A Force Unleashed
Written by Darkstorm5000
Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Entertainment.
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Chapter 4- Not Kids Anymore
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A/N: I shortened this chapter quite a bit, but it still ended up being longer than I had intended.
It had been one week since a good number of the residents at the Xavier School for the Gifted had returned from various journeys around the world. Their return followed disturbing news that some of its students and teachers had been involved in a fight for their very lives, going up against the mutant-hunting monstrosities called Sentinels. But, even more shocking than what had happened to them on Muir Island, was the revelation that one of their own may have had a hand in those robots' construction. This apparent connection to a former student had angered Ororo Munroe, the X-Man code-named Storm, to no end.
Ororo marveled at the deep level of insight that her teammate and close friend, Kurt Wagner possessed, and how that it seemingly allowed him to peer into a person's soul. Having barely known her for only a few hours, Kurt was able to look past the cool and reserved attitude that Ororo usually displayed to the rest of the world. What Kurt immediately saw before him was a woman who had been carrying a lifetime's worth of hurt, pain, and disappointment inside of her…
"Someone so beautiful, should not be so angry?"
"Sometimes, anger can help you survive…"
Ororo remembered those words just as clearly and vividly now, as when they were spoken between Kurt and her onboard the Blackbird nearly a year ago. While it was true that Ororo held a certain amount of anger within, it could be just as true that it had helped her to survive.
Her anger had helped her survive the horrific experience of being orphaned at a very young age, when her American-born father and Kenyan-born mother were both tragically killed. Her anger also helped Ororo to survive the years that followed, which seemed to bring only more misfortune and unhappiness in those early years of her life. It wasn't until she met a man named Charles Xavier, that she learned how to channel that anger into a more productive fashion. After spending some time at his School for the Gifted, Ororo had even come to the point where she felt comfortable in allowing others inside of that protective emotional shell that she had put up inside of her.
In particular, it was one young man that she came to trust enough to let in, and to allow herself to bond with on a very deep emotional level. But, always present was that anger from her youth, even though it now had been molded into the form of a newly discovered sense of purpose as she edged closer and closer to adulthood. It was that same sense of purpose in her life that helped her to survive the pain of having her heart broken by this same young man, who by this time she had fallen deeply in love with, and she had even considered accepting his proposal of marriage before their highly-emotional split.
Which brings us back to that connection between these new Sentinels, and that former student whom Ororo at one time had loved so much.
Ororo had been trying for the past week to contact Warren Worthington III, the winged former X-man who had been known during his time at the school as Angel. He, along with Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast and Storm herself, had made up Professor Xavier's first class of students. Ororo had left numerous messages for Warren at his penthouse suite, as well as at his office, but he still had yet to call her back. So, Ororo decided this morning to go directly to his office at Worthington Enterprises, and talk to Warren in person. After taking the elevator up to the top floor of the huge skyscraper that served as the company's main office in New York City, Ororo had been asked by the receptionist to take a seat. She told her that Mr. Worthington was in an important meeting, but that he would be with her shortly.
Two hours later, Ororo was still waiting.
And, judging by how the doors to the corporate boardroom were nearly ripped off of their hinges after being hit by a small and powerful gale-force wind, it was now fairly obvious that Storm was feeling as though she had been waiting long enough.
"Miss, Miss, you will have to wait in the lobby! Mr. Worthington is in the middle of a very important business conference with the board-members." The secretary shouted as she followed behind Ororo, who was walking into the currently occupied boardroom of Worthington Enterprises.
"Mr. Worthington has very important business that we need to discuss now!" Ororo replied loudly, as she stood in the now open doorway. Everyone then heard the faint sound of thunder booming from outside.
"Mr. Worthington, should I call security?" The secretary asked, although she had doubts as to what the building's security could do against someone that possessed the ability to trigger a mini-hurricane with just a thought.
"It's alright Eileen, Ms. Munroe is an old friend of mine." Warren replied, as he then turned back towards the other board-members inside of the room, some of whom had been knocked out of their seats by Storm's brief power display, "We can finish going over the rest of the quarterly projections later this afternoon."
After the board members quickly filed out of the boardroom and then shut the door behind them, Ororo and Warren were left there alone.
"You look great, 'Ro." Warren said with his trademark million-dollar smile, as the blonde CEO of Worthington Enterprises tried to break the uneasy tension in the room. He then walked over close to Ororo, his blue eyes looking directly into her brown ones, "It's wonderful to see you again."
"I wish that I could say the feeling was mutual." Ororo replied coldly, "I've been trying to get into contact with you for the better part of a week, why didn't you return any of my calls?"
"Because, I wasn't sure why you wanted to speak to me after all of these years." Warren honestly told her, "The last time we talked, you made it very clear how you felt about me."
"I'm not here on a social visit, if that's what you are thinking." Ororo said, as she forcefully handed him a folder that she had brought with her, "Would you care to explain this?"
With that, Warren took the folder and looked through its contents, which contained information on his very own company and its small subsidiary Dynatech Industries. The documents chronicled the development of Dynatech's new and experimental building material, and also showed financial records from the sale of a very large quantity of that special aluminum alloy not too long ago. Further digging revealed that the company that had bought the alloy had filed for bankruptcy almost immediately after the sale, and then sold off its assets virtually overnight, assets which became mysteriously untraceable after that.
"These look like confidential business documents, how did you get them?" Warren asked, as he continued to mull through the contents of the folder.
"Henry, and one of our students, were able to obtain them from the computer files of Worthington Enterprises." Ororo flatly told him, as she referred to the information that Hank and Kitty had gathered.
"So, did Hank come back to the school to help teach the kids how to commit computer crimes?" Warren asked in a displeased tone, as he laid the folder down on the large boardroom table.
"If you would bother to come around the school once in a while, you would know first-hand what's been going on." Ororo said defensively, "In this case, I believe that we had justification for going through Worthington Enterprises' financial records. The metal alloy that your subsidiary company manufactures was used in the production of Sentinel robots, the same Sentinels that attacked Muir Island recently and kidnapped Dr. MacTaggert. You know very well what the Sentinels tried to do when we first fought them, and I can't believe that you would actually help someone to revive that program."
"Wait a minute, do you really think that I'd knowingly have something to do with building those things?" Warren responded in an equally defensive tone.
"I'm not sure what to think anymore." Ororo replied, as she was leaning against the large oak table, "You behave as though you've cut the time that you spent with the rest of us out of your life completely. You couldn't even take the time from your busy schedule last year to attend Jean's memorial service."
Warren just looked at Ororo when she made that statement to him, and he then went to sit down in one of the chairs at the large table, before he responded.
"I was there." Warren stated simply, as he sat and looked to his right and out of one of the large windows that overlooked the impressive New York skyline.
"I certainly don't recall seeing you." Ororo challenged him.
"That was intentional. Nobody saw me, except for the Professor." Warren revealed, "I kept my distance at the cemetery, but Professor Xavier was still able to sense me. Can't sneak up on that guy, even now."
"That doesn't seem to be the case anymore, at least as of late." Ororo responded, referring to the Professor's recent injuries, "But, why would you hide from us? Jean was your friend, and more than that, the X-Men are family. Families are supposed to be there for each other in times of loss."
"Truth be told 'Ro, after I told the Professor that I was leaving the X-Men for good once we graduated, and then how I managed to screw things up between us when I cheated on you, I figured that I didn't really have much of a place there anymore. Then, after I heard about Jean, I kept wondering to myself if maybe I had stuck around, if I had been there with all of you, if things with her might have turned out differently. I suppose I didn't want to face you guys, because I was afraid of what that answer might be." Warren confessed, as he continued looking out at the open blue skies, the only place where he felt truly at peace whenever he got the chance to soar through it.
For the first time, in a long time, Ororo looked at Warren and she didn't feel angry. She definitely felt something, but she was sure that it wasn't anger. She realized that, despite how much he had hurt her all of those years ago, she did feel a small amount of sympathy towards him. Maybe, it had to do with the fact that she knew exactly where he was coming from. She knew first-hand what it was like to have that feeling of guilt when someone close dies, and to wonder if there was anything more that could have been done for them?
Ororo had replayed the events at Alkali Lake in her mind ad nauseum, in the weeks and months that followed. The strategist inside of her kept trying to see if there was something that she could have done differently, some alternate course of action that would have kept her best friend from having to sacrifice herself to save the rest of them. Although logic told Ororo that the answer was no, she wondered if a small part of her would always believe otherwise.
"Warren, no one is blaming you for Jean's death. There were quite a few of us there, and none of us seemed able to prevent it." Ororo said to him, "And, I am sure that the Professor would agree, you will always have a place among us."
"I'm not so sure. There are some things that just can't be healed or fixed, no matter how much time has passed or how much you may want them to." Warren told her.
"And in some instances you simply have to have faith that it can. A good friend told me that not too long ago, and I am now more inclined to agree with him." Ororo responded.
With those words spoken, Ororo looked at Warren as he continued to sit facing away from her and looking out of the large-pane window. After a moment of silence between them, Ororo turned around and left the boardroom. She hadn't gotten the answers to the questions that she had been initially seeking, but what was discussed this day was far more productive and beneficial for both her and Warren.
After Ororo had left, Warren turned back around to the table and picked up the folder that she had brought, staring at it intensely. He was now determined to get answers to the questions that she had posed to him moments ago.
"Eileen," Warren said, as he picked up the telephone in the boardroom and rang his secretary at her desk, "Would you please tell the vice president of Dynatech Industries, Cameron Hodge, that I need to see him as soon as possible. Also, ask him to bring the documents with him that pertain to a substantial sale from Dynatech Industries to a, now out-of-business, company named Wideawake Manufacturing…"
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Meanwhile back at the mansion, the junior X-Men were currently going through what had become a daily routine for them over the past week. In addition to their normal class load, they attended both morning and afternoon sessions in the state of the art training simulator located below the school, known as the Danger Room.
"Ah wonder what new surprise Cyclops has in store for this morning's workout?" Rogue asked, as she, Kitty, Bobby, Jubilee, and Peter walked down one of the corridors in the school's lengthy underground tunnel complex.
"Whatever it is, you can bet it's gonna leave all of us bruised and sore afterwards." Jubilee responded.
"Makes you wonder who's harder on us, him or Logan?" Bobby remarked.
"Like it matters. They both seem to get a kick out of finding some new way to keep us on our toes." Kitty added, as she and Peter walked along with the group holding hands.
Once the group made it to the student locker room area, they prepared to go in and change into their blue and silver X-Men uniforms, and then head down to the Danger Room. But, as Peter turned to go into the boys' locker, he felt a tug at his massive right forearm.
"What is wrong, Katya?" Peter asked, as he turned back to see that it was her trying to get his attention.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Kitty replied, as she looked up at the mountain of a young man before her.
"And that would be…" Peter asked her, unsure of what the youngest member of the junior squad was talking about.
"Where's my kiss? You know, for good luck in the Danger Room." Kitty smiled, "I'm pretty sure we're going to need it."
"I believe that you are over-exaggerating how difficult our training session will be." Peter replied, with a small smile.
"Well in that case, you can at least make me feel lucky." Kitty quipped.
With that, Peter bent down and quickly kissed his girlfriend in the empty hallway, before they parted ways to join their teammates in their respective locker rooms. But, as they had expected to continue with their normal morning routine, they soon learned that routine had hit a small snag.
"What, is this supposed to be some kinda hint?" Jubilee shouted very loudly, as she went back out into the hallway, just moments after briefly stepping into the girls' locker room, "Who swiped our uniforms?"
Rogue and Kitty had gone in right behind Jubilee into the locker room, and then followed her back out when they too saw the same thing. The three girls stood and wondered what had happened to their uniforms, which usually hung inside of glass display cases within the locker room. Then, they learned that they were not the only ones currently confused.
"Our uniforms are gone as well." Peter said, as he and Bobby walked back out into the hallway, and informed the girls' that they were in the same predicament.
"Maybe Jaime's playing another one of his practical jokes on us?" Bobby wondered aloud.
"Ah don't think it's him." Rogue responded, as she stood in the hallway and folded her arms in front of her, "Multiple Kid doesn't even know the combinations to the uniform cases, and even Ah don't think he and his dupes would be crazy enough to try 'n pull a stunt like this."
"You're right, darlin'. It wasn't him." A voice suddenly said, from behind the group.
All five teens turned around, and saw that it was none other than Logan. He was standing there dressed in his X-Men uniform, the one that Jubilee had modified for him by removing the sleeves from it, before he and Rogue went to Japan. He stood there leaning against one of the cold, metallic walls in the sub-level corridor and after a moment of silence, Kitty decided to ask what the rest of the group wanted to know.
"Well, are you just gonna stand there grinning, or are you gonna tell us where they are?" Kitty asked Logan.
"Your new uniforms are in the adult locker rooms, 'short-stuff'." Logan informed the group.
"New uniforms?" Peter asked him.
"Yeah, new uniforms." Logan smirked, as he took his toothpick out of his mouth, "Congratulations kiddies, you've just been promoted to senior-status."
"Allrriiigghhtt!!!" The entire group seemed to exclaim simultaneously, after learning that their probationary status on the team was now history.
"What made the Professor decide to promote us all of a sudden?" Bobby asked Logan, as the group now walked down to the adult wing with Logan.
"The Prof, Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, Beast, and me have been discussin' it ever since we all got back home. You five kids have shown that you have advanced control over your powers in the Danger Room sessions we've been putting you through, and you've more 'n proved that you can handle yourselves in a fight. We figured you earned the right to be treated as full members of the team, since you're puttin' your necks out on the line just the same as the rest of us." Logan replied.
"Bye-Bye baby clothes." Jubilee said happily, as they continued on.
"Keep in mind, this promotion doesn't mean things are gonna get any easier for you. Fact is, you're gonna be runnin' full-level Danger Room simulations, just like the rest of the grown-ups on the team. No more of that low-level combat garbage." Logan said, as they had now reached the men's and women's locker rooms, "Speakin' of which, I'm due in the Danger Room right now. Once all of you get changed into your new threads, come on down because you'll be runnin' your scheduled session next."
Logan then turned and continued on down the corridor to the Danger Room, while the newly promoted senior-squad went to change and get prepared. When they emerged some time afterwards, they were dressed in their new black leather uniforms that, while maintaining their sense of conformity, were still custom tailored for each individual.
Jubilee was the first to emerge in her black uniform, which was trimmed in a medium yellow color. It also included a long, black leather coat, a pair of gloves with the finger holes cut out of them, and a pair of stylish black-rimmed glasses with yellow lenses. Next to come out was Bobby, who's uniform was simply trimmed in an ice-blue color and was nowhere near as accessorized as Jubilee's. Peter followed right behind Bobby, wearing a black leather uniform trimmed in a dark-red color. Missing were the sleeves to the top portion of his uniform, just like Logan's. It was meant to allow him better mobility and flexibility when his body underwent its transformation from flesh and blood, to living organic-steel that dramatically increased his size and mass. His leather pants were also looser fitting, for the same exact reason. Last out were Kitty and Rogue. Kitty was dressed in a black outfit trimmed in dark-pink, which had a belt with small compartments that allowed her to carry small tools for making minor mechanical repairs, such as on the Blackbird for instance. Rogue's uniform was trimmed in green and had a black leather hood attached to it, most likely because Logan had heard her mention that she wanted to add one when they were in Japan. Slung across her back on a special shoulder-strapped harness was her Katana sword, the same sword that Remy had given to her when they were in Japan. He had given it as a gift, as they prepared for the biggest fight that she had ever been in, at least up to that point.
The group then made their way to the Danger Room, and they felt like a new team.
They truly felt like X-Men.
Once they reached the control booth above the Danger Room, they opened the door to see the Professor sitting in there wearing his customary suit, and Dr. McCoy in his team uniform that was trimmed in a turquoise shade.
"These new uniforms are so cool." Kitty said, as the senior-squad walked inside.
"I am pleased that you like them." Professor Xavier replied, "And, I hope that you understand the additional responsibility that comes along with them."
"Of course we do, Professor." Rogue responded, on behalf of the entire group.
As the senior-squad then moved closer to the front of the control booth, to get a better look through the large window that allowed them to see inside of the Danger Room, Bobby took a seat next to Hank.
"So, what have you come up with for us today, Dr. McCoy?" Bobby asked Hank, as they sat in front of the instrument panel that controlled the Danger Room.
"There's no need to worry, I've chosen something rather special for all of you. You may think of it as a graduation present, from yours truly." Hank replied, smiling while he continued looking down to monitor the program that was currently running.
Inside of the Danger Room were Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Gambit, who had for the most part recovered from the injury that he had received in Japan. Cyclops was in his standard black on black trim uniform, while Wolverine was in his modified black on bronze outfit. Nightcrawler wore a uniform trimmed in dark blue, which included specially-tailored footwear made to accommodate his uniquely shaped feet and also allowed him to continue climbing surfaces like he normally did. And Gambit had on a team uniform that was fairly similar to the one he had worn before joining the X-Men. It was black leather trimmed in dark brown, and covered by a long, black leather trench coat. True to form, he was in there with his metallic quarterstaff in one hand, and a handful of charged playing cards in the other.
"What are they doing in there?" Peter asked, as the group marveled at the sheer skill and ability of the four men inside.
"They are running a field-ops simulation." Hank replied.
Everyone in the control booth watched as the four men within strategically took out the opposition forces, composed of robotic android troops. Nightcrawler would teleport from point to point in the environment that had been made to look like an abandoned military base, drawing the fire of the androids that were shooting energy-powered rifles at them. Cyclops methodically hit each android with a tight, focused beam, disabling their targeting systems. This left Gambit and Wolverine to finish them off, as a flurry of kinetically charged cards and adamantium claws made short work of their opponents.
Mission objective complete…
Was the message heard within the Danger Room and in the control booth, as the automated voice from the computer system announced to everyone that the session was over, about ten minutes after the senior-squad had arrived.
"C'mon guys, that means it's our turn in the funhouse." Rogue, who served as the squad's deputy leader, said to the senior-team.
Instead of sitting down in the control booth like some of the others, Rogue had been standing with a foot up in one of the metal chairs and leaning forward to watch the melee down below. She had shown a very serious look on her face the entire time as she observed the others in the Danger Room. Rogue carefully made mental notes to herself on how Cyclops analyzed the weaknesses in their opponents, and then used the unique talents of Wolverine, Gambit, and Nightcrawler to exploit those weaknesses to their fullest. After re-running the entire scenario through her mind in fast-forward, Rogue moved away from the position that she had been perched in, and prepared to head down to the Danger Room with Jubilee, Shadowcat, Iceman, and Colossus for their workout.
"Kitty, before I forget, I need to see you in my lab later today." Hank said, as he quickly looked up at her from the instrument panel where he had been setting up the next training sequence.
"Why, what's the matter?" Kitty asked as she stopped dead in her tracks and turned around, while her teammates continued on.
"There was something in the diagnostic tests that I ran on you, when you returned from Muir Island, that I just need to follow up on." Hank informed her.
"I thought you said that all of the MRI's and other tests checked out fine, and that there was no permanent damage or anything from when I fell and hit my head on Muir Island?" Kitty responded, with slightly more than a small amount of anxiety in her voice.
"Calm down, I don't believe that it is anything for you to get alarmed about. It's just something that I want to be one-hundred percent sure of, is all." Hank assured her, as Kitty took him at his word and left the control booth to join the others.
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While the senior-student squad made their way down to the Danger Room, the previous participants were making their way up to the control booth and discussing how their session had gone.
"Dat wasn't too bad, considerin' it was my first time in there." Remy said, as he entered the control booth with staff in hand. He was talking to Logan, who followed him in second, "At any rate, you've shown me dat you still move pretty good. Well, for an old man dat is."
With that baited response, Remy got the intended rise out of Logan that he was looking for.
"I'll show you 'old man', Cajun." Logan quickly retorted, "Me and you can go one-on-one in the Danger Room, when the kids get through. And this time, I'll do a lot more 'n just toss your sorry butt off of a rooftop, like I did when we first met and faced off in Japan."
"Logan, I never thought that I would see the day when someone could get under your skin." Kurt said, as he and Scott entered the control booth. Kurt then joined in on Remy's good-humored ribbing of Logan, "You are going to have to learn to take a joke, without resorting to threats of bodily injury."
"Oh, I can take a joke just fine. Hell, I'm a barrel of laughs when you get right down to it." Logan smirked, as he pulled a cigar from one of the pockets on his uniform, " I was just offerin' the 'older kid' over here an up close and personal demonstration of what this old man can do."
With that, Logan instinctively went to reach in his pocket for a lighter for his cigar, but remembered the reactions that he got from Scott and the Professor the last time when he lit one up. It was after a workout, and the three of them were all in the control booth together. So, Logan just kept the unlit cigar in between his index and forefinger on his right hand this time. He decided to partake of it later, probably when he was alone, or when it was just him and Remy together.
"At least I don't have to hear any damn lectures from Lebeau." Logan stood and thought to himself.
Meanwhile, Hank had finished cueing up the next Danger Room sequence and was ready to run the simulation, as the senior-squad made their last minute preparations down below before the exercise started.
"Is everybody ready?" Rogue asked the group, as she pulled her sword form it's sheath on her back and held it down by her side.
"Don't 'cha know, I'm always ready." Jubilee said with a smile, as she pulled her yellow tinted sunglasses down from above her forehead, where she had been wearing them.
Next Colossus converted his body into organic-steel, his skin now brightly gleaming from the lights within the Danger Room.
"Oooh, my knight in shining armor." Shadowcat sarcastically said, as she teased Colossus.
"Very funny." Colossus said, as he looked down at her and let that single phrase be his only response to her remark.
"Well 'knight', if you're going to play the role, you might as well have the accessories to go along with it." Iceman jokingly added, as he had just finished covering his entire body in a protective ice shell.
He then went about the task of creating two very large swords made out of solid ice. He closed his eyes and deeply concentrated, as he pictured in his mind how he wanted the double-edged weapons to look, making sure that the blades were as sharp as possible. He also made the long handles strong enough to at least survive a few blows from his super-powered teammate striking with them. As a result, they were as thick as most normal people's limbs. When Iceman was finished, he laid them on the ground, since they were too big and heavy for him to move. But, Colossus had little trouble in picking them up and hoisting them up so that the flat edge of each sword rested perpendicularly across his shoulders.
"I assume that you are ready to begin?" Professor Xavier asked them, over the loud speaker in the Danger Room.
"We're ready." Rogue affirmed, as she looked up.
"I'll write the evaluations of the students' performance today, if that's okay Professor?" Scott said to the Professor from within the control booth.
"Yes, that would be fine." The Professor replied to Scott, and then turned towards Hank, "You may start the program."
A dense fog started to roll in around the squad in the Danger Room, as its holographic engine fired back to life and began to change the appearance of the very room around them. They all stood close to each other in the center of the room, and waited to see what their task was going to be.
In a matter of seconds, it was obvious. They heard the sound of loud and heavy thuds coming towards them from various directions, paced in a syncopated rhythm that signaled something very large was walking towards them.
And, they were right.
"Why am I not even surprised?" Jubilee sighed, as she looked up and saw what their target objective was, "Thanks a lot Beast. I am sooo not sending you a thank-you card."
"Halt Mutants…"
A booming voice gave them the command, as the group realized that their first training exercise following their promotion to senior-status, was to face and defeat a small contingent of Sentinels.
"Everyone, evasive action! Don't make yourself an easy target for them." Rogue shouted to the rest of her squad, as they all started to scatter in various directions and better position themselves for their own attack. Well, almost everyone moved.
While Colossus had been more than ready for a rematch against the monsters that he had faced and fought on Muir Island, his girlfriend and teammate who was also there with him was far less enthused to see the huge robots, which towered at nearly twenty feet tall.
Shadowcat wanted to run, but she remained motionless and just watched as one of the Sentinels marched straight towards her.
"Kitty, move it girl!" Rogue yelled at her, in an attempt to get her attention.
"Katya, quickly you must phase out of its way!" Colossus also called out to her, as he dropped the ice swords that Iceman had made for him and started to run towards her, but it was to no avail.
Kitty felt like she was frozen, both in spirit and in time. Seeing the Sentinel in front of her, took her right back to that horrible night on Muir Island. It brought back the memories of how scared she felt when she, unexpectedly, ran into one of the Sentinels inside of Dr. MacTaggert's research laboratory. Kitty hated the way that its cold, inhuman eyes scanned her. They didn't really look at her, but just scanned her only to detect whether or not she was a mutant. The Sentinel didn't see a girl that was nearly fifteen years old, a girl that had scraped her knees probably a hundred times learning to roller skate when she was little, a girl that cried for an entire week when her best friend next door moved away because she knew she wasn't going to see him again, or a girl that got so sick one time that her parents' had to keep a day and night vigil by her bedside because they feared the worse, and were relieved when she fought through her illness and managed to pull through. All that the Sentinel saw was a genetic aberration; one which needed to be exterminated like most people would a common household pest.
Back in the present, Kitty was consciously telling her body to move, to run, but her muscles simply wouldn't respond. Luckily for her, being part of the X-Men means being part of a team. And, that means that teammates look out for one another.
"So, you trying to prove a point or something by playing chicken with that Sentinel, Kitty?" Iceman said, as he rode his ice-slide over to scoop Shadowcat up in one arm and use his free hand to continue the slide that they immediately departed on, right before the Sentinel fired an energy blast from its hand.
"Yeah, um, sorry. I kinda zoned out for a sec." Shadowcat replied, as she regained her composure while riding with Iceman, "I wasn't expecting to see any Sentinels in this session."
"Well, now that we've gotten that little surprise out of the way, what do you say we set these suckers up for a big fall?" Iceman proposed, with a cool grin across his icy face.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Shadowcat replied, as they continued riding his slide and went to regroup with the others.
"Hey, don't let these things spook you. They're just like the battle-droids we've been practicin' on, just bigger and with a holographic makeover." Rogue said, as she was running and dodging one of the Sentinels that had locked in on her, "We'll just take 'em out the exact same way."
"So what's the plan boss-lady?" Jubilee said, as she and Colossus ran over to where Shadowcat, Rogue, and Iceman had now gathered as a tall ice barricade had been erected.
"Jubilee, use your plasma paffs to focus on their visual sensors and blind their ability to scan us." Rogue said, as she started to reveal her plan, "Shadowcat, phase into the floor below us and come up around their legs. If you phase right through them, that should disrupt their circuitry long enough for Iceman to freeze their upper torsos. And Iceman, make sure that you concentrate on their arms and hands, so they can't fire a stray energy blast and get lucky by hitting one of us."
"And what should I do?" Colossus asked her.
"Once they're immobilized, you can play yourself a big game of dominoes and knock 'em all down." Rogue answered, "Then we can go for their weak point, and finish them off for good."
As the senior-squad went out from behind the ice wall and followed Rogue's plan, those observing from above commented on what they were watching.
"Rogue seems to have come up with a very effective battle-field tactic." Scott commented, as he watched the students go about the process of taking the Sentinels down, "She seems to be a lot more comfortable now in her role as the team's leader, than she was before I left to travel with Alex and Lorna."
"All the girl needed was a little self-confidence, and to start believin' in herself." Logan responded, "I think our time in Japan helped show her that she's as good and as capable as we've been tellin' her."
"That was apparent when she scored so highly on her field operations aptitude exam, after she took it for just the first time." Professor Xavier said to them, "That in itself is no small feat."
"It would seem that you and Ororo may finally have some competition in the future, when it comes to the leadership department." Hank jokingly turned, and said to Scott.
Then, the control booth felt a small tremor run through it as everyone within looked to see that the participants in the Danger Room had disabled the Sentinels. Colossus had knocked the first one down, and was on his way to quickly take down the other four robots.
"Now that they're down, everybody remove the main processor from the right, rear part of their computer brains." Rogue said, as she and the others went to accomplish their final task.
Shadowcat was first to go over to one of the Sentinels, which was now lying on the ground, and she simply phased her hand into the right side of its head and removed its large computer-processing chip. Jubilee was second, as she concentrated and increased the strength of the plasma energy that she generated, to burn a hole into the side of another robots brain and remove its processor. Iceman created a crowbar made of ice for himself, twirling it around as he pried the processor out of the Sentinel near him, while Colossus quickly and violently punched a hole into the side of his Sentinel and removed the component. Finally, Rogue took her sword and used it to forcefully cut open the area near the base of the skull of her Sentinel, and quickly found the square-shaped component that controlled it. Then, all five individuals brought their chips with them as they walked over and gathered together in a circle.
"So big guy, you want to do the honors?" Iceman asked Colossus, as he now created a large sledgehammer made of ice and handed it to his Russian teammate.
"It would be my pleasure." Colossus replied, as everyone put their processor chips into one pile on the floor, and then Colossus proceeded to smash them with one hammer blow. Then, they heard the message that they had been waiting for.
Mission objective complete…
"Congratulations, students." Professor Xavier said to the squad from the control booth, "You have beaten this exercise in almost record time. But, I am more pleased by the fact that you did so by working together as a team, and without needing to be told to do so."
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As the Danger Room went back to its default state, the Sentinels that had been defeated lost their holographic illusion and reverted to reveal their true appearance. They now looked like the ordinary and large battle droids that Hank had specially re-equipped, to help simulate the manner in which Sentinels behaved, for the X-Men's training purposes. As soon as the session was over, Remy left the control booth to go down and join the others, Rogue in particular, in the Danger Room. This left the Professor, Scott, Logan, Kurt, and Hank to discuss the next course of action that they had been planning for the last week.
"Well, I'd say that pretty much shows that we're ready to go Sentinel hunting, and check out this base you were tellin' us about off in the Adirondacks, Summers." Logan said to him.
"Hopefully it, along with Ororo's meeting with Warren this morning, will at least provide us a clue as to where Moira is being held." Professor Xavier commented.
"I'll start the pre-mission prep this afternoon." Scott replied to the Professor, "But, I wish that you would hold off on your trip to Washington D.C. until we return. I don't like the idea of you traveling alone, especially when we're not one hundred percent sure about who's really behind all of this."
"I understand your reservations, but there has been a Congressional hearing convened that is open to the public. Its purpose is to further discuss mutants, and what changes to national security need to be made in regards to them. I am certain that it may hold dire consequences for us all." Professor Xavier stated, "If I am able to, I would like to make sure that our voice is heard in those hearings."
"Then, I'm going to go with you. Storm can more than handle leading the exploration mission without me." Scott told him.
"Finding Moira and putting an end to these new Sentinels takes precedence over any concerns that you may have for my safety. Besides, I don't expect there to be any problems in our nation's capitol." Professor Xavier responded.
"Why don't you take a couple of the kids down there with you to D.C.?" Logan suggested, " If they can handle a Sentinel, then I'm sure they can do just as good of a job at playing bodyguard as the 'boy-scout' can."
"Then, it is settled." Professor Xavier said, as he closed the matter, "I will inform you later as to who will be accompanying me to Washington."
Back down in the Danger Room, Peter and Bobby had powered themselves down and had changed from their steel and ice forms, while the entire group took a moment to relax following their workout.
"We kicked some major butt in here." Jubilee boasted, as she pulled her shades off.
"And, Ah'd say we pretty much earned our stripes today." Rogue said, as she sat down on some debris left from one the battle-droid's shattered limb. She still had her Katana blade in hand, with the point of it resting against the metal floor.
"I just hope the real Sentinels prove to be this easy." Bobby said, as he stood next to Rogue.
"I have a feeling they will prove to be far more challenging when we next meet them." Peter stated, "They will most certainly be prepared to unleash their full power against us."
"Guys, you know what I think? I think that we just proved to everyone that we're 'A Force to be Reckoned With' too." Kitty gleefully remarked, as she stood next to Peter and the group quickly realized how true her statement might be…
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Next Chapter: The X-Men begin their search for the Sentinels, Professor Xavier travels to Washignton D.C. and finally, the return of Wolfsbane…
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A/N: Special thanks to everyone for all of the reviews of last chapter.
Episodic- Well, you're right about that being Karma's name at the end. And you'll get a good look at a few members of this story's version of 'the New Mutants' in the very next chapter. But, who said anything about killing off and traumatizing anyone, especially in regards to the Massachusetts Academy. With the addition of Magneto and his Brotherhood to their ranks, I think her students would stand more than a good chance against a certain green-haired time-traveler, if he ever decides to show up. Anyways, I'm putting a list at the end of this section with the codenames of the individuals listed in Emma's files.
ishandahalf- Glad you liked Pyro's middle name. If you think Emma's devious now, you haven't seen anything yet…
TheDreamerLady- Glad you liked all of the characters that were included in the last chapter, including Pyro, Boomer (Meltdown, Boom-Boom, 'the girl that blows stuff up'), Avalanche, and of course Firestar. Her limited series is still one of my favorite stories ever. When Catseye and Rahne finally meet, I'm sure that's going to be a site to see. Yep, Manual is pretty much his usual arrogant self. As far as who Tarot is, if you noticed the folder that Emma was holding when Mystique walked in, it was marked Colbert, Marie-Ange, which is actually Tarot's real name. But that's alright, you'll get a better chance to get more familiar with her character in future chapters. I'm pretty sure that Karma's nickname when she was at Xavier's was Shan, which was short for Christian (but spelled X'ian). The 2's and 3's just meant that there were multiple siblings that had manifested mutant powers. Anyways, get ready for a nice little dose of Angel coming up…
(P.S.- Yeah 'Night of the Sentinels' truly got me hooked. It actually motivated me to go to a comic shop for the first time, just so I could find out more about these characters that I had just seen on TV. I think the first issues I picked up were part of the X-Cutioner's Song and an X-Men Classic issue, which reprinted the issue where Logan and Mariko were supposed to get married, if you can believe that. And your friend shouldn't feel bad about being freaked out, I was surprised when I saw Gambit in X-Men: Evolution, and then when I started reading comics again, and saw that he had ditched his fuschia gear. But then again, I guess it was about time.)
Cailleach Bheur- Wow, thank you so much for such a glowing review. I'm glad you liked the two previous stories, and this one as well. I intentionally tried give all of the characters multiple dimensions, which is why I wrote Bobby the way that I did. I actually like his character, just like I like all of the characters in the X-Universe, and breaking him and Rogue up had nothing to do with me hating him in any way. As far as him and Rogue getting back together, however, I can't make any promises. But, I can promise that Bobby's romantic life will definitely remain very active throughout this story.
MoonlightPhoenix3- Glad you liked the last chapter. As far as Emma and the Hellfire Club, I intend to explore that in greater detail in future chapters (I wanted to go better in depth last chapter, but I thought it was already long enough. But, if you're into reading comics, I think upcoming issues of UXM may be dealing with the Hellfire Club as well.). And you're pretty much dead-on about Roulette, her powers work similarly to Wanda's hex-powers, but Roulette's powers never seemed to be quite as unpredictable.
plutospawn- Glad you liked the 'bad' Emma. I don't think it's so much you being trapped in one particular decade, its just that, at least when it comes to Emma anyways, she just seemed more interesting as a villain with her own motivations that ran in contrast most of the time to Xavier's dream. I think that by killing off her students, we never got to see what she really had in store for them. (To be honest, I think they would've eventually become something similar to what X-Corps are now.)
Lucas'sgirl- Glad you liked the twist, and the brief exchange of Kiotr action for something a little different in the last chapter. As far as Storm and Angel, just read a little ways down…
Moon Comix- Glad you enjoyed a little bit of 'alternative school'. I normally don't put much in the way of swearing in my stories, but I thought it was a good way of showing the difference in attitudes between Xavier's students and those at the Massachusetts Academy, especially with Lance and John.
EmeraldKatsEye- Glad you liked Emma in this story, and you're right, she's nowhere near being an ex-villain just yet.
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A/N: Here are the codenames of a few of the potential recruits that Emma was looking at. Some of them might be more recognizable than others, depending on your knowledge of the Marvel Universe.
-Aaronson(2)-Christopher, JesseThey are two brothers, King Bedlam and Jesse Bedlam.
-Blevins, SallyShe goes by the name of Skids.
-Callasantos(2), Maria, Lucia
These are two sisters, who go by Feral and Thornn.
-Kleinstock(3)-Sven, Harlan, Eric
These are brothers, they're known simply as The Kleinstock Brothers.
-Colbert, Marie-Ange
A young French native, who goes by the name of Tarot.
-Manh, Xi'an Coy
Her code-name is Karma.
A/N: Just to let everyone know, I got the idea for having the black uniforms trimmed in various colors after reading All American Girl by Lucas'sgirl.