas that had ravaged her psyche. I hadn't. Guilt consumed me like a fire, haunting me with the knowledge that if I'd only done a bit more to help her, Jacqueline might have been saved, and might still be among us.
Despite my guilt, the last two months of my life had been the happiest I had ever known. Living at Professor Xavier's school for mutants, I had known acceptance and inclusion for the first time in years. Among my own kind I was no longer feared and hated, and I was learning more and more each day about the special powers with which I had been gifted. I enjoyed spending most of my spare time with my Chloe, my girlfriend, and my best friend Chris. It was a blissful existence.
That day found me sitting in a quiet, shady spot, with Chloe, in the gardens outside the mansion. I could hear the birds singing and the sound of water trickling through a small stream somewhere behind us. The late afternoon sun was poking its rays through the tall hedge to our left. A warm summer breeze swept around us, playing with Chloe's hair, wafting a smell of freshness and life from our surroundings. Chloe inhaled the scent and smiled. She loved being out here, feeling close to nature, seeing the evidence of its work all around her.
"It's beautiful here, isn't it?" she said, leaning over to rest against me, putting her head on my shoulder.
"Yeah…"
"What's the matter? You don't sound very happy."
"I'm still thinking about her."
"About Jacqueline?"
"Yeah. I can't help feeling that it's our fault – specifically my fault – that she went the way she did."
Chloe frowned, "I understand what you mean, but I don't think you can say it's your fault. You – we – did all we could to find her. She'd obviously lost her mind by that point, and gone off with the intention of not being found."
"But if we'd just spent a little longer searching…"
"If she didn't want to be found, there's no way we could find her," she said. "She would have sensed us coming after her, and run on ahead."
"I guess you're right. I still feel guilty though."
Chloe didn't say anything, but I sensed there was something on her mind. Projecting my consciousness out towards her, I began to read her thoughts. She was feeling sad, sadness at the absence of Jacqueline, and worried, probably anxious about what had happened to our friend. I also detected something else, something I hadn't been expecting: a tiny pang of jealousy. Was Chloe resentful of the amount of time I was spending thinking about Jacqueline? Chloe and I were in love; I supposed it was only natural that she disliked me thinking about another girl.
I had become quite adept at reading her thoughts and feelings, as well as those of other people. It was a very powerful and useful gift to possess, though I tried to use it as little as possible with people I knew, since it was a gross violation of their privacy. If a person couldn't be alone in their own head with their own thoughts, then nothing was sacred. It was a little different with Chloe, and, to a lesser extent, Chris. Both of them trusted me completely, knowing I would never read their minds frivolously, and thus I allowed myself a little more freedom about entering their thoughts. The three of us had no real secrets from each other, so there was no possibility of me discovering anything that they didn't want me to know. Still, I would never read their minds to play a joke on them, or just for the fun of it. Using our powers irresponsibly was one of the reasons why humans feared us.
I stretched my telepathic senses out towards the mansion and the rest of the estate, trying to see what I might detect. Focusing on this large a space, and with no real idea of where people were, there was no way I could concentrate on an individual person to identify them and read their mind, but I might be able to pick up some basic feelings and emotions. It was something the Professor had been encouraging me to try recently, but so far I could only detect when a person was experiencing a very strong feeling, such as intense anger, deep sadness or true love.
I could sense feelings now, some of them close at hand, but most of them emanating from inside the mansion building. The strongest was coming from Chloe, her feelings for me – warm, caring love – easily detected because she was close at hand. Other than that I could mostly sense…fear. Fear and anxiety, coming from inside the mansion. Strange. I had never felt anything like that before. What could it be fear of? It had to be a strong feeling for me to sense it at this distance, which meant some serious event or threat must be causing it. But what?
Chloe shut her eyes and rested further against me. I put my arm around her. I knew I loved her. I knew I could never like another girl as much as I loved Chloe. I knew she was special to me in a way that nobody else could ever be…but still, I worried about Jacqueline, because she was my friend, and because she was in danger. The others worried about her too: Chloe, Chris, and the Professor and his people.
That got me thinking about the X-Men. It was Chris' goal to become one of them, in the hope of proving himself wrong in his beliefs that humans and mutants could never co-exist in peace. I wasn't sure what to make of Xavier's organisation. I respected what they stood for, and agreed with their goals and aims, but there was still a lot I didn't know. Well, that was why I was here, to learn. At the school we were taught on various different subjects, many of which would be found in any normal school, such as maths, science and languages, as well as sessions specifically designed to help us use and develop our mutant powers. Chloe liked all of our classes. Chris hated anything academic, but enjoyed the more practical aspects of the mutant training lessons. I had always been proficient enough at school subjects, but I found I couldn't really get myself to focus on anything that I found less than interesting. My mind tended to wander (sometimes literally; I was a telepath after all).
I sensed Chris approaching from the other side of the hedge. If he was trying to sneak up on us, he had failed. People usually failed when they tried to sneak up on a telepath.
"Chris?" I said.
He stepped out from behind the row of shrubs, "Oh, there you are. I've been looking all over for you two lovebirds."
I ignored his last remark, "What's up?"
"The Professor wants to see us in his office. Right now, he said."
Chloe opened her eyes and said, "Have we done something wrong?"
"I can't think of anything," said Chris. "I haven't done anything crazy recently. Besides, it's not just us he wants. He wants to see all the staff and senior students."
I raised my eyebrows, "All of us? Sounds like something important has come up. Better not keep him waiting."
Chloe and I stood up and we followed Chris back to the mansion. I wondered why Xavier wanted to see us. All senior students. All five of us: myself, Chloe, Chris, Bobby and Marie. As the oldest students in the school, we occasionally helped out with the teaching of the younger ones, and had some other extra responsibilities. Although we weren't fully-fledged X-Men, the Professor had made it clear to us that he might call upon us in an emergency. Was that what had happened now? Was that why I had sensed an unusual amount of fear a few minutes ago?
It was useless to speculate; we'd find out as soon as we got to Xavier's office. Chris pushed open the door that led into the building and we hurried down the corridor to the Professor's study. As we entered, I saw that everybody else was already there: the Professor, behind the desk; Cyclops, looking as subdued as he always had since Dr Grey had been killed; Storm and Wolverine, glancing up and nodding to us as we came in; and Bobby and Marie, standing together at the side of the room, conversing in low tones.
"Good, we're all here," said Xavier, as I closed the door behind me. "I'll come straight to the point. We have a situation that requires all of us. Some of you may already have heard on the news what has happened, but for those of you who haven't: some time last night there was a fire in an elementary school less than a hundred miles from here."
"Was anybody hurt?" Storm asked.
"No, there was nobody in the building in the time. But the police have been able to ascertain that the fire was started deliberately. And, it would seem, they have evidence that mutants were involved. As you can imagine, this has caused widespread panic in the surrounding population. A number of riots have started, and several mutants are fleeing for their lives, desperate to avoid any anti-mutant attacks from the rioters. So far, nobody has been hurt, but that may not remain true for long."
"Do we know who caused the fire?" said Wolverine.
"No," said the Professor. "I don't have to stress to any of you how serious this problem could become. Human-mutant relations are bad enough at the moment without something like this happening. Some humans may even see it as an act of war. Many people's reaction will be to demand a counter-attack against the mutant population. The media are going crazy, pinning this and almost any other crime or accident they can find on mutants. It's only a matter of time before this panic and desire for revenge spreads throughout the rest of the state, followed by the rest of the nation. We have to act now if we want to stop a war from starting."
"So what should we do?" asked Cyclops.
"You and I will go to the White House and speak with the President," Xavier replied. "We must convince him to calm the situation down and find out who is responsible, without allowing any more acts of aggression to occur, before the whole nation declares war on mutants."
"What about the school? Aren't we going to try and find out who set the fire?" asked Wolverine.
"I'm coming to that, Logan. I want you and Storm to go after these mutants who are on the run, and bring them back here where they'll be safe. Take Rogue and Iceman with you; you may need their help."
Marie and Bobby looked at him, then at Wolverine, but didn't say anything. I could sense a mixture of feelings emanating from both of them: excitement and anticipation; fear of what might happen; pride that they had been chosen to join the mission; and concern for each other's safety.
"That leaves three of you," said Xavier, turning to face me. "Oculus, Gaia, Shapeshifter: I want you three to investigate the fire at the school. You've had plenty of experience of acting independently, so I know you'll be able to look after yourselves. Find out anything you can, anything that will lead us to the people who did this. If starting a war is their intention, they will doubtless try something similar again."
I nodded, and felt the excitement growing in my heart. Chris was grinning, both at the prospect of action, and the fact that Xavier was trusting us to go alone. I could sense that Chloe was feeling scared, but at the same time comforted by the fact that Chris and I would be there with her.
"Isn't this a little risky?" Wolverine persisted. "We're leaving the school without anyone to protect the kids. What if some of these people looking for revenge come here?"
"Uh, that did occur to me, Logan," said the Professor with a wry smile. "Nightcrawler is on his way here. He's been back in Germany for the last few weeks, but I contacted him a short while ago and asked that he return. He'll stay and watch over the children. Scott and I will remain here until he arrives, then set off for Washington."
Wolverine shrugged, accepting the decision, but still not looking happy. Not that he ever did.
"When do we leave?" I asked.
"Now," said Xavier. "We can't afford to waste any time."
"We'll take the jet," said Storm. "We have a rough location for the fleeing mutants. Oculus, we'll drop you off on the way. Grab anything you want to take and meet us in the hanger in ten minutes."
"Right."
We headed for the door, and the three of us ran down the corridor and up the stairs to the room we shared.
"Can you believe it?" Chris enthused. "We're actually being sent out on our own! Our first mission and we haven't got anyone along to hold our hands!"
"Why are you so happy about it?" Chloe asked in confusion. "We're only being sent out because a terrible thing could be about to happen. A war might start any day. Thousands of people could be killed!"
Chris shrugged, "Life's no fun if you look at the big picture all the time. I realise the seriousness of the situation, but I'm not going to let myself worry over it. That won't do me any good."
"I wonder who's responsible for it. Starting the fire, I mean," she said thoughtfully.
"I dunno. Somebody who wants to start a war with the humans."
"Magneto?" I said.
"Yeah, could be. I can't understand why Xavier never thought of him," said Chris.
"I think he probably has," I said. "Maybe he just doesn't want to jump to any conclusions. Magneto and the Professor are actually good friends – or at least they were – in some bizarre way, given that they're also arch-enemies."
"How does that work?" Chloe asked. "A person can't be your friend and your enemy."
"It's more complicated than that," I said. "Xavier and Magneto both have the same thing at heart: protecting the welfare of mutants. They just see very different ways of going about it."
She frowned but said nothing. I returned my attention to packing my few essential belongings into a bag and slinging it over my shoulder. Chris was already at the door holding his bag, "Ready?"
"Let's go."
Two hours later:
I watched as the jet disappeared into the distance and over the horizon. Storm and the others had dropped us off at a secluded spot near the town where the attack had taken place. It seemed like an ordinary American village: peaceful, quiet, surrounded by countryside. Nothing unusual or out of place, nothing to set it apart from any of the thousands of similar towns throughout the US. I began to wonder why it had been singled out as a target by the arsonists. What was it about this town that had made them use it as the trigger to try and start a war?
Perhaps the answer lay in the fact that the town was so ordinary. Maybe the attackers wanted to make it clear that, by attacking a normal and perfectly average village, they were in fact targeting all of humanity. Attacking a town of some remark or significance might have given the impression that a specific person or group of people were being targeted. If the attack had been carried out by mutants – Magneto and his people seemed the most likely suspects – then their intention must have been to provoke a human counter-attack.
My sun-glasses were slipping down the bridge of my nose and I reached with my hand to push them back up. For years I'd needed to wear them to protect my ultra-sensitive eyes from the sun's light, but Dr Grey – shortly before she had died – had given me a special ocular treatment that strengthened my eyes, meaning I no longer needed the shades. The only use they had now was as a disguise. My eyes, as a result of my mutation, did not have black pupils like a normal human's, but bright gold ones. This gave away instantly the fact that I was a mutant, and so I wore the sun-glasses to hide it. We were also travelling in ordinary clothes. Chris had wanted to put on an X-Man uniform for the first time, but the nature of our assignment meant that we had to travel incognito. If anyone discovered we were mutants, we'd be in trouble, given the current climate of unrest.
We were walking across a small grassy area towards a forest. The school lay on the other side of the trees. Suddenly Chris knelt down to examine the ground in front of us.
"Look at this," he said. "The grass has been flattened down. Seems as if there's been a vehicle here recently."
"What, a car?" said Chloe.
"No…it looks more like the landing struts of a helicopter."
"The people who started the fire?"
"Possibly. I can't imagine a lot of people bringing helicopters to a remote place like this."
He straightened again and we continued to the forest. Walking through the wood, we came to the edge of the trees, finding ourselves on a small hill that overlooked the town.
"That must be the school over there," I said, pointing to a building on the edge of the village.
"What can you see from here?" asked Chris.
Using my mutated long-range eyesight, I squinted across the distance, zooming in to get a better view.
"It looks like it's been completely destroyed," I said. "I'm glad there was nobody inside at the time. There are a few police and people in suits outside the building. We're going to have to get down there without any of them seeing us."
"Yeah," said Chris. "It won't be easy, but we'll have to do it somehow. What's it like inside the building?"
I shifted my gaze to the school building and stared at the walls. Pushing my focus beyond the outer wall, I used my X-ray eyesight to see inside the building. Scanning the interior carefully, I said, "There's nobody inside. It must be too dangerous; parts of the building might still collapse after being weakened by the fire."
"Good. So if we can get inside, we shouldn't have any more problems."
Chloe frowned, "Except for trying to find out who did this. What are we looking for, exactly?"
"There must have been evidence left behind," I reasoned. "If the police have been able to link it to mutants, they must have found something at the scene."
"Maybe not," said Chris. "The fire might well have been started by humans, humans who want a war to begin, but want to point the finger at us for starting it. The evidence may be fake, or maybe there isn't any at all."
"Well, hopefully we'll find out something when we get in there," I said. "Which raises the next question: how are we going to get inside?"
"Any unguarded entrances?" Chris asked, gesturing towards the school building.
"No," I said. "There's a front and a back door and they're both being guarded. There's more people at the front, and it's in full view of the rest of the town."
"So how do we get in?" asked Chloe.
"I can see a way," I said. "On the second floor, there's a section of wall been blown away by the fire. I can use my telekinesis to levitate myself through the gap."
"Just you? What about us?"
"I don't have enough power to lift all three of us, or even two. You'll need to find another way."
"Well, it's no problem for me," said Chris. "I just need to find any kind of opening on the ground floor, and I'll change into liquid to get inside."
"What about me?" said Chloe.
"Why don't you just use your usual trick?" he suggested. "Talk to a few animals and get them to distract whoever's guarding the building. Then you can sneak in."
"Good plan, but I don't see any animals."
"I do," I said. "I'm using my X-ray eyesight to look through the road, down into the sewers. There are rats."
"Oh, yuck," said Chris. "I hate rats."
"I love all animals," Chloe retorted. "That should work. I can talk to rats."
"You've done it before?"
"Not with rats, but I've talked to mice before. It shouldn't be too different."
I nodded, "OK. We just need a way for you to get down there. There's a drain covering in the road outside the school, but it's too close to the police. There must be another one somewhere. Yes, I can see one. About a hundred yards down the street."
"Can I get there unseen?" she asked.
"If you're careful. Come on, we'd better move. Chris, you go first and we'll follow."
Chris started down the hill, crouching low, keeping behind trees, rocks or other obstacles to avoid being seen. I watched as he threaded his way through a narrow gully of sorts, and made it safely to the side of the school. There were five windows in the wall he was standing beside, and four of them were closed. The fifth, however, was open a crack. Just a crack, but that was all Chris needed. Jamming his finger into the crack, he called upon his gift. His body began to liquefy and he flowed silently through the gap in the window. In a matter of moments, his entire body had poured through the crack into the school building. I knew he'd be solidifying back into his normal shape, and I turned to face Chloe, "Looks like it's your turn now. I'll stay here and keep an eye out. If I see anyone who might spot you, I'll telepath a warning to you."
"OK. Here goes."
She planted a small kiss on my cheek, and got up to run down the hill, trying to follow the same path Chris had taken. A thief and a rogue his entire life, it was no surprise that Chris had chosen the safest, stealthiest route down. I had made sure to memorise the way he went, so as to use it myself. For now, I had to keep my eyes on Chloe, not something I needed any encouraging to do. She was, quite frankly, stunning. When I'd first met her, I'd found her attractive, but in a cute little girl kind of way: innocent, naïve, and scared. Our experiences over the last two months had changed each of us, but Chloe in particular had matured from a terrified child into a merely cautious young adult. Her face had lost its little girl cuteness, to be replaced by the gorgeous curves of a young woman. Though she was my girlfriend, I knew I wasn't the only person who found her attractive. I had often sensed Chris looking at her with feelings that were far from mere friendship. Chloe had no idea, but I was definitely not happy about it.
However, now was not the time to worry about that. Chloe had reached the town below, and was making her way down the road to the second drain cover. I scanned the streets for anyone who might interfere with her, but there was no sign of anybody. She reached the drain cover and hesitated, looking around anxiously.
Nobody can see you, I reassured her, go for it.
Chloe grabbed the handles on the cover, and pulled it upwards. I could she was struggling – it was obviously heavy and probably hadn't been moved for several years – but she managed to lift it up and move it on to the ground beside her. Looking down cautiously into the drain, she took a deep breath to prepare herself, then dropped down inside. I forced my eyes to focus past the surface of the road, and I could see her. Crouching down inside the sewer, she had already attracted the attention of several rats, and was beginning her work. It was my turn now.
I was taller than both Chloe and Chris, so I had to be as careful as possible not to be seen while I was descending the hill. I had the advantage that I could use my telepathy to sense whether or not anyone had seen me, and I managed to get to the side of the school building without anyone raising the alarm.
Chris? Are you inside? I telepathed.
Pushing my senses out, I detected his presence, and read his mind for any response.
Yeah, I'm in, he was thinking.
How's it look?
Pretty bad. The whole place is wrecked. Moving around isn't going to be easy. I can see a staircase up ahead. I'll meet you there, since you're coming in from the second floor – if I can get to it.
Be with you in a moment. I'm just waiting for Chloe's distraction.
I faced the wall, and looked through it to see what was happening. Four or five policemen were at the entrance to the school, apparently guarding it. There were also two or three men in suits, talking in low tones together, though I couldn't hear what they were saying. I wondered who they were. Not an American myself, I could easily imagine them as the stereotypical men in black sent out by the FBI or the US government or the military or whoever in this type of situation. It probably didn't matter. Whoever they were, they were evidently investigating the arson, and we had to steer clear of them.
As I watched, the first few rats began to emerge from a gap in the drain covering by the men's feet. At first nobody noticed them, then the number of rats started to grow, and one or two of the cops began backing away uncomfortably. I wasn't sure exactly what Chloe had told the rats to do – she usually wouldn't risk an animal's safety by asking it to attack anyone – but I watched intently, waiting for my opportunity to make my move. As more and more rats poured out of the sewers on to the street, the men in front of the building were now starting to look around nervously. The mass of rodents began to swarm around them, and they did the only sensible thing: run. The rats followed them as they rushed down the street, heading nowhere in particular, driven by fear. I knew we'd only have a few seconds before the men calmed down and tried to get back to the school, so I made my move.
Lifting my hands, I used my telekinesis to raise myself from the ground, moving steadily up towards the gap in the wall of the second floor. Looking down, I could see the drain cover being pushed up from beneath, and Chloe climbing out on to the street. She glanced behind her to see the men still being pursued down the street by the rats, then pushed the drain cover back into place, and pulled open the front door of the building. I reached the hole in the wall, and gripped the edges to pull myself inside. All three of us had made it inside the school without being seen, and now we had to start looking for any clues that might tell us who was responsible for this mess.
I saw the staircase, slightly further down the corridor, and went to meet Chris. Parts of the floor sagged beneath my weight as I walked, and I trod carefully, knowing full well that the wooden floor could collapse beneath me at any moment. If it did, I'd have to react quickly to use my telekinesis and stop myself from falling through to the level below. Luck, however, was with me as I got to the staircase without the floorboards giving way. The staircase presented yet another problem. It too was wooden, and the fire had not been kind to it. Many of the steps were missing, others burnt into a decidedly shaky-looking condition.
"I guess I won't be taking the stairs, then," I muttered to myself.
I lifted my hand, and used my power to safely descend to the floor below without touching any of the damaged stairs. Chris was leaning against the wall, waiting for me.
"Where's Chloe? Did it work?" he asked.
"I think so. She should be inside somewhere."
I tried to sense her. Yes, she was close by, and heading towards us. A few moments later, she came around the corner and jumped slightly as she almost walked into us.
"You both made it OK," she said, sounding relieved. "What do we do now?"
"Now we start looking for evidence," I said.
"Did you have a nice chat with your furry friends?" Chris said sarcastically. "What do they talk about? Shakespeare, Mozart, Picasso?"
"Very funny," said Chloe. "As a matter of fact, they were quite scared and upset."
"About what?"
"Something that happened last night."
"The fire?"
"What? No. It was some kind of creature. Something that came down into the sewers, that scared them."
"What was it?"
"I'm not sure. They said it was a rat, but at the same time it wasn't a rat."
"Oh, that makes sense," he said caustically, raising an eyebrow. "Was it or wasn't it?"
"I told you, I don't know. I couldn't understand what they meant. They couldn't tell what it was."
"Maybe it was a mutant," I suggested. "Animals tend to have difficulty identifying what we are, isn't that right?"
"Yeah," she said.
"OK, so a person who mutated into a rat," Chris sighed. "That makes even less sense."
"No, it could be right," I said. "Not everybody mutates to have a particular gift, like the two of you have. Some people mutate into a life-form that's mostly human but shares characteristics with another species. Don't you remember the Professor told us about that guy called Toad? He was one of Magneto's original followers."
"So you think this rat-man is one of the ones responsible for starting the fire?"
"Maybe. We need to keep looking. Should we split up or stay together?"
"Stay together, I should think. It's not a big place, so it shouldn't take us long," he said.
Chloe and I nodded our agreement, and the three of us moved off together to begin searching the rooms.
It didn't take us long to find our first piece of evidence. The third room we tried was a classroom, or at least it had been. It had been relatively untouched by the fire, and most of the wooden tables and chairs were still intact. On the blackboard it seemed the arsonists had left a message. I figured they'd deliberately left this room untouched so that their message would be found. It read as follows: ALL MUTANTS WILL UNITE AS BROTHERS! ALL HUMANS WILL BE KILLED! LET US TAKE OUR RIGHTFUL PLACE AS THE DOMINANT SPECIES ON THE PLANET. HUMANITY'S TIME IS AT AN END. IT IS OUR TIME NOW!
"This would be our evidence, then," said Chloe. "Who do you think it was?"
"I don't know, but it's got Magneto written all over it," I said. "Is he expecting all mutants to join together under his banner and take control of the world?"
Chris was shaking his head, "I'm not sure about this. It seems too blatant, too obvious. Too much like Magneto to actually be him, if you know what I mean. How do we know this wasn't left by humans who wanted to frame mutants?"
"That could be true," I replied. "But remember there was at least one mutant here last night. The rats detected him. Or her."
"Hmm…I'd forgotten about that. Do you think Magneto was behind this?"
"I dunno. It seems likely. I wonder if Jacqueline was involved."
"Maybe. Hey, maybe this will give us a chance to get close to her, to try and bring her back to our side."
"How do you mean?" Chloe asked.
"Well how about this," Chris suggested. "One or more of us joins Magneto, pretending to have been inspired by his message. We get close to Jacqueline and we convince her to come back."
"That wouldn't work. She's telepathic, remember? She'd know we were deceiving them in an instant," I said.
"Can't you shield your mind from her somehow?"
"No. She's more powerful than I am. Besides, the very fact that I was shielding my mind would be a bit of a give-away, wouldn't it?"
"True. But still, if we get the chance to talk to her…"
"It wouldn't be as easy as that. She's still got that other mind inside of her, the psychopathic one, who's probably manipulating her. She won't be the same person we used to know."
"But we still have to try and help her!"
"I agree with that. I just don't see how."
Chloe looked at the message on the board again, "So what do we do about this? Call the Professor and tell him?"
"How do we get in touch with him?" I asked.
Chris thrust his hand inside his jacket, "Storm gave me one of their communicators, and the mansion's frequency. I hope I can remember it."
He punched in the frequency and put the communicator to his ear, waiting until he got a response, "Professor? Oh, hi. Is the Professor there? Oh, OK. How can I contact him? Hmm? Ah, OK. Right, thanks."
"He wasn't there?" I said.
"No. He and Cyclops left half an hour ago, on their way to talk to the President. It was Nightcrawler who answered."
"What did he say?"
"He gave me the frequency for Xavier's personal communicator. Hold on."
He programmed in the new number, and waited for the Professor to answer. Several moments passed, and a frown crossed Chris' face, "He isn't answering."
"Wrong frequency?"
"No, it's the one Kurt gave me. Xavier must be busy. I'll call Storm and tell her. Maybe she can get in touch with him."
He used the communicator for the third time, and this time he got an answer, "Hey, Storm. Shapeshifter here. Listen, we've found some clues. We reckon Magneto was behind the attack on the school, or at least it looks that way. What do you want us to do now? Hmm? No, I tried, but I haven't been able to contact him. Huh. Mmm-hmm. Yeah. That close, huh? OK, we'll get right on it."
"What did she say?"
"They've rescued two of the mutants who are on the run, but the third is proving more difficult. They're having to face a mob of some kind, and she wants to keep everything calm and not resort to using force. She's afraid Wolverine's going to go off on his loose cannon routine pretty soon. Anyway, one of the people they're meant to be rescuing is quite close to us. She wants us to find them."
"Where? How far?"
"North. Ten miles or so."
"That'll take a while," I said.
"No, it won't. I've got an idea. We find a farm, and steal some horses. I've never ridden one before, but Chloe will be able to tame them easily enough, right, Chloe?"
"Yeah, I imagine so."
"Did Storm say anything else?" I asked.
"No. But she seemed a bit worried that we couldn't get hold of Xavier."
"You think something's happened to him?"
He shrugged, "Dunno. Storm said she'd try and get in touch with him."
"The Professor can't be in danger, can he?" asked Chloe, sounding scared.
"He's not invulnerable," said Chris. "But still, if he is in trouble, then none of us are safe."
"I guess we'll find out," I said. "How are we going to get out of here?"
"The way I came in," Chris answered. "The windows will open from inside. Come on, we haven't got any time to waste. Magneto, or whoever's behind this, is working to their own agenda, and if we don't keep up with them and stop whatever they're doing, we'll be powerless to prevent them from killing as many humans as they desire."
