AN: The songs used are owned by much more powerful people than myself. So, they could be owned by anyone, really. I have all the power of a moist sponge. Less humor in this chapter, I apologize.
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"Ya do realize that no one else could get away with what ya did to my car, 'Ro." Still a bit amazed over Ororo's little car stunt, Logan walked with her toward the Danger Room for the exhibition. Glancing over at the weather witch, he noted a small, secretive smile playing around her lips. He frowned in response, normally when Storm had her uniform on, she was all business. Tugging his mask over his eyes, Logan made an irritated snort. Showing off like a piece of meat, why he…
"Really, Logan? I am the only one that could get away with disabling your car?" Arms folded over her chest, Ororo calmly strode alongside Wolverine, still having the barest hint of a Cheshire Cat grin tweaking her mouth.
"What do ya mean, 'Ro?"
"I believe that Jubilation could also get away with it." She smiled wryly. "Or Katherine. Or Jean. Or…"
"Point taken."
Her long curtain of hair swinging along with her steps, Ororo cocked her head slightly to the side in thought. "I wonder what the others will be doing."
Logan shrugged, clearly uncaring. "We'll find out."
Tugging her sleeves into place, Ororo glanced over at Logan. "Do you not care at all?"
"We'll find out when we find out. 'Till then, it doesn't matter to me."
As they rounded the corner, the walls changed from a polished wood to a cold steel, denoting the training area. Logan brushed against the wall with an exposed shoulder, and recoiled slightly from the coldness. No matter how much the Danger Room appealed to his feral side, he never did care for the metallic, antiseptic smells.
It was subtle, but Logan noticed it anyway. A calming breath from his strolling partner. He nodded imperceptibly in recognition. Her claustrophobia kicking in. No matter that the Danger Room and accompanying halls were expansive in size, the metallic walls and lack of windows still made Ororo a bit uncomfortable for a brief moment. For a moment, he wondered if that extended to all buildings. His face softened a bit. No wonder she preferred to be outside.
Ororo's fingers danced across the keyboard, and the Danger Room's door slid open to reveal the rest of the currently present X-Men assembled, waiting.
"Ah, Storm, Wolverine. Do come in." Professor Xavier smiled, and wheeled around to face Taina. "Taina, I hope this shows you that no matter how polished and skilled someone appears to be, we can all learn new things."
Taina nodded from her place next to Jean. "Thanks, Professor."
A pop of gum exploded, and Jubilee piped up. "And some of them could use a bit of humility training." She smiled, a hint of mischief evident. "Bonus, I get to show off what I can do."
Taina turned her head to follow Jubilee's erratic movements. Clearly, she wanted to ask what Jubilee's powers were, but she was a bit intimidated by the exuberant personality of the firecracker. Screwing up her courage, she squeaked, "And what do you do?"
Jubilee smiled, and waggled her finger. "I make stuff go boom." Sliding her sunglasses down over her eyes, she rolled back the sleeves of her ever-present yellow jacket and fired off a few short bursts of light. "See?"
Nodding, Taina's eyes widened with fascination. Now, that, that was a cool thing to do. Much better than making yourself invisible. Although, the smelling thing might come in handy for controlling body odor…
"Are we ready to begin?" The Professor's voice broke into Taina's thoughts, causing her to startle at bit, her mousy brown hair shaking about her face. "Now, who would like to begin?"
Stepping forward with a broad, cocky grin on her face, Rogue saluted the group. "Me." She removed her jacket, gloves, and left just the bodysuit on. As Gambit gave a wolf whistle, she frowned harshly at him. Damn Cajun.
Jubilee sprinted to the side, tapping in a keyboard sequence that activated a small CD tray. As it slid out, she called to the Southern Belle, "Track three?" As Rogue nodded, Jubilee carefully inserted the compact disc into the computer's tray, cuing the selection to the correct track. She popped her gum again. "Ready when you are!"
To the side, Logan groaned. "No one ever said anything about music," he mumbled, evidently nonplussed by the development.
Ororo smiled, and leaned down. "I'm sure Jubilation will choose something for you."
Logan rolled his eyes. "That's what I'm afraid of."
A happy, bouncy rhythm began, and Rogue flew into the air. Ororo heard Scott whisper to Jean about what was new in Rogue's performance before the fiery redhead hushed him. Rogue spun herself around before abruptly letting herself fall out of the air, plummeting to the ground. Gambit took a half step forward, obviously wanting to run and snatch her before she hit the ground.
Creaking, monotone voices made Ororo divert her attention from Rogue's descent. A pair of Sentinels had arrived, stepping towards the falling Rogue. One turned his palm over, and extended a tendril to catch Rogue in mid-fall. Wolverine involuntarily unsheathed his claws, as Taina yelled for the Professor to stop the simulation.
Just as the metal touched Rogue's waist, she seemed to wake up from her daze, gripping the strand tightly. "Thanks!" she brightly called, and yanked, ripping the snake-like appendage out of the Sentinel's hand. As it staggered back for a brief second, Rogue whipped the heavy tendril around her head, and used it as a whip to decapitate the Sentinel. Without pausing, she bent her body back to let it pass over her unharmed, then continued the whip effect over to slice the other robot in half.
As the room brightened once more, Rogue landed, and took a bow. Everyone applauded, and Jubilee shut off the music. "So, who's next?" the Professor prodded.
Nervous glances darted about the room. No one really wanted to follow that act. Finally, Logan grunted and stepped forward. "I'll go." Jubilee made a motion towards the CD player, but Logan growled. "If what you're gonna torture my ears with is one of those damned boy bands, or those girls you've got on those posters, forget it." Jubilee pouted, and began to form a comeback, but Logan's growl stopped her.
After an impressive display of a controlled rage, Taina had her suspicions confirmed: the wolf man was absolutely, without a doubt, one hundred percent certifiable. She made a mental note to never speak to him aside from when necessary, and edged closer to Jean, whom she felt comfortable with.
A few more people performed, and everyone was getting a bit excited to see what was coming next. Finally, Scott stepped forward, and stopped Jubilee from putting on any background music. Calmly, he stepped in front of his wife, and adjusted his position so that he was just off center. Four Sentinels emerged, and commanded for everyone to halt. Taking a deep breath, Scott nodded his head once. Jean reached up, and removed his glasses. The assembled group, minus Wolverine, gave a small gasp at their leader's glasses being voluntarily removed when he was in front of Jean.
Before anyone could think, Scott opened one eye, the red beam grazing the fine hairs on the side of Jean's head and striking the wall behind her. It bounced off at a slight angle, passing through one robot, and created a beautiful geometric pattern as it struck and killed all four Sentinels before dissipating. Scott closed his eye, Jean placed his glasses carefully on the bridge of his nose, and Scott walked back to join the breathless group.
A tense moment passed, and then wild applause burst out. People were shouting, cheering, stomping their feet. Taina, in particular, seemed to shine with adoration for Scott's performance.
After a breathtaking display from Jean that culminated with the simultaneous destruction of Mr. Sinister, Omega Red, and three Sentinels, everyone hollered Jean's name in awe. Then, she dropped the bomb. "That was all in your heads. Just a little mind game."
A round of good-natured groaning, followed by a wink from Jean prompted a rallying cry that Jean "cheated" and should be disqualified. "Look at that! She didn't even break a sweat!" Gambit cried. Finally, after it all settled down, the assembled group pivoted to face Storm, the last competitor.
Ororo strolled over to Jubilee and handed her a small case. "Track one, please." The Asian youth nodded, and began setting the CD player to go off. Calmly walking toward the center of the room, Storm gave the room an once-over glance before ascending into the air. She gave a curt nod to signal for the music to begin.
A lazy, drifting African beat began, and Ororo began to twirl with it. She shaped a rain cloud, infused it with a flash of lightning, and encircled herself within it. Extending her other hand, she casually created a simple breeze to play and constantly vex with the weather pattern she was sculpting. Her long, white hair intermixed with the white puffy clouds she created near her head as she spun in time to the music.
The audience stood with placid smiles. Sure, it was pretty, but it wasn't anything special. It was a nice treat to see her dance in the air, though.
Storm brought her hands together as the music wound down, clearing the air of the clouds. She turned halfway away from the crowd, her side facing them. The music slowed, and stopped as she slowly extended her hand out, her head flopped toward Gambit. The X-Men were about to clap, when Gambit stepped forward. A wave of puzzlement swept through the crowd: what was going on?
Gambit reached inside his coat and pulled out his metal staff. Extending it, he smiled. Storm remained frozen in the air as Gambit smirked and twirled it a bit for show, and then threw it up to Ororo. She caught it in her outstretched hand as the music restarted; now the beginning to a driving, pulsing heavy beat. As the music interlaced with a female's breathy vocals that began to rise in crescendo and pitch, Ororo began to spin the staff around her body, going faster with each turn.
The music snapped to a faster pace, guitars kicking in, and Ororo began to weave her body around the spinning staff, her hair whipping about her. Flashes of silver and white blended as the staff and her hair became faster and faster. Abruptly, she stopped, tossing the staff into the air. Winking, she caught it again, and held it out directly in front of her. She charged it, the metal being an excellent conductor, and began spiraling her body and the lightning staff at a feverish pace. Each pass, she added more electricity, the lightning now beginning to arc off the staff and onto Storm's body, making the staff and herself one item.
A crash in the background music, and Storm stopped, slamming the staff into the ground and discharging the stored electricity. The charge raced along a wire laid into the ground, and traveled to a few practice dummies, lighting them on fire before they exploded into a fine dust of plaster. The music stopped, and Storm dropped to the ground, returning the staff to a smiling Gambit.
The first to recover was Jubilee. "Wow, Storm!" Similar sentiments were entered, and a friendly exchange about who "won" was bantered about before Scott was finally pronounced the "winner."
On their way out, Logan stopped Ororo. "Hey 'Ro, I didn't know you could staff fight."
Ororo smiled, a hint of wryness creeping in. "I cannot, Logan. As Jubilee would put it, I can just 'twirl fast and make it pretty.'"
Logan shook his head, and headed out the door.
"Ororo? May I see you in my office, please?" the Professor inquired.
"Certainly."
AN2:
Next chapter – Storm speaks with the Professor, Taina decides on a codename (or, makes an attempt to), and Remy hogs Storm's free time. Just because he can.
Rhapsody – Yup, sarcasm is easy. Just say the dead truth in a mocking voice. 'Tis fun!
SF- Sorry?
Aurora – Luckily, she wasn't in that movie, now was she? ;)
Ororis Storm – I hear you about the Scott thing. Too many times, he's just the foil for the author's favorite character to mock. It's quite bothersome.
Storm13- "Wraith," eh? Hmmm.
Broadway – I've come to love Scott. I tend to love the abused characters, and I've decided to actually give him a personality. Thanks for reading!
Silverblade – Mirage? That's good. I like it. And I'm thoroughly convinced that Gambit would flirt with a rock if you put lipstick on it. ;)