A Force Unleashed
Written by Darkstorm5000
Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Enterprises.
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Chapter 9- Coup D'etat
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It was Monday morning at Xavier's School for the Gifted in Westchester County, New York and with it had come a brand new school week. But beyond than that, it was the first day of class for the school's new music instructor, Alison Blaire.
As a child, Alison was revealed to be something of a musical prodigy, and had been groomed as such starting from an early age. Alison had attended the prestigious Remington Musical Academy in New York City, in order to further hone her skills. Her every waking moment was spent either practicing the piano, cello, violin, or from the myriad of other musical instruments that she was extremely proficient at, or she was at the very least thinking about them. But Alison didn't mind though, as she seemed to have a natural aptitude and a genuine love for music. Her favorite instrument to play was the guitar, but it wasn't necessarily because of the beautiful melody of the classical guitar that she would perform for her instructors when they were around.
What Alison craved and desired as a young lady was a guitar that 'totally rocked'.
It was this same yearning that led her to eventually pursue a career in rock music, in spite of the vehement protests from her parents. And Alison did eventually achieve her dream, as her fame soon skyrocketed and she became a worldwide phenomenon, all before she was twenty years old. But, when the world learned the truth that one of the most popular performers in the world was a mutant, her career came to a complete and very ugly halt. Now, Alison was picking up the pieces of her life, as she began this new phase in her life at Xavier's.
"Good morning, everyone. I assume that you each know why you're here, but in case you don't, this is a course focusing on music appreciation. Its purpose is to study different musical styles in relation to their culture and/or relevant time period. So, let's start with a general definition of what is music exactly?" Alison said, as she stood in front of her classroom. Her medium-length blonde hair was tied back into a single French braid, and she was dressed in a conservative white and pink skirt-set outfit.
As she turned around and began to write a definition on the blackboard behind her, Alison's brief foray into teaching was unexpectedly interrupted by a student, who wasn't assigned to her class during this period.
"Alison, Alison, quick! There's something happening in Washington D.C.!" A somewhat winded Danielle Moonstar exclaimed, as she entered the classroom.
"Okay, Dani. Just calm down and tell me what's going on?" Alison said, as she laid her chalk down and went over to the door where the young girl was standing.
"Me and Sam didn't have a class right now, so we were watching some TV in the main room. All of a sudden, the news broke in about Washington being under attack." Dani informed her and the entire class.
With that, Alison immediately went over to the TV that was mounted on a rolling cart in the corner of the classroom. She pulled it over in front of the chalkboard where Dani, Amara, Roberto, Kitty, Jaime, Jones, and Rogue all gathered around with Alison to listen to what was going on.
"To recap our breaking coverage from Washington D.C., roughly a little more than half an hour ago gigantic robots, now confirmed as Sentinels, began landing in our nation's capital. These are apparently the same robots that were spotted more than a week ago on a small island off of the coast of Scotland. The assumption made at the time was that they were part of a rumored operation against suspected mutant terrorists. But, when these Sentinels landed in Washington D.C. this morning, they immediately surrounded the White House and became involved in a battle with a military forces assigned to the city. The clash between the two sides lasted for a few intense moments before the soldiers were forced back, as scores of Sentinels continued landing throughout the city and quickly outnumbered them. For the latest, we go to our GNN on-the-scene reporter, Sherry Franklin. Sherry…"
"Thank you Gina. This is Sherry Franklin reporting live from Washington, where a standoff has formed between the U.S. military and these larger than life machines. Currently, all journalists and their camera crews have been moved to a more secure distance from the White House, as you can probably tell from the long range shot that our camera man is currently providing. President McKenna had just returned yesterday from a summit of world-leaders in Switzerland, and it is yet unclear whether the President was present in the White House when this battle outside began. There are also reports that--"
Suddenly, the television screen in Alison's classroom went black for a few seconds. Then they, just like everyone else around the country and around the world that happened to be watching the breaking coverage were awestruck, when they saw what looked like a Sentinel. But, this one was different in its appearance and was quite larger than the others that were shown landing in Washington.
"Citizens, this is Unit Designate: Mastermold, supreme commander of all subordinate Sentinel units. Subordinate units have been deployed to begin the process of fulfilling Prime Directives, which are designed to ultimately eliminate the threat that beings possessing mutated genetic anomalies pose. We have detained the Head of the Executive Branch of the United States government, as part of the first phase in establishing global order essential to Prime Directive achievement.
Any interference or hostile action taken by military forces against Sentinel units to impede Prime Directive attainment will result in the termination of the Head of the Executive Branch. Unit Designate will provide further instructions for the general populace at a subsequent time. End transmission."
After the message, the classroom was left in a stunned silence.
"Ah don't believe it, they're holdin' the President hostage!" Rogue said, the first one to speak after viewing the message from the Mastermold, which had been broadcast over hijacked global television feeds that the giant Sentinel had managed to seize control of, "Ah'd better go find the Professor."
"When me and Sam left the main rec-room, he said he was going to tell the Professor what was going on." Dani said to Rogue.
"Where're they at?" Rogue asked her.
"In his study, I think." Dani answered.
After hearing that, Rogue quickly left the classroom. Those that remained inside continued watching the events that were unfolding in Washington, but none observed more closely than Kitty Pryde.
Meanwhile, Rogue found Professor Xavier a short time later, as she met him in the corridor close to his study.
"Did Sam find you?" Rogue asked, as she stopped in the hallway.
"Yes, we went to the main room and we watched the entire broadcast together. I've sent him to locate the other X-Men in the mansion, and to inform them of what is happening." Professor Xavier confirmed.
As Rogue and the Professor were talking, Scott and Ororo came walking quickly down the hallway towards them. It had been a difficult struggle, but from his study Professor Xavier had managed to telepathically contact Ororo in her attic bedroom, and then Scott in his classroom with his urgent summons.
"We should go down to the War Room and start working on a contingency plan of action." Scott first said to the Professor.
"I concur." Professor Xavier agreed, as he, Scott, and Ororo then turned in the direction towards the elevator.
"Mind if Ah tag along so Ah can watch the professionals in action and maybe take few notes? Ah mean, seein' as y'all did make me the Senior-Squad's deputy leader and all." Rogue slyly requested.
"I don't see what it would hurt." Professor Xavier said, as he gave his approval.
"Then, I hope that you brought your lucky pen with you. I have a feeling that we are going to need every little bit that we can muster before this is finished." Ororo lightly remarked to Rogue, as they walked down the hallway with Scott and the Professor. In no time, the quartet had made it to the elevator and they were soon whisked down to the sub-level below.
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Back in Alison's classroom, both teacher and students stood in front of the television mesmerized by the alarming incident taking place before them.
"Inacreditave. (Unbelievable)" Roberto Da Costa said, as he commented on the Sentinel's evident coup.
"Why don't those army guys just start blasting those 'bots." Jaime Madrox said, as he stood in the semi-circle that he and the other students had formed around the television. They were watching as military special-forces began to amass around the White House, but saw that they weren't making any advances towards it.
"You heard that Mastermold monstrosity. If the military attacks, then they'll kill the President." Amara Aquilla reminded her classmate.
"If I was there, I'd show them how to take care of those Sentinels." Roberto confidently remarked.
"You wouldn't say that if you saw one up close." Kitty, who had been silent ever since Dani had come in and made her announcement, told Roberto.
"I'm not scared of some over-grown Terminators. My solar-strength would take them down, nooo sweat." The dark-haired Brazilian replied in a joking manner, although he was very serious about the certainty that he held in his mutant abilities. Roberto dreamed of the day when he would be able to use those mutant gifts to help protect others from the dangers of the world, such as the threat that the Sentinels now posed to everyone.
But unlike Roberto, the dreams that ran through Kitty's conscious and sub-conscious mind were decidedly different. They had been haunted of late by visions of these very same Sentinels now on display before her. Her dreams, nightmares really, were the aftereffect of having faced the Sentinels during a violent battle on Muir Island, one in which she had almost been killed by one of them.
It was an experience that had scared Kitty to her core, and which she had been trying to come to grips with ever since. Kitty's way of coping had been to bottle up her post-trauma stress, in the hopes that it would eventually work itself out. As she and her classmates watched the scene on TV, to Kitty it looked like a nightmare that had come to life. But unlike a dream, these events that were taking place were all too real and Kitty had now reached the point where she could no longer hold back what those images had stirred inside of her.
"You don't know what the hell you're talkin' about! Peter is like, ten-times stronger than you and invulnerable on top of that, and he barely survived fighting those things!" Kitty began uncontrollably yelling back at Roberto, as she verbally exploded. Everyone else in the room, including Roberto, were caught completely off-guard by Kitty's very vocal and very loud response.
"Kitty, calm down. I'm sure that Roberto didn't mean anything by it." Amara was the first to say to her, in a voice that was remarkably proper in its tone.
"Yeah, you know how 'Berto likes to brag about how strong he is." Dani added as she also tried to allay Kitty, but the chestnut-brown brunette continued going off as though she hadn't heard either of them.
"None of you were there. You didn't watch an entire island get blown to a million pieces right in front of your eyes. Those Sentinels were unfeeling, uncaring machines bent on killing any mutants that got in their way. Especially, stupid little ones that want to run around pretending to be a super-hero!" Kitty said, as she had taken a few steps back from the group towards the center of the room, and finished her emotional tirade.
Tears were now running down from Kitty's eyes, as she was finally forced to confront the repressed emotions that she had been holding in for so long. But, she was absolutely horrified when she calmed down enough to realize that she had just exposed her inner-most feelings in front of her fellow classmates. Kitty could now feel all of their surprised glares as they weighed heavily upon her.
"Kitty, why don't we go somewhere and talk about what's going on? You know, just the two of us." Alison sincerely offered, as she could see that Kitty was obviously upset over the news report and wanted to try and help her.
But by this point, Kitty was so embarrassed by her dramatic performance that all she wanted to do was just completely disappear off of the face of the Earth.
So, that's exactly what she did.
Without a response, Kitty wiped her tear-stained face with the palm of her hand and then she phased, slowly sinking down through the floor beneath her.
"Whoa." Jaime was the first to comment, in the now silent classroom.
"All of you go to the living room. I'm going to see if I can find her." A concerned Alison said, as she left the classroom first. Her students soon did the same, although the living room wouldn't be their destination.
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At that very same moment in the school's gym on the first-floor, three students inside who were dressed in t-shirts and sweat pants were as of yet unaware of everything that was going on. But, that particular circumstance was one that would be changing for them very shortly.
"I would ask you if you needed a spot, but I guess that would sound kind of silly." Bobby Drake remarked, as he stood near the weight bench where Peter Rasputin was currently doing bench presses, unarmored and with 700 pounds on the bar.
"Still, I suppose it is the thought that counts." Peter whimsically replied, as he laid on the bench and continued repetitiously pressing the barbell up and down above his chest. Once he had finished his first set, Peter put the barbell back on the rack above him, which was connected to the bench.
"Yeah, but it's not like you even have to do them. You can turn to steel whenever you want, and pick up a hundred times that weight." J.E. Richter commented, as he leaned against an exercise bicycle in the workout room.
"But, there may come a time when I am not able to use those abilities. Mr. Summers has taught us X-Men to be prepared in the event that such a thing ever happens, so that is why I strive to maintain and increase my body's natural strength levels." Peter explained to Rictor.
"It's why all of the X-Men try to develop other skills, so we don't just rely solely on our mutant powers." Bobby added.
"I guess that does make sense, Amigo." Rictor said to Bobby, when a fourth person suddenly joined them as he came running into the gymnasium.
"Ah've been lookin' everywhere for you guys. Professor Xavier sent me tah tell you about what's happenin' in Washington." Samuel Guthrie said, as he stopped to catch his breath and stood by the swinging door at the gym's entrance.
"What's up?" Bobby asked him, as Peter now sat up on the bench.
"We saw a bunch of Sentinels land outside of the White House on TV, and I think they're tryin' to kidnap the President." Sam informed them.
"Boz Moi!" Peter replied.
"My thoughts exactly." Bobby said, as he looked down at Peter sitting on the bench, and then back to Sam as he asked the blonde Kentucky-native another question, "Where's everyone else in the house right now?"
"When Ah left to go find the Professor, a few other kids were in the main room. After Ah found him, the Professor sent me tah look for the rest of the adults and older kids in the house. Ah found Mr. Wagner and Ah looked for Logan, but Ah didn't see him anywhere." Sam answered.
"I believe that Logan was still in his room when I came down for my workout this morning. I will go see if he is still upstairs and inform him of what has happened, if he has not already heard." Peter told them.
"Alright, I'm going to go check on the everyone in the living room, and make sure everything's okay in there." Bobby said to Peter, "See if you can find any of the other X-Men and tell them what's going on. If you happen to see any of the other younger kids, tell them to come downstairs so that we know where they are, just in case."
With that, all four students then quickly departed the gymnasium. Sam and Rictor went back to the main rec-room with Bobby, while Peter hurriedly proceeded upstairs. Peter made it to the second floor in less than a minute, and once there, he ran into Jubilee in an open area that stood between the two wings of the school's dormitory areas.
"I am glad that I found you. Everyone is gathering downstairs in the main room." Peter told her, as they stood near the top of the large central staircase.
"Okay, but like what for?" Jubilee curiously asked him.
"Have you not heard?" Peter inquired.
"Heard what? I've been in my room workin' on some homework that's due tomorrow. I was just headin' downstairs for a soda." Jubilee told him.
"There is some kind of disturbance in Washington D.C., which apparently involves Sentinels attacking the city." Peter revealed, "I was on my way to Logan's room, to inform him and anyone else that I came across."
"Well, you've informed person Numero Uno, so let's get a move on." Jubilee told Peter, as she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the west-wing corridor where Logan's room was. Once they had made it to Logan's bedroom, Jubilee and Peter saw that his bedroom door was still closed. Peter knocked on the door loud enough to hopefully get Logan's attention, even if he was still asleep.
"Who is it?" They heard Logan ask from inside, after hearing the knock.
"Room service." Jubilee replied, as it was almost impossible for her to pass up a chance to make a smart-aleck remark.
"There is something of urgent importance that we need to tell you." Peter said, as he immediately jumped into the conversation.
"Door's open." Logan called out to the pair, as they opened it and proceeded to enter.
Both Peter and Jubilee were somewhat surprised by the sight that met them inside of Logan's room. They saw that Logan was seated on a small mat on the floor, with his legs folded over Indian-style. He was dressed in just a pair of loose fitting black silk pants and had his head down in a meditation posture.
"Now, what's so urgent that you two had to interrupt?" Logan asked, as he still had his eyes closed in meditation.
"Sentinels are attacking Washington D.C." Peter revealed.
"Yep, that definitely qualifies as urgent." Logan said, as he now opened his eyes to look up at both Peter and Jubilee, and then stood up from the floor.
"C'mon, do you think we'd disturb you while you're becomin' one with the universe, unless it was important?" Jubilee commented, as Logan went over to turn on the TV set in his room. The three of them paid attention to the breaking news story, which was being broadcast on virtually every channel. After a few minutes of receiving essentially the same information that the others in the house had gotten earlier, Logan looked to his right and spoke to Jubilee and Peter.
"Let me get dressed and I'll meet you guys downstairs. I wanna go find out what Chuck and the rest of the brain-trust are plannin' on doin' about this." Logan told them. As Peter and Jubilee turned and were about leave his room, Jubilee noticed something over on the other side of the room by Logan's bed.
"So, where'd you get the wicked Kung-Fu gear?" Jubilee asked, as she saw a large Samurai's sword, protected inside of an intricately decorated sheath. It was on display as it sat on a beautifully carved wooden holding stand, which was about three feet tall and had a dark wood-stained color to it.
"It was given to me by a very special woman that I met while I was in Japan named Mariko Yashida. The sword is the Honor Blade of the Clan Yashida, and its been passed down in her family from generation to generation for hundreds of years. She gave it to me to symbolize how close we are to each other, and how deep the bond between the two of us is now." Logan explained to them.
"For a sec there, with Rogue bringing a sword back too, I was beginning to wonder if maybe they were handing 'em out as farewell gifts at the airport." Jubilee quipped, to which Logan let his momentary glare at her speak a thousand words for him.
"Was the stand a gift also?" Peter then asked Logan.
"Nah, I made that myself out in the woodshop. I started workin' on it right after I got back from Japan, and it took me about a week to finish it. All I wanted was to have somewhere halfway decent to keep the Honor Blade at." Logan replied.
"So, that's where you kept disappearing to?" Jubilee responded, as some of the students had been wondering where Logan was spending so much of his time at.
"You are far too modest in regards to your carpentry skills. Were you living in my village back home in Russia, your abilities would make you a rich man very quickly." Peter complimented him.
"Thanks, Pete. But, the enjoyment I got from buildin' it with my own two hands is worth more to me than anything else." Logan told them.
"But, Peter's not lyin'. You should take your act onto TV, you could probably score a spot hosting your own show on the Make-It-Yourself-Channel." Jubilee suggested.
"I don't think I'm quite Hollywood enough for a gig like that." Logan jokingly commented.
"You gotta have some confidence, Wolvie. Let me be your producer, and I guarantee we'd be a ratings hit." Jubilee replied.
"Well, first let me get dressed. If we survive these Sentinels, then we'll talk Jubilee." Logan smiled, as Jubilee and Peter went ahead and left the room, closing the bedroom door behind them.
Out in the hallway, Jubilee and Peter stopped to talk for a moment.
"I am going to see if there is anyone else up here, before I come downstairs." Peter told her.
"Okay, see ya down there." Jubilee said, as she turned and went back down to the end of the hallway where the main staircase in the mansion was located.
Meanwhile, Peter journeyed around the rest of the west-wing dormitories, but didn't see anyone else up there. Peter then went to go check the dormitories on the other end of the mansion and just as he was about to enter its east-wing, he ran into a small group of students on a search of their own.
"Peter, we're so glad that we found you. We've been trying to find Kitty." Amara said, as she, Jaime, and Dani came out of the opposite end dorms.
"We've been looking all over the mansion for her, but we can't find her." Jaime also informed him.
"We thought that maybe she came back to her room, but she's not in there either." Dani quickly added.
"Okay, everyone just slow down and tell me what is wrong?" Peter asked them. The trio then recounted for him what had happened roughly half an hour earlier, when Kitty became extremely upset over the news report about the Sentinels in Washington D.C. and then disappeared from their music class in a rather startling fashion.
"The three of you go ahead and go back downstairs with the others. I will be along shortly, after I find Katya." Peter told them.
"Do you know where she is?" Amara asked him, with concern still obvious in her voice.
"I believe that I have a fairly good idea." Peter replied, as he then hurried down the large staircase right by them.
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Downstairs, Kurt Wagner and Remy Lebeau currently were both seated at the kitchen table together. After Sam had come by earlier and informed them as to what was happening in Washington D.C., Kurt had turned the small television on in there and the two of them listened to the latest news being broadcast.
"Looks like these Sentinels are startin' t'broaden their horizon, if they tryin' t'take over de government now, non?" Remy said, as he sat in one of the kitchen chairs, with his feet up on another adjacent chair.
"Ja. It would seem the theory that Storm and Cyclops had deduced in regards to their creator having his or her own agenda, has now more than been validated. Now, we have to wonder what they have in store next?" Kurt replied, as he sat semi-crouching with both of his feet in his chair. He was sipping coffee from the cup in hand, as they now watched a city being held under siege.
Just then Ororo joined Kurt and Remy, as she came into the kitchen through its swinging door from the mansion's interior.
"Guten Morgen, Ororo." Kurt greeted her.
"Good morning, Kurt. And you as well, Remy." Ororo replied.
"Mornin', 'Stormy'." Remy said to her, which drew a swift response from Ororo.
"Why must you persist in calling me that ridiculous name?" Ororo asked, in a tone that was slightly exasperated at once again hearing Remy's new pet name for her.
"'Cause I t'ink it fits you to a tee. 'Sides it's kinda catchy, sorta like a song title." Remy responded, as he proceeded to briefly hum to her his on the spot version of Stormy. Despite her best attempts to not encourage him, Ororo couldn't help but smile a little at Remy's antics as she walked over to where the coffee machine was.
"What conclusions have you, Scott, and the Professor drawn downstairs about what is happening?" Kurt asked, as he switched the conversation to the more serious situation at hand.
"We've been discussing a preliminary strategy for confronting these Sentinels. Henry was working in his laboratory down there, and joined us when he heard us pass by. He's been trying to trace the origination of that Mastermold broadcast earlier, but has had little luck in that area so far. I came back up here to check on the children, and to gather all of the X-Men to inform them that we will be having an emergency meeting later." Ororo answered.
Then they suddenly paused, when the trio heard someone knocking at the kitchen's back door.
Remy and Kurt were surprised by the animated greeting that Ororo gave to an attractive, dark-haired woman who was standing at the door when Ororo went and opened it.
"Wanda, this is an unexpected surprise! How long have you been back?" Ororo said, as she warmly embraced the woman before them, who wasn't a familiar face to either of the men in the room.
"Our flight just arrived this morning, and we drove here directly from the airport." Wanda replied.
"You should have called and told us that you were flying in, we would have come to meet you there." Ororo said, as she and Wanda walked back into the kitchen.
"I know, but this wasn't exactly a planned trip. I believe that something of dire consequence is in the works, and I wanted to come make Professor Xavier and the rest of you aware of it in person." Wanda told Ororo.
"We all definitely aware now, it's been all over de TV." Remy said, as he inserted himself into the conversation.
"Oh, let me introduce the two of you." Ororo said, as Wanda went over to make her acquaintance with both men, "Wanda, this is Kurt Wagner to your left, and Remy Lebeau over to your right."
"It is wonderful to meet you, Fraulein." Kurt nodded to her, from the seat that he was perched in.
"And de pleasure is all mine." Remy said, as the mansion's resident charmer stood up and went over to take Wanda's hand, gently kissing it.
Then, everyone in the room heard a voice speak from behind them, as this fifth individual entered the kitchen from the mansion's interior.
"I was fairly certain that I was correct in my discernation that it was you, whom I saw passing by on the mansion's exterior video surveillance system." Henry McCoy said to Wanda, as he now joined the group.
Hank had earlier removed his white lab coat before going into the War Room with the Professor and the others, and was now dressed in just a blue, short-sleeve polo-style shirt and a pair of black pants.
"Hello, Henry." Wanda said, as the cheery demeanor that she had been exhibiting just scant moments before, now became much more serious.
"You look fabulous, as always." Hank said to her, as he took his eyeglasses off and they both stood gazing intensely at one another. Meanwhile, Ororo had taken a seat at the kitchen table with Kurt and Remy, both of whom were sensing the slightly uneasy atmosphere currently in the room.
"Thank you, and you look wonderful as well." Wanda told him, "You look as though you have been taking very good care of yourself, Henry."
"You know me." Hank said, as he flashed her a small smile.
"I learned recently that you had left your research position at the Brand Corporation, to come back here and join the faculty." Wanda revealed.
"It started as a temporary favor to Professor Xavier, but I have found that the educational environment here is very conducive in aiding with my scientific endeavors." Hank told her.
"I'm glad to hear that." Wanda responded.
Hank and Wanda then stood facing one another, with an uncomfortable silence between the two of them. Finally, Hank broke it when he spoke to her once again.
"So, where is Meg at?" Hank asked Wanda.
"She's with Pietro, they should be along in a moment. She saw some of the other children outside as we were arriving, and you know that she just had to go and introduce herself." Wanda warmly revealed. Then almost on cue, Megan entered the kitchen and made a B-line directly for Hank.
"And how are you doing today, Meg?" Hank asked her, as an enormous smile came over his face when Megan ran over to jump up into his arms, "You've grown so much since the last time I saw you!"
"That's because I'm a big girl now. I'll be eight years old in…" The dark-haired young girl gleefully revealed, as Megan had to pause for a moment to mentally countdown the amount of time until her next birthday, "Five months!"
"Yes you will." Hank happily agreed.
"You know what else?" Megan challenged him.
"What is that?" Hank inquired, as he held Megan up and cradled her with just one of his muscular arms.
"I got to ride on a really big plane here." Megan excitedly told him.
"You did, did you?" Hank confirmed, as he looked down at her.
"Uh-huh, it was real big and real loud, but it was sooo cool." Megan continued telling him.
"Well then, you're going to have to tell me all about this really big plane." Hank said, as he looked down at Megan who was still in his arm, and then the two of them left the kitchen together.
"You have an adorable daughter." Kurt said to Wanda, as she stood and watched Hank and Megan depart, while her brother Pietro silently made his entrance into the room and quietly closed the door behind him.
"She is precious. And as you can see, quite a handful." Wanda happily confirmed.
"That's alright, Hank sure seem t'have a way wit' her." Remy commented from the other side of the table.
"It's only to be expected. Any loving father should have a strong rapport with his own daughter." Wanda revealed, as she stood leaning against the wall next to the back door.
"Hank's daughter?!" Kurt responded from the table, as both he and Remy were very surprised by that revelation.
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At that same moment, as the morning's major news story in Washington held most of the world captivated, no one was paying attention more closely than Warren Worthington III. The blonde CEO and chairman of Worthington Enterprises was sitting and watching everything from a large-screened television in his sprawling private office, which was on the top floor of the corporation's towering skyscraper located in downtown Manhattan.
Warren had been intensely watching the dramatic turn of events over the last few hours for a number of reasons. The first and foremost reason being, that Warren had recently uncovered that his company had indirectly been involved with the creation of these very same Sentinels in Washington D.C. It was a fact that had been brought to Warren's attention during a visit to his corporate office by an old friend, Ororo Munroe, who at one time had been something much more to him. Warren felt a deep sense of guilt over this connection; despite the insistence from Cameron Hodge, the vice-president of Worthington Enterprises' subsidiary company Dynatech Industries, that they had no prior inkling as to what the materials that they were producing were going to be used for. Still, Warren's current disposition also had to do with more than just his unbeknownst help in the Sentinel's manufacture.
Ever since Ororo had paid him a visit, Warren had been thinking back on his days as a student at Xavier's School for the Gifted. He was trying to come to grips with an internal struggle of sorts, as he reflected on a past that he had denied for so long. Seeing Ororo and how she still seemed to be so angry at him, reminded Warren of how much he had hurt her when they were a couple. On top of that, Warren also felt a deep sense of regret about how he had left the X-Men, essentially turning his back on his friends and on the responsibilities he felt that he had owed to them. Warren knew that he had profoundly hurt those whom he had been so close with. It was the main reason why he had consciously chosen not to think about the subject, ever since his departure from the school following graduation.
As he sat and watched the massive purple constructs on TV seize control of Washington, Warren was struck by a sudden discovery. He realized that the time had come for him to stop lamenting over the mistakes of his past, and for him to finally begin the process of correcting them.
"Eileen, cancel my appointments for the rest of today, if they haven't called and cancelled already. I'm going to be out of the office for the remainder of the day." Warren said to her from his office, delivering his request over the intercom system out to his secretary's desk.
Warren then quickly stood up from the large office chair that he had been seated in, taking hold of a remote control sitting on the grandiose oak desk in front of him. Depressing one of the buttons on the remote, Warren turned his view upward as the glass skylight window in his office now retracted open. Warren then took the opportunity to bask in the mid-day sunlight, a simple pleasure he felt that he hadn't taken the time to enjoy in much too long. As he stood with his eyes closed and relished the sun's natural radiance, Warren now knew there was one last thing left for him to do.
"Well, if I'm going to do this, I might as well do it right." Warren said to himself, as his eyes opened again.
Warren pulled another, smaller remote device out of his pants pocket. A few quick turns by his hand unscrewed the protective cap on the remote, and Warren then pressed the miniscule button now visible on it. The harness device that Warren wore underneath his clothing, which he and Professor Xavier had designed to hide the feathered wings that his mutation had given him from the rest of the world, electronically recoiled itself.
Warren allowed his extra appendages to immediately burgeon forth, ripping through the back of the cream-colored suit jacket that he was wearing. Although his expensive tailor-made suit was officially ruined, Warren could care less at that moment. The only thing of any importance to him right then was slowly flapping his lengthy wings, so that he could take to the sky through the opening in the skylight window and soar once again…
On the wings of an Angel.
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Back in Westchester, Peter had just completed his journey down the stairs and to the other side of the school, all in his quest to seek out where Kitty had disappeared to. Once he had arrived outside of the school's computer lab on the first floor, he waited for its sliding glass door to open in front of him. Then, Peter was shown that he was correct in his assumption about where Kitty had gone. Peter saw that she was seated in front of one of the computer terminals, although it didn't look as if she were actually using the machine at the moment
"Katya?" Peter called out to Kitty, as he entered the lab.
"That's me." Kitty replied, in a fairly hushed tone. She was sitting with her back towards Peter, as she stared down at the keyboard in front of her.
"Some of the other students came and informed me of what happened in your music class earlier today." Peter said, as he continued to slowly walk towards her.
"Guess everyone must be getting a huge kick out of my little freak-out." Kitty replied, with her face still gazing downward and her hands resting in her lap.
"Actually, they and myself are all very concerned about you. They were searching the entire mansion for you, when I ran into them. Tell me Katya, what is the matter?" Peter asked, as he went and brought a chair from another computer terminal, rolling it over right next to Kitty before he sat down in it.
After he had posed his question to her, Kitty finally turned towards Peter and lifted her head up from its downward posture. Peter could instantly see that her eyes were still red and puffy from where she had been crying.
"Haven't you seen the news?" Kitty asked, as she looked directly at him.
"I have. But that still does not answer my question?" Peter continued to inquire.
"You want an answer, then fine. I'm scared Piotr, scared about all of this." Kitty revealed to him, as Peter took immediate notice of her use of the proper pronunciation of his name.
Peter definitely admired hearing the way that 'Piotr' seemed to smoothly roll off of her tongue, and he wished that she would call him by it more often. But, Peter also knew that something must have really been troubling Kitty for her to call him by it.
"This entire episode is frightening, especially with the potential danger that it poses to the rest of the world." Peter told her.
"But, you don't get it. The whole reason I became an X-Man is so I wouldn't have to feel this way again." Kitty began, "When Stryker and those soldiers invaded the school last year, I felt totally powerless. I mean, it was just you and Logan fighting an entire army all on your own, and the only thing I could do was run and hide."
"No one is faulting you for your actions, you did exactly what you were supposed to. Besides, it is not as though you were the only one forced to flee the school. We all eventually had to do the same thing, including Logan and myself." Peter replied.
"I know, but I made a promise to myself that night, while I was waiting in the woods around the mansion for the rest of you to show up. I swore that if I was ever put in that situation again, that I'd be able to do something, anything, more than just run. And I thought I was doing a pretty good job of getting there too. That is, 'til those Sentinels showed up and attacked us on Muir Island. The way that they totally tore through us showed me just how wrong I was." Kitty told Peter, as she was completely pouring her heart out to him. "I know this is going to sound so horrible and I'm ashamed to even admit it, but I'm afraid that if we fight them again that we won't be able to stop them."
"Of that I have no doubt, I am very confident that together the X-Men can defeat them." Peter optimistically assured her.
"How do you know?" Kitty, who was not quite convinced, continued to ask.
"In my heart I believe that our fight is a just one, and that in the end we shall prevail." Peter replied, as Kitty paused for a moment before responding.
"I hope so. You know, for someone who says he doesn't have much in the way of faith, you could've fooled me." Kitty told him, as she was finally able to flash a small smile.
"Perhaps, Katya. But I am wondering, why you didn't tell me that you were feeling these things before?" Peter asked her.
"I guess it was because I didn't want you guys thinkin' I was just a baby, who couldn't cut it on the team." Kitty admitted to him.
"Now, you should know that is nonsense." Peter told her.
"Well, that's how I felt, what do you want me to tell you?" Kitty said, as she leaned back a bit in her chair, looking straight at Peter.
"I want you to tell me the truth, of course. And I shouldn't make light of your feelings, but I hope that talking about your anxieties has helped." Peter said to her.
"Yeah, a little. I just wish I could be as brave and as sure as you are about all of this." Kitty responded, as her golden brown eyes now met his deep blue ones, and she gazed intensely into them.
"I am quite certain that you are just as brave and capable as I, if not more so. But in the meantime, I will be brave for the both of us, Katya." Peter said, as he got up and knelt down on one knee in front of Kitty, tightly embracing her as she sat in the chair.
Peter then softly kissed Kitty on the side of her face and caressed her smaller frame next to his, while she draped her arms up around his shoulders. Peter very much wanted to comfort Kitty and help her through the difficulties that she was currently feeling, just as she had done much the same thing for him following his brother's death. The only thing that Kitty wanted right then was to feel safe and secure in Peter's powerful arms, as he gently stroked the small of her back. Even, if it was only for that fleeting moment.
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Just as Kitty and Peter were making the most of their time together, unsure of what even the immediate future held for them, two other individuals at the school were doing much the same thing in their own way. In the student's smaller recreation room at the school, Henry and Megan McCoy were currently enjoying a pleasant father/daughter moment together.
"I must say, this animated tale about a somewhat sophomoric phylum Porifera and his aquatic adventures is surprisingly entertaining, both on face value and as a commentary on alternative social viewpoints." Hank said, as he and Megan sat and watched television on the sofa in the student's rec-room.
"But Dad, his name is Spongebob Squarepants, not 'Fill'em Poe-ripra'. And he lives under the sea with his friend Patrick." Megan ardently asserted, as she sat closely next to her father on the sofa and pointedly looked up at him.
"I stand corrected." Hank said, as he briefly glanced over at Megan and happily acquiesced.
Just then, a third party joined Megan and Hank, who had seemingly entered the room in the blink of an eye.
"And how is my favorite brother-in-law faring?" Hank asked Pietro Maximoff, as the silver-haired man now slowly walked over to where Hank and Megan were seated.
"You're only brother-in-law is doing just fine." Pietro candidly replied, as he stood by the sofa dressed in a starched white, long-sleeved dress shirt and dark-olive pants, "I was walking around the entire estate and thinking about how long it has been since I was last here. I decided to come in and see what you two were doing in here?"
"I thought that the coverage about Washington might prove a little upsetting for our resident Spongebob-expert here, so we've been watching cartoons together. Meg has been giving me quite the tutorial." Hank said, as he nodded slightly towards Megan next to him.
"Yes, I heard about all of that on the radio when we were on our way here, and I saw some of the footage in the kitchen with Ororo and the others." Pietro replied.
"I like Spongebob, but he doesn't use big funny words like you Daddy. Is that why you're not on TV anymore?" Megan interjected herself into the conversation. The question had left Hank slightly confused, as he looked over to Pietro for a bit of clarification on her query.
"She's referring to your television appearance on Crosstalk last year, following the attempt on the President's life. Megan thought that you had gotten your own TV show, and it took Wanda an entire month afterwards to convince her otherwise." Pietro explained to Hank.
"Sorry to disappoint you Meg, but it appears that my proverbial fifteen minutes of fame ran out some time ago." Hank said to her. But Megan had become so engrossed by the television program on in front of her, that she now wasn't paying much attention to the conversation currently taking place between her father and uncle.
"You know that what's happening with these Sentinels today, is probably some mutaphobic nut's response to that mutant trying to assassinate McKenna. Now, mutants everywhere are in danger because of that assassin, who I'll lay you odds was probably working under my father's orders." Pietro presumed.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you too Pietro, but your father had nothing to do with the nefarious scheme behind such an act, which came to naught."
"And how are you so certain?" Pietro asked him.
"You don't have to take my word for it, you can go ask the rehabilitated assassin yourself. He's sitting in the kitchen right now." Hank revealed, which drew a noticeable double-take from Pietro.
"On the subject of my father, you should know that he is the reason that Wanda and I came here today. He came to pay a visit to my sister at her home the other day." Pietro now imparted to Hank.
"What did he want?" Hank curiously inquired.
"Why don't you go ask Wanda? She flew all of the way out here just to see you and to talk to you about it, and about everything else between the two of you." Pietro stated.
"I had been hesitant to initiate such a conversation, especially since she had previously made her feelings on the subject of 'us' crystal-clear." Hank responded.
"She never stopped loving you." Pietro flatly said to Hank.
"And I never stopped loving her, but that was never the basis of our problems. Suffice it to say that even in the best of relationships, sometimes love is simply not enough." Hank remarked.
"Well, take it from your favorite brother-in-law, who never gave much credence to the idea of true love until he saw what you two had and saw how truly special it is. Sometimes, love is the only thing that two people really need in this world." Pietro so eloquently articulated that Hank, for once in his life, didn't have anything to say in response.
After a brief moment of silence, save the chatter from the animated characters on the television, Hank stood up and then started towards the doorway of the room.
"She's in Xavier's study." Pietro added, as Hank turned to nod at Pietro, before turning back and continuing on. Then, Pietro looked down at his niece, who was still seated on the sofa watching TV.
"So Meg, do you have room for one more there?" Pietro playfully asked her.
"Sure, 'Unca Speedy'." Megan happily replied to Pietro, as she scooted over a little on the sofa to accommodate him.
---------------------------------
Hank made it to Professor Xavier's study and found that it was indeed occupied by Wanda Maximoff-McCoy. She stood by a window that was close to the Professor's desk, as she meticulously studied the estate grounds outside and was dressed in a scarlet-red, long-sleeve blouse and black denim-style pants.
"A penny for your thoughts?" Hank asked her, as he entered the study and closed the door behind him.
"One would have to wonder if such an antiquated phrase should be adjusted for modern inflation levels?" Wanda wittily remarked, as she smiled slightly and continued to stare outside on the mostly cloudy afternoon.
"I think that a proper appraisal would still not fully assess their true value, especially in your case." Hank replied, as he stood just inside of the closed door.
"You've always been much to kind, Henry darling. Even to those undeserving of such warm-hearted affections." Wanda told Hank, as she now turned back to face him.
"Why are you heaping such self-criticism on yourself?" Hank asked her.
"Because I realize now how wrong I've been, about so many things." Wanda said to him.
"What are you talking about?" Hank continued with his inquiry, as he now walked from the study's door over to the window by Wanda.
"I was wrong to leave you in the manner that I did, and I was just as wrong to keep you from having a more substantial role in your daughter's life. Looking back, it was very selfish of me to act so rashly without taking into account how my actions would impact you." Wanda replied, as she now looked directly into his blue-gray eyes.
"Your concern was that of a mother for her child's well-being. I cannot fault you, particularly when your motivations were as sincere as those guiding your decision." Hank responded, "As you told me, I'll always be an X-Man whether I'm living here at the mansion or not. And I can sympathize with why you wouldn't want a child to grow up in an environment of such potential danger. You took Meg and left to be certain that her safety would be assured, and I've always understood and respected that."
"That's just it, I took Megan and hid away all of these years thinking that we were safe. But, all one needs to do is look at what's going on in Washington right now. There is no such thing as a safe place in this world, if men are willing to go to such extremes as to build obscenities like those Sentinels, just to hunt down those that they consider different. And my father had little trouble in finding me, despite my best efforts to conceal my current location from him." Wanda revealed to Hank.
"Pietro mentioned that, when we spoke just a short while ago. What exactly did 'Dear-old Dad' want?" Hank asked her.
"What else. To once again extol the virtues of his cause, even if they are nowhere near as noble in practice. More importantly, he requested that I return with him and rejoin his Brotherhood. Surprisingly, some of what he was saying actually made sense this time." Wanda answered.
"You're not seriously considering his offer, are you?!" Hank abruptly asked her, as he was astounded by that very notion.
"You should know me better than that Henry. What my father told me was that the time had come for me to play a larger role in helping to build a new world, and in a way he is right. I've remained neutral for far too long, and he reminded me that there is a price to be paid for ignoring one's responsibilities. It should not be left to Magneto or his anti-mutant counterparts to dictate what that world should be. I want our daughter's tomorrow to be free of those old hatreds and prejudices, where she doesn't have to pick sides based on what genes she did or didn't inherit from her parents. I came to tell you that I'm ready now to help fight for that better world, and it would seem that Professor Xavier's School is as fitting a place as any to embark on that goal." Wanda finished.
"Well, you've just recruited your first supporter in your reinvigorated objective." Hank enthusiastically told her, as he took her by the hand.
"I love you, Henry McCoy. Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me for how I've hurt you?" Wanda now asked her husband, as they stood together in front of the window by Professor Xavier's desk in his study.
"I love you too. And as for your other point, you needn't even ask." Hank told her, as the two of them embraced and passionately kissed one another. Then Hank and Wanda stood looking out of the large window in the study for a brief moment, both of them envisioning that better world which they had just been discussing. Together.
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While Hank and Wanda were talking and resolving the issues that had kept them apart for so long, Rogue was making her way from the lower levels of the school up to the ground floor. After exiting from inside of the elevator, she went into the large living room in the mansion where the majority of its residents were now gathered.
"Hey, Roguey-Rogue." Jubilee said, as she stood next to Bobby and Logan in the living room, while Alison was the lone adult currently sitting on one of the sofas by the younger students. All of the students were seated in various places in the room, either on the sofas, smaller seats, or on the floor.
"Hi, Jube." Rogue replied, as she walked over to an area behind one of the sofas where they were standing.
Then, the individual with whom Rogue herself had just resolved issues with less than twenty-four hours ago spoke to her.
"Hi, Rogue." Bobby warmly greeted her, glancing over at Rogue and then turning his attention back to the news on the television.
"Oh…Hi, Bobby." Rogue uneasily replied. Although everything that needed to be said between them had been vocalized the night before, Rogue and Bobby were now left with the complicated question of where their relationship was supposed to go from there.
"Say darlin', I forgot to tell you last night that I got a message from Mariko yesterday." Logan now said to Rogue.
"Really? That's awesome!" Rogue excitedly replied.
"Remind me to play it for you later. A lot of it was meant for yours truly, but she did have some words for you. And for the Cajun too." Logan told her.
"Okay." Rogue responded, as one of the individuals in front of them then delivered a question to the group, which had been on her mind the entire morning.
"So, when're all of ye gonna go 'n show these Sentinels who's boss?" Theresa Cassidy asked, as the red-head turned around on the sofa to face the older group assembled behind her.
"Soon, real soon." Bobby very enthusiastically replied.
"You got that right, kid." Logan said to Bobby, as he very much agreed with his sentiment. Then, Logan turned back to Rogue to ask her something, "Speakin' of which, what's the latest from Chuck 'n One-Eye on us goin' to recycle these walkin' garbage cans?"
"They've been goin' through a ton of maps of Washington, tryin' to pinpoint where the Sentinels have landed in the city. They're tryin' to analyze the best course of action, and Scott actually asked me to come find Ororo while Ah was up here so the three of 'em could hammer out a final battle plan." Rogue answered him.
"Good." Logan told her, when two more individuals made their entrance into the living room.
Kitty and Peter came in after journeying there from the opposite side of the school where the computer lab was, and they instantly drew the attention of some of the younger students in the room.
"Kitty, where'd you run off to?" Dani stood up and asked her first.
"We were looking all over the school for you." Amara added, as she was sitting next to Dani.
"You really scared us." Jaime also said, as he sat next to Sam.
"Hey guys, maybe we should save the third-degree for a little later." Alison said to the students, as she now stood up from the sofa where she had been seated and spoke to them.
"It's alright Alison." Kitty said to her, as she and Peter stood just inside of the large doorframe.
"How are you feeling?" Alison inquired, as she was still concerned about Kitty following her hasty departure from class.
"I'm feeling better now." Kitty told her.
"Are you sure?" Alison continued asking.
"Positive." Kitty now smiled, as she briefly glanced up at Peter next to her.
"Ah'm gonna go see if Ah can find Ororo." Rogue announced to the group that she had been standing with, as she now started across the room.
"I saw her a little while ago in the kitchen with Remy and Kurt." Alison imparted to her. Rogue acknowledged Alison's disclosure with a slight nod, as she passed by the sofa towards another doorway on the other side of the room.
Back over by the entrance where Kitty and Peter were standing, another pair of entrants came in, as the main room now seemed to edge closer to its maximum capacity.
"I was wonderin' where you'd gotten to McCoy?" Logan said to him, as Hank and Wanda both entered the room.
"I was merely having a most felicitous meeting of the minds with the stunning individual to my right, and we recently adjourned to ascertain what the latest happenings from the District of Columbia are." Hank told Logan.
"With all of those million-dollar words, I'm gonna assume you're talkin' about what we've been watchin' on TV." Logan said in response, "You gonna introduce me to your lady-friend or what?"
"Certainly, I'd like you to meet the lovely Mrs. McCoy." Hank informed Logan.
"You never said anything about being married Dr. McCoy." Bobby said to him.
Just then, Megan came running into the room and immediately went over to Wanda, who was standing with Hank, Logan and the others.
"We were walking around the school together, when she heard your voice in here from out in the hallway." Pietro said to Hank, as he was next to walk into the room.
"Did you miss us?" Wanda looked down and asked Megan, who was standing with her arms wrapped around her mother's waist.
"A little bit." Megan non-chalantly replied.
"Just a little bit?" Wanda keenly continued to inquire.
"Okay, a whole bunch." Megan finally admitted, still holding on to her mother tightly as she moved over to stand at Wanda's side.
"Doesn't she remind you a little of Illyana?" Peter asked Kitty, as he commented about the little sister whom he missed quite a bit. He made his remark in a voice low enough that only Kitty heard him, as she responded by nodding her head in agreement with him.
"Beast has a wife? That is just too cool!" Jubilee remarked, "How'd you two meet anyways?"
"When I first saw her, I thought she was the most beautiful creature that I had ever laid eyes on." Hank answered, "So, I went over to inform her of my adulatory sentiments."
"And what did you say?" Jubilee asked Wanda, who couldn't help but smile when she thought back to that first meeting.
"She didn't say anything. Instead, she punched me as hard as she could." Hank happily added.
"That fresh mouth of yours'll get ya in trouble every time, McCoy." Logan jokingly prodded him.
"In his defense, it happened during a more misguided period of my youth." Wanda now said to Logan.
"You could say our misguided youth." Pietro added to her response.
"Mommy, why did you hit Daddy?" Megan abruptly and somewhat worriedly asked her mother.
"Oh honey, we were much younger then. You don't have to worry about anything like that happening anymore." Wanda replied, as she stroked Megan's hair and tried to explain that part of her past in a way that would calm her daughter.
"Let's hope so." Hank quipped, as he mockingly put his hand up to his face and rubbed his jaw.
"Wait a minute, I recognize you guys now!" Jubilee suddenly said, as she recognized the brother and sister pair, "You're Wanda and Pietro Lensherr, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. I remember reading about you guys in the X-Men's info database."
"You are correct." Pietro told her.
"And who says I just sleep during class." Jubilee acutely remarked.
"Lensherr? That means you're related to Magneto?" Bobby inquired.
"Unfortunately, He is mine and Wanda's father." Pietro confirmed.
"It said that you guys used to be part of the Brotherhood with him, and that later on you quit. But, it didn't say anything else about you after that." Jubilee continued.
"We followed our father for a time when we were teenagers, both out of a sense of loyalty to him and because he can be eloquently persuasive when he wants to be." Wanda told her.
"No kidding." Bobby said, as he thought about his close friend who had not too long ago left them to follow Magneto's cause.
"We did eventually realize the error of our ways, and absolutely refused to have anything further to do with him or with his anti-human crusade." Wanda further explained.
"After we left the Brotherhood for good, my sister and myself had our names legally changed from Lensherr to Maximoff. Which is why suspect that nothing further is said in Xavier's records about Wanda and Pietro Lensherr." Pietro concluded.
"Well, I guess you can always leave it to the smart guys to fall for the wild ones." Jubilee now said, as she glanced over at Hank to tease him a little.
"You know, we could say the same thing about you and Doug." Bobby now needled her, as he turned the tables on Jubilee who couldn't find anything to say to him in response.
"Rogue, you wasn't lyin' when you said de whole house was in here." Remy loudly said, as he, Rogue, Ororo, and Kurt now came in from the opposite side of the room, "I ain't seen a crowd like dis since Mardi Gras dis year."
"Then you should feel right at home, 'Gumbo'." Logan commented to Remy from his side of the room.
"True dat." Remy gladly verified, "Since we talkin' 'bout New Orleans, maybe we all make a trip down there for next year's festivities?"
"And how do you think the local residents would react to such an eclectic group as ours descending upon your fair city?" Kurt jested with Remy, as he stood next to him on his left.
"Truth be told, us folks down there done seen t'ings a lot stranger than anyt'ing goin' on 'round here." Remy replied, as he looked back at Kurt.
The spirit in the room now was actually starting to shift from the grim and very serious mood that everyone in the house had been feeling, ever since the disconcerting news report that morning. But, it was a feeling that wouldn't last for very long. Everyone in the living room suddenly stopped talking almost simultaneously a few minutes later, when their attention was uncontrollably drawn to the doorway behind Wanda, Hank, and Pietro.
"I hate to be the one to break things up, but I need the team to report down to the War Room ASAP for an emergency meeting." Scott said, as he came and stood just inside of the large wooden doorframe.
"I thought we were going to settle on a final strategy first?" Ororo said to Scott, as she walked towards him from the opposite side of the room.
"That was the plan, but now it looks like we're going to have to scrap our previous ideas and start over from scratch." Scott told her.
"And why's that, Cyke?" Logan inquired.
"Because, a very recent development in this already disturbing scenario has just further complicated the situation that we're facing." Scott cryptically told all of them.
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Next Chapter: The Gathering…
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A/N: Special thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter--
TheDreamerLady- I'm going to assume that you liked the last chapter. As far as Bobby and Northstar, I don't really see that one happening in this story.
ishandahalf- Glad you liked all of the confrontation/angst, of course it was bound to happen sooner or later. Once everything that's currently going on right now settles down, Rogue and Gambit are definitely going to have a night out on the town that'll blow their last date away. It'll be coming up in a future chapter.
randommarvelfan- I'm glad you love everything, and I hope you liked the way that Kitty's nightmare tied into this chapter. I'm also glad you liked the developments between Storm and Forge, they were one of my fav's from way back when too.
Episodic- Sorry about the length, but I'm glad you liked a version of Magneto that went beyond him being a simple villain. You're right, loose ends were being tied up in the last and in this chapter, since things in the action department are about to pick way up. And I hope you liked Wanda's connection into all of this.
plutospawn- Glad you liked everything, including Forge/Storm and with Bobby. Even though Gambit's in the picture, I didn't see the need to necessarily portray Bobby as the bad guy, since in most relationships there can be complex reasons as to why things don't work out.
Jean1- I'm glad you liked how Rogue and Bobby finally settled things between them. I don't know if Bobby's really being built up to be the next Scott in the movies. From what I could see, they kind of took comic Iceman's rebellious and practical-joking personality, and gave it to Pyro. Bobby was left with the ice powers, but not a whole lot else in respect to his comic counterpart. Bobby did seem to be very intelligent and he does have a level head, which are very good leadership qualities. But to me, he seems to have more of a team-player attitude than the drive necessary for a leadership role. Rogue and Pyro both seemed to display more of a 'take charge' attitude, especially at the end of X2, what with Pyro deciding that Xavier's vision may not be the one that he wanted to follow. I also noticed that it was Rogue who decided to fly the Blackbird and rescue the others, even though she had absolutely no experience or qualifications to do so.
Speaking of Rogue, I think in the comics it was mentioned a couple of times that Rogue had leadership potential, she just seemed to lack maturity in her early days on the team. IIRC, I believe there was even an issue just a few years ago where she was voted to lead the team by her teammates, including characters like Bishop and Sage who on paper would seem to have better qualifications for the job.
El Varon- Special thanks for the reviews, and I'm glad that you like how I've tried to tie stuff from the comics into these stories.
Digital Tempest- I'm glad you liked the last chapter and the complexity given to developments between Rogue and Bobby. It just seemed more natural to me that way too.
Blacknight369- Thanks for the review, and I'm glad that you like the inclusion of Remy and everything else that's happening in and around the mansion. I hope you continue to enjoy.