Author: Viral
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Morning came after a rough night of sleep for Ororo Munroe. Her mind was troubled and her stomach anxious for what the day was going to offer. She could only imagine the face-off between the X-Men and the Brotherhood to be extremely awkward if not a deadly turn of events. She had chosen to join the 'evil' side, but at that very moment she felt like she was doing the right thing. Of course being a traitor wasn't, in itself, a noble thing to do – but to take a stance after years of loyalty to one side because of an epiphany of philosophy was.
She had left early by flight to join Magneto at the metal-made base of operations in northern Delaware. She flew for two reasons: to hide her departure trail from Wolverine's keen nose and because it was quicker than any type of driving. She flew on the speed of the wind with agility and balance, easily beating some airplanes in the sky. But through her flight she had plenty to think about. Could she now be called Storm? After all, she had gained that name as a member of the X-Men, but she was about leave the team. What would she wear? If she wore anything that signified she was loyal to Xavier wouldn't that make her a hypocrite?
She landed outside of the Brotherhood's Base of Operations in a pair of slacks, a T-shirt, and her hair in an extremely long ponytail. The only accessories she brought with her were her lightning bolt earrings, gold bracelets, and a tiara that she proudly wore on her head, helping to keep her hair from flying in her face. As soon as she touched the ground she was met with the faces of ecstatic Brotherhood members.
They were ready for revenge against the Friends of Humanity. They waited in excitement for the mission to begin; for their mutant brothers and sisters to be avenged in one of the smallest, yet most well planned attacks ever released by Magneto. Ororo imagined some of them might have had their own personal agendas, especially Sabretooth who was probably imagining ripping Wolverine apart at that very moment. "Good morning," Ororo said as she addressed them all. They nodded and greeted her in return, all with smiling faces and cheerfulness. This was unexpected.
Magneto was all business when he stepped out of the shadows and into the bright sun. He placed a metal-clothed helmet on his head, hiding his white head and enshrouding his face in darkness as he spoke with his baritone voice, "Team II, you know your orders. Depart." Sabretooth, Toad, Quicksilver, and Pyro boarded a stolen helicopter and loudly prepared it for flight.
"Storm, can you make the flight without assistance?" Magneto asked as he and Wanda became covered in a translucent field of magnetism.
"Yes," she said in a near-mumble wondering if she was going to end up going onto the battlefield dressed as a commoner.
"Good," Magneto said. "We, the Brotherhood, have a gift for you inside. Meet Wanda and I in D.C." With those few words he was gone and so were the other Brotherhood members in their loud chopper.
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A lively knock rattled Ororo's bedroom door. When no answer came after several attempts and a few whispers of Ororo's name, Jean opened the door and walked inside accompanied by Jubilee. "Ororo?" Jean asked as she softly walked across the attic floor, blocking the sun's rays coming through the glass roof with her hands.
"Where could she be?" Jubilee asked, peering around the room and onto the balcony, still with no sign of the Windrider. "She knows this is our shopping day!"
Jean lifted her hands to her temples as she did a mental scan of the mansion and its immediate property. "She's not here," Jean said, opening her eyes after she finished the search. "Where could she be?"
"Do you think we should go without her?" Jubilee asked, popping a piece of bubblegum in her mouth and chewing it with skill like any mallrat could.
"I guess we could," Jean said. "Then again, I do need to check on Scott." Jean stopped to think. It just wasn't like Ororo to ignore appointments and set traditions. She ran her fingers through her red hair, going through every odd possibility. No one had any classes this morning except Beast and the Danger Room sessions didn't begin until the afternoon. She also noticed that she hadn't seen Ororo at breakfast. "This is strange," Jean said, thinking out loud.
"Strange indeed," came the telepathic voice of Professor Xavier into the attic. "I need you two to come down to my Study," he insisted, speaking to both Jean and Jubilee. Jubilee quickly made her way out of the hot attic and Jean cautiously followed, slowly closing Ororo's door.
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"Logan," Xavier said in a condemning sing-song voice as he watched Logan pull out a cigar and stick it in his mouth.
"Ya know I ain't gon' light it inside, Chuck," Logan said with a silly grin on his face as he leaned against one of the Xavier's bookcases. He didn't turn when Jubilee entered the room, followed by Jean. He had smelled them ten seconds ago and knew they were on their way. Jubilee, of course, stood next to him and Jean made her way towards Cyclops, who was still recovering but able to move around. "Ro really gave it to you this time, Scooter," Logan thought and was met with a half-grin, half-frown from Jean. Logan chuckled slightly before Xavier regathered everyone's attention.
"It looks like Magneto is making another move," Xavier said and was met with a bunch of unprofessional grumbles and mumbles. His stern look quieted the team as he folded his hands upon his desk and continued. "Sabretooth, Toad, Pyro, and Quicksilver are apparently on a vandalism mission at the Friend's of Humanity Headquarters in New York," he explained. "However, I feel they are only a decoy because Magneto and the Scarlet Witch are not with them. There is something else up his sleeve that I haven't figured out yet, but I know he is headed for Washington D.C."
"Where's Storm?" Rogue asked, figuring both she and Scott would be picked as team leaders, as usual.
"I'm not sure," Xavier frowned. "I think I sensed her, but then I lost it."
"Then who's going to lead?" Rogue inquired again, her southern accent softly rolling off of her tongue as she spoke.
"The team I am sending to New York will be lead by Gambit," Xavier said. All the X-Men gave him an uneasy look, but he quickly explained that Gambit's thief and stealth tactics might be useful in bombarding the Brotherhood. "In New York will be Gambit, Jubilee, Wolverine, and Iceman," he said, not reading off a list, but looking as if all of this was completely memorized and set in stone in his mind. "Colossus and Kitty will join you as soon as they return from their vacation."
"Isn't this a great way to come back home," Iceman joked.
"Scott, Jean, and Rogue will accompany me in Washington," he noted just as quickly as he had explained everything else. "Any questions?"
"When is departure time?" Scott asked sternly from his seat where Jean was gently massaging his shoulders.
"The D.C. team will be boarding the jet in ten minutes," Xavier noted. "Gambit, you will decide for your team."
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Xavier and Cyclops walked down the corridor leading to the hangar, followed by Jean who was putting her hair into a tight bun. "Professor, if Magneto is probably after something more serious in Washington, shouldn't we focus more of our teammates on him than in New York?" Scott asked.
"Scott, there is more to this mission than you think," Xavier explained. "And right now I can only bring my best with me." Cyclops thought things through for a moment. Wolverine would be no match for Magneto or Wanda. Jubilee was still in training. Shadowcat might be of some assistance but she would never make it in time. Colossus, when enhanced by his mutation, would be encased in organic metal and would be a like a toy for Magneto to play with. Iceman and Gambit were regular comedians and although able to handle the mission, they would probably choose to make a joke of everything. Perhaps Xavier had thought things through.
"What in blue tarnation is this?" Rogue said as she violently pressed the button to open the hangar door. Xavier hovered in his wheelchair behind her, followed by Cyclops and Jean who were ready and suited up. After a few more hesitant pushes of the button, Rogue lashed out and punched through the door with her super strength, causing something on the other side to shatter. The door opened only a few centimeters, allowing very cold air to come from the hangar and into the small corridor.
"We don't have time for this!" Scott said. "Everyone, back up." They all moved away from the door as Cyclops decreased the resistance on his visor and let out powerful optic blast, which knocked down the doors and revealed a winter wonderland made out of the hangar. The jets were frozen to the floor. Snow decorated the floors and walls while icicles hung sternly from the ceiling.
"Great, just great!" Cyclops frowned. "Bobby never stops playing!"
"I don't believe this was Bobby's doing, Scott," Xavier said. "But we don't have time to make accusations. Hopefully my private jet hasn't been vandalized."
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I couldn't help but to grin when I found the 'gift' the Brotherhood had left me. It was quite a leisurely ensemble; one that wasn't as revealing as I thought it was going to be. She was dressed a pair of tight pants that resembled the color and texture of jeans, a white shirt that extended to her elbows, and a pair of leather-type white gloves with the fingers cut off of them. It was a plain outfit. "Nothing goofy," Ororo thought out loud as she flew over the Washington Monument. "Unlike a certain man's cape and helmet." She soon spotted Magneto and Wanda who were inconspicuously county people, watching law enforcement, and scouting the White House from atop a hill hidden in trees not too far away.
"Looking good, Storm," Wanda said, noticing Ororo as she landed when a wave of cool air brushed against her neck and back. Magneto didn't turn around to look. If he looked at her now he would be fully taken off course of his work, and there was no way he was going to let this plan be foiled – not even by the incomparable beauty of the Windrider.
"Thank you," she said to Wanda, smiling as the two joined Magneto in the scouting.
"Charles won't want an open confrontation with all these people present," Magneto said, thinking out loud. "If we begin our assault in the open he will try to mentally attack us. But, if these two fight his pupils in this hidden area he will come after me and then the battle can move out into the open. He'll be too preoccupied."
Magneto turned to face Wanda and Ororo and lifted two metal tiaras from a bag on the ground. "This will protect your minds and my plan from Xavier's probes," he said. "Storm, you will feel a slight electrical pulse when he attempts to pry your mind for information. That means he and the X-Men are close. I want them out of the sky before they get too close!"
"Understood," Ororo said, placing the tiara on her had as Magneto floated away with his cape flowing behind him. Unawares, the tourists below continued taking pictures of the White House from their distance at the black-iron fence that surrounded all of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. "Have you ever tried convincing your father to choose a new outfit?" Ororo asked Wanda as they watched him fearfully float high over White House property.
"Yes, I've tried," Wanda sighed. "It's just something about the red and purple that he loves." They both laughed uneasily before feeling the tingle Magneto mentioned.
He can't be here already, Ororo thought to herself. Blast it all! I forgot about his private jet. No matter. The others will have to drive into New York City. Meanwhile, it's time to brew a storm. Storm's eyes turned completely white as she lifted herself into the clouds, which, all over the Historic District of Washington, D.C., were becoming dark, heavy, and dangerously fierce. Lightning followed soon, sometimes lighting up the entire sky, other times flashing as forked lightning across the darkness of the clouds, and other times crashing as lightning bolts into the ground below. Thunder ensued only moments before the torrential rains began to fall and fog began to cover the ground.
Wanda smirked as the people below looked up in amazement, then fear, and then began running towards their cars, busses, cabs, and tour guides. "And I thought my powers were awesome," she smiled.
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Rogue struggled to put on her seatbelt after being knocked around the plane several times. They hadn't expected any turbulence and they weren't supposed to be landing until ten minutes later. "What the heck is goin on up there?" Rogue asked the Professor and Cyclops as she finally clicked her seatbelt into place.
"Oh God!" Cyclops yelled as a lightning bolt jammed into the front window of the jet, causing him to shut his eyes tightly and the entire jet to rattle and shake off balance. It leaned to one side and then leaned to the other. When he finally opened his eyes the rain was so heavy that he took his hands off the controls and gave full access to the Professor.
"There is no visibility!" Xavier yelled in his oddball voice before another lightning bolt hit the side of the jet and completely sent the jet on a spiral towards the ground. Elevation dropped plentifully second after second. Every one of the mutants in the jet let out a few shrieks and a dozen yells which were muffled by the even louder "beep, beep, beep" of the emergency devices. Everything was offline. Nothing was functioning proper – and as far as they could see the ground could be as close as a foot or as far as one thousand miles. It didn't matter. Life as they knew it was about to cease to exist.
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