Chapter 3
Uninvited Guest
The rest of the day went by without event. Black had not shown back up, and was content on letting the kids get to know each other a little better.
Jane liked her room for the most part. She did decide to change quite a few things, although much to Xi's delight, she left the "Get Well" signs up.
Morning came entirely too early for Xi. Once again, she woke up to her bed being moved, but as far as she could tell, she had slept peacefully. One more thing she was going to have on her mind. She could have sworn she heard Jane crying at one point during the night. She had gone out onto the roof right outside her room with Ryan, so they could have some quiet time to themselves. While lying there looking at the stars, both of them had heard sobs coming from her room. Neither one of them could imagine what it must be like for her.
As she had done every morning since she had gotten there, she went downstairs to eat breakfast. She found the Doctor and his nurse (Dr. Franks and Nurse Jeska had been their names) sitting on the couch watching the Walt and Recall show with Angelo. All three were eating plates full of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, etc. She went into the kitchen and found Ryan and Art cooking the food.
"Dig in, gal. There's plenty for everyone!" Art said as she came in.
"Black showed up this morning with a huge delivery van. They unloaded a bunch of huge crates into the park behind the house." Ryan told Xi as she loaded up her plate.
"Any idea what's in them?" Xi asked, as she looked out the windows toward the backyard. There was nothing that she could see, but perhaps they had been put into the storage facility to the left.
"Nope, and Black wasn't exactly forthcoming either." Art said. "All he'd say is that we'd find out later."
Ashlyn and Jane came walking in right at the end of the conversation.
"Find out what later?" Ashlyn asked.
Xi filled them both in, with a little help from Ryan and Art when she got her facts wrong. While she was explaining, Ashlyn and Jane fixed themselves some plates of food.
They all went into the living room and joined the others watching the TV.
Walt Norman was right in the middle of talking about an attack that had happened yesterday, supposedly perpetrated by the mutant Sabertooth. Naturally Walt was focusing on the negative facts, and while Recall was agreeing that Sabertooth was indeed dangerous, they were differing on the punishments that befit the situation. Walt wanted the mutant assassin dead. Recall thought he may be able to be reformed. He was quick to point out the short stint that Sabertooth had done in X-Factor.
Walt then pointed out the one detail that everyone had been waiting to find out. They were all pretty sure that Sabertooth had been stopped by the X-Men, naturally, but they didn't know where the battle had taken place. It had taken place right outside of Vernonia, OR.
The group gasped as the show cut to clips that showed the battle in progress. It had taken place at an abandoned logging facility that was two miles away from where they were now. They were also wrong as to who had stopped Sabertooth. The battle had not been between the X-Men and him, it had just been a battle between two rivals; Wolverine and Sabertooth.
According to the report being told on the show, Sabertooth and Wolverine had run into each other while both men were searching for a former Weapon X outfit that had been rumored to exist in the dense forests that surrounded the quaint town of Vernonia. All the clues had apparently pointed to that facility as being the former location. Walt said that the information had come from a mysterious person that had refused to give their name. Recall remarked that it was more than a coincidence that both Wolverine and Sabertooth found out about this information at the same time. That mysterious person that had phoned into the show had to have pointed it out to both of them.
During the fight, Sabertooth had escaped, causing Walt to remark that if Wolverine couldn't stop Sabertooth, the surrounding areas were going to be in trouble.
The TV clicked off and Dr. Franks stood up. Turning to the group, he said: "I don't want anyone to go outside. We've got a killer on the loose in the vicinity and Sabertooth's out there somewhere, too." He said and smiled. "I'm just kidding, but we don't know what frame of mind Wolverine's going to be in."
"Man, I've heard too many stories about Wolverine and his berserker rages." Art said.
"I'm going to go initiate the lock down on the house, and activate the security systems." Jeska said as she got up.
"I'll go downstairs and call Black to find out where he is, and let him know he's going to have to use his clearance codes to get in." Dr. Franks said and headed down the stairs to the infirmary.
A tapping sound came from the front window and the group jumped and turned toward the window. Samson, the mountain lion, stood there pawing at the window. Jane rushed to the door and tried to open it, but Jeska had already triggered the lockdown.
Frustrated after pulling on the door a couple of times, she ran over to the window. She put her hand on the spot where Samson was pawing and the two stayed there for about a minute in what everyone else thought was silence.
Suddenly, Samson broke away from the window and ran back into the woods. Jane stood and turned to the group, a look of horror on her face.
"Samson has seen Sabertooth or Wolverine in the woods just outside the mansion. He's not sure which one. He just described a feral, hairy man."
Jeska came back in the room as Jane was saying this. "I don't think the lockout is going to keep either one of them out if they want in, but at least they aren't going to be just waltzing in."
"So what do we do now?" Ashlyn asked looking around.
"Follow me." The voice had come from the stairs leading down to the infirmary. The group turned to see Dr. Franks standing there. "I just got off the phone with Black, he wanted me to go ahead and give something to you. He's sorry he's not going to be here to give them to you himself."
The six kids and Jeska followed the Dr. down the stairs and they walked past the infirmary to what appeared to be a massive blank wall. Franks punched in an access code and the wall split down the middle and the two halves folded in on each other and opened into a massive room.
"Whoa!" Angelo said stepping inside. "What's this place?"
"According to Black, this is your training facility. It's still being finalized, so that's not the reason I brought you down here." He walked across the floor dodging the packages that littered the floor of the massive room to a door on the other side that had a sign above it that read "Locker Room". He stopped in front of the door and signaled inside.
"Boys locker room is on the left and the girls are on the right. You will find three lockers in each. In each locker, you will find your uniforms. Change into them and get ready to defend your home, should the need arise." Franks said and walked back toward the door exiting the training facility.
"Alright!" Xi said as she sprinted down the hall with Jane and Ashlyn close behind. The three girls bolted through the door.
"Well, we're about to become heroes." Ryan said as he and the other two started to walk toward the boys locker room.
When they got inside the locker room, they found the three lockers located on the far wall. Each of the lockers had their code names engraved on a nameplate at the top. Ryan walked up to the locker that read R.C. and popped it open. Inside was a dark green spandex shirt with the Genogoth logo on the chest, dark green pants with dark red flames on the legs and a mask that was the same color green as the pants and shirt. He looked around at the other two who were also examining their outfits. Angelo had a pair of green spandex shorts and button up top that had the Genogoth logo on the back. He also had a mask, but it was different than Ryan's. Obviously the theme here was to hide their identity, yet not for every member to look like every other member.
Art had the weirdest looking costume. His top looked like a hooded sweatshirt with the hood stuck in the up position. Only his face would be showing through the top of his costume, and Ryan wondered if the selection had anything to do with their powers. Art had pants kind of like Ryan's but the pattern was different.
"So, amigos, am I like supposed to go commando in this or what?" Angelo asked holding up the spandex shorts. They all laughed.
"I'm definitely wearing underwear in mine." Ryan said as he stripped down to change into his costume.
"Good thing I don't have any hair." Art said looking at the head covering of his costume. "Might get it messed up with this thing. I might add that green would not have been my first choice of color either."
"I kinda like the color." Angelo said putting on his shirt. "I like my outfit too, now that I have it on. Perfect fit and plenty of flexibility, should I need to jump somewhere quick. What about you, ese?" Angelo asked Ryan.
"Mine's alright, I guess. I just feel like the generic one is all."
"Yeah, well at least you don't look as stupid as I feel." Angelo and Ryan turned to look at Art who had finally wrestled the top part of his costume on and had gotten the headpiece situated. Angelo and Ryan stifled laughs. "Fine laugh it up, but it's actually really comfortable. Almost like it's a part of my body." Art said moving around experimentally.
The guys exited the locker room to find the girls weren't even done yet. They walked out into the training facility and waited just outside the locker area's main entrance.
"Probably not done doing their hair, eh?" Angelo said jokingly.
Ryan shot a mean look his direction. Angelo looked at Art and shrugged.
Ashlyn was the first one of the girls to come out, and she looked right at home in her costume. No surprise to the three of them, Ashlyn had a full body suit the same color as their outfits with a red rose pattern up one leg. The Genogoth logo was proudly displayed across the chest. The whole suit was made out of leather, of course. Her red hair was pulled into pig-tails and hung over her shoulders on either side. She walked up to join the boys.
"Xi and Jane will be out in a second. Jane was helping Xi with her hair."
As soon as she said it, Angelo and Art busted out laughing. They couldn't help it.
A crash and the sound of glass breaking came from upstairs. Not even waiting for the other two girls or even attempting to let them know they were leaving, the four students that were suited up took off for the stairs. They rushed up the stairs and through the foyer. As they entered the living room area, they froze in horror. Dr. Frank's body was lying broken in a pool of blood in the middle of the floor. Art rushed over to him and felt for a pulse.
Nothing.
He shook his head and closed Dr. Frank's eyes. He stood up and noticed for the first time, Jeska was cowering in the corner by the fireplace. Ashlyn ran over to her and tried to calm her down.
"What happened?" Ashlyn asked her.
"Mon.Mon.Monster." She stuttered out. Then she pointed to the top of the stairs leading up to the girls' dorms and screamed.
Ashlyn turned toward the stairs leading to the dorms and there stood a man covered in blood with three long metal claws sticking out of each hand. He snarled and flew down the steps heading right for Art. Art wasn't sure what was going to happen in the next couple of seconds, but he knew he'd be dead before the night was over. He braced himself for the upcoming attack.
The rest of the day went by without event. Black had not shown back up, and was content on letting the kids get to know each other a little better.
Jane liked her room for the most part. She did decide to change quite a few things, although much to Xi's delight, she left the "Get Well" signs up.
Morning came entirely too early for Xi. Once again, she woke up to her bed being moved, but as far as she could tell, she had slept peacefully. One more thing she was going to have on her mind. She could have sworn she heard Jane crying at one point during the night. She had gone out onto the roof right outside her room with Ryan, so they could have some quiet time to themselves. While lying there looking at the stars, both of them had heard sobs coming from her room. Neither one of them could imagine what it must be like for her.
As she had done every morning since she had gotten there, she went downstairs to eat breakfast. She found the Doctor and his nurse (Dr. Franks and Nurse Jeska had been their names) sitting on the couch watching the Walt and Recall show with Angelo. All three were eating plates full of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, etc. She went into the kitchen and found Ryan and Art cooking the food.
"Dig in, gal. There's plenty for everyone!" Art said as she came in.
"Black showed up this morning with a huge delivery van. They unloaded a bunch of huge crates into the park behind the house." Ryan told Xi as she loaded up her plate.
"Any idea what's in them?" Xi asked, as she looked out the windows toward the backyard. There was nothing that she could see, but perhaps they had been put into the storage facility to the left.
"Nope, and Black wasn't exactly forthcoming either." Art said. "All he'd say is that we'd find out later."
Ashlyn and Jane came walking in right at the end of the conversation.
"Find out what later?" Ashlyn asked.
Xi filled them both in, with a little help from Ryan and Art when she got her facts wrong. While she was explaining, Ashlyn and Jane fixed themselves some plates of food.
They all went into the living room and joined the others watching the TV.
Walt Norman was right in the middle of talking about an attack that had happened yesterday, supposedly perpetrated by the mutant Sabertooth. Naturally Walt was focusing on the negative facts, and while Recall was agreeing that Sabertooth was indeed dangerous, they were differing on the punishments that befit the situation. Walt wanted the mutant assassin dead. Recall thought he may be able to be reformed. He was quick to point out the short stint that Sabertooth had done in X-Factor.
Walt then pointed out the one detail that everyone had been waiting to find out. They were all pretty sure that Sabertooth had been stopped by the X-Men, naturally, but they didn't know where the battle had taken place. It had taken place right outside of Vernonia, OR.
The group gasped as the show cut to clips that showed the battle in progress. It had taken place at an abandoned logging facility that was two miles away from where they were now. They were also wrong as to who had stopped Sabertooth. The battle had not been between the X-Men and him, it had just been a battle between two rivals; Wolverine and Sabertooth.
According to the report being told on the show, Sabertooth and Wolverine had run into each other while both men were searching for a former Weapon X outfit that had been rumored to exist in the dense forests that surrounded the quaint town of Vernonia. All the clues had apparently pointed to that facility as being the former location. Walt said that the information had come from a mysterious person that had refused to give their name. Recall remarked that it was more than a coincidence that both Wolverine and Sabertooth found out about this information at the same time. That mysterious person that had phoned into the show had to have pointed it out to both of them.
During the fight, Sabertooth had escaped, causing Walt to remark that if Wolverine couldn't stop Sabertooth, the surrounding areas were going to be in trouble.
The TV clicked off and Dr. Franks stood up. Turning to the group, he said: "I don't want anyone to go outside. We've got a killer on the loose in the vicinity and Sabertooth's out there somewhere, too." He said and smiled. "I'm just kidding, but we don't know what frame of mind Wolverine's going to be in."
"Man, I've heard too many stories about Wolverine and his berserker rages." Art said.
"I'm going to go initiate the lock down on the house, and activate the security systems." Jeska said as she got up.
"I'll go downstairs and call Black to find out where he is, and let him know he's going to have to use his clearance codes to get in." Dr. Franks said and headed down the stairs to the infirmary.
A tapping sound came from the front window and the group jumped and turned toward the window. Samson, the mountain lion, stood there pawing at the window. Jane rushed to the door and tried to open it, but Jeska had already triggered the lockdown.
Frustrated after pulling on the door a couple of times, she ran over to the window. She put her hand on the spot where Samson was pawing and the two stayed there for about a minute in what everyone else thought was silence.
Suddenly, Samson broke away from the window and ran back into the woods. Jane stood and turned to the group, a look of horror on her face.
"Samson has seen Sabertooth or Wolverine in the woods just outside the mansion. He's not sure which one. He just described a feral, hairy man."
Jeska came back in the room as Jane was saying this. "I don't think the lockout is going to keep either one of them out if they want in, but at least they aren't going to be just waltzing in."
"So what do we do now?" Ashlyn asked looking around.
"Follow me." The voice had come from the stairs leading down to the infirmary. The group turned to see Dr. Franks standing there. "I just got off the phone with Black, he wanted me to go ahead and give something to you. He's sorry he's not going to be here to give them to you himself."
The six kids and Jeska followed the Dr. down the stairs and they walked past the infirmary to what appeared to be a massive blank wall. Franks punched in an access code and the wall split down the middle and the two halves folded in on each other and opened into a massive room.
"Whoa!" Angelo said stepping inside. "What's this place?"
"According to Black, this is your training facility. It's still being finalized, so that's not the reason I brought you down here." He walked across the floor dodging the packages that littered the floor of the massive room to a door on the other side that had a sign above it that read "Locker Room". He stopped in front of the door and signaled inside.
"Boys locker room is on the left and the girls are on the right. You will find three lockers in each. In each locker, you will find your uniforms. Change into them and get ready to defend your home, should the need arise." Franks said and walked back toward the door exiting the training facility.
"Alright!" Xi said as she sprinted down the hall with Jane and Ashlyn close behind. The three girls bolted through the door.
"Well, we're about to become heroes." Ryan said as he and the other two started to walk toward the boys locker room.
When they got inside the locker room, they found the three lockers located on the far wall. Each of the lockers had their code names engraved on a nameplate at the top. Ryan walked up to the locker that read R.C. and popped it open. Inside was a dark green spandex shirt with the Genogoth logo on the chest, dark green pants with dark red flames on the legs and a mask that was the same color green as the pants and shirt. He looked around at the other two who were also examining their outfits. Angelo had a pair of green spandex shorts and button up top that had the Genogoth logo on the back. He also had a mask, but it was different than Ryan's. Obviously the theme here was to hide their identity, yet not for every member to look like every other member.
Art had the weirdest looking costume. His top looked like a hooded sweatshirt with the hood stuck in the up position. Only his face would be showing through the top of his costume, and Ryan wondered if the selection had anything to do with their powers. Art had pants kind of like Ryan's but the pattern was different.
"So, amigos, am I like supposed to go commando in this or what?" Angelo asked holding up the spandex shorts. They all laughed.
"I'm definitely wearing underwear in mine." Ryan said as he stripped down to change into his costume.
"Good thing I don't have any hair." Art said looking at the head covering of his costume. "Might get it messed up with this thing. I might add that green would not have been my first choice of color either."
"I kinda like the color." Angelo said putting on his shirt. "I like my outfit too, now that I have it on. Perfect fit and plenty of flexibility, should I need to jump somewhere quick. What about you, ese?" Angelo asked Ryan.
"Mine's alright, I guess. I just feel like the generic one is all."
"Yeah, well at least you don't look as stupid as I feel." Angelo and Ryan turned to look at Art who had finally wrestled the top part of his costume on and had gotten the headpiece situated. Angelo and Ryan stifled laughs. "Fine laugh it up, but it's actually really comfortable. Almost like it's a part of my body." Art said moving around experimentally.
The guys exited the locker room to find the girls weren't even done yet. They walked out into the training facility and waited just outside the locker area's main entrance.
"Probably not done doing their hair, eh?" Angelo said jokingly.
Ryan shot a mean look his direction. Angelo looked at Art and shrugged.
Ashlyn was the first one of the girls to come out, and she looked right at home in her costume. No surprise to the three of them, Ashlyn had a full body suit the same color as their outfits with a red rose pattern up one leg. The Genogoth logo was proudly displayed across the chest. The whole suit was made out of leather, of course. Her red hair was pulled into pig-tails and hung over her shoulders on either side. She walked up to join the boys.
"Xi and Jane will be out in a second. Jane was helping Xi with her hair."
As soon as she said it, Angelo and Art busted out laughing. They couldn't help it.
A crash and the sound of glass breaking came from upstairs. Not even waiting for the other two girls or even attempting to let them know they were leaving, the four students that were suited up took off for the stairs. They rushed up the stairs and through the foyer. As they entered the living room area, they froze in horror. Dr. Frank's body was lying broken in a pool of blood in the middle of the floor. Art rushed over to him and felt for a pulse.
Nothing.
He shook his head and closed Dr. Frank's eyes. He stood up and noticed for the first time, Jeska was cowering in the corner by the fireplace. Ashlyn ran over to her and tried to calm her down.
"What happened?" Ashlyn asked her.
"Mon.Mon.Monster." She stuttered out. Then she pointed to the top of the stairs leading up to the girls' dorms and screamed.
Ashlyn turned toward the stairs leading to the dorms and there stood a man covered in blood with three long metal claws sticking out of each hand. He snarled and flew down the steps heading right for Art. Art wasn't sure what was going to happen in the next couple of seconds, but he knew he'd be dead before the night was over. He braced himself for the upcoming attack.
