Okay, first things first. A call out to all my reviewers. Thank you all for your comments. I've had loads in the last couple of days, that makes me very very happy. So I'm keen to get on to the next chapter. You guys all seem to really like Mattie. I'm kinda fond of her myself. And you all HATE Mrs Drake, although she totally deserves it.
Nightshadow67 – I know that I'm kinda stretching out the term, but I needed them to stay in school for a bit. Maybe they just have a really nasty school. This is a world with mutants in after all. Maybe they have crazy term times too. Really liked your takari by the way.
X00001 – What do you mean it isn't bad?! My story is way better than 'not bad'. Okay ego moment over. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the rest.
The Legendary Man Himself – I feel really bad for Bobby about his family. But when I started writing Mrs Drake that's how she came out. A bitch. But she is quite good fun to write so I can't really complain.
Agent G – Thanks for the telepathy/telekenisis thing by the way. That's just me typing to fast. Stupid Jean has to have both of them! You'll just have to wait and see what I have planned for Mattie and a certain other speedster.
Vicious Assassin – I hope you enjoy your reading over the weekend. There will be a test.
Lucy, Black Rose Apocalyps, Idypebsaby, Fireinu,– I'll keep writing if you keep reading. Keep letting me know what you think.
Anyone seeing all these guys names, check out their stories, there are some seriously talented writers out there.
I don't own the X-Men, those lucky lucky folks at Marvel do. I just own Mattie
Now, on with the story.
Ambush
The summer holiday took its toll on the X-students, freed from lessons the students were inclined to lounge around in bed rather than attend the training sessions. Logan grumbled, but rearranged the sessions for mid afternoon, and also late evening. Giving the students the chance to attend one a day, at some time in the day. No one dared skip one all together. Only the keenest, such as Scott, Jean and Evan, joined him for an early morning session.
As the weeks stretched out the students started to go home to visit family and friends. Mattie had spent a weekend at home with her dad, but he was snowed under with work at his job, and they are arranged for her to visit him for an extended stay later in the holiday. Her dad had been overly interested in the news of Bobby and wanted to know everything about her boyfriend. Mattie secretly felt that this was so that he could tell the mafia exactly how to remove Bobby from his only daughter's life.
"And he's good to you? He's not upset you at all?"
"No, Dad. He's wonderful. He's really good to me."
Her dad frowned. "I don't like the idea of you having a boyfriend."
"Dad." Mattie groaned.
He sighed. "I guess you're not five any more. You were always going to grow up some time. I guess I wasn't ready for you to be kissing boys yet."
"Dad! It's not like I've never kissed anyone before!"
His head snapped round to glare at her.
"I mean… At parties and you know… But Bobby… My boyfriend… Boyfriend kisses…" Mattie gave up blabbering and just stood looking up into his fiery gaze. "Am I in trouble?"
He sighed again. "No Honey you're not in trouble. He sounds like a nice enough boy. He hasn't done anything to upset you has he?"
Mattie rolled her eyes. "For the hundredth time, no."
"Good. That's okay then."
Mattie grinned at her dad who seemed deep in thought about the downfall of his daughter.
X
Mattie grinned again as she remember her conversation with her dad.
"What's got you in such a good mood?" Bobby asked glancing over from where he sat basking in the sun. Mattie had flopped down in the shade to cool off.
"Just thinking about my dad."
Bobby shuddered. "I am so not looking forward to meeting him. You being his only daughter. He is so going to hate me."
Mattie shrugged. "I'm sure he wont kill you too much."
She watched Kurt and Scott in the pool, playing a form of water polo. By mutual agreement most of the students were off visiting their families at the moment. This meant that in theory they'd all be back at the same time. The only ones left at the moment were her, Bobby, Kurt, Rahne, Rogue, Jamie and Scott. The Institute seemed completely deserted. Of course there were benefits, like being able to watch what she liked, not having to weight for the shower and not having to fight everyone for breakfast. Mattie sighed. But she was bored. They'd lounged around doing nothing. They'd taken off for day trips. They'd made scouting parties to the Mall. Jubilee and Amara had pretty much set up camp there. They'd seen almost every film on offer. She'd even got up early one morning to go to a training session. Now with the Institute so empty she was more bored then ever. One of the best things about living with so many people was that there was always something going on, even if it was just the latest argument about the remote control. Now, she was just bored. She sighed again.
Bobby nodded. "I see you and raise you." He told her sighing heavily himself.
XLogan stalked through the Institute searching for the students. Rahne and Rouge saw him coming and made themselves scarce. You could just tell by the look on his face that someone was going to suffer. Even Scott managed to manoeuvre himself out of Logan's way. Muttering something about some college work that he hadn't done yet. Jamie just turned tail and ran; whatever activity Logan had planned; he didn't want to do it. Mattie and Bobby, who were too busy making out on the couch to notice, were not so lucky.
"Frostbite, Roadrunner. Up and at 'em."
Startled Bobby and Mattie looked up guiltily.
"What's up?" Bobby asked
"Groceries."
Two confused faces stared up at him.
"What? You thought that the cupboards just magically filled themselves?"
"No. I just…" Mattie struggled with how to say she wasn't keen on going food shopping without Logan killing her.
"I own 'Ro a favour." Logan grumbled walking off and motioning for them to follow him. "And this is what she asks for."
Mattie and Bobby exchanged smiles. Logan would much rather have been given a task that included just the chance of death. He hated being what he called a 'glorified babysitter.'
They trailed after Logan as he led them out to where the Jeep was waiting. As they left the house Logan's arm shot out and he pulled a squirming Jamie from where he'd been hiding.
"Many hands make light work Multiple." He told him as he pulled the struggling and protesting Jamie to the car.
"But why does it have to be my hands." Jamie whined, he was cut off as Logan slammed the door and climbed into the driver's seat.
XLogan parked the Jeep and turned to regard the three of them. "Alright. Here are the rules. Multiple: no more than four of you at any given time, got it? Chase: keep the running around down to a minimum. Popsicle: don't get too encouraged by the frozen section."
Bobby rolled his eyes. "How do we manage to hide our powers with out you?" He asked.
Logan glared at him. "Let's go get this over with then."
Logan turned the shopping expedition into a military manoeuvre of epic proportions. He sent them off to find various items of food, each time they came back he had a new thing for them to get. While he stood and guarded the trolley like someone would steal it if he didn't. Despite his earlier protests, Jamie couldn't resist making three of himself to carry things back to Logan.
"Oh, to be young and full of energy." Mattie commented, watching him, as she and Bobby made their way to retrieve the next item on Logan's list.
"I have energy." Bobby said suddenly spinning round and stealing a kiss.
"Idiot!" Mattie called after him as he rounded the isle and disappeared from sight. Bobby popped his head back round to wink at her before vanishing again.
Mattie grabbed the largest packet of cereal she could find and headed back to 'General' Logan.
X With all the bags loaded into the Jeep they headed back to the Institute, Bobby and Jamie arguing about which radio station to put on.With a crash a tree trunk landed in the middle of the road right across their path. Logan swore and hit the break, managing to swerve the Jeep at the last moment to keep them from ploughing into the roadblock.
"That was close." Jamie said, breaking the stunned silence.
Bobby was eyeing the tree. "What made it fall?"
Logan nodded at the sawn off edge of the tree. "I think the question should be who?"
Mattie turned from looking out the rear window. "Guys. I think I've got the answer to that question."
They all turned to look at the figures that were surrounding them. They all wore black outfits, tailor-made for fighting. There were already twelve standing blocking them. More stepped out of the trees as they watched, they didn't approach; they just stood blocking their exit.
Growling, Logan shifted into reverse and the Jeep shot backwards. The figures leapt gracefully aside. The nearest ones slashed at the tires with their swords. All four tires blew out, the Jeep swerved and Logan killed the engine. The figures moved so that once again they were blocking their escape route.
"What do they want?" Jamie asked.
"Who cares?" Logan muttered.
"It'll be the groceries." Bobby said. "Any second now. 'You're groceries or your life.'"
"Have they never heard of Internet shopping?" Mattie asked, unable to stop the slight tremble in her voice. This was making her nervous.
"Delivered to you door." Bobby said. "You shop."
"We drop." Mattie finished for him.
"Enough." Logan told them. He watched the figures standing there, not moving, clearly content to wait it out.
Mattie turned her nervous smile on him. The guys behind them looked like they meant business. She'd never been in a real fight. And these guys looked like that's what they'd be dishing out.
"You'll do alright Roadrunner." Logan told her. "Just remember what you've learned."
"You think we're going to have to fight them?" Bobby asked.
Charles. Logan sent his thoughts out to contact the telepath. We got trouble, Charles.
Turning to Bobby, Logan nodded. "They're not out there because they want to know if we prefer sweet or salted popcorn."
He watched as all three students forced smiles onto their faces. His head tingled slightly as Charles responded to his call. "Alright, help is on the way." He told them. "We're just going to sit tight till then."
As if in response to his words the Jeep gave a metallic squeal as it started to cave in as though a giant fist was squeezing it.
"Out, out, out!" Logan yelled. Flinging the doors open they threw themselves out of the Jeep. Almost as soon as it had started it stopped. The Jeep sat, looking slightly crumpled. Logan glanced at it, he really did not want to think about who could do something like that to a car. Please let me be wrong he thought as he eyed the figures who had started to approach them.
"Two teams. Chase, Iceman take the left. Multiple you're with me." He watched the kids pull themselves together and assume attack positions. The figures keep up their even approach, swords held at the ready. Hurry up, Charles. The lead figure issued some sort of battle cry and charged forward, and it was time to throw himself into battle.
Chase managed to dodge the first swipe of the sword as it whistled past her. These guys were not messing around. Spinning around she slammed her elbow into one guys face, hearing a satisfying crack of his nose, before turning to confront the one in front of her. She saw Iceman freezing one of the swords so that it was too cold for the man to hold. Wolverine was nowhere to be seen, but she could hear cries of pain that he was handing out. Every now and then she would catch a glimpse of a Multiple. If these guys had hoped to overwhelm them with sheer force on numbers then they obviously hadn't been counting on Jamie. The training she had put in was paying off as she delivered blow after blow. A glancing hit to her shoulder kept her focused; she couldn't loose her concentration for a second. These guys were good, and for every one that she dealt with there was another ready and waiting to take her on. She sidestepped the nearest blow, zipped behind the figure and then kept going. In a blur of speed she raced in and out of their black suited attackers. She was too fast for them to react to, and she provided a distraction that Iceman and Wolverine were quick to take advantage of. Multiple soon caught on to her trick and soon there were Jamie's everywhere, running around between the attackers.
Too late Chase spotted the sheath that they held just in front of her to trip her. Rather than stumble she threw herself into a leap over the obstacle and rolled to a stop next to the Jeep. The men who'd brought her down grinned nastily and she recognized the man whose nose she had broken. Four more of them backed him up, fear clutched at her as they encircled her. What happens when you can't run? Logan's words came back to her. They kept circling her, watching her for any movements. Fear and anger ranged inside her and anger won out. Her fear adding white hot flames to her anger she launched herself at the nearest assailant, catching him with a flurry of rabbit punches to fast to be more than a blur. The others were quick to respond, but she was ready for them. A round house kick taking care of the first one she spun to deliver a series of blows to the second. She dodged an attacker too late and his sword nicked her shoulder, drawing blood.
"Hey!" Drawing her arm back Chase slammed her palm into his chest. The speed that she put into the blow lifted him off his feet and sent him soaring backwards. "Alright, whose next?" She asked whirling to confront her opponents. She had plenty of takers. She twisted, ducked and whirled to catch them off guard, and it wasn't enough. For every time she thought that she'd bought herself a little space, a little breathing time, there was another one striking at her. She was locked into a never ending dance, where she couldn't let up, even for a second.
X
Iceman slid under his attackers swing and connected the business end of his ice club with the man's wrist, sending the sword spinning from his grasp. He saw a Multiple go racing by and glanced around for Chase. Where was she? He hadn't seen her in a while now. Pausing to slug it out with his attacker, he scanned the area. Wolverine, multiple Multiples, plenty of attackers, where was Chase? Finally he spotted her, surrounded by the figures. Totally surrounded by them, at least half their number was concentrating their attack on her. As he watched he saw Chase give ground as they forced her back. They were herding her!
X
Chase stepped back and found herself backed up against the tree truck. Not good. She struck out at her nearest opponent, not that it mattered much. They were pretty much three deep, surrounding her now. She was blocked in from behind and there was no way that they were going to let her through. Unless… Putting on a bust of speed she scrambled over the tree truck and jumped down to the other side. It wasn't long before they followed her example. But at least she could deal with them one at a time now.
X
"No." Iceman watched as Chase retreated behind the roadblock. That was exactly where they wanted her to go. His attention was recalled by the fighters still hampering him. He had to get rid of them and go after Chase.
X
These guys seem totally intent on following her. Chase lashed out, catching as many as she could and sending them crashing to the ground. She couldn't shake them by fighting them, there were always more ready and waiting to take their place. She couldn't get away from them this way. But she was willing to bet that none of them could even come close to her in a race. And if she could get enough of them to chase her then she'd draw them away from Bobby and the others. After all, she wasn't called Chase for nothing.
"You guys want me?" She asked springing back to give herself some room to move. "Come and get me." And with that she was gone. A coloured flash disappearing into the distance. She paused roughly a hundred meters away to wave at the attackers. Then she started running again.
X
Mounting his ice slide Bobby rose above the heads of the figures and made his way after Chase. Something was going on here, why were these guys so interested in Mattie? He crested the roadblock in time to see Chase vanishing into the distance. This was not good. She should be sticking with the rest of them. Not cutting herself off like this. Still soaring high over the heads of the men below he pushed himself as fast as he could go to catch up to Chase.
X
Chase ran, pausing every now and then to make sure that she was still being followed. They men were running flat out, but they stood no chance of catching her. She could run rings around them. And did so, two laps, just to keep them focused on her. Then she raced out in front again. Hopefully this was giving the others some relief. She'd draw them out then loose them, double back then go and help the others. The roar of motorbikes cut into her plans. She glanced behind her. Heavy duty motorbikes, clearly powerful, they might turn out to be fast. A grin crossed her face. Now it was getting interesting.
"Come and get me boys!"
And with that the race was on. She was still out in front of them streaking ahead. But they had guns, laser beams sliced through the air around her. She wondered how fast these bikes could be. Her top speed had been clocked in at just under 90, but she'd never been able to better it so far. Every time she got in the Danger Room she was pushing at her speed, trying to go as fast as she could. She was getting faster, but would it be fast enough?
X
Ahead of him Iceman could see the motorbikes and ahead of them Chase, dodging even now and them to evade the laser blasts. She was fast. He was pushing himself to new speeds and she was still only a dot far in front of him. As he watched she sped up, streaking ahead. Would she tire? How long could she keep going at top speed? What if she tripped and ran into something? At this speed she would most likely plough straight through a wall. What would that do to her? Why were these guys so intent on chasing her down? There were far too many questions and far too few answers. Right now the best thing he could do was try to keep up.
X
A laser blast sizzled past her neck and Chase swerved to avoid it. That was close. She was an easy target out in the open. To her left was the wooded area fencing in the road. Let's see how well these bastards can drive. Diving into the trees she swerved back and forth, winding her way among the trees. Behind her she heard the gunning of the motorbikes engines as they came after her. Blasts went wild as they had to concentrate on not crashing into the many obstacles. Chase raced through the wood, leaping, jumping, ducking and circling. Doing everything she could to cause hassle for the men in hot pursuit. Time to take the fight to them. She raced past a tree in a blur, doubled back, grabbed hold of a branch, swung and planted both her feet in the face of the biker. With a cry he was swept off the bike and landed heavily. Chase leapt nimbly onto the bike and revved the engine. "I'm just going to borrow this for a while." She told him.
X
Iceman slowed down as he made his way in amongst the trees, weaving back and forth. Suddenly the figures were in front of him. In a flurry of movement they attacked him, forcing him to give ground and back up out of the trees.
X
Racing through the trees under her own speed was one thing. Trusting her life to the manoeuvrability of a bike was another. Mattie wrenched on the handed bars of the bike as she careened round in a tight circle. She straightened out to cut in front of one of the bikers, causing him to break suddenly. She heard him cry out as he found that moss has very little traction. Two down.
X
No matter what he did, Bobby couldn't get though them. They blocked him at every turn. Keeping him from getting to Mattie. Stopping him from helping her.
X
Chase threw herself off the bike as one of the men shot at her. She hit the ground and rolled, leaping to her feet as he came round for another pass. She tore past him as fast as she could and grabbed a handful of his shirt in her hand. The man was pulled off his bike and landed with a crash. Pausing for a second Mattie could hear the engines of the bikes heading into the distance, chasing after shadows. With a grin she headed back to the road. She raced out of the trees and was confronted with the sight of Iceman struggling to hold his own under the sheer number of assailants. She launched herself into the fight; starting with the guy she had last seen attacking Bobby.
"Chase, get out of here." Iceman shouted to her.
"What!" Chase kicked and punched her way through to him and took up position at his back.
"They're after you." He told her landing a punch on the nearest attacker. "You have to get away."
"I'm not leaving you with this lot." Mattie told him.
Their attackers redoubled their efforts, crowding around the two young mutants.
"Hang on!" Iceman yelled. And Chase found herself rising into the air on a pillar of ice. "Mats, I need you to hold tightly to me." Bobby told her. "Ready?"
Mattie threw her arms around his frozen, but still gorgeous body and nodded. "Ready."
Sliding as fast as he could Iceman soared overhead on a slide of ice. They had to get back to the others. The rest of the team might be there by now.
Chase looked over her shoulder and saw the men chasing after them. Then she saw the motorbikes bursting out of the woods.
"Bobby." She muttered in his ear. "We need to go faster."
Iceman's slide twisted and turned as he desperately tried to evade the laser blasts from the men on the bikes. Up, down, left right, loop the loop, corkscrew, everything and anything.
"Mattie. If I put you down you can run for it."
He felt rather than saw her shake her head.
"Just run. They're after you, they won't bother with me." He didn't believe that for a second. With Chase in the clear he would be expendable.
"Wont bother not to shoot to kill you mean." Mattie snapped back at him.
"I'm going to drop you off." Iceman told her. "When you hit the ground run. Don't look back, run."
Chase tightened her grip on him. "No."
He ignored her, watching for a break in the fire for a time to set her down. He felt her body lurch against his and her grip on him weakened. Spinning he was just in time to catch hold of her before she slipped from the ice slide.
"Mattie!" He screamed, crushing her against him fearing the worst. To his relief he felt a heart beat. She was alive. Whatever that laser was for it had knock her out cold, but she was alive. He swung her into his arms and cradled her as he kept going. He could see it; he could see the tree trunk. And Wolverine and Multiple were just on the other side of it. Too late he felt a searing blast hit his shoulder blade, and the world went dark.