______________________________Chapter 3__________________________________
"You want to what?" Bobby exclaimed.
"I didn't say I wanted to. Magneto said"
"Why?" asked Bobby.
"That's, er, for Xavier to hear," Pietro looked nervous.
Lance grabbed his shirt again, "Oh, really? Well, why don't you tell good old Lance here, before he rips your lungs out!" He said pleasantly, though there was an edge to his voice.
"Oh, allright. Magneto wanted to request to form an alliance," Peitro said. "Can I go now?"
"Of course," said Lance, "But I think you'll need someone to escort you," He looked around, "Come on, I got the slimeball. We'll let him see your Professor."
The group walked inside, towards the Professor's office.
Rogue turned to Peitro, "Did Magneto recruit anyone recently?"
"What's it to you?" Peitro retorted and was slammed into a wall by Lance, "I mean, yeah, he did."
"Who? What were their powers?" Rogue asked.
"There was a guy who could make things explode with his mind. I think his name was Remy LaBeau," Peitro thought a bit, "And there was"
Peitro was interrupted by a loud explosion from the room they were just passing.
"Aaron!" a angry voice yelled, apparently Scott's, "Shawn! Get out of here!"
A guy with dark brown hair walked out, grinning. He had a parrot on his shoulder, "We know how to handle him, don't we?"
"I'll say!" said the parrot in the scratchy voice all parrots have. Then it flapped its wings and landed on the floor. Its wings transformed into arms, its legs lengthened and became human, its feathers melted into its body, and the beak formed into a mouth on a human head. What was left standing in its spot was a guy identical to the one who had talked to the parrot.
"Hey, look, Shawn!" the parrot-guy said, "We've got an audience!"
"Let's see." Shawn looked thoughtfully at the group, "I know some of you, but not by name, "You guys are the cute couple," he pointed at Rogue and Bobby, who blushed.
"You're the phasing girl, the one who hangs out with elf-man," Aaron gestured at Kitty.
"And you're the guy with the bad temper," finished Shawn waving his hand towards Ray.
"Thanks a lot," said Ray sarcastically.
"You're welcome!" said the twins together.
"His name's Kurt!" said Kitty, annoyed.
"Little Boy Blue? How're we supposed to know that? We've only been here for" Shawn stopped as Aaron finished for him.
"A week."
"Er right," said Bobby, "We, um, have to go see Professor Xavier."
"Excellent!" said Aaron, "We'll go with you!"
"So who're the rest of you?" Shawn asked as the group continued on their way.
"I'm Lance Alvers, and this conceited numbskull is Peitro Maximoff."
Peitro glared at Lance, "Can you stop making fun of me?"
"No," Lance said, pushing Peitro ahead, "This is nothing compared to what you did."
Aaron and Shawn looked at each other. They shrugged.
They had reached the Professor's office. Rogue knocked.
"Come in," said a voice that contained a rich English accent, "All of you."
They all walked into the office. Luckily for them, it was large enough to fit them all comfortably.
"We have a visitor for you," said Lance, thrusting Peitro forward.
"Yes, Peitro?" Xavier asked kindly.
Peitro looked nervous again, "Myfatherwantstoformanalliancewithyoubecause heneedsyourhelpwithhandlingtheproblemofexperimentationonmutants."
"Did anyone catch what Mr. Maximoff has just proposed?" Xavier looked amused by Peitro's 'speech'.
"Yeah, I got it," said Lance, as Peitro looked embarrassed, "He says his father wants to form an alliance with you because he needs your help with 'handling' the problem of experimentation on mutants."
"We shall help him then," said Charles Xavier.
"But," Bobby said.
"True friends will never refuse to provide help to one another, Bobby."
"Cool!" said Shawn.
"A mission!" exclaimed Aaron.
"Can we come?" asked Kitty, catching on.
"Pees?" said a small voice down by Peitro's feet.
"Huh?" said Peitro. "What's that?"
"Pees?" Bear repeated. "I wants to go wiv you."
"We shall see." Xavier said with a smile, "Whoever I believe is ready to face a real mission will be informed by tonight. Thank you, Mr. Maximoff. If you will kindly come with us to direct us to the Brotherhood's location, I will greatly appreciate your help."
"Lance, will you please let Mr. Maximoff live a bit longer, as he will be most helpful in finding Magneto."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," said Lance. Under his breath, he muttered, "You just wait."
Peitro looked nervous, "Yeah, I'll go wait. someplaceelse!" He tore out of the room, his body a blur.
"Woof," said a small voice.
Bear was poking a rather annoyed dog in the nose, mumbling 'woof' and 'bark' to himself. Aaron and Shawn had disappeared. The dog barked at something beside Kitty. It jumped, and tackled something they couldn't see. It began to lick whatever it thought it had caught. One of the twins blinked into view, right underneath the dog.
"Ugh, Aaron, get a grip on yourself!" he was trying to keep the dog from licking him to death.
The dog morphed into Aaron, "Sorry, bro," he said, sitting down on his brother's stomach, "Dog instincts going wild. and fluffers over there, he's probably lucky I didn't bite him."
"Get off me," said the other twin, pushing Aaron off himself.
"A bit touchy today, now aren't we?" Aaron said, smiling as he helped his brother up.
"If you don't mind," said Xavier, smiling, "I am going to have a meeting, so you will have to leave. Why don't you go eat dinner? Mr. Kamon should be ready by now."
The group filed out of the room.
"What're your powers, anyway?" asked Lance.
"Who, us?" Shawn said, "I can blend into my surroundings, like camouflage."
Aaron morphed into the parrot again, alighting on his brother's shoulder.
"Aaron can shape-shift into animals," Shawn informed them.
Kitty touched Aaron with the tip of her finger, startling him.
Squawking, he flew into the air, screaming, "I've been assassinated! Help! Red Rum!"
Shawn rolled his eyes, "He overreacts when he's a parrot, I'm guessing because they're so stupid." He ran after his brother, who was still screaming bloody murder, literally, "You stupid bloody bird! Shut up!" Shawn grabbed the bird's feet, pulling it from the air. "Shut up!"
He shook the bird vigorously. It morphed into a dizzy Aaron.
"Hey, what's with the room spinning?" he said as he ran into a wall.
"Figures, doesn't it?" said Shawn, to no one in particular, "I'll have to bring him someplace where he can bother some more teachers, to calm him down. Come on, birdbrain!"
He grabbed his brother by the arm and lead him down the hall, where he pushed him down the stairs.
"They're funny, aren't they?" said Kitty, giggling.
Bobby stared after them. "I think they're showing off."
"Don't be such a pessimist," said Kitty, looking to Rogue.
"They are funny," said Rogue, shrugging. "Just a little, um, strange."
They walked down to the large room where they ate their meals, talking together. Kitty got in line first, everyone else behind her.
"Yeah?" said Mr. Kamon, "What d'ya want?"
"I'd like a salad." Kitty looked at Bobby, and laughed, "please?"
Bobby looked bewildered; he had no idea why she was laughing at him.
"Bobby," Rogue whispered to him, "She's teasing you because you're so, well, polite."
Everyone ordered their food, and sat down at a table. Ray went off to sit with some other students. Rogue went to join Amara Aquilla, codenamed Magma, and Jean. Lance had told them he wasn't hungry.
"Hey, Bobby!" a voice called, "Come sit with us!"
Bobby looked to the voice's owner, Samuel Guthrie, codenamed Cannonball.
"Hi, Sam!" Bobby turned to Kitty, "See you later!"
Kitty unhappily ate her salad alone.
"What's eating you?" asked someone, who sat down next to her.
Kitty looked up to see a blond boy with headphones hanging around his neck smiling at her.
"I don't think I know your name."
"I'm Ruben Ryder. Do you mind if I sit here?"
"No." Kitty said, happy for some company.
"I just got here this morning. What's your name?"
"Kitty Pryde. What're you listening to?"
"Weird Al," Ruben said, "Poodle Hat."
"Sounds strange," Kitty had caught a couple words going to the tune of some familiar song: 'Tell me why. I need another pet rock. Tell me why. I bought that Alf alarm clock..'
"It's called 'Weird' Al, isn't it?"
That night, Rogue was informed she would be going on the mission. So was Kitty (Shadowcat). They were to report to the Blackbird at dawn. They excitedly got into bed, trying to go to sleep, because waking up at dawn was always a tiring procedure.
They next morning, they stood yawning next to the Blackbird. The other students gathered around them were Ray Crisp (Berzerker), Aaron Kerr (Shift), Shawn Kerr (Shroud), Bobby Drake (Iceman), Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler), Allen Orris (Ooze), Peter Rasputin (Colossus), and Amara Aquilla (Magma). Off to the side Peitro Maximoff (Quicksilver) was hiding. And Lance Alvers (Avalanche) was looking for him.
Inside the Blackbird, getting ready for takeoff, were Jean Gray, Logan (Wolverine), Scott Summers (Cyclops), and Charles Xavier.
After everyone had been comfortably seated, the Blackbird took off, with Peitro giving directions.
"I'm just glad," Lance told Kitty. "they didn't tell Blob to give the message. Not only would he forget where we were supposed to be going, he wouldn't remember what he was supposed to tell us."
Kitty giggled, "Is he really that forgetful?"
"It's Peitro's fault." Lance said, shrugging.
"Hey!" said Peitro, from the front. "Why is it my fault?"
"Why not?" said Lance. He didn't seem very excited to see the Brotherhood, which was understood.
Scott, who was flying the Blackbird, called back to them. "Watch out guys," he said, "We've hit some kind of energy shield. Hold onto your lunch!"
The jet swerved to the side, then straight down. Lance put a hand over his mouth as the jet headed up, then sideways, then in a tailspin.
"Not a good flyer, are you, Alvers?" Scott said happily. Jean poked him with her finger, warningly, while the Blackbird pulled out of the tailspin just in time for a neat landing in a clearing. The X-Men got out, all of them in their uniforms. Lance moved away from the jet and emptied his breakfast onto the ground.
"Ewww." said Kitty, "that's, like, disgusting!"
Rogue looked around. "I don't see anyone."
Peitro sped next to her, "Maybe you should look harder," He laughed and ran over to the edge of a forest.
"Look who's back," someone said crossly from the shadows. A girl with short black hair stepped out, "I was hoping someone would kidnap you."
"No one can catch me!" Peitro said.
"Oh, shut up!" the girl said. She gestured for everyone to follow her. She led them to where the Brotherhood was waiting for them.
"Wanda?" said a tall man, Magneto, looking down at them, "Good, you brought them."
The X-Men gathered around as Magneto and Xavier started to talk. Soon everyone got bored, so they began talking among themselves.
Ray turned to a man who looked more animal than human, "What are you supposed to be?"
The animal-man growled angrily at him.
"If you want to live," said Peitro, "then don't bother Sabretooth."
"Good plan," said Ray nervously.
John was awoken the next morning by Crow.
"Pyro," she said, shaking him awake, "you have a visitor."
John opened his eyes and was instantly awake. His 'visitor' didn't look too friendly.
Unless you call someone pointing a gun in your face friendly.
"Good morning to you, too," John grumbled to the 'visitor', "I'm guessing you want me to come with you," he said as the man picked him up by the back of his shirt and dropped him in the hall.
"I'll see you, then," John told Crow nonchalantly. The man jabbed him in the back with his gun to get John to start walking, "Talkative guy, aren't you?" he said as they made their way to a much cleaner hallway.
John looked around it, and said in a bored tone, "You remind me of someone I know. now what was his name? Ah, yes, Sabretooth, big oaf of a guy. Rather ugly, too. Now don't get offended, mate," John added as the guy picked him up by his shirt again, and threw him into a room and locked the door behind him.
"Not a very nice guy, is he?" John asked another guy, who this time was skinny and tall. The guy gave him a strange look, then another guy joined him, another big, strong man that made John think, Bodyguard, which was quite the opposite of the skinny guy, John thought, Squirrel.
"So what do you guys want?" John asked seriously, "I don't normally make house calls, but your ugly friend is very persuasive."
"We are going to see you use your mutation, then do a couple tests." the squirrelly guy said. "How does that sound to you?"
"Painful." John said truthfully.
They led John through another door in the back of the room. Inside, was a large room. In the middle of it, was a raised square platform. The platform was surrounded by thick glass, and surrounding the glass were thick bars, obviously made from adamantium. Waiting inside this platform, was a boy. He looked a little younger than John.
"Now what?" he asked the scientists casually. He ran his fingers through his blond hair.
John was shoved into the closed-in platform through an a door also made from adamantium.
"Remember, Slade," the Squirrel said.
"Yeah, I know," the boy said. "I'm not allowed to use mutation."
The bodyguard lit a cigarette and dropped it by John's feet. "Go ahead." he growled as he bolted the heavy door shut.
John concentrated on the cigarette. The smoldering tip exploded into flame. The flames separated into two separate fireballs. They moved to hover over John's hands. John stretched out his right hand. The fireball extended into a streamer of fire. It shot towards the boy called Slade. But before the fire could envelop him, Slade jumped out of its path. He ran towards John, rolling and leaping out of the streamer's way. Slade was extremely agile. He ducked under the fire streamer a third time and used the force of a jump to drive his foot squarely into John's chest. John fell backward and was slammed into the thick glass surrounding the platform. The breath was knocked out of him. He gasped for air, then remembered what the X-Men had taught him. After many sessions in the Danger Room, John had learned different strategies for defense and attack. He rolled to another corner and shot the flames at Slade again, but this time he got Slade to back into a corner. John moved the flames so that they formed a wall around Slade. There was a loud noise, and water poured down to douse the flames. Unfortunately, John was drenched.
"Not bad for your first try," said Slade cheerfully, also soaked to the skin.
John gave him a strange look, then raised his eyebrows, "What is going on?"
"I'm supposed to train you guys."
"Why?" asked John.
"I dunno, maybe they want to create an army. Doesn't matter to me, though, I train for them, they don't kill me," Slade shrugged, "Fair enough for me."
The bodyguard grabbed John from behind, "Time for the tests," John let himself get dragged over to the next room.
Like I said before, he thought as he surveyed the room's contents, this is going to be painful.
The Brotherhood and the X-Men stood on a snowy hill, looking down into a valley. To their surprise, something shot out from a grove of trees near the bottom of the valley. It was a man, except he had long, white wings. He was dragging another man, dressed in black, who had tied a rope around the winged man's ankle. The winged man tried to fly upward, but the other man was too heavy for him. Suddenly, he found himself cornered. More men in black outfits had crept out from all directions. Three came forward, two struggled to loop more ropes around the man's frantically beating wings. They succeeded and held onto the ends until the third black-clothed guy attached them to separate hooks drilled deep into the ground. It was obvious that their meeting was not a coincidence.
All of this happened so fast, none of the mutants at the top of the hill could react quickly enough to help. Now Berzerker stepped forward. He sped down the hill without warning, electricity crackling around his tightly clenched fists. A tall man, from the Brotherhood, followed him, long coat flying out behind him. He produced a small piece of metal from the coat, then pressed a button and the it extended into a long pole.
"Gambit!" called Magneto after him. "Stop!"
But the tall man didn't hear him, he was already too far away.
Nightcrawler teleported in front of Berzerker, to bring him back, but Berzerker pushed him out of the way, and electrocuted one of the men in black.
Gambit took a deck of cards from inside his coat, and drew the top card. He threw it towards one of the men. As it sailed toward the man, it began to sizzle with an orange light. The man caught it and looked at it. The card exploded, sending the man flying into a large boulder.
"Ayez un beau jour, monsieur." Gambit told the now unconscious man. (Have a nice day, sir)
Cyclops ran down the hill to help out Nightcrawler, who had just been cracked over the head by one of the pure white wings beating madly to pull their owner into the air. He ducked underneath them, and pulled Nightcrawler to safety.
"I'll be alright," Nightcrawler said in his German accent.
In front of them a black-suited man's nose began bleeding as something unseen punched him. Shroud blinked into view, giving the thumbs- up signal to his brother, who was currently a lion, chasing a man through the throng of people, who were fighting each other. The lion roared, scaring the man out of his skin.
Iceman froze a guy's feet to the ground. The guy strained to pull his feet from the thick blocks of ice.
"Enjoy your day!" Iceman told him, and received a glare in return.
"Dude," said Ooze, "this is so totally awesome!"
"Yeah," Shadowcat exclaimed, "it's like a movie!"
Rogue looked down on the action-packed battle going on below them. She wanted to be a part of it, but her mutant power was too strong and dangerous. Shadowcat and Ooze were waiting with her in case they needed to rush in and rescue someone.
Down below, Avalanche tripped Quicksilver, and punched a guy in the face. He was feeling pretty good with himself.
Magma formed two fireballs in her hands, and threw them at a guy about to attack Gambit. The guy's black uniform burst into flames.
"Merci, mon ami!" Gambit said appreciatively.
"Huh?" Magma said, confused.
Gambit didn't have a chance to reply as a man in black threw a few daggers at him. Gambit knocked them out of the air with his pole, one after another. He used the pole to launch himself at the man, who threw himself out of the way.
"Tricky little devil, aren't you, monsieur?" said Gambit, enjoying the challenge. He spun the pole between his fingers so rapidly that it became a blur. He swept it back over his head, and threw it towards the man. It smashed into his skull, probably fracturing it. Gambit did a flip through the air and caught the spinning pole.
Shroud was thrown backward, and his foot wedged itself into a hole in the ground. He struggled to pull himself out, and found he couldn't.
"Hey, Aaron!" he said, calling to his brother, "some help here, birdbrain!"
Shift morphed himself from a owl into a gorilla, and yanked out the unfortunate Shroud. The gorilla put Shroud onto his back and to Shroud's amusement, transformed himself into a flying pig. It flapped its wings and became airborne. Then, a poorly aimed bullet grazed Shroud's arm.
"Hey! Aaron, you pig!" Shroud yelled at his brother, "Watch where you're going!"
The pig snorted and turned itself upside down. Shroud fell through the air as the pig latched itself onto Shroud's back and they landed neatly in Wolverine's arms.
"Where'd you come from?" Wolverine growled.
"My mum always told me I was an angel," Shroud said matter-of-factly, the pig's wings visible from its position on Shroud's back.
Wolverine threw them to the side, mildly amused. "Go find one'a them guys in black and annoy him to death for me, okay?"
"Yes, sir!" said Shift, saluting Wolverine. "Come on, blinky-boy! We've got work to do!"
Jean threw an attacker backward onto one of the other men in black with her mind, while creating a telekinetic bubble around herself to block the bullets being shot at her.
Berzerker had taken out quite a few of their attackers, and was trying to make his way towards the winged man.
"Come on," he muttered, "get out of my way!" He electrocuted another guy, when Nightcrawler teleported right above him. Obeying the law of gravity, Nightcrawler fell, right onto Berzerker's head. Both of them collapsed onto the ground.
"You stupid rat!" Berzerker yelled at Nightcrawler, "get off me!"
"Now that's not very nice," said Nightcrawler, "say please!"
Berzerker threw Nightcrawler off him, and resumed his attempt to reach the captured mutant, electrocuting anyone who stood in his way.
Colossus plowed his way through the people around him, and ripped a stump from the ground. He tossed it at a couple of guys who were trying to shoot him, but their bullets just bounced off his armored skin. They were crushed underneath the remains of what must have been a humongous tree.
Cyclops was trying to hit the ropes tying the winged man to the ground with optic beams from his visor, but found it too risky. Unless the winged man stopped trying to escape, it was impossible, the wings kept getting in the way. Then, Cyclops noticed something as he blasted a couple of guys. Some of the black-costumed men had succeeded in getting a rope around the winged mutant's head. They let it fall, and the rope became entangled with the wings.
Unable to fly, the mutant crashed to the ground. Untying the ropes from the hooks in the ground, the black-outfitted men quickly carried the mutant over to a pile of vines and leaves. They pushed aside the foliage, and the back end of a van became visible. They opened the doors, and pushed their prisoner inside. The van pulled away. At that moment, something large and blue shot out of trees. It crashed into the men who just captured the man with wings, and what it really was, was now visible.
It looked like a large, blue-furred ape. But Cyclops was surprised as he realized who it was, and what was going on. He mentally kicked himself for forgetting.
"Beast!" he yelled, causing the furry blue thing to look his way. "It's too late, they got Warren."
The blue thing, called Beast, became angry, and charged towards another group of black soldiers.
The men in black suddenly began to retreat, moving quickly through the grove of trees. In seconds, all of them had disappeared.
Shadowcat ran down towards them. "Whoa!" she said. "That was, like, amazing!"
"What are you supposed to be?" Berzerker asked Beast, rather rudely.
"Ray!" said Jean sharply. Berzerker rolled his eyes.
Beast ignored Berzerker, and lumbered up to Professor Xavier. "Our mission, Professor," he said regretfully. "We had to abandon it."
"That's quite alright, Beast," said the Professor. "We have a more pressing matter on our hands at the moment."
"What's the plan, Professor?" asked Cyclops.
"Eric and I have been discussing what we should do." said Xavier calmly. "We are going to send some of our recruits into the headquarters of the kidnappers. They will do what they can to rescue the mutants trapped inside. Meanwhile, the rest of us will wait for a signal to go and help the mutants they have succeeded to release."
"Who will be going?" asked Cyclops.
"We will need people who can get inside undetected." said Xavier. "Also, experience is a priority. We have chosen Gambit to lead the others."
Gambit nodded, agreeing to do what seemed, to the students, impossible.
"Others who are good at sneaking around, we also have with us." Xavier looked toward the twins. "I'm sure both of you will follow orders, won't you?"
"Yes, sir!" Shroud and Shift said simultaneously. They grinned at each other.
"We've had plenty of practice," said Shroud.
"Yes," said Shift solemnly, "sneaking around school to pull pranks is a very complicated art."
"It is a very difficult task to keep from getting caught, isn't it, my not-always-quite-so-furry friend?" Shroud asked his brother.
"Difficult," said Shift, "Very difficult, Blinky, very difficult indeed."
By that time, quite a few people had cracked up.
"Alright, you two," said Wolverine, "no monkeying around on the job."
That just set everyone laughing again, as Shift turned into a monkey and shook a small monkey fist at Wolverine.
Then Shroud said, offended, "Monkeying? What do you mean? We may fool around, but we never monkey! How dare you even suggest" he pretended to have just caught sight of his brother. "What are you doing, you son of a furball! You'll ruin our not-so-clean record! Our reputation! Think of all of the poor monkeys you're insulting at this very moment!"
Once John had gotten back to his cell, he found that Crow was not there. He collapsed onto the ground and thought about what had happened.
The scientists had run all sorts of tests on him. They tested his blood, heart rate, all of the other normal doctor stuff. They had also done other sorts of unfamiliar tests, too. Most of them had some painful affect, which John had expected. John hadn't bothered asking what they were doing, he had the idea that they wouldn't tell him. After all that, they had brought out a machine and turned it on. John had heard a loud agonizing ringing in his head. He tried to block it out by putting his hands over his ears, but the ringing continued. John had looked at the scientists and they were perfectly fine. After what seemed like an eternity, they turned off the machine. The ringing had slowly receded from John's head.
Now, lying on the floor, all John had was a splitting headache. And he still didn't understand what the scientists wanted with him and all of the other mutants. He stopped thinking, as it made his headache worse, and fell asleep.
Gambit looked at the two teenagers, who were deep in conversation. He suspected they were planning their next prank. "Hey, you two! We're almost there, so keep your mouths shut and walk quietly!"
The twins shrugged, and Shift said, "Wonder what made Frenchie here so grumpy."
They walked for a couple minutes in silence, then they found that they were looking down at a huge building. Gambit pulled out the pole, extended it, and used it to leap over onto the roof. He landed lightly, and waited. Shift transformed into a large, rather ugly bird, and grabbed onto Shroud with his talons. They lifted off the ground, and Shift carried Shroud over the roof, and let him down slowly. Then he morphed back into himself.
Gambit walked quietly along the roof, until he thought he found a spot he liked. There was a railing around the edge of the roof, and Gambit walked up to it. He zipped up his trench coat, and sat on the railing. The twins shot each other strange looks. Gambit ignored them, and slid off the railing, and hung upside down by his knees. He looked into the window below him, and saw that the room was empty. With his finger, he drew a greenish circle on the window. Then, as an afterthought, he added two eyes and a mouth, creating an upside down smiley face. The window crackled, and sort of melted away from the circle, until the window pane had melted into the frame. Gambit did a flip into the room. Shift turned into a bat and flew inside. Shroud tried to follow, but ended up falling off the roof. He rubbed his back, and climbed into the window, where his brother was snickering at him.
"Oh, shut up," Shroud said.
Gambit opened the door, and looked both ways. He gestured for them to follow, and turned left. A door opened on the right side of the hallway.
"You don't have to strangle me, mate," a voice said.
Shroud disappeared and Shift morphed into a spider, and crawled up the wall. Gambit stood, pole in hand, waiting.
A vast figure walked out of the door. It was a man, and he was holding a struggling teenager in his hands. The man looked at Gambit, confused.
"Who are you?"
Gambit took the chance to swing the pole with all of his strength at the huge man's head. The man collapsed, right on top of the guy.
"Oh, thanks a lot, man," the guy said, annoyed, and squashed.
Shroud laughed, and popped into view. Shift resumed his normal form.
"Who are you guys, anyway?" the guy asked, then looked more closely at the twins.
"Hey!" he said, surprised. "I know you! You're the freaks who poured water on my head!"
"Did we do that?" Shroud asked innocently.
"Are you sure?" Shift said. "Maybe you got hit on the head too hard."
"Yeah," he said, annoyed, "it was you."
Gambit pulled a ring of keys off the man's belt. He tossed them to Shroud, "You, take your brother and get the rest of the mutants out of here."
"Where are they?" Shift asked.
"Ask your new friend. Just hurry!" Gambit started walking away, and added, "I will be serving as a diversion."
"Right," said Shroud, "Where do we go, mi amigo?"
Gambit rolled his eyes, and continued on his way.
"Yeah, so what's your name anyway?" asked Shift, as they were led down the hallway, "We never bothered to ask. I'm Aaron, or Shift. Stupid, eh?"
"And I'm Shawn, or Shroud."
"John," said John, "Or Pyro."
"Oh, you're the guy who ran away from school, arn't you?" said Shift.
"You could say that," John pushed open a door, "In here. I think there's another room, too. But I'm not sure, I'll go look," He left.
"Did we dump water on his head?" asked Shroud.
"Probably, but the list of our accomplishments is getting too long, I don't remember," Shift told him happily, "No time for chatting, Blinky, we have some rescuing to do."
They began to unlock the cell doors, telling their inhabitants to stay quiet and go to where the rest of the X-Men were. They described the place where they were waiting for the newcomers.
Gambit made his way along the hallway, until he came to a room occupied by a couple scientists.
"Perfect," he muttered. He put his palm on the door and backed away. A greenish light spread over it, and the door exploded.
The scientists looked up, surprised.
"What? What are you?" said a squirrely-looking one, looking into Gambit's red eyes.
Gambit ignored the question, and pulled his deck of cards. He threw them with deadly accuracy, they exploded in front of his every target.
One of the scientists pressed a button on the wall, and a siren started blaring.
Gambit smiled, saying, "But monsieur, can't you handle one man by yourself?" This was what he had expected would happen. Unfortunately, there were no means of escape, now that soldiers had arrived, blocking the door. Gambit played with them, jumping over their heads, and throwing his kinetically charged cards.
Cyclops paced back and forth, worried that somehow the twins would mess things up.
"Scott, don't worry," said Jean, "They know what they're doing."
"Do they?" asked Cyclops, "They've never been on a mission, they're always goofing off!"
"Xavier chose them for a reason, Scott," Jean said reassuringly, "Trust his judgment."
"You're right," said Cyclops, sighing, "As usual."
Gambit played for time, keeping the soldiers around him, when one of the soldiers spoke up.
"What if this freak is supposed to be some kind of distraction?"
Most of the soldiers left the room at this thought. Gambit only hoped he had given the twins enough time.
"You want to what?" Bobby exclaimed.
"I didn't say I wanted to. Magneto said"
"Why?" asked Bobby.
"That's, er, for Xavier to hear," Pietro looked nervous.
Lance grabbed his shirt again, "Oh, really? Well, why don't you tell good old Lance here, before he rips your lungs out!" He said pleasantly, though there was an edge to his voice.
"Oh, allright. Magneto wanted to request to form an alliance," Peitro said. "Can I go now?"
"Of course," said Lance, "But I think you'll need someone to escort you," He looked around, "Come on, I got the slimeball. We'll let him see your Professor."
The group walked inside, towards the Professor's office.
Rogue turned to Peitro, "Did Magneto recruit anyone recently?"
"What's it to you?" Peitro retorted and was slammed into a wall by Lance, "I mean, yeah, he did."
"Who? What were their powers?" Rogue asked.
"There was a guy who could make things explode with his mind. I think his name was Remy LaBeau," Peitro thought a bit, "And there was"
Peitro was interrupted by a loud explosion from the room they were just passing.
"Aaron!" a angry voice yelled, apparently Scott's, "Shawn! Get out of here!"
A guy with dark brown hair walked out, grinning. He had a parrot on his shoulder, "We know how to handle him, don't we?"
"I'll say!" said the parrot in the scratchy voice all parrots have. Then it flapped its wings and landed on the floor. Its wings transformed into arms, its legs lengthened and became human, its feathers melted into its body, and the beak formed into a mouth on a human head. What was left standing in its spot was a guy identical to the one who had talked to the parrot.
"Hey, look, Shawn!" the parrot-guy said, "We've got an audience!"
"Let's see." Shawn looked thoughtfully at the group, "I know some of you, but not by name, "You guys are the cute couple," he pointed at Rogue and Bobby, who blushed.
"You're the phasing girl, the one who hangs out with elf-man," Aaron gestured at Kitty.
"And you're the guy with the bad temper," finished Shawn waving his hand towards Ray.
"Thanks a lot," said Ray sarcastically.
"You're welcome!" said the twins together.
"His name's Kurt!" said Kitty, annoyed.
"Little Boy Blue? How're we supposed to know that? We've only been here for" Shawn stopped as Aaron finished for him.
"A week."
"Er right," said Bobby, "We, um, have to go see Professor Xavier."
"Excellent!" said Aaron, "We'll go with you!"
"So who're the rest of you?" Shawn asked as the group continued on their way.
"I'm Lance Alvers, and this conceited numbskull is Peitro Maximoff."
Peitro glared at Lance, "Can you stop making fun of me?"
"No," Lance said, pushing Peitro ahead, "This is nothing compared to what you did."
Aaron and Shawn looked at each other. They shrugged.
They had reached the Professor's office. Rogue knocked.
"Come in," said a voice that contained a rich English accent, "All of you."
They all walked into the office. Luckily for them, it was large enough to fit them all comfortably.
"We have a visitor for you," said Lance, thrusting Peitro forward.
"Yes, Peitro?" Xavier asked kindly.
Peitro looked nervous again, "Myfatherwantstoformanalliancewithyoubecause heneedsyourhelpwithhandlingtheproblemofexperimentationonmutants."
"Did anyone catch what Mr. Maximoff has just proposed?" Xavier looked amused by Peitro's 'speech'.
"Yeah, I got it," said Lance, as Peitro looked embarrassed, "He says his father wants to form an alliance with you because he needs your help with 'handling' the problem of experimentation on mutants."
"We shall help him then," said Charles Xavier.
"But," Bobby said.
"True friends will never refuse to provide help to one another, Bobby."
"Cool!" said Shawn.
"A mission!" exclaimed Aaron.
"Can we come?" asked Kitty, catching on.
"Pees?" said a small voice down by Peitro's feet.
"Huh?" said Peitro. "What's that?"
"Pees?" Bear repeated. "I wants to go wiv you."
"We shall see." Xavier said with a smile, "Whoever I believe is ready to face a real mission will be informed by tonight. Thank you, Mr. Maximoff. If you will kindly come with us to direct us to the Brotherhood's location, I will greatly appreciate your help."
"Lance, will you please let Mr. Maximoff live a bit longer, as he will be most helpful in finding Magneto."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," said Lance. Under his breath, he muttered, "You just wait."
Peitro looked nervous, "Yeah, I'll go wait. someplaceelse!" He tore out of the room, his body a blur.
"Woof," said a small voice.
Bear was poking a rather annoyed dog in the nose, mumbling 'woof' and 'bark' to himself. Aaron and Shawn had disappeared. The dog barked at something beside Kitty. It jumped, and tackled something they couldn't see. It began to lick whatever it thought it had caught. One of the twins blinked into view, right underneath the dog.
"Ugh, Aaron, get a grip on yourself!" he was trying to keep the dog from licking him to death.
The dog morphed into Aaron, "Sorry, bro," he said, sitting down on his brother's stomach, "Dog instincts going wild. and fluffers over there, he's probably lucky I didn't bite him."
"Get off me," said the other twin, pushing Aaron off himself.
"A bit touchy today, now aren't we?" Aaron said, smiling as he helped his brother up.
"If you don't mind," said Xavier, smiling, "I am going to have a meeting, so you will have to leave. Why don't you go eat dinner? Mr. Kamon should be ready by now."
The group filed out of the room.
"What're your powers, anyway?" asked Lance.
"Who, us?" Shawn said, "I can blend into my surroundings, like camouflage."
Aaron morphed into the parrot again, alighting on his brother's shoulder.
"Aaron can shape-shift into animals," Shawn informed them.
Kitty touched Aaron with the tip of her finger, startling him.
Squawking, he flew into the air, screaming, "I've been assassinated! Help! Red Rum!"
Shawn rolled his eyes, "He overreacts when he's a parrot, I'm guessing because they're so stupid." He ran after his brother, who was still screaming bloody murder, literally, "You stupid bloody bird! Shut up!" Shawn grabbed the bird's feet, pulling it from the air. "Shut up!"
He shook the bird vigorously. It morphed into a dizzy Aaron.
"Hey, what's with the room spinning?" he said as he ran into a wall.
"Figures, doesn't it?" said Shawn, to no one in particular, "I'll have to bring him someplace where he can bother some more teachers, to calm him down. Come on, birdbrain!"
He grabbed his brother by the arm and lead him down the hall, where he pushed him down the stairs.
"They're funny, aren't they?" said Kitty, giggling.
Bobby stared after them. "I think they're showing off."
"Don't be such a pessimist," said Kitty, looking to Rogue.
"They are funny," said Rogue, shrugging. "Just a little, um, strange."
They walked down to the large room where they ate their meals, talking together. Kitty got in line first, everyone else behind her.
"Yeah?" said Mr. Kamon, "What d'ya want?"
"I'd like a salad." Kitty looked at Bobby, and laughed, "please?"
Bobby looked bewildered; he had no idea why she was laughing at him.
"Bobby," Rogue whispered to him, "She's teasing you because you're so, well, polite."
Everyone ordered their food, and sat down at a table. Ray went off to sit with some other students. Rogue went to join Amara Aquilla, codenamed Magma, and Jean. Lance had told them he wasn't hungry.
"Hey, Bobby!" a voice called, "Come sit with us!"
Bobby looked to the voice's owner, Samuel Guthrie, codenamed Cannonball.
"Hi, Sam!" Bobby turned to Kitty, "See you later!"
Kitty unhappily ate her salad alone.
"What's eating you?" asked someone, who sat down next to her.
Kitty looked up to see a blond boy with headphones hanging around his neck smiling at her.
"I don't think I know your name."
"I'm Ruben Ryder. Do you mind if I sit here?"
"No." Kitty said, happy for some company.
"I just got here this morning. What's your name?"
"Kitty Pryde. What're you listening to?"
"Weird Al," Ruben said, "Poodle Hat."
"Sounds strange," Kitty had caught a couple words going to the tune of some familiar song: 'Tell me why. I need another pet rock. Tell me why. I bought that Alf alarm clock..'
"It's called 'Weird' Al, isn't it?"
That night, Rogue was informed she would be going on the mission. So was Kitty (Shadowcat). They were to report to the Blackbird at dawn. They excitedly got into bed, trying to go to sleep, because waking up at dawn was always a tiring procedure.
They next morning, they stood yawning next to the Blackbird. The other students gathered around them were Ray Crisp (Berzerker), Aaron Kerr (Shift), Shawn Kerr (Shroud), Bobby Drake (Iceman), Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler), Allen Orris (Ooze), Peter Rasputin (Colossus), and Amara Aquilla (Magma). Off to the side Peitro Maximoff (Quicksilver) was hiding. And Lance Alvers (Avalanche) was looking for him.
Inside the Blackbird, getting ready for takeoff, were Jean Gray, Logan (Wolverine), Scott Summers (Cyclops), and Charles Xavier.
After everyone had been comfortably seated, the Blackbird took off, with Peitro giving directions.
"I'm just glad," Lance told Kitty. "they didn't tell Blob to give the message. Not only would he forget where we were supposed to be going, he wouldn't remember what he was supposed to tell us."
Kitty giggled, "Is he really that forgetful?"
"It's Peitro's fault." Lance said, shrugging.
"Hey!" said Peitro, from the front. "Why is it my fault?"
"Why not?" said Lance. He didn't seem very excited to see the Brotherhood, which was understood.
Scott, who was flying the Blackbird, called back to them. "Watch out guys," he said, "We've hit some kind of energy shield. Hold onto your lunch!"
The jet swerved to the side, then straight down. Lance put a hand over his mouth as the jet headed up, then sideways, then in a tailspin.
"Not a good flyer, are you, Alvers?" Scott said happily. Jean poked him with her finger, warningly, while the Blackbird pulled out of the tailspin just in time for a neat landing in a clearing. The X-Men got out, all of them in their uniforms. Lance moved away from the jet and emptied his breakfast onto the ground.
"Ewww." said Kitty, "that's, like, disgusting!"
Rogue looked around. "I don't see anyone."
Peitro sped next to her, "Maybe you should look harder," He laughed and ran over to the edge of a forest.
"Look who's back," someone said crossly from the shadows. A girl with short black hair stepped out, "I was hoping someone would kidnap you."
"No one can catch me!" Peitro said.
"Oh, shut up!" the girl said. She gestured for everyone to follow her. She led them to where the Brotherhood was waiting for them.
"Wanda?" said a tall man, Magneto, looking down at them, "Good, you brought them."
The X-Men gathered around as Magneto and Xavier started to talk. Soon everyone got bored, so they began talking among themselves.
Ray turned to a man who looked more animal than human, "What are you supposed to be?"
The animal-man growled angrily at him.
"If you want to live," said Peitro, "then don't bother Sabretooth."
"Good plan," said Ray nervously.
John was awoken the next morning by Crow.
"Pyro," she said, shaking him awake, "you have a visitor."
John opened his eyes and was instantly awake. His 'visitor' didn't look too friendly.
Unless you call someone pointing a gun in your face friendly.
"Good morning to you, too," John grumbled to the 'visitor', "I'm guessing you want me to come with you," he said as the man picked him up by the back of his shirt and dropped him in the hall.
"I'll see you, then," John told Crow nonchalantly. The man jabbed him in the back with his gun to get John to start walking, "Talkative guy, aren't you?" he said as they made their way to a much cleaner hallway.
John looked around it, and said in a bored tone, "You remind me of someone I know. now what was his name? Ah, yes, Sabretooth, big oaf of a guy. Rather ugly, too. Now don't get offended, mate," John added as the guy picked him up by his shirt again, and threw him into a room and locked the door behind him.
"Not a very nice guy, is he?" John asked another guy, who this time was skinny and tall. The guy gave him a strange look, then another guy joined him, another big, strong man that made John think, Bodyguard, which was quite the opposite of the skinny guy, John thought, Squirrel.
"So what do you guys want?" John asked seriously, "I don't normally make house calls, but your ugly friend is very persuasive."
"We are going to see you use your mutation, then do a couple tests." the squirrelly guy said. "How does that sound to you?"
"Painful." John said truthfully.
They led John through another door in the back of the room. Inside, was a large room. In the middle of it, was a raised square platform. The platform was surrounded by thick glass, and surrounding the glass were thick bars, obviously made from adamantium. Waiting inside this platform, was a boy. He looked a little younger than John.
"Now what?" he asked the scientists casually. He ran his fingers through his blond hair.
John was shoved into the closed-in platform through an a door also made from adamantium.
"Remember, Slade," the Squirrel said.
"Yeah, I know," the boy said. "I'm not allowed to use mutation."
The bodyguard lit a cigarette and dropped it by John's feet. "Go ahead." he growled as he bolted the heavy door shut.
John concentrated on the cigarette. The smoldering tip exploded into flame. The flames separated into two separate fireballs. They moved to hover over John's hands. John stretched out his right hand. The fireball extended into a streamer of fire. It shot towards the boy called Slade. But before the fire could envelop him, Slade jumped out of its path. He ran towards John, rolling and leaping out of the streamer's way. Slade was extremely agile. He ducked under the fire streamer a third time and used the force of a jump to drive his foot squarely into John's chest. John fell backward and was slammed into the thick glass surrounding the platform. The breath was knocked out of him. He gasped for air, then remembered what the X-Men had taught him. After many sessions in the Danger Room, John had learned different strategies for defense and attack. He rolled to another corner and shot the flames at Slade again, but this time he got Slade to back into a corner. John moved the flames so that they formed a wall around Slade. There was a loud noise, and water poured down to douse the flames. Unfortunately, John was drenched.
"Not bad for your first try," said Slade cheerfully, also soaked to the skin.
John gave him a strange look, then raised his eyebrows, "What is going on?"
"I'm supposed to train you guys."
"Why?" asked John.
"I dunno, maybe they want to create an army. Doesn't matter to me, though, I train for them, they don't kill me," Slade shrugged, "Fair enough for me."
The bodyguard grabbed John from behind, "Time for the tests," John let himself get dragged over to the next room.
Like I said before, he thought as he surveyed the room's contents, this is going to be painful.
The Brotherhood and the X-Men stood on a snowy hill, looking down into a valley. To their surprise, something shot out from a grove of trees near the bottom of the valley. It was a man, except he had long, white wings. He was dragging another man, dressed in black, who had tied a rope around the winged man's ankle. The winged man tried to fly upward, but the other man was too heavy for him. Suddenly, he found himself cornered. More men in black outfits had crept out from all directions. Three came forward, two struggled to loop more ropes around the man's frantically beating wings. They succeeded and held onto the ends until the third black-clothed guy attached them to separate hooks drilled deep into the ground. It was obvious that their meeting was not a coincidence.
All of this happened so fast, none of the mutants at the top of the hill could react quickly enough to help. Now Berzerker stepped forward. He sped down the hill without warning, electricity crackling around his tightly clenched fists. A tall man, from the Brotherhood, followed him, long coat flying out behind him. He produced a small piece of metal from the coat, then pressed a button and the it extended into a long pole.
"Gambit!" called Magneto after him. "Stop!"
But the tall man didn't hear him, he was already too far away.
Nightcrawler teleported in front of Berzerker, to bring him back, but Berzerker pushed him out of the way, and electrocuted one of the men in black.
Gambit took a deck of cards from inside his coat, and drew the top card. He threw it towards one of the men. As it sailed toward the man, it began to sizzle with an orange light. The man caught it and looked at it. The card exploded, sending the man flying into a large boulder.
"Ayez un beau jour, monsieur." Gambit told the now unconscious man. (Have a nice day, sir)
Cyclops ran down the hill to help out Nightcrawler, who had just been cracked over the head by one of the pure white wings beating madly to pull their owner into the air. He ducked underneath them, and pulled Nightcrawler to safety.
"I'll be alright," Nightcrawler said in his German accent.
In front of them a black-suited man's nose began bleeding as something unseen punched him. Shroud blinked into view, giving the thumbs- up signal to his brother, who was currently a lion, chasing a man through the throng of people, who were fighting each other. The lion roared, scaring the man out of his skin.
Iceman froze a guy's feet to the ground. The guy strained to pull his feet from the thick blocks of ice.
"Enjoy your day!" Iceman told him, and received a glare in return.
"Dude," said Ooze, "this is so totally awesome!"
"Yeah," Shadowcat exclaimed, "it's like a movie!"
Rogue looked down on the action-packed battle going on below them. She wanted to be a part of it, but her mutant power was too strong and dangerous. Shadowcat and Ooze were waiting with her in case they needed to rush in and rescue someone.
Down below, Avalanche tripped Quicksilver, and punched a guy in the face. He was feeling pretty good with himself.
Magma formed two fireballs in her hands, and threw them at a guy about to attack Gambit. The guy's black uniform burst into flames.
"Merci, mon ami!" Gambit said appreciatively.
"Huh?" Magma said, confused.
Gambit didn't have a chance to reply as a man in black threw a few daggers at him. Gambit knocked them out of the air with his pole, one after another. He used the pole to launch himself at the man, who threw himself out of the way.
"Tricky little devil, aren't you, monsieur?" said Gambit, enjoying the challenge. He spun the pole between his fingers so rapidly that it became a blur. He swept it back over his head, and threw it towards the man. It smashed into his skull, probably fracturing it. Gambit did a flip through the air and caught the spinning pole.
Shroud was thrown backward, and his foot wedged itself into a hole in the ground. He struggled to pull himself out, and found he couldn't.
"Hey, Aaron!" he said, calling to his brother, "some help here, birdbrain!"
Shift morphed himself from a owl into a gorilla, and yanked out the unfortunate Shroud. The gorilla put Shroud onto his back and to Shroud's amusement, transformed himself into a flying pig. It flapped its wings and became airborne. Then, a poorly aimed bullet grazed Shroud's arm.
"Hey! Aaron, you pig!" Shroud yelled at his brother, "Watch where you're going!"
The pig snorted and turned itself upside down. Shroud fell through the air as the pig latched itself onto Shroud's back and they landed neatly in Wolverine's arms.
"Where'd you come from?" Wolverine growled.
"My mum always told me I was an angel," Shroud said matter-of-factly, the pig's wings visible from its position on Shroud's back.
Wolverine threw them to the side, mildly amused. "Go find one'a them guys in black and annoy him to death for me, okay?"
"Yes, sir!" said Shift, saluting Wolverine. "Come on, blinky-boy! We've got work to do!"
Jean threw an attacker backward onto one of the other men in black with her mind, while creating a telekinetic bubble around herself to block the bullets being shot at her.
Berzerker had taken out quite a few of their attackers, and was trying to make his way towards the winged man.
"Come on," he muttered, "get out of my way!" He electrocuted another guy, when Nightcrawler teleported right above him. Obeying the law of gravity, Nightcrawler fell, right onto Berzerker's head. Both of them collapsed onto the ground.
"You stupid rat!" Berzerker yelled at Nightcrawler, "get off me!"
"Now that's not very nice," said Nightcrawler, "say please!"
Berzerker threw Nightcrawler off him, and resumed his attempt to reach the captured mutant, electrocuting anyone who stood in his way.
Colossus plowed his way through the people around him, and ripped a stump from the ground. He tossed it at a couple of guys who were trying to shoot him, but their bullets just bounced off his armored skin. They were crushed underneath the remains of what must have been a humongous tree.
Cyclops was trying to hit the ropes tying the winged man to the ground with optic beams from his visor, but found it too risky. Unless the winged man stopped trying to escape, it was impossible, the wings kept getting in the way. Then, Cyclops noticed something as he blasted a couple of guys. Some of the black-costumed men had succeeded in getting a rope around the winged mutant's head. They let it fall, and the rope became entangled with the wings.
Unable to fly, the mutant crashed to the ground. Untying the ropes from the hooks in the ground, the black-outfitted men quickly carried the mutant over to a pile of vines and leaves. They pushed aside the foliage, and the back end of a van became visible. They opened the doors, and pushed their prisoner inside. The van pulled away. At that moment, something large and blue shot out of trees. It crashed into the men who just captured the man with wings, and what it really was, was now visible.
It looked like a large, blue-furred ape. But Cyclops was surprised as he realized who it was, and what was going on. He mentally kicked himself for forgetting.
"Beast!" he yelled, causing the furry blue thing to look his way. "It's too late, they got Warren."
The blue thing, called Beast, became angry, and charged towards another group of black soldiers.
The men in black suddenly began to retreat, moving quickly through the grove of trees. In seconds, all of them had disappeared.
Shadowcat ran down towards them. "Whoa!" she said. "That was, like, amazing!"
"What are you supposed to be?" Berzerker asked Beast, rather rudely.
"Ray!" said Jean sharply. Berzerker rolled his eyes.
Beast ignored Berzerker, and lumbered up to Professor Xavier. "Our mission, Professor," he said regretfully. "We had to abandon it."
"That's quite alright, Beast," said the Professor. "We have a more pressing matter on our hands at the moment."
"What's the plan, Professor?" asked Cyclops.
"Eric and I have been discussing what we should do." said Xavier calmly. "We are going to send some of our recruits into the headquarters of the kidnappers. They will do what they can to rescue the mutants trapped inside. Meanwhile, the rest of us will wait for a signal to go and help the mutants they have succeeded to release."
"Who will be going?" asked Cyclops.
"We will need people who can get inside undetected." said Xavier. "Also, experience is a priority. We have chosen Gambit to lead the others."
Gambit nodded, agreeing to do what seemed, to the students, impossible.
"Others who are good at sneaking around, we also have with us." Xavier looked toward the twins. "I'm sure both of you will follow orders, won't you?"
"Yes, sir!" Shroud and Shift said simultaneously. They grinned at each other.
"We've had plenty of practice," said Shroud.
"Yes," said Shift solemnly, "sneaking around school to pull pranks is a very complicated art."
"It is a very difficult task to keep from getting caught, isn't it, my not-always-quite-so-furry friend?" Shroud asked his brother.
"Difficult," said Shift, "Very difficult, Blinky, very difficult indeed."
By that time, quite a few people had cracked up.
"Alright, you two," said Wolverine, "no monkeying around on the job."
That just set everyone laughing again, as Shift turned into a monkey and shook a small monkey fist at Wolverine.
Then Shroud said, offended, "Monkeying? What do you mean? We may fool around, but we never monkey! How dare you even suggest" he pretended to have just caught sight of his brother. "What are you doing, you son of a furball! You'll ruin our not-so-clean record! Our reputation! Think of all of the poor monkeys you're insulting at this very moment!"
Once John had gotten back to his cell, he found that Crow was not there. He collapsed onto the ground and thought about what had happened.
The scientists had run all sorts of tests on him. They tested his blood, heart rate, all of the other normal doctor stuff. They had also done other sorts of unfamiliar tests, too. Most of them had some painful affect, which John had expected. John hadn't bothered asking what they were doing, he had the idea that they wouldn't tell him. After all that, they had brought out a machine and turned it on. John had heard a loud agonizing ringing in his head. He tried to block it out by putting his hands over his ears, but the ringing continued. John had looked at the scientists and they were perfectly fine. After what seemed like an eternity, they turned off the machine. The ringing had slowly receded from John's head.
Now, lying on the floor, all John had was a splitting headache. And he still didn't understand what the scientists wanted with him and all of the other mutants. He stopped thinking, as it made his headache worse, and fell asleep.
Gambit looked at the two teenagers, who were deep in conversation. He suspected they were planning their next prank. "Hey, you two! We're almost there, so keep your mouths shut and walk quietly!"
The twins shrugged, and Shift said, "Wonder what made Frenchie here so grumpy."
They walked for a couple minutes in silence, then they found that they were looking down at a huge building. Gambit pulled out the pole, extended it, and used it to leap over onto the roof. He landed lightly, and waited. Shift transformed into a large, rather ugly bird, and grabbed onto Shroud with his talons. They lifted off the ground, and Shift carried Shroud over the roof, and let him down slowly. Then he morphed back into himself.
Gambit walked quietly along the roof, until he thought he found a spot he liked. There was a railing around the edge of the roof, and Gambit walked up to it. He zipped up his trench coat, and sat on the railing. The twins shot each other strange looks. Gambit ignored them, and slid off the railing, and hung upside down by his knees. He looked into the window below him, and saw that the room was empty. With his finger, he drew a greenish circle on the window. Then, as an afterthought, he added two eyes and a mouth, creating an upside down smiley face. The window crackled, and sort of melted away from the circle, until the window pane had melted into the frame. Gambit did a flip into the room. Shift turned into a bat and flew inside. Shroud tried to follow, but ended up falling off the roof. He rubbed his back, and climbed into the window, where his brother was snickering at him.
"Oh, shut up," Shroud said.
Gambit opened the door, and looked both ways. He gestured for them to follow, and turned left. A door opened on the right side of the hallway.
"You don't have to strangle me, mate," a voice said.
Shroud disappeared and Shift morphed into a spider, and crawled up the wall. Gambit stood, pole in hand, waiting.
A vast figure walked out of the door. It was a man, and he was holding a struggling teenager in his hands. The man looked at Gambit, confused.
"Who are you?"
Gambit took the chance to swing the pole with all of his strength at the huge man's head. The man collapsed, right on top of the guy.
"Oh, thanks a lot, man," the guy said, annoyed, and squashed.
Shroud laughed, and popped into view. Shift resumed his normal form.
"Who are you guys, anyway?" the guy asked, then looked more closely at the twins.
"Hey!" he said, surprised. "I know you! You're the freaks who poured water on my head!"
"Did we do that?" Shroud asked innocently.
"Are you sure?" Shift said. "Maybe you got hit on the head too hard."
"Yeah," he said, annoyed, "it was you."
Gambit pulled a ring of keys off the man's belt. He tossed them to Shroud, "You, take your brother and get the rest of the mutants out of here."
"Where are they?" Shift asked.
"Ask your new friend. Just hurry!" Gambit started walking away, and added, "I will be serving as a diversion."
"Right," said Shroud, "Where do we go, mi amigo?"
Gambit rolled his eyes, and continued on his way.
"Yeah, so what's your name anyway?" asked Shift, as they were led down the hallway, "We never bothered to ask. I'm Aaron, or Shift. Stupid, eh?"
"And I'm Shawn, or Shroud."
"John," said John, "Or Pyro."
"Oh, you're the guy who ran away from school, arn't you?" said Shift.
"You could say that," John pushed open a door, "In here. I think there's another room, too. But I'm not sure, I'll go look," He left.
"Did we dump water on his head?" asked Shroud.
"Probably, but the list of our accomplishments is getting too long, I don't remember," Shift told him happily, "No time for chatting, Blinky, we have some rescuing to do."
They began to unlock the cell doors, telling their inhabitants to stay quiet and go to where the rest of the X-Men were. They described the place where they were waiting for the newcomers.
Gambit made his way along the hallway, until he came to a room occupied by a couple scientists.
"Perfect," he muttered. He put his palm on the door and backed away. A greenish light spread over it, and the door exploded.
The scientists looked up, surprised.
"What? What are you?" said a squirrely-looking one, looking into Gambit's red eyes.
Gambit ignored the question, and pulled his deck of cards. He threw them with deadly accuracy, they exploded in front of his every target.
One of the scientists pressed a button on the wall, and a siren started blaring.
Gambit smiled, saying, "But monsieur, can't you handle one man by yourself?" This was what he had expected would happen. Unfortunately, there were no means of escape, now that soldiers had arrived, blocking the door. Gambit played with them, jumping over their heads, and throwing his kinetically charged cards.
Cyclops paced back and forth, worried that somehow the twins would mess things up.
"Scott, don't worry," said Jean, "They know what they're doing."
"Do they?" asked Cyclops, "They've never been on a mission, they're always goofing off!"
"Xavier chose them for a reason, Scott," Jean said reassuringly, "Trust his judgment."
"You're right," said Cyclops, sighing, "As usual."
Gambit played for time, keeping the soldiers around him, when one of the soldiers spoke up.
"What if this freak is supposed to be some kind of distraction?"
Most of the soldiers left the room at this thought. Gambit only hoped he had given the twins enough time.