Writer: Rowland Wells
Disclaimer: I am in no way any part of Marvel Comics or any affiliation of their enterprise. I do not own the X-Men or any Marvel Characters.
Alternate
X-Men
#17
"defensive wounds"
Somewhere along the line, he had wound up making a major mistake. It had probably been where Logan assumed his appearance was normal enough to get by as a regular human on his stolen motorcycle. After the scrape with Sabretooth, he didn't exactly look the picture of health. He had escaped the police lockdown on New York streets just barely, but now trouble had found him once again.
'It's time to square your odds against us, Wolverine.' Cortez exclaimed excitedly. He surrounded the feral mutant with his fanatical band of followers in the middle of the streets, only to try and spark a fight before they captured the loose cannon for themselves. 'You can get somebody else, bub, 'cos I ain't comin' your way. You'd have to set your entire army on me 'fore I crumble.' He replied, stepped predatorily around their invading moves. 'Whatever plan ya have for new world order, you can shove it up your ass!'
Driving through New York had been successful, and the motorcycle was fast enough to outrun any suspicious pursuing police cars. Sirens had gone off, but Logan's sense for egression had shaken even the hardiest cop off his scent. Once on the outer suburban stretches, he accelerated through the bleak city boundaries and onto the freeways connecting New York's orbiting towns. On the way, Logan had started to suspect something when he noticed a car on more than one occasion following his weaving dust trails. Whoever they were, he had soon lost them, but the question of identity still remained.
Feeling the free wind on his uninhibited body once again, Logan made the five mile distance toward Salem Center easily. Nearly reaching the outskirts of the Xavier estate's neighbouring lanes at around six o'clock, he congratulated himself on coming this far and staying free of hitches. Wasting no time, he hauled his short frame off the bike and was greeted by the sight of Cortez's too-Spanish complexion. A disappointed grunt escaped his lips, and he placed the bike against the thick hedges that traced the perimeter of the Mansion's grounds.
'So you've come to welcome me home?' Logan asked, popping his claws, agitated. Delgado, Chrome and Anne Marie took position in a circle around his cornered body. Malicious stares, tensed legs and twitching fists all flickered before Logan's keen eyes.
'Magneto is raising once more, Wolverine, and your contract with us has had its terms of service violated. You owe him and us for your disobedience. Don't think we don't know how you betrayed him in Washington!' Cortez proclaimed, strutting toward the ex-employee. His eyes levelled with Logan's and his gaze was dubious. 'Perhaps we shall terminate you.'
'You wouldn't dare, ya lunatic – I'd kill each of you before your bodies hit the dust.' Logan retorted, bearing his jagged teeth.
'Would you care to make a wager on that, scum?'
On a nod from their leader, the other three Acolytes advanced, closing his space claustrophobically. Logan whisked his deadly hands in the air, and growled menacingly. 'Forget this – I've got somewhere better to be…' He wavered to the side, but Chrome reached out with his frozen grasp and entwined the mutant's numb leg to the floor. Spinning with the dead weight attached to his body, Logan swung it across Chrome's chest and flattened him with a single, hefty blow. Anne Marie lurched into his prone form and combated several swipes and jabs before forcing him straight into the parked bike. It thundered over and skidded down the gravel incline and feeling returned in Logan's leg. 'I'm not joining you, Cortez – nobody wants you to play god alongside your former master, so jus' leave it!'
Delgado followed Logan's double-take with ease, but rammed his body through the bike frame and into the dirt. It burst apart as the giant man plucked him, disoriented, and tossed him into the air. A rough landing met his cracked back, and he released a terrible groan.
'Have_you_had_enough_yet?' Cortez asked forebodingly. He stepped over the mutant's broken body with his own two hands glowing in otherworldly intensity. 'Submit, and maybe we'll take you alive.'
Logan roared tremendously into the salmon coloured sun-setting atmosphere, and flung three claws toward the taunting face of his captor. 'I'm not a pawn anymore, bub, and I'll prove it –' The weapons grazed Cortez's face just barely, and the Spaniard dropped back. Replaced immediately by Delgado's grip, Logan struggled further, slashing and slicing until Harry's giant frame revealed stone through the skin. The air was being slowly crushed out of him, and in his blind rage, his mind began to cloud over, deprived of oxygen. The other three Acolytes surrounded Delgado's statuesque appearance, waiting for Logan's submissive defeat. Black shapes cast over his eyes, and he lost sense of vision and feeling around his clutched waist. 'I'm dying…' He breathed out with the last few words. Harry's face convulsed with sinister malevolence, and his arm cracked with renewed vigour. 'Succumb, worm!' He bellowed, fingers clenching tightly.
Logan released a holler of sudden agony, and threw his clawed hands up into the stone vice-like grip. Delgado's hand shattered into dust at the abrasion, and he reverted to his human form, crying out for the sting of gore. Released, Logan fell flat to the floor, swallowing copious mouthfuls of dusty air. 'You bastards...' He mouthed, while Anne Marie hauled his exhausted bulk onto the gravel. 'Do you yield?' She spat at him repulsively. 'Our kind will inherit the Earth, and ineffectual bystanders like you will be left to crawl beneath our feet.'
'As long as I don't have to kiss 'em, like you did for Magneto…' He snarled between groans. 'You're just his goddamn lackey – a slave, and he chose me to wipe out the X-Men 'cos you pigs couldn't.'
Enraged, Anne Marie propelled his body into the remains of the broken bike. It spat out flukes of fuel, before going up in flames. Determined to progress for their zealous cause, she marvelled in morbid curiosity as his flesh acquiesced to the high heat of fire. Too distressed to rise, Logan let his body burn inside the warm embrace of torture.
'Do you yield now, X-Man?' Cortez asked past grating teeth.
From the comfort of his protected window, Bobby Drake was captivated by the horrific spectacle on the single long lane running toward the Mansion gates. His fingers and sweaty palms stuck to the glass while a damp condensation of moisture increased over the surface by his mouth. He saw Delgado pluck the charred remains from the fire, and then the Acolytes loading themselves into a helicopter. As the rotor blades blinked into life, Bobby coughed himself awake. That can't have been Logan, he wondered in doubt.
* * *
The medical ward still held the pungent odour of iodoform; an odd disinfectant aroma that lingered even in the intensive care unit. It wasn't such a bad smell, and anyone staying there got used to it after a while, but at first encounter it was rather off-putting. One of the first facilities in the Mansion's basement to be repaired and restructured by the builders, the medical ward served as rest, restore and recuperation for the students wounded in battle. Currently the only resident was Betsy Braddock, damaged in both shoulders from being molested by Sabretooth's attacks. In her artlessness, Betsy thought she might be able to assault the madman mentally, but he soon proved her wrong. His psychic defences had been formidable, and she found that his head was filled with too many obstacles for which to investigate. The result had left her with severe loss of blood, which she was managing to receive, but it had wounded her pride as much as anything else. Here she was: a late teenager just off the streets of London sent to fight destructive mutants in the downtown New York Bronx hospitals. She had failed, and it hadn't done anything to boost her morale. Turning her head in spite of the morphine-dampened pain, she watched as Warren walked into the ward and sat by her side. She raised her arm and clutched his open hand. 'I'm so glad you came.'
He leaned over, and kissed her on the forehead, stroking her long dark hair. 'I shouldn't have let you go – we though he might have been weakened by the car crash, but it turned out he was just as invulnerable as before.'
She looked to the tv screen off in the corner of the room, and sighed. 'Why did I think I fit in here, Warren? I'm just as incompetent as a normal human being…'
'Don't get downhearted – remember Betsy I came to London because I got taken down by those damn Sentinels – we all get trounced from time to time. That's just the way the job swings.'
'Look at me now Warren! I wasn't like this in England, was I? I don't belong here; I'm just some dead weight that plays in the sand while you all save the world.' She replied, frustrated at her pathetic state.
'Just shut up for a second, will you?' He shouted, hoping to knock her from the sour mood. It seemed to work after several seconds, and she closed her eyes sadly. 'I'm sorry, I didn't want to shout.'
The phone blistered vibrations over the medical ward desk abruptly, and its disturbance woke the two. Walking over, Warren picked the receiver up. After a second, he put it down. 'We've got a problem upstairs, I'm going to take a look – I'll see you later Betsy, I promise.'
She nodded, and nursed her battered shoulders with painful hands. She was out of commission, and that hurt more than the inflicted injuries.
* * *
Charles gazed at the view of delicate, radiant flowers outside his office windows. They opened out onto the ornamental gardens that Xavier had so lovingly cultivated for many years, and to this day, he was still in awe of their persistence and resilience among the wreckage of his Mansion. The house itself had been in his family for generations, and through his inheritance, along with a great deal of money, it had come into his hands.
Only after graduate school, and his broken attachment to fellow student Moira MacTaggert, did Charles begin travelling the globe. In Egypt, he stumbled across the first mutant he knew to be using his capabilities for an evil cause. Amahl Farouk proved to be a formidable adversary at first encounter, but looking past his defeat, Charles saw the opportunity to combat the malice asserted on the world through his unique telepathic gifts. He later came to Israel, where he met with the young Erik Lehnsherr. The two became friends after many operations were performed together, but before Charles even realised it, their differences of opinions were starting to separate them, even at such an early age. Sometime after the war, Erik had married a woman named Magda and gained a daughter, Anya. Charles learnt that through sheer spite, a mob had impeded Erik's chances of saving her and to retaliate, he had lashed out to such a degree as to kill all of the people present with his emerging powers. Terrified by his sacrosanct capabilities, Magda deserted him while she was pregnant with the two twins, Pietro and Wanda. He left his home behind too, instead travelling to Israel to subsequently meet with Charles. Embittered by the tragic events of Europe and the Holocaust that decimated his adopted family, Erik became convinced that mutants would only survive the rising prejudice if they asserted their superiority over the planet. Many decades later, through motives and his direct use of unbelievable power, Erik named himself Magneto, the self-appointed saviour of mutantkind all over the world, and launched a massive terrorist war against humanity. Although Charles instantly blocked his path to victory through foul means, he was rewarded with the crippling of his legs. The insurrection cost Charles his mobility and pride, but it gave him the power to call for others to combat the same threats in his stead. Although Magneto stayed relatively quiet for a period of time, Xavier always knew he would return to haunt him.
Recruiting his students hurriedly in the ensuing events that triggered firstly the mutant registration act, and then the Sentinel disaster, Charles believed in advancing these chosen people through their restricted belief of power and into a state that condoned the capabilities. Although he had seen the worst of mutants already, he was prepared to seek the greatest in them as well. Organising the Mansion and estate grounds with his vast reserves of inheritance, Charles made the Xavier institute worthy of an elite audience, and started the snowball process of an enrolling private school. He had of course survived many an encounter along with his children at the school, but with Erik's returning memories, he had no choice but to fear the worst once more. Tessa's gut reaction had not made the situation any better, and with his closest student's appalled feelings in mind, it made Charles think twice before conducting any further action with Magneto and the rest of his school.
The final demise that the master of magnetism underwent was revenge on Xavier's behalf. For too long had the self-titled mutant saviour conducted his tragic affairs throughout the world; asserting his affluent and antagonistic righteousness on governments, industrial agencies and the militaristic powers until he spawned a war that brought about more media attention, public knowledge and apprehensive circumspection than ever existed previously for a single man. Not only had the mutant presence and menace become more apparent through Magneto's actions, but the threat of outside dictator domination was more relevant for governments and enslaved countries. Perhaps Erik's greatest ambition had been to influence the insurrection of oppressed minorities and injustices, but in all of the resulting turmoil, it had certainly come to pass. Tension between humans and mutants was at breaking point now, especially in North America, and Charles knew that further instigation could lead to perhaps not just the reactivation of the dreaded Sentinel Contingency and many more atrocity concepts, but such a furious outcry and retaliation from the mutant populous, that an international terrorist war would come into effect. Mutants would start hiding and running from even their secluded private spaces, and soon the human race would be responsible for the absolute annihilation of nearly a fifth of its population. Try as he might, Charles could not deny that the favourite sport of the planet's residents was killing, and if humans in the civilised world understood that their very lives were in danger from the mere will to power, Earth might unite in the combined destruction and persecution of mutant presence. It was a future he was intent on preventing. His dream, if anything would be to combat the very nature of ill-founded wrath towards humanity; if he himself must perish in the process of achieving such a simple aspiration, then Charles was prepared to make that sacrifice. He hoped the children under his care were of like mind and soul.
Magneto's precious helm, the mask that covered his head of greying hair, allowed nothing external to affect his thoughts. It had been created in an attempt to shield his vulnerable brain from Charles's unparalleled potency of telepathic power after their first encounter as adversaries. Magneto had caused the shattering of Xavier's bones in his legs, but only after the telepath thwarted his attempts at premature nuclear war. He had worn the protection ever since encountering Charles's mind, and for that reason, it allowed him complete silence as nobody was capable of detecting his nearby thoughts. Because of this aspect of Magneto's majesty, Charles could not telepathically perceive his approaching form, but the senses of an experienced leader enabled him to realise someone was behind him in the office. The wheels on Charles's chair began to buckle and strain, much like they had at Congress in Washington D.C nearly two months before. The seat bottom shuddered and Xavier twisted around as it fell apart underneath him. 'Erik… what have you done?'
The man known markedly as Magneto stood proudly on the carpeted office floors, his noble and unrestricted uniform glowing darkly with great presence among the waning evening light. He strode to the crippled man and levitated his body by the metal tags and zips imprinted in his clothes. Hoisting him with his powers by the chin, as if to strangle the pitiable Professor, Magneto pulled him close. 'Are you pusillanimous Charles?'
Xavier resisted the magnetic bubble's hold on him, but could not refrain from being suspended. 'Who resurrected you? Let it all go, Erik, your ridiculous schemes aren't worth the effort anymore!'
Magneto grimaced, and thrust his hand forward, hurling Charles against the wall. 'I shall tell you what isn't worth the effort anymore – your struggling!' The dread lord floated over to Xavier, picking himself off the floor with only hands and arms to do so. He placed a booted foot on the crippled man's back and stepped him down to the carpet once more. 'Your battle for harmony will be in ruins when you cannot contain my ascension – I've returned from the dead, like Lazarus, and my power shall be absolute in time. I won't let the world forget my name – I_shall_not_wander into the darkness, to have simply disappeared once you and your lackeys defeated me.'
Charles put strength into rising again, and sat, supported on his bottom. 'You've come back wrong, Erik… don't let anyone know you're a fool again.'
Magneto squeezed his clenched fists at the remark, his anger at this tormenter increasing. The window pane shattered into splinters and glass fragments, showering Charles's cowering body. The light fittings popped and crackled instantly and the grand chandelier just above his body cascaded downwards. It would have crushed him too, if Magneto had not whisked it sideways through the office door with a wave of his hand. This clamour might be enough to rouse my students, and for god's sake I hope they're experienced enough, Charles prayed silently. He watched the minor display, and turned to the imperceptive monstrosity his friend had become. 'If you make a play for power on the world again, you can only incur the wrath of a billion angry people – humans who will threaten your very life!' He shouted, desperately seeking some method of escape.
'I shall settle their dispute,' Magneto responded, lowering his power on the Mansion room 'or they_will_be_decimated by my hands.'
'Tell me where my son and daughter are, I require them to stand by my side, not cower as children would.' He demanded.
'You found me didn't you? Can you not locate them in a similar manner?' Charles responded, buying time for himself.
'How ever you brainwashed them, Xavier, I want them with me – I shall get you to tell me now, or later; it makes no difference.'
Despairing at this hopeless surprise encounter, Charles took his eyes of the letter-opener pointing outwards from his ruined wooden desk. He willed it at the adversary's open body, but at the last instant, Magneto caught the blade with his power ahead of his jugular vein. Glaring at his frantic insolence, Magneto flung the sharp object into Charles's left forearm. The Professor yelled out physically as well as his telepathically flaring in anguish. 'You betray me again?' He asked.
The books lodged on every shelf in the office suddenly wobbled in synchronicity, and blew off, whirling around the room.
At that moment, Bobby and Hank jumped through the door, only to recoil in sickening astonishment at Magneto's phoenix-inspired reincarnation. Attempting to surmount their fear and shock, Bobby issued a coating of slushy ice into the room. His act of bravery backfired though as Magneto willed the negating force of his powers over himself and hurled the two mutants through the entrance, taking half the wooden structure of splinters and bricks with them in the blast. As the splayed abundance of book pages, torn paper and ice flung itself everywhere, Magneto rose into the air, carrying the extricated Xavier with him.
'Professor! Where are you taking him?' Tessa called, appearing with her fellow X-Men at the ruined office entrance.
'Leave now, before he levels the entire Mansion!' Charles breathed out amid the blood-leaking pain stabbing in his arm. 'You can get your chance later…'
Magneto turned to the students in mid-air, his face flooding with recalled memories of their betrayal to the mutant race. 'You will help to obliterate a nation if you adhere to his dejected aspirations, fellow mutants, so I implore you to choose wisely!'
'Taking into account your methods of conveying your particular dictator message and the way in which you plan to combat the world, it's no surprise Xavier went against you!' Hank retorted, joining the ranks of his friends. 'We have not intention of siding with your doomed statements!'
'Curious that my statements are apparently preordained and condemned when I stand before you once more in my almighty dignity – while you, Doctor McCoy have been altered by the very people you plan to protect!' Magneto described, coming closer to them.
'You know nothing about me!' Hank shouted, forgetting his investment suddenly with the others. He had hit a personal fragment of memory, and it affected his judgment.
'I know more about you than you care to admit, and that's what makes me your most appropriate ally;' Magneto announced 'you need never be judged by an ignorant society ever again – fall into my open arms…'
A cracking explosion shook the entire Mansion floor as the lobby doors split apart with the force of a small bomb. Stunned by the intrusion, and thinking it a result of his lowered guard, Magneto flung the students away from him and raised the stapled carpet up from the floor and into the office entrance, blocking the view. 'Take me now… Erik, let us leave before they strike you down.'
Rebuking him with a single look of disdain, Magneto returned his scornful opinion. 'They could never do that to me, Charles.'
Crawling through the burnt wreckage defiantly, Sabretooth, Mystique and a newly resurfaced face whom the students weren't too thrilled to see made an entrance. Picking themselves off the floor, they were as shocked and reviled as their adversaries were vicious. 'Spaskyich – Jesus! What the hell are you doing with them?' Hank roared, his memories of their time at Weapon X flooding into mind at the sight of this walking curse.
'You worthless little bastards!' Hawk responded, holding his ground and ready for their retribution. 'I hope ya learnt something under my care, and are gonna show me how good you really are!'
Ignoring the banter, Sabretooth leapt for Hank and Warren, the two who had stood against him in the hospital only hours before. He charged, baring his sharp teeth and flailing trademark claws. His vigour and aggression renewed, he would provide more than enough of a battle for them. Mystique engaged Ororo by hand, but was knocked back with an aggressive launch from Tessa, fully energised by the tense encounter with Magneto moments ago.
'Grab the Grey girl, and leave!' The shape-shifter announced, spitting away traces of stray blood. She blocked several strikes from Tessa, and then stopped the woman from using her telepathic prowess with a swift kick to the solar plexus. Sensing the resulting chaos, though not quite sure of who to take on, Kurt teleported from the melee and appeared in the office as Magneto prepared to depart. He flashed his yellow eyes in response to the Professor's pleas, but the blocking carpet, raised behind him tore in half as Victor Creed launched through. Kurt spun around but was knocked down as the fearless feral animal ripped at Magneto's legs. Charles reached out with his mind and stopped the terrorist further to more damage, but the man took his vengeance and produced a blast over Sabretooth's clinging body. 'I have had enough of your petty ambitions to destroy each other!' He roared striding through to the skirmishing lobby as Victor lay temporarily paralysed with the effects on his metal-enforced skeleton.
Spaskyich had been the last tyrant to enter looking for Jean Grey, and even though he didn't know why, his captors accepted the fact that he was willing to do his previous protégés damage. Allowing him to stay on, Mystique hadn't bargained on such a powerful foe being among them, but Magneto was here now, and part of a fruitless tussle that would yield no profitable turnout. He smashed Hank and Bobby down, preparing to maliciously take on the Professor, lying helpless some distance away. Unexpectedly Magneto flared in anger, and his result rendered most of the scrambling mutants useless. He manipulated the iron present in every drop of blood flowing through their bodies and held them suspended in the dusty air. 'You all fight amongst yourselves, neither one ready to make the perpetual transition from lackey to representative of the mutant race – you are as useless and non-existent as the slumbering, stupid, ineffectual little children the Homo Sapiens all are!'
'You've got no right to take Charles from us; you're just using him to validate your actions!'
'I have every right!' Magneto clenched his palm, and his hold over the skirmishers tightened painfully. 'He is my political prisoner, and however you understand the situation with your limited insight, he will never become a martyr for his cause.'
Bloodthirsty and demented as Sabretooth was, he wasn't about to take on the mind that crippled him only moments ago, instead he aimed for the one man taking charge, so his actions might tip the balance of power. Thrusting a hand deep into Magneto's back, he felt the lord's might crumble, and with it his control. 'Neither will you, pal, now get lost, before I rip you apart!'
Freed from their bondage and sent crashing to the floor via gravity, Spaskyich was the first to get up; he hit several more adjusting students, and leapt for Magneto's downed body. Mystique picked up the ex-Commander's discarded gun, and aimed it for the inhabitants of the school. 'Let us take him instead of the Grey girl.' She indicated to their common enemy.
Suddenly Sabretooth was flung through the remaining wall and Spaskyich, without his protection of weapons and allies was rendered helpless. 'Never again!' Magneto screeched. He brought up his faltering power and shot through the roof of the Mansion, shattering the structured joists and roof tiles. Instantly, Charles was carted along with him, leaving the three intruders and a bewildered, panicking set of students in disarray. 'Professor!' Ororo called, attempting to fly after them. Sabretooth, reviving from the momentary paralysis, clasped her ankle and hauled her to the floor brutally as Hank and Bobby set on him. Kitty phased through Mystique's arm and knocked her aim off as a bullet passed harmlessly into the floor. Taking advantage of the abrupt situation, Tessa levitated the weapon and threw it out of reach while Kitty passed into Mystique again, and dragged her arms out of harm's way. Mystique yelled high-pitched threats, but quickly appeared as a replica of Kitty Pryde's body. Thrown off by the immaculate distraction, Kitty let go and became whole again as Mystique receded toward the entrance. Failing in their task to retrieve the telepath, Jean, she would ensure they all left in moderate conditions – Spaskyich included. Although the man had no qualms over letting mutants serve as assassins and slaves, he had some experience among them, and knew how to combat the talented ones such as the X-Men.
Hurling Bobby and Hank off him in a hail of showering ice, Sabretooth darted rapidly out of the entrance in a flurry of spattering blood and material, and then bolted for the Mansion gates. Mystique reacted likewise, and then watched as Spaskyich followed. As soon as they had arrived, they withdrew, leaving nothing but devastation and hopeless integrity for the X-Men to retain. The only one left standing, Kitty helped Bobby, Warren and Hank up as Tessa checked the outside to certify their absence. Kurt crawled painfully in from the remains of the office and helped Ororo to her strained feet. 'I might have caught up with them and pleaded our case…' Ororo complained despairingly. She clutched her ankle and groaned.
'They're gone for now.' Tessa explained, lost for words among this tragic event. Not only were they already separated in number, but without a centre leader to guide them, the X-Men had no hope to counter Magneto's moves.
'Before Magneto showed up, I saw something going on outside. I was coming down to tell the Professor, but then all the commotion started. I couldn't announce it until now, but I think I saw Logan being courted by the Acolytes…' Bobby described, nursing a bruised jaw.
'Was he being dragged off with them, or did he go willingly?' Tessa asked.
'I can't be sure, but it looked like they were taking him back – he didn't put up much of a fight from where I saw it.'
'Then we can assume that he's under their control once more. That's all we need, isn't it?' Tessa said angrily. 'How do we take on all these different enemies – I thought our troubles were over…'
'You knew about Magneto didn't you?' Warren interjected, facing Tessa's seated form. 'Charles knew, and so did you – so therefore you kept it a secret? What did you think was gonna happen?'
Tessa succumbed to his prying eyes, and nodded sadly. 'I reprimanded him, but Charles was adamant on stating Magneto's death. He told me that Erik was the man that was left, and I couldn't talk to him thereafter. I was too ashamed.'
'You should have included us.' Warren scolded. 'We had a right to know – what are all these builders going to think when they see the Mansion ruined? What will we do without any knowledge of Charles's location, or the fact that we have no leader?'
'You cannot blame her, Warren – the Professor wanted his protection concealed for his reasons. In his unawareness, maybe, he knew best what to do. It simply turned for the worst.' Ororo said.
'I shouldn't be the subject of your goddamn troubles, Wings – find fault with Xavier if you want, but not me!' Tessa retorted uncompromisingly. 'You're not perfect, if you can see that bruise forming under your right cheek.'
'Neither are you! We could have been more prepared for his assault if you'd gone against Xavier's foolish judgement and simply confided in your teammates! I'm disappointed in you…' Warren shouted, stepping to the wrecked lobby entrance. The moon shone brightly in the open evening sky, the stars just poking through the dark blue canvas expanse. Its simplicity taunted their complications and catches.
'Well I just live for your approval, Mr Worthington.' Tessa replied offensively. 'I didn't realise you knew more about this place and how it ran than I! If you're so bloody clever, you find them, and fly off on your way!'
Warren gave an insolent glower to her while the others looked on in quiet disbelief. He shook his head, and stepped out of the remains of the Mansion. She watched his departure, her rage mounting on an angry expression.
'We're lucky we have you to keep this team together, Tessa.' Hank said sarcastically. He ducked out of the broken area and left their presence.
Only now was the worst time the X-Men could encounter mutiny and defiance among its wavering ranks. Before night fell completely, the remaining students gathered their belongings and fled the tired premises. Splitting up, but hoping to gather when Scott and Jean arrived home, they went their separate ways for the evening.