13. MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE INSTITUTE....
"No sign of them anyvhere," said Kurt, bamfing into the entrance hall of the Institute. "I checked the grounds all over."
"No sign of them in town, either," said Evan.
"Where could they have gotten to?" asked Jean. "How do eight students simply disappear into thin air, without a trace?"
"Yeah," said Evan. "Did we suddenly get our own local Bermuda Triangle, or something?"
"Maybe they ran off to join the Brotherhood like Tabitha did," commented Rogue.
"They'd better not have," said Logan, with a growl. "They're in enough trouble as it is, already."
"No success in locating them, I take it," said Xavier, wheeling into the room, accompanied by Beast and Storm.
"None at all," said Jean. "We haven't found a sign of them anywhere."
"Professor?" Scott's voice sounded from the intercom in the hall. "You'd better come down and see this. Bring the others with you."
* * *
"This hole in the door was definitely made by something ramming into it, very hard," said Scott, showing the rest of the X-Men the door to Forge's laboratory. Or, to be more accurate, the remains of the door to Forge's laboratory.
"Cannonball," said Logan, with a disgusted growl. "You'd think that he'd have learned something after that little joyride that he was part of."
Forge peered through the hole in the door, and then turned at once to the others, an alarmed look upon his face. "All of you, keep back!" he cried. "Don't go in there!"
"What's wrong, Forge?" Kitty asked.
"Somebody switched my dimensional portal back on," the mutant inventor replied, "and from the looks of things, they didn't do a good job of it. It's gone completely haywire! Just look!"
In the laboratory, the dimensional portal was aglow, the image of a wintery forest appearing within its frame. A roaring sound emanated from it, and even from the corridor, the X-Men, as they peered into the room, could feel a faint tugging sensation coming from it. Had they actually been standing inside the laboratory, they would never have been able to resist it.
"Somebody must have been playing with your device," said Professor Xavier concernedly.
"Yeah, and I'll give you three guesses as to just who it was, Chuck," said Logan. "And the first two don't count."
"The missing students must have been sucked in there," said Forge. "I don't know what they were doing with it, but I don't think that it was anything good."
"That does not bode well for them," said Beast. "If that gigantic eagle that we saw in there is any indication of what that world on the other side of it was like, they could be in serious danger."
"We're going to need to go in there and find some way of getting them out," said Scott. "But first, we're going to need to find some way of fixing that thing."
"That is going to be tricky," said Forge, looking inside. "We'll need to find some way of getting to the control panel and shutting the portal down before we can do the proper repairs. And we have to do it without getting pulled inside."
"I've an idea," said Jean.
* * *
"Now, I'm going to use my telekinesis to keep you from being caught by the pull from the portal and tugged into it, if the rope isn't enough," Jean said to Forge, as he finished tying the rope around his waist. The other end of the rope was fastened to one of Evan's bone-spikes, which was anchored securely in the wall. "But I can't keep it up for long, so you'd better do the repairs quickly."
"Don't worry," said Forge. "All that I have to do is to switch it off. Once I've done that, I can sort out whatever they did to the control panel without any worry of being sucked in."
"Vell, um, break a leg," said Kurt. "I mean - vell, you know vhat I mean."
Forge nodded, and rushed into the laboratory, straight for the control panel. He battled his way across the room, struggling against the pull. Scott, Wolverine, and Beast held on tightly to the rope out in the corridor, to counter the tugging of the suction force from the portal all the more, while Jean concentrated hard, Storm and Kitty supporting her. Forge reached the panel, and seized hold of the lever. He tugged on it all the way, and pulled it to the "Off" position. The glow within the gateway faded, and the wind died down.
"It's clear now," he said, calling to the X-Men waiting outside. "Though I'd better see about doing some adjustments on this thing before we turn it back on."
The X-Men entered the room and looked over the de-activated portal. "Do you really think that they were sucked in there?" Jean asked, looking very much relieved to be no longer having to reach out to Forge and keep him secure from the tugging. "The new students, I mean?"
"Probably," said Forge. "It would explain both what happened to it - it certainly was not in this condition when the Professor and I left - and where that lot are now."
"I should have known that those kids would go poking their noses where they don't belong," muttered Logan. "I still think, Chuck, that we need at least one more instructor here. With fourteen students here, it's gonna take more than just Ororo, me, and Hank to keep them in line."
"I know," said Xavier, with a sigh. "I've tried to find another instructor, but there aren't that many people out there with the qualifications. I spoke about it to Sean and Moira again last week, but they still aren't able to leave Muir Isle."
"So what are we going to do about the missing students, Professor?" Scott asked.
"There's only one thing to do," said Xavier. "Somebody will have to go in after them."
"Are you sure that that's such a good idea, Professor?" asked Rogue. "Ah mean, what if we can't get back out again when we do find them?"
"Some of us will remain behind, to keep the portal open," said Xavier. "The most difficult part will be to locate them. However, if Forge can aim the portal for the exact location that they entered, the search party should be able to pick up some trace of them once they cross over."
"Then what are we waiting for?" said Scott. "Let's suit up and get ready to move out."
"Ah was wondering when he was going to say that," said Rogue to Kurt in a low voice. "He's really getting predictable."
* * *
"There," said Forge, doing the last tweaks a few minutes later with his mechanical arm. "The damage's all been repaired - or at least, enough of it to safely use that thing."
"Forge and I will stay here and monitor the dimensional gateway," said Xavier to the X-Men, all nine of whom had suited up in full uniform. Kurt had his image inducer switched on just in case the people in the other dimension didn't take too kindly to furry blue humanoids, and Beast had a king-sized heavy overcoat and fedora tucked under his arm to disguise himself with, for the same reason. "The rest of you head in there, locate the students, and get out with them as quickly as possible. And take care! We know very little about this other dimension and what its inhabitants might be. You'll need to be prepared for anything."
"Don't worry, Professor," said Scott. "You can count on us."
"Then let's get to it, shall we?" asked Wolverine, unleashing his adamantium claws with a loud snikkt.
Forge pulled the lever back. The space within the gateway filled with churning colors like a rainbow run amok, then showed the same snow-laden forest that it had revealed during the original test run.
The six young X-Men, Storm, Wolverine, and Beast, rushed through the portal, and were gone. Xavier and Forge were left alone in the laboratory, to wait.
"No sign of them anyvhere," said Kurt, bamfing into the entrance hall of the Institute. "I checked the grounds all over."
"No sign of them in town, either," said Evan.
"Where could they have gotten to?" asked Jean. "How do eight students simply disappear into thin air, without a trace?"
"Yeah," said Evan. "Did we suddenly get our own local Bermuda Triangle, or something?"
"Maybe they ran off to join the Brotherhood like Tabitha did," commented Rogue.
"They'd better not have," said Logan, with a growl. "They're in enough trouble as it is, already."
"No success in locating them, I take it," said Xavier, wheeling into the room, accompanied by Beast and Storm.
"None at all," said Jean. "We haven't found a sign of them anywhere."
"Professor?" Scott's voice sounded from the intercom in the hall. "You'd better come down and see this. Bring the others with you."
* * *
"This hole in the door was definitely made by something ramming into it, very hard," said Scott, showing the rest of the X-Men the door to Forge's laboratory. Or, to be more accurate, the remains of the door to Forge's laboratory.
"Cannonball," said Logan, with a disgusted growl. "You'd think that he'd have learned something after that little joyride that he was part of."
Forge peered through the hole in the door, and then turned at once to the others, an alarmed look upon his face. "All of you, keep back!" he cried. "Don't go in there!"
"What's wrong, Forge?" Kitty asked.
"Somebody switched my dimensional portal back on," the mutant inventor replied, "and from the looks of things, they didn't do a good job of it. It's gone completely haywire! Just look!"
In the laboratory, the dimensional portal was aglow, the image of a wintery forest appearing within its frame. A roaring sound emanated from it, and even from the corridor, the X-Men, as they peered into the room, could feel a faint tugging sensation coming from it. Had they actually been standing inside the laboratory, they would never have been able to resist it.
"Somebody must have been playing with your device," said Professor Xavier concernedly.
"Yeah, and I'll give you three guesses as to just who it was, Chuck," said Logan. "And the first two don't count."
"The missing students must have been sucked in there," said Forge. "I don't know what they were doing with it, but I don't think that it was anything good."
"That does not bode well for them," said Beast. "If that gigantic eagle that we saw in there is any indication of what that world on the other side of it was like, they could be in serious danger."
"We're going to need to go in there and find some way of getting them out," said Scott. "But first, we're going to need to find some way of fixing that thing."
"That is going to be tricky," said Forge, looking inside. "We'll need to find some way of getting to the control panel and shutting the portal down before we can do the proper repairs. And we have to do it without getting pulled inside."
"I've an idea," said Jean.
* * *
"Now, I'm going to use my telekinesis to keep you from being caught by the pull from the portal and tugged into it, if the rope isn't enough," Jean said to Forge, as he finished tying the rope around his waist. The other end of the rope was fastened to one of Evan's bone-spikes, which was anchored securely in the wall. "But I can't keep it up for long, so you'd better do the repairs quickly."
"Don't worry," said Forge. "All that I have to do is to switch it off. Once I've done that, I can sort out whatever they did to the control panel without any worry of being sucked in."
"Vell, um, break a leg," said Kurt. "I mean - vell, you know vhat I mean."
Forge nodded, and rushed into the laboratory, straight for the control panel. He battled his way across the room, struggling against the pull. Scott, Wolverine, and Beast held on tightly to the rope out in the corridor, to counter the tugging of the suction force from the portal all the more, while Jean concentrated hard, Storm and Kitty supporting her. Forge reached the panel, and seized hold of the lever. He tugged on it all the way, and pulled it to the "Off" position. The glow within the gateway faded, and the wind died down.
"It's clear now," he said, calling to the X-Men waiting outside. "Though I'd better see about doing some adjustments on this thing before we turn it back on."
The X-Men entered the room and looked over the de-activated portal. "Do you really think that they were sucked in there?" Jean asked, looking very much relieved to be no longer having to reach out to Forge and keep him secure from the tugging. "The new students, I mean?"
"Probably," said Forge. "It would explain both what happened to it - it certainly was not in this condition when the Professor and I left - and where that lot are now."
"I should have known that those kids would go poking their noses where they don't belong," muttered Logan. "I still think, Chuck, that we need at least one more instructor here. With fourteen students here, it's gonna take more than just Ororo, me, and Hank to keep them in line."
"I know," said Xavier, with a sigh. "I've tried to find another instructor, but there aren't that many people out there with the qualifications. I spoke about it to Sean and Moira again last week, but they still aren't able to leave Muir Isle."
"So what are we going to do about the missing students, Professor?" Scott asked.
"There's only one thing to do," said Xavier. "Somebody will have to go in after them."
"Are you sure that that's such a good idea, Professor?" asked Rogue. "Ah mean, what if we can't get back out again when we do find them?"
"Some of us will remain behind, to keep the portal open," said Xavier. "The most difficult part will be to locate them. However, if Forge can aim the portal for the exact location that they entered, the search party should be able to pick up some trace of them once they cross over."
"Then what are we waiting for?" said Scott. "Let's suit up and get ready to move out."
"Ah was wondering when he was going to say that," said Rogue to Kurt in a low voice. "He's really getting predictable."
* * *
"There," said Forge, doing the last tweaks a few minutes later with his mechanical arm. "The damage's all been repaired - or at least, enough of it to safely use that thing."
"Forge and I will stay here and monitor the dimensional gateway," said Xavier to the X-Men, all nine of whom had suited up in full uniform. Kurt had his image inducer switched on just in case the people in the other dimension didn't take too kindly to furry blue humanoids, and Beast had a king-sized heavy overcoat and fedora tucked under his arm to disguise himself with, for the same reason. "The rest of you head in there, locate the students, and get out with them as quickly as possible. And take care! We know very little about this other dimension and what its inhabitants might be. You'll need to be prepared for anything."
"Don't worry, Professor," said Scott. "You can count on us."
"Then let's get to it, shall we?" asked Wolverine, unleashing his adamantium claws with a loud snikkt.
Forge pulled the lever back. The space within the gateway filled with churning colors like a rainbow run amok, then showed the same snow-laden forest that it had revealed during the original test run.
The six young X-Men, Storm, Wolverine, and Beast, rushed through the portal, and were gone. Xavier and Forge were left alone in the laboratory, to wait.