"Hey, here ya go... free flyer," said one of the students, as he handed a sheet of bright colored paper to Sarah. She paused in the hallway, looking at it in confusion.
"What's this?" she asked.
"Meeting... Principle won't let us post these things... say they 'infringe upon human rights' or some garbage. Stupid jerk..." he said. His cronies immediately agreed with him. Sarah frowned, taking a closer look at the flyer. F.O.H. Friends of Humanity, or so it proclaimed. A meeting being held in secret to discuss the banning of mutants at Bayville High, headed by class president Graydon Smith.
"Why'd you give me this?" she asked again, genuinely confused. "I like being able to come to Bayville High."
"Oh jeez she's a mutant!" replied one of the students. "Stupid freak from the Xavier Institute..." his friend added, snatching back his flier. Sarah growled, angrily, and had to physically restrain herself from popping a claw. They were so rude.
"You're all freaks!" they shouted over their shoulders as they took off for their next classes.
"This ain't over!" added another.
Sarah took several deep, calming breaths, steadying herself. Finding her center and remaining calm, she continued on with her mission... with her assignment. To get to class before the last bell rang, else she'd be late. She wouldn't be late, she'd promised herself.
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Tabitha hummed merrily to herself as she half-skipped, half-danced her way down the halls towards her next class. Since returning to the Institute, life had become good. Finally, things started to fit.
Xavier was still about as fun as ever, and same for Badger, but she supposed she was living in a big mansion with hot running water and hot steamy meals. What more could a girl want?
Apocalypse's machinations had really opened her eyes to the shortness of life. And not just hers, but Jubilee's and Rahne's. Which was why all three of the girls had returned to the Institute shortly after the recent events. It was safer in numbers, and definitely safer in the mansion than at their respective homes. And safer for their families too. Tabitha couldn't care less what happened to her father... he could rot in that prison for all she cared. But she didn't want to inconvenience her mother.
Plus, living with her girl Amara helped.
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The rest of the day blurred by quickly. By three o'clock, Sarah was just as eager to get out of Bayville High and go home as the rest of her fellow students. Finally the bell rang, and the hallways erupted into chaos as students grabbed their work and what-not and the majority made their way either to their cars in the parking lot or the buses at the front of the school. Things had eased up near the end of the day, most of the students and not a few of the teachers anxious to end the day and go home. The couldn't be less concerned what happened to her.
Scott would be there, she thought with a smile. In the parking lot, waiting to give them all a ride home. The thought of seeing the Bayville alumni made her heart flutter, though she could not say why. Bidding farewell to Bobby and Amara, whom she'd been walking with, she made her way to her locker to grab some of her books and her homework. Her workload was a little heavier than she'd expected, but it was also a great deal of make-up work for being accepted later in the semester than usual.
Her locker being where it was located, Sarah took the long route around the gym to the back of the school, where Scott and the others would no doubt be waiting for her. As she passed around the gym, she noticed she wasn't as alone as she would've liked. The same students from earlier, the ones with the flier, were waiting around the edge. Waiting for her, she imagined. She froze in her steps as they moved forward. Every instinct screamed for her to attack, or at the very least run, but she pushed them down. Wait and see what happens, she told herself. This could be another strange part of life as a normal kid she was unaware of.
"Hey freak... you really had us fooled," said one, pounding his fist into his open palm. His two buddies started to circle around behind her, and Sarah felt herself tense up. She recognized an attack when she saw one.
"Yeah, made us look like idiots..." added another, to her right and behind her. With her enhanced hearing, she formed an almost perfect, three-dimensional image of her attacker moving behind her. Neither of them would be able to catch her off-guard.
"I am sorry if I upset you..." started Sarah, hoping an apology would halt their hostile behavior. To her surprise, the first punk, the one in front of her roughly pushed her backwards. As she stumbled, unprepared for such a childish maneuver, his buddy pushed her again, and then the other one again, until she was being thrown around in a casual circle between the jerks, unable to catch her balance for long.
"Stop this... I don't want to hurt you!" she shouted angrily, but her protests were met only with laughter. None of the three bullies realized how dangerous the small, dark-haired girl was. And they had no idea of her mutation, so they figured all three of them could teach her a thing or two.
Then their shoves became harder, and Sarah was forcefully reminded of her sandbag training back at Hydra. Every time she managed to prepare herself enough for one bag being hurled through the air at her, another would slam into her from behind.
So when the first bully threw a punch, she was ready.
Instinct took over and she dropped down low, not even glancing back as his fist flew harmlessly over her shoulder. She reached up and grabbed his arm, using his own momentum to throw him forward and over her petite form to slam upside down right into his body, knocking both of the unfortunate clods to the ground. Sarah wasted no time in leaping backwards, performing a flawless back flip in mid air, and landing with her feet spread and her claws out. Her third attacker took one look at the four adamantium blades extended from her fists and all but wet himself, calling for a hasty retreat and wasting no time in following his own advice. Sarah growled, low and dangerous, leaping forward again and grabbing him by the collar, throwing up against the wall, her adamantium claws at his throat.
"I told you once and I'll do it again... leave me alone!" she shouted into his face, mildly relieved when he nodded, his heading shaking up and down rapidly as he did anything to comply with her demands. Anything to get her to remove the metal blades from his neck.
"Sarah!"
Sarah's head snapped around, but to her relief she saw it was Scott, Rogue, and Kurt. Apparently they'd been waiting for her and had made their way over when she hadn't shown.
"Sarah, put him down..." Scott said. Not commanded, not pleaded, not asked. Just said. Sarah, reluctantly, did as she was told, and the thug wasted no time in running for his life. His two cronies did likewise, once they regained enough mobility. Then it was just the four of them. Sarah realized her claws were still out and sheathed them, folding her arms over her chest self-consciously.
"Vhat happened?" asked Kurt.
"They... they attacked me," she replied. "I had to defend myself."
"Looks like you did," replied Scott. "Are you hurt?" he asked, immediately giving her a once-over for signs of any obvious wounds. Not that he expected to find any. As dumb as most school jocks and bullies were, they were uncommonly smart in certain areas. Visible wounds were a huge no-no, as were broken bones. Such things, such evidence, would get them expelled. Even Duncan hadn't been that stupid.
"I'm fine," she replied. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... to..."
"Shhh... it's ahlright," replied Rogue. "Just be more careful in future. This is legally self-defense, but ya used your powers... we're not allowed ta do that on the school grounds. If those rats know what's good for 'em they'll keep this to themselves. If they're stupid enough to bring it to the Principle you've got the law on your side, and ah'm sure the Professor can clear anything up."
"Okay..." replied Sarah quietly. The incident had shaken her up a lot. Everyone at the Xavier Institute was so nice to her. Here, everyone was so mean, it seemed. Except for Amanda and Lance.
"Come on," said Scott, placing a friendly hand on her shoulder to gently steer her towards his convertible. "Let's go home."
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A pleasant sight greeted Sarah upon her return to the Institute. Logan had returned, and she all but leapt out of the convertible and ran up the stairs to give him a heartfelt hug. She'd missed him a great deal, even if he'd only been gone a day or so. Logan, awkward in expressing emotion, managed to escape with a gentle pat to her head as he and the other students made their way inside.
"Alright kids, you know the drill... its Danger Room time... Sarah, you wanna join?" he asked, glancing at his pseudo-offspring.
"I, uh... I'm not sure I should... I could lose control again, Logan..." she replied awkwardly. To her surprise, he smiled.
"I think you'll like the training session I had in mind..." he replied. Then, in a louder voice, he addressed the gathered students. "Suit and grab your gear, its time for -my- class!"
A collective of quiet groans were heard, as well as a few mutterings Sarah picked up as negative views towards Logan's particular style of teaching. She doubted the speakers thought they could be heard, but Logan and she could hear them with crystal clarity. She decided not to mention this to them.
Joining the other girls as they made their way down to the Institute's lower levels, Sarah wondered what Logan had in mind for their training session. If it was anything like what Hydra had ever thrown at her, she was more than ready. She was an expert in almost every form of martial arts ever conceived, and her battle strategies rivaled that of most exercises of the United States military. Her one possible flaw could involve her teammates. She admitted to herself she knew her weaknesses. And working in a team was something she'd never covered.
Borrowing a spare uniform from Jubilee, Sarah and the other girls changed and rejoined the boys in the Danger Room. None of the senior X-Men were present, but high up above in the control room they could see clearly Wolverine and Nightcrawler.
"Alright kids listen up, its time to play," said the voice of Wolverine from the speakers above. Some of the younger New Recruits cringed, watching fearfully. Each and every one of them fully expected the walls to open up and lasers to start blasting down upon them at any moment. To their surprise, only one hole opened up in the side of the room, and a ball was gently knocked out, to roll between the startled New Recruits. A second joined it, and a third. The normally unseen lines running along the length of the floor lit up in a large rectangle that ran the length of the Danger Room. It was split down the middle into a recognizable form.
"The name of the game," came the voice of Wolverine from the speakers again. "Is Mutant Dodgeball."
To Sarah's surprise all of the students immediately relaxed, some even jumping up and down and cheering. She remained tense. She didn't understand. Was this an easy task? Or... fun?
"All right you all know the rules. No stepping outside the lines, floor only. You're hit, you're out, you sit on the sidelines. Jamie, that means ANY of you getting hit. No dangerous use of the powers. Anyone who takes this beyond a game answers to me. And just so there's some incentive, last man or woman standing doesn't have to mop out the Danger Room this week. And... go!"
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Up in Canada, there was a range of mountains. Few people went there, for it had an evil reputation. Bigfoot wandered the surrounding forests, they said. The government was performing unholy experiments. Aliens abducted those in the woods. And evil witches and demons.
Most people, though Sabertooth, were idiots.
The great mutant mercenary made his way through the woods with methodical purposes. Answers he needed would be found here. Thus he walked forward, through the woods, towards the wreckage. The blast had been largely contained within the facility itself, but as he neared the manhole entrance, he saw evidence of the blast having escaped. Burnt, blackened, and half-melted rocks and steel were strewn everywhere.
Sabertooth grunted and dropped down, landing with the grace of his namesake, and giving a growl to match. The fire had long gone cold, and the stench of ash in the air was thick. But a number of lesser scents he could still distinguish, though it pained his sensitive nose to do so. Logan's and his own were present, of course. And that insufferable Colonel Wraith's was also present, faintly. And despite all the destruction contained, even with all the ash Sabertooth found no evidence of the scent of death. It was very distinct. He knew.
"One day I'll find you, Wraith... and rip you to shreds..." he promised.
So his search began. For clues of any kind, really. Something about this mysterious attacker spoke government agency to Sabertooth. And X23 was a product of the Weapon X project, direct or not. Logically, some clues had to remain.
The computers, unfortunately, were completely fried. Even those unbroken were shorted out by electrical disturbances. Sabertooth couldn't even call up static, and gave up in frustration, smashing the console with his fists. So he turned to more mundane methods of clue-searching.
Fortunately, he did find something. Fresh scents. Not months old like those of himself and Logan, or even Colonel Wraith. New ones. Including an old associates of Sabertooths.
"Omega Red," he growled.
The big Russian had no doubt come with Hydra, hoping to find and kill Wraith and the other Weapon X agents. Too late, it seemed. Well, Sabertooth didn't enjoy the prospect of encountering Russia's answer to Weapon X anytime soon. He was by no means a coward, but he knew when he had to be careful before entering a fight. He was no stupid beast by any stretch of the imagination.
Hydra had been here, then left. With them his answers would lie, he imagined.
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Sarah leapt up and gracefully out of the way, landing onto her feet in a perfect crouch as the dodgeball harmlessly passed underneath her. It bounced off the back wall of the Danger Room, where her teammate Roberto grabbed the ball. His powers kicking in, a great surge of white light surrounded his body as he tossed the ball (gently) at Sam, who rocketed out of the way to avoid it.
Behind him, Rahne leapt up and grabbed the ball, landing as gracefully as Sarah, and tossed it back at Jamie, knocking the young boy to the ground, totally unprepared. He landed in a mess of at least seven or eight of himself, piled up atop of one another. Sighing in eerie unison, the gathered Jamies helped up the original to his feet and trudged off to the sidelines, sliding back into one individual as they joined Jubilee, who'd also been taken out fairly early.
Sarah leapt forward and rolled, grabbing the ball and throwing one-handed wildly, at her closest target: Bobby. However, the cocky Iceman was ready for her, and her ball bounced harmlessly off a wall of ice he conjured right in front of him, nearly hitting Sarah as she again leapt out of the way.
So it continued. Sarah dodged a ball, sought out those that she deemed safe enough to grab without getting hit, and returned her fire. However, try as she might, she couldn't seem to hit anyone on the other side, as her teammates whittled away. Tabitha went down, then Amara, leaving only Roberto and herself against all four of the other team. She couldn't hit any of them. Rahne and Sam were too fast, Bobby always had his wall up to protect himself, then it quickly went back down again, though another shot from Roberto had managed to drag down Ray. All three of the balls were now on their side, and each throw that barely missed Sarah or Roberto bounced off the far wall and headed right back to them.
Bobby was holding the lead, his ball casually held in hand as he regarded Sarah and Roberto, both crouched and ready to dodge again. But he was taking his sweet time. He was toying with them. And Sarah was getting seriously annoyed. But she needed to calm down and think this rationally if she wanted to win.
Three balls flew at her side, and Sarah tensed, but they were all aimed at the same target, and Roberto went down. With a good-natured smile and shrug, he made his way to join the rest of the fallen, leaving Sarah alone.
Alone...
Suddenly Sarah didn't see Bobby, Rahne, or Sam. She didn't see hurling red rubber dodgeballs. She didn't see the Danger Room.
She saw three gigantic black machine-soldiers. She saw deadly energy blasts. She saw the Hydra training compound and all the dangers contained therein.
She saw her enemy. She attacked.
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Author's Notes:
Oh no she's lost it... hit the deck! I hope everyone liked my brief mention of the Friends of Humanity. I could easily see a club or something like that forming in Bayville, with lovable ol' Graydon Creed leadin' them. Last name changed so it isn't too obvious yet he's Sabertooth's mixed up son. Duncan Mathews would be an eager lieutenant, methinks, had he not already graduated. Very glad I am to explain why I've added Tabby, Rahne and Jubilee to the Institute. Also more Sabertooth, not forgetting the lovable kitty-cat the way fourth season did. As always, more to come. Next chapter: Sarah learning to deal with her explosive anger.
Kinomi: OMG you swore! My tender virgin eyes! Hehe. Yeah I guess some of last chapter were rushed, but as I told everyone I don't want to write school scenes. Capital B, Boring.
Zoken: Well thank you very much. If you like that, there's a much bigger, better part to come. Enjoy reading.
Scorpion: A fair amount of time, certainly. Maybe as long as my other story, Nullification, but I've no idea. The audience determines that.
Elrohirthewriter: Ah, I see. Well no, no appearance of Dr. Moira MacTaggert, just brief mentions here and there. Glad you like how I did X23, I am trying to keep her in character as much as possible.
GS335: The Professor has told Jean nothing about what he saw, nor any of the other X-Men. But he knows, and is trying to take precautions to try and fix the problems of the future he saw. Concerning that, I have plans to go into depth about how X23 becomes a full X-Woman and why Logan is not seen in the future scenes, and all that. And so far all she's got is a crush on Scott. She barely knows what a crush is, right now. More to come.
Ultimate R-Man: Well, when you put it like that.... I guess I do deserve a bit of credit. But I'd be the last to toot my own horn. As for the rest of the story, well expect many twists, turns, and bad guys to come. Though I doubt I'll surprise you... too much.
Comet-hime: Oh, give Kurt a chance. He's not your typical christian (and why would he be? Look at the man). Plenty of Tabitha/Amara to come, you kinky little twit you.
The Rogue Witch: First day's always toughest.
Steven P.P: Well, that's mostly true, I admit. However, the view of the first day is from Sarah's point of view, and she hasn't had much experience dealing with hatred (except on the dishing out end) so her view is somewhat exaggerated. Two, acceptance never comes easy. The African American students who first went to white schools were treated the same way for a great long time, and they aren't any more dangerous than anyone else.