Disclaimer: Mutant X and its associated characters, locales, etc. are the property of Tribune Entertainment and don't belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended.
Episode 4: Cruise Control Sanctuary
"Emma," Adam said into his com-link as he walked out of the lab. "Have Jesse and Shalimar come in yet?
"No, but they're on their way," came the reply.
"When they get in, have everyone meet me at the dojo."
The team had gathered at the dojo. Adam walked up to them.
"The last few weeks have been pretty hard. I think you all deserve a little vacation."
He smiled as he saw the five faces in front of him light up with joy.
"What'd you have in mind?" asked Brennan.
"Take a look at this," said Adam pointing to the screen behind him.
On the screen was a huge ship with the words S.S Elizabeth on it.
"The S.S Elizabeth, a five star luxury liner, all expenses paid. And you're leaving tomorrow"
"Adam, you're the man!" said Jesse, giving him a high five.
"I'm gonna go and pack!" shouted an elated Josh running to his room.
"This is great," said Shalimar.
"Well, you've earned it," Adam said.
"Aren't you coming with us?" Emma asked him.
"No, I can't. I have a lot of work to do, and besides, somebody has to stay back at sanctuary in case any trouble crops up."
At The DocksThere was a huge crowd at the docks. Porters bustling about with peoples' luggage and people shouting at them if they dropped something.
"This ship is HUGE!" said Emma, shouting over all the noise.
They were heading for the boarding ramp. Josh stopped, looking up in awe at the ship.
"Wow!"
"Hey don't wander off, you'll get lost out here," Jesse told him, pulling him along.
Just as they were boarding the ship Emma turned to see three men and another person in a cloak walking towards the ramp. The fourth person's head was covered with a hood and she couldn't make out whether it was a man or a woman. She was getting a very suspicious reading of them. As they boarded the ship, the Purser, a tall, handsome man in his mid thirties greeted them.
"Who're they?" Emma asked him indicating the mysterious group.
"That's Sharona the Magnificent and her troupe. They are a magic act we've hired.
"What's wrong Emma?" asked Brennan.
"I'm not sure, but I got a really weird reading of them.
"Relax. We're on vacation, remember."
"Oohh, this is the life," said Jesse as an attractive brunette woman in a skimpy bikini massaged his back. Brennan was right next to him getting a massage from an equally attractive blonde.
"You can say that again."
Shalimar and Emma were laid out on deck chairs next to the pool, sunbathing in bikinis. Josh plopped himself down in a chair next to Shalimar.
"This ship is huge," he said excitedly. "They've got video games and bowling and an ice skating rink and even a movie theatre."
Both women smiled at the boy's enthusiasm.
"I'm gonna go and do some exploring," said Josh.
"Just make sure you don't get lost," Emma called after him as he ran off.
Josh climbed down the stairs onto one of the lower decks of the ship. This deck was dimly lit as compared to the others. The ceiling was lower and the wallpapers were faded. There appeared to be nobody else but himself down there.
'Looks like no one comes down here much,' he thought to himself.
He suddenly heard some voices. They were very faint. He started walking in their direction. As the voices got louder, he came to the end of the corridor and stopped at the bend. It was a woman talking in a very commanding voice. It appeared that she was in charge of whatever was going on.
"Do you have a copy of the safe key?" she asked.
"Yes. And everything is in place," a man spoke up.
Josh peeked around the corner to get a glimpse. He saw a tall woman with bright red hair, surrounded by three large men, one of them holding a bag of some sort.
"Good. Make sure everything goes according to plan. I don't want any mistakes. And stay out of sight. We can't afford to be seen."
"We got it covered boss," said one of the men.
Josh was watching all of this intently, when suddenly a rat ran across the corridor startling Josh. He yelped and then covered his mouth.
"Who's there?" One of the men shouted.
Josh turned on his heel and made a run for it. The men rounded the corner just as he scrambled up the stairs. He ran up a few decks and then into one of the corridors almost knocking over a few people in his path. Thinking he had lost them, he stopped to catch his breath.
Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm from behind. Josh nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned around, fists up, ready to fight.
"Brennan," he said sighing with relief.
"Where have you been? And why were you running?" Brennan asked.
"Long story," said Josh, shaking his head.
"I assure you Dr. Petrov, it will be perfectly safe in there. Our security system is of the highest order," the ship's captain said as he walked out of the ship's vault with another man. Dr. Nikolai Petrov, a stout, bearded, bespectacled man in his late fifties, stopped and turned to face the captain.
"I hope you are right Captain Jones," he said rubbing his semi-bald scalp. "I am trusting you with my prized possession."
"Don't worry Doctor. There's no one who can break into that vault without us knowing about it. Come, let me buy you a drink."
Brennan and Josh met up with the others and Josh told them about everything he saw.
"It's got to be Sharona and her group. I knew there was something suspicious about them," said Emma.
"Let's not jump to any conclusions," said Brennan. "Did you see any of their faces?" he asked Josh.
"I saw the woman's face. She had red hair and green eyes.
They contacted Adam over a cell phone and told him what was going on. They asked him to check out the woman. Josh gave him a description of her. About half an hour later he called back.
"Well, I got a profile on this woman," he said. "Her real name is Robin Berkley. She's a new mutant, a Psionic Telempath, just like Emma."
"Okay, thanks Adam," said Jesse.
"Be careful out there and keep me posted," Adam said and hung up.
"They're gonna perform in the dining hall tonight," Jesse spoke up. "Let's check them out. We'll see if they try something."
"Nice," said Brennan as the team walked into the dining hall. The place had a splendid decor, a buffet table on one side, a stage on the other and chandeliers everywhere.
"Hello Emma," said Carl Baldwin, the purser. He and Emma seemed to have taken a liking for each other ever since they met.
"Hi Carl," Emma replied back cheerfully.
Just then, the lights dimmed.
"I believe the show's about to start," said Carl. "Why don't you guys find a table."
They sat down at a table close to the stage, Jesse with a plate full of food, just as the captain was announcing
"Please welcome The Magnificent Sharrona!"
Onto the stage came a figure clad in a dark cloak, head covered by a hood, followed by two men who looked like they were dressed like Aladdin. The cloaked figure, removed her hood revealing herself as a red haired woman.
Josh jumped up, recognizing her as the woman he had seen earlier. Shalimar pulled him back down.
"Sit down," she hissed.
"That's her," Josh whispered back.
"Are you sure?" Jesse asked.
"I'm telling you that's her."
The woman started performing on stage.
Sharrona performed some basic magic tricks for a few minutes and then looked up at the audience.
"And now...for the real show," she said and waved her hands
Suddenly the whole room was covered with colourful lights. It looked like Independence Day festivities.
"What the...!" said Shalimar. Jesse almost choked on his food and Emma and Josh just stared, with their mouths hanging.
"I thought Adam said she was a Telempath," said Brennan totally taken aback. "He didn't say anything about illusionist powers."
The room went dark as the light show continued.
"Let's get down to the vault," Brennan said "Josh you stay here."
"Hey! That's not fair," Josh said indignantly. "I want some action too."
"Not this time pal," Brennan said.
Josh sat back down in a huff as the others slipped out.
Down in the vault, Sharrona and one of her men walked in.
"Good evening Dr. Petrov. How can I help you?" said the guard on duty.
She was using her Psionic abilities, making the guard think that she was Petrov.
"I'm here to check on my valuables. If you would kindly let me in."
Shalimar was the first to reach the vault. She stood just outside the room, listening in on everything going on inside. The others came up behind her.
"How in the world did Sharrona get here?" asked Jesse.
"Hey Josh, what's going on up there?" Brennan spoke into his com-link.
"The light show is still going on," came the reply.
"How's that possible. She's down here," Emma said.
"I don't think she's the illusionist. It must be one of her men," said Brennan. "Shalimar, come with me. Can you two handle it here?" he said to Jesse and Emma.
"No problem," Jesse replied.
Meanwhile, inside the vault, the guard had opened the main vault door as well as Dr. Petrov's personal safe.
"I need your thumbprint here, before I can let you in," he said holding up an electronic datapad.
"I am in a hurry. Is this really necessary?" said Sharrona.
"I'm afraid so. It's required to record your presence in the vault. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."
"No problem," said Sharrona.
While she was distracting the guard, her man, who was a Molecular Propulsive, used his super speed to get into the open vault door, use the duplicate key to open the safe and come out holding a box of some sort in his arms.
"On second thought," said Sharrona. "I don't think the vault has anything of value for me anymore."
She hit the guard with a Psionic blast, sending him sprawling.
"Let's get out of here," she said.
"I don't think so," Jesse walked in followed by Emma.
Brennan and Shalimar ran into the dining hall. The light show was still going on, but the stage was dark, so no one could see who was actually performing. Shalimar's eyes turned yellow. As she scanned the stage she saw a burly man waving his arms in the air. The other man was standing next to him, his eyes glowing red.
"The other guy's a Feral Canine," she said as they made their way up front.
The Feral on stage noticed them and whispered something to the illusionist. The light show abruptly stopped as the two of them went backstage.
"They're getting away," said Shalimar.
Just then the lights came on and an alarm sounded. The captain ran up to the stage followed by Dr. Petrov.
"What is going on captain?" he asked.
"The alarm gets triggered if the vault door is left open without a thumbprint being registered," the captain replied
"Someone is trying to steal my formula," said Dr. Petrov sounding flustered.
"C'mon, they went backstage," said Shalimar running up the stage and behind the curtains followed by Brennan and Josh.
The captain and Dr. Petrov stared at each other for a moment and then followed them.
Sharrona sent a Psionic blast at Jesse, who massed and nullified the blast. The Molecular dropped the box and ran at Jesse too fast for him to react and speared him, slamming him into the wall.
"You fool, you could have damaged it," said Sharrona kneeling down to recover the box.
Emma sent a Psionic blast of her own at the molecular, knocking him out. Sharrona opened the box and pulled out a vial filled with a clear blue liquid.
"What's that?" asked Emma.
"This is what's going to make me the most powerful mutant on this planet," Sharrona said.
Before Emma could do anything, she drank the liquid in the vial. And then she closed her eyes and started shivering.
Shalimar caught up to the two men and knocked the illusionist down. The Canine took a wild swing at her and she ducked. She delivered a spinning kick, catching the man in the side of his head. The illusionist then released a light flash, blinding her for a second. The Canine got to his feet and gave her a solid punch in the jaw.
Brennan came from behind, turned the illusionist around gave him a hard uppercut. He fell down, unconscious.
As the Canine sent his fist flying at Shalimar's face again, she ducked, grabbed his hand and flipped him over. She then knocked him out with a straight punch to the face.
"What's going on?" the captain asked.
"These guys and their companions are trying to steal something from the vault," Brennan said. "The other two are already down there."
"They are trying to steal my vials, my formula," said Petrov.
"What formula?" asked Shalimar.
Dr. Petrov would normally not have told anyone, but in his haste, he blurted everything out.
"It is a formula for enhancing new mutant abilities. It is like a steroid for new mutants."
"Well, Sharrona and her men are new mutants," said Josh.
"Guys, you better get down here, quick!" came Emma's voice over the com-link.
"She just drank some blue coloured liquid," Emma said into the com-link.
"Emma, that liquid is a power enhancer. You better get out of there," Brennan's voice came over the com-link.
Jesse struggled to his feet just as Sharrona stopped shaking. She opened her eyes. They were a pale greyish colour. Emma sent a Psionic blast at her, but she somehow managed to reverse it back at Emma, who got out of the way just in time. Sharrona then turned to Jesse and sent a huge blast at him. Jesse massed but still got knocked back by the impact.
Brennan entered and sent an arc of electricity at her. She moved her hands about creating some sort of protective shield. The arc bounced of it harmlessly.
Suddenly, she started convulsing. She collapsed to the floor and her body started shaking violently. And then it stopped. She lay still on the ground. Brennan walked up to her and felt her pulse. He looked up at the others.
"She's dead," he said.
Dr. Petrov walked in and picked up his box.
"What happened to her?" Shalimar asked him.
"The formula is only experimental. I was taking it to have it tested. It looks like it has a very serious side effect."
"Jesse, look out!" Emma shouted suddenly as the super speed guy rushed at him again.
This time however, Jesse phased and the guy went right through him, crashing headfirst into the wall.
"Now we're even," said Jesse to the guy crumpled on the floor.
"I trust you will not speak of this to anyone," said Dr. Petrov.
"Don't worry," said Brennan. "Our lips are sealed. As long as you get rid of that formula."
"I will," Petrov said. "After seeing what it does, it is, how you say, back to the drawing board for me."
It was the next morning and Sharrona's men were restrained and locked up in the brig.
Josh and Jesse were in the pool, Josh sitting on Jesse's shoulders. Shalimar and Emma were sitting by the edge with their feet in the water. Jesse phased and Josh fell through into the water. He came up spluttering. Jesse started laughing and promptly got a splash of water in the face. The two of them then turned to Emma and Shalimar and started splashing them.
Brennan was on the phone with Adam.
"Everything's under control Adam," said Brennan. "Yes, he destroyed all the vials. Alright we will. We'll see you in about a week."
He hung up and kept the phone down and then turned to face the pool.
"Okay People! Our vacation has just begun," he said and dove into the pool.
END OF EPISODE 4
Thanks for the reviews and sorry about the delay. I couldn't figure out how to end this one and as you can see the ending isn't all that great. The next episode shouldn't take so long.
I could use some suggestions for future episodes though.