Chapter 3
The Danger Room
The next morning, the five friends sat down to a huge breakfast, and then, they were ushered into Professor Xavier's office,
"Please, take a seat." Professor X said, motioning to the five chairs in front of his desk,
"Thanks, Professor, you said last night, that you were going to show us around the lower levels, what did you mean by that?" Kim asked, looking at the wheelchair bound man with a foreboding expression,
"It is my intention to take you on a tour of the sub basement levels, and test you in the training room." Professor X said, smiling slightly,
"This training room, it wouldn't happen to be called The Danger Room, would it?" Ron asked, remembering Jean mentioning it last night,
"Yes, it's a nickname that the students here gave it many years back, starting with my first student, Scott Summers." Professor X said,
"Cyclops was your first student?" Monique asked,
"Indeed, he was," Professor X said, "he came to me when he was fifteen, he quickly earned the nickname 'Slim,' mainly because he was so skinny at the time."
"Slim does not fit him now." Brick said, grinning slightly,
"No, it doesn't, Mr. Flagg." Professor X said,
"So, what do you intend to do with us in The Danger Room?" Kim asked,
"I need to check the five of you out, so we can determine how best to handle your needs." Professor X replied,
"Needs, what kind of needs?" Bonnie asked,
"How to set up your rooms, what kind of training you would require to gain control of your abilities, and the like." Professor X replied, smiling at Bonnie,
"I think I'd need an asbestos wrap for my room." Bonnie replied, her head hanging,
"Why do you say that, Miss Rockwaller?" Professor X asked,
"She kinda set an apartment in Chicago on fire after an extremely nasty nightmare." Monique replied,
"Are these nightmares common for you?" Professor X asked,
"Only in the last couple of months." Bonnie replied,
"What are they about?" Professor X asked,
"My parents," Bonnie replied, "they kicked me out for being a mutant."
"And it comes back to you in your nightmares every night." Professor X said,
"Yeah." Bonnie replied, in a small voice,
"Miss Rockwaller, I can assure you that you're not alone in this mansion, Wolverine, for one, only remembers his past through some dreams, and nightmares he still has, when he wakes up, it slips away just as quickly," Professor X explained, "most of the children here are runaways, and still others, have been abandoned by their parents for being mutants, you are, by far, not the only one that has experienced this."
"You guys make it seem so easy, though," Monique replied, "I'm always afraid I'm gonna lose control, like I did in Seattle."
"What happened in Seattle, Miss Jackson?" Professor X asked, still not wanting to probe the five teenagers minds,
"Well, we'd been in town for a couple of weeks. Mainly because Brick was waiting on his paycheck, when this mob formed outside of our apartment. Somehow, they found out we were mutants," Monique said, "it was pretty big, I'd say, about a hundred, they grabbed me, and Kim. Bonnie, Ron and Brick weren't there at the time. I freaked out, and almost killed half of them, because I lost control of myself."
"Yeah, we had to bail that night." Bonnie said,
"But you regained your control," Professor X said, looking at Monique, "and there are members of The X-Men themselves that battle their inner demons every day. Rogue will never know the touch of another, Cyclops will be forever cursed to wear that visor, and then . . . there's Jean Grey."
"What about Jean?" Kim asked,
"When she overextends herself, she unlocks a malevolent entity, known as The Phoenix." Professor X said, his voice sounding as though he were recalling something that were better left forgotten,
"Oh, wow, sounds horrible." Ron said,
"I can't describe just how horrible it is, Mr. Stoppable," Professor X replied, "but, that is neither here, nor there, let's go to The Danger Room, shall we?"
In The Danger Room:
Kim and Ron had volunteered to go first, leaving Bonnie, Brick, and Monique to wait in the control room, watching from the glass floor,
"They look like they're in complete control of their powers." Cyclops said, smiling as he watched the two work.
Kim had brought along the experimental battle suit that Wade had made for her, Ron was wearing an X-Men styled uniform, blue in color, with gold piping around the shoulders, and form fitting, black gloves over his hands,
"KP, duck!" Ron said, aiming over Kim's head at a robot that tried to jump over Kim, and get to Ron. Ron hit it with a blast of electricity that knocked the robot into the far wall, where it moved no more,
"Good one, Ron." Kim said, now concentrating on the nearest robot, forming a shockwave so powerful, it cracked two of the windows in the control center,
"Red's a little powerhouse, isn't she?" Wolverine said, looking at the action,
"Yeah, but I'm interested in what Ron just did." Cyclops replied, watching Ron blast another robot across the room,
"Yeah, Ron Stoppable, The Human Dynamo." Wolverine said, chuckling,
"What's with the outfit she's wearing, I thought Jean's outfits were form fitting, but this is just out there." Iceman said, his eyes glued to Kim,
"It's a battle suit," Brick replied, "with it, she can transform her limbs into what she needs to fight with, and defeat any enemy that comes after her."
"Ingenious, who designed it?" Beast replied, looking over at Brick,
"I only know his first name, Wade." Brick replied,
"Wade Lode, you know him?" Cyclops replied,
"Kim and Ron know him better than I do." Brick responded,
"Hmm, I was wondering when the human brain was gonna make his presence known." Wolverine said,
"How do you know Wade?" Monique said,
"He's a mutant, dear girl, did you think his intelligence was merely a gift from the heavens?" Beast said,
"So, his mutant ability is his intelligence?" Bonnie asked,
"That, and one other," Cyclops replied, "he's telekinetic, able to move things with his mind."
So that's how Wade got stuff into Kim's backpack." Bonnie replied,
"Oh, yeah, he's somethin' else." Wolverine replied,
"Is he an X-Man?" Monique asked,
"Nah," Wolverine replied, "he just makes an appearance every now, and again, whenever we need him, he's agoraphobic."
"He's what?" Brick asked,
"Agoraphobic, afraid of wide open spaces," Cyclops said, "so much so, that he never leaves his bedroom."
"So that's why he never leaves his room." Bonnie said, now feeling sorry for a person she had never met.
Next up, was Brick, who performed well in his test in The Danger Room, then Bonnie, who had a small mishap, when she barbequed the floor of the room by accident, and ended up with a small burn on her arm. Finally, Monique entered, and all went well, until Monique began to freak out,
"Monique, cool it." Kim said over the loudspeaker, in an attempt to calm her friend down, it didn't work. Seconds later, in a blinding flash of white light, the entire Danger Room looked as though twenty pounds of C-4 were detonated in the center of the round room, the walls were scorched, and Monique's shadow had been burned into the wall behind her,
"Woah, I've never seen her go off like that." Brick commented, looking around the wrecked Danger Room,
"I'm not in trouble, am I?" Monique asked, her eyes wide, and her voice fearful,
"No, kiddo, if I had to say 'I'm sorry' every time I wrecked The Danger Room, it'd be the only words out of my mouth." Wolverine said, he then, turned, and looked over at Cyclops,
"Whatcha got, Cyke?"
"Wow, the energy readings are off the charts, she's equal to Kim in her powers, and past The Phoenix, amazing!" Cyclops said, looking at the monitors in front of him, his face, in an astonished look.
And that's The Danger Room session, wouldn't you know, it would be Monique that would destroy The Danger Room, I'm sure that most of you would've preferred it to be Ron, or even Kim that did it, but I needed them to have a little more control, Monique is the one that's afraid of her powers.
In the next chapter, the five friends are brought into The X-Men, and Kim and Ron run into an old foe, who is it, stick around, and find out.
As always, keep the reviews coming,
Doug
