Author's Note: OK, this is not a full update, but this story was temporarily on the back burner. NO LONGER. I'll post a REAL chapter soon… I promise…. But for now, enjoy this SERIOUS prelude….
APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTIONExplosions rocked the school.
Students were flying off their beds as the rooms, hallways, floors, ceiling, and just about everything in between, shook violently. Screams were filling the air… followed by a blanket of pitch-black smoke. "Run for the exits!" cried an older girl in a long nightgown. She at least had some semblance of sanity left… unlike her roommates. The other girls of suite C-23 were in a hysterical panic. Granted, the girl in the nightgown was older than most of her roommates by at least two years. The younger girls momentarily stopped their whimpering, and closely followed the older girl out of their room.
As they made their way out to the hallway, they discovered the scene in total disarray. Screaming and panicked girls swarmed the exits at the far end of the hallway – where the building's main stairwell and lobby were located. Sarah Kenelly gathered her courage, cleared her throat, and said to the other girls, "Look, we'll make it out, just hold hands and follow me!" The other girls whispered their affirmations and did as she commanded. As they made it half way to the main staircase, a bunch of structural beams (on fire) collapsed in front of them – blocking their path with a wall of burning lumber.
The girls screamed in unison. "What are we going to do Sarah?!?!" asked a short brunette. Her round little face was covered in ash and soot.
Sarah's eyes darted back and forth, then she suddenly located a way out –through a dorm window. "Come on you guys, let's go through that room, follow me!" The girls eagerly scurried behind Sarah, but drew back when they saw her plan.
"Are you crazy?" cried a blonde named Tammy. "We're on the third floor! We can't do this!"
"Tammy… would you rather burn to death inside here?" Sarah placed her hands on her hips, waiting for an answer. When she received none, she continued to open the window, which just so happened to be situated above the widest ledge on the building. Sarah was the first to get out on the ledge and survey the situation. She moved slowly along the ledge, making room for all the girls to get out. Just as the last girl made it out onto the ledge, the hallway burst into flames. The ledge was so wide, that the girls were able to run across the length of the building, past four other dorm windows, and turn the corner as flames exploded out of the rooms behind them. One split second too late and they would have all perished. The five girls were now on the ledge on the rear side of the building.
Sarah gazed wearily at the school grounds. It looked like hundreds of police officers were all over the place. Swarms of police cruisers and fire rescue vehicles cordoned off the center of the school – mainly the administrative and academic buildings. She could see hundreds of screaming, crying kids being herded into evacuation trucks. Past the police barricades, Sarah could see military vehicles surrounding the main administration building. Her eyes grew wide as she noticed something that looked like a small war.
About a mile away from the main dorms, across the inner courtyard, and by the fountain… a war was INDEED being fought. Sarah Kenelly was floored… literally. Another huge explosion rocked the entire school. The ledge where the girls were perched on shook violently, accompanied by a white flash of light and a deafening boom. Sarah shielded her eyes from the intense light, but peeked through her fingers once the intensity had died down. She witnessed a gigantic, fiery mushroom cloud rise into the air and consume what was left of the admin building.
About twenty human figures could be seen through the fire and smoke. Three of them were dressed in what looked like black body armor. Their strange weapons glistened in the red glow of the flames surrounding them. The other figures were dressed in their own body fitting costumes – which vaguely resembled the school's gold and blue uniforms. One of the costumed people shot something… literally… out of his hand. A pulse of red light shot out from his fingertips – striking one of the black-armored trio dead center in the chest. The armored man stumbled back and fell to the ground. The remaining men-in-black trained their weapons at the others and opened fire. Whatever they fired at the group, it wasn't bullets – it was more like WARHEADS. Human flesh evaporated, and gold/blue fabrics erupted into flames and disintegrated. Sarah stared in amazement. The man who had been struck with the red beam got to his feet, and opened fire on the remaining combatants. Fiery chunks of body parts flew in every direction as his ammunition impacted with people's bodies.
Just like that… it was over. As quickly as it had begun, the fight ceased… and civilian personnel (fire rescue and police officers) filled the inner courtyard. Sarah and her friends were frozen on the ledge, speechless and emotionless. They were jarred out of their trance when a sudden explosion burst from underneath them. The girls screamed in fear, as the first floor of their building was being engulfed in flames. In fact, the ledge where they standing on was the only part of the building NOT being consumed by the fire. Sarah then noticed that a nearby tree had been hit by stray gunfire, and now teetered on its burnt trunk. The giant oak tilted and then fell towards the five girls, who clutched each other. Their collective eyes were closed tightly as they shrieked. Only Sarah kept her eyes wide open, and locked on the falling timber. She thought that this was finally the end for her dorm mates… but then the tree top glanced off the fourth floor above them… and crashed through the wall just six feet away from their position on the ledge. Sarah suddenly yelled, "Tammy, Vi, get your butts up and climb down the tree with me!" The other girls looked up at Sarah, who had already started climbing down the makeshift bridge. "Hurry you guys!" The other girls made haste, and followed Sarah down the tree's trunk to the floor below. Just as Sarah helped the last girl off the tree, plumes of fire consumed the huge oak. The girls ran from the building as fast as their legs could carry them… finally collapsing from exhaustion some 250 feet away.
"Sarah, if it weren't you… we would've all died", said Tammy. "Thank you…" She rested her hand on Sarah's shoulder, as the other girls came around and hugged their leader tightly. The young ladies were busy expressing their love and gratitude to Sarah, as two armor-clad figures silently approached them. Vi, the youngest of the girls, saw the armored figures and shrieked – startling the other girls out of their revelry. The others just gasped as the two armored men trained their gleaming rifles on the group of students – the same rifles that tore apart those other people a few moments ago.
"That was some bit o' luck you just had back there!" said one of the armored men. There was a red and white circle on his chest plate, with a large white star in the middle. The girls remained silent. "In fact", he continued, "The chances of ALL those near misses turnin' out JUST right… well… it's a million to one! What do you think Lieutenant?"
"I have to agree", Peter Lyman removed his helmet, and slung his rifle over his shoulder, but his colleague (one Mr. Turk) kept his gun barrel aimed at the girls.
"Sarah Kenelly", said a voice from behind the men, "you are hereby detained under authority of the Mutant Investigation Bureau." Four men in black suits were walking towards the girls. One of them continued speaking, "Take the others to the evacuation zone, and return them to their parents."
"No!" Tammy yelled, "You can't take Sarah! She's our friend! You can't take her!" The other girls protested in unison, in full agreement that Sarah shouldn't be separated from them. They locked arms and formed a circle around the mutant girl.
Turk trained his weapon on the group of young ladies, and glanced over at Lyman. "Your call Lieutenant, our orders were to terminate all Hellions at our discretion."
"But wait…", said one of the M.I.B's, "Her probability manipulation powers are uncharted. We want her alive. Anyhow, this girl was NOT an active member of the Hellions, just a trainee." Lyman looked at he young girl at the center of the circle. He knew the girls' situation was hopeless… but was this what he had come to? Killing a young girl in front of her friends… possibly killing them too? He shook his head. These girls… like the two brown-eyed little angels he had at home… would not die by his order. Not tonight. Not ever.
"Lower your weapon Turk." Lyman walked toward the fearful girls, who closed ranks around their friend. "These girls love you Sarah."
"Yeah they do", the sixteen-year-old answered back. She choked back a tear that threatened to roll down her stained cheek. "I love 'em too. Don't hurt them. I'll go with you."
"No you won't Sarah! I won't let them take you!" Tammy got even closer to her friend, and glared at Lyman with eyes that bore into his soul. "You can't have her!"
"Sarah", Lyman said, "We've read the files… in fact, we have a hundred guys reading the files. We know you were recruited by Emma Frost to come to this Massachusetts Academy. What you DIDN'T know was that they wanted to turn you into a weapon. They wanted you to be a criminal like the people we just fought with."
"The people you just killed." Sarah looked at Lyman coldly.
"Yes. We had to kill them. These people had killed many, MANY other innocent people. They were trained terrorists, and this school was going to turn you into one of them."
"And what are YOU and THEM (pointing at the MIB's) going to turn me into?"
"Nothing Sarah. Your powers are too random and subconscious to be effective in combat without LOTS of training. And even then, you'd be a LONGSHOT at best. All we want to do is remove you from the reach of other mutant terrorists… who might consider making you their lucky charm."
"How can I trust you?" Sarah asked incredulously.
"That's the rub ain't it?" Lyman said. "You have my word… and I'll give it to you on National TV…"
"What the f*** are you talking about?" shouted Turk. "Have you gone crazy?" The other MIB's agreed with Turk's sentiment.
"No Turk, I'm talking about quick thinking… look over there…" Lyman pointed at the swarm of news media heading their way. In mere seconds the men were surrounded by photographers and assorted cameramen. News anchors from at least a dozen television news shows began shouting questions at them.
"What happened here!?!?"
"Were there any mutant terrorists!?!?"
"Is this the next phase of the mutant war!?!?"
"Is that girl a mutant, and will she be executed like the other mutant terrorists?"
Lyman had enough. "Those mutants were not EXECUTED!!! They were criminal terrorist who got the justice they deserved. Last I checked, Captain America is our best hope at ending mutant terrorism… and protecting the people of this nation!"
There was some murmuring among the stunned reporters, but the questions came back in full swing: "But what about the growing criticism about how civil rights are…"
Lyman cut the reporter off. "I am not here to discuss other people's political agendas… I'm a member of the Captain America strike team… and we have just conducted an anti-terror operation in the Massachusetts Academy. There is no more I can say."
One cherubic reporter yelled, "Who's the girl?"
Turning to Sarah and winking, Lyman said, "This girl has been rescued from the mutant terrorist group – The Hellfire Club – which had a secret operation at this location. She will be…" Lyman looked at the nervous MIB agents, "sent back to her family under our full protection." The MIB agents looked utterly aghast. Lyman had just promised to release the girl.
One nervous agent cut in, "Ummmm… she will also receive some routine medical exams… on a… errrr… an OUTPATIENT basis (glaring at Lyman)." The media swarmed around the MIB agents, who took many more questions – answering barely any – as Lyman and Turk escorted the girls to the evacuation vehicles.
"You're going to catch some heat for this Lieutenant", warned Turk.
Lyman smiled and said to his colleague, "Not that much… I'll spin it as a PR move. And now, this girl will be under the scrutiny of the world and under our protection. She'll be safe in the plain sight."
The young ladies began loading into the evacuation vehicles. Sarah stopped and looked at Lyman quizzically. She clasped his hand and said, "Thank you sir… I can't believe you did that…."
"I can't either… probably your mutation affecting me… I hope your luck holds…" Lyman ran his fingers through his hair as he spoke, "I… hope you realize… that we're the good guys Sarah".
"I want to believe it… but all those people who hate mutants…"
"Are just scared because of what happened." This time, it was Lyman who gently clasped the girl's hand – as if to communicate sincerity. "Until a month ago, most people didn't care one way or another about mutants… but after almost getting killed… after all of humanity was attacked… nobody's neutral anymore."
"But we're not all like that…" Sarah began to cry. Maybe it was the accumulated stress of the night, seeing people get blown apart, or narrowly escaping a life as a lab rat. "I'm not like that…"
"No you aren't young lady", Lyman assured her. Even Turk nodded in agreement. "You risked your life to save your friends. You are not a mutant, little girl… you're a human being with a special ability. The same as a guy who can dunk a basketball or invent a computer."
"But people don't hate them the way they hate us…"
"Because they can understand those things… but they can't understand why somebody can shoot green stuff from their mouth. And they're right not to trust somebody who can kill them with a thought… because all humans try to use their skills for selfish ends – it's only human. Our laws are enforced by the threat of retaliation. It scares people that some mutated humans…" Sarah noted his use of the word 'mutated humans', and smiled at that. "…don't care about the law… or think that it doesn't apply to them. The only ones who have to fear the law… are law-breakers! You, Sarah Kenelly, will never have to worry about that."
The girl's face brightened after Lyman's careful speech. In all her short life, she'd rarely felt this connected to a non-mutant who knew she was a mutant. It made her feel… human. "I can go with you… while you explain yourself to your bosses… I don't want to get you in trouble", Sarah pleaded.
Turk and Lyman looked pensively for a moment. "Actually, it's not a bad idea Lieutenant", said Turk. "With her around, working the lucky mojo, you'll probably come off this with a warning."
"You're probably right" answered Lyman. "And she can't go home right now anyway. We got to make sure the Mutant FBI, or whatever they call themselves, keep their word." Turning to Sarah, "Honey, we're taking a trip to Ft. Bragg. I hope you like Army food."
"I don't mind… you should see the stuff they eat here." The three people shared an uneasy laugh. Eventually, Lyman, Turk, and the rest of Captain America returned to Ft. Bragg for a debriefing, refit, and some well earned R&R. The girl accompanied them, and her strange mutant power was likely responsible for Lyman's "wrist slap" verbal warning. Sarah Kenelly was eventually sent back to her family, knowing full well that she was under protective surveillance at all times. She also had a secret "hotline" cell phone so she could contact Captain America's leader, Peter Lyman.
Thankfully, some of the soldiers in this war… were actually human beings.
Author's Note: The attack on the Massachusetts Academy, and the destruction of the Hellions, occurs simultaneously during the events of the previous chapter. This was just a short story before the next and almost final chapter. Now back to the X-Men. Coming up: Is it Emma, or Jean, or both? And what is Magneto up to? And what happens when Captain America sets its sights on Charles Xavier? All this and more in the final two chapters.