Author's Note: It's the third to the last chapter, whoo!
Doza: Thanks. I think Scarlet Johansson is hotter than Alba though, I mean the first frame of Lost in Translation? Damn. Best. Shot. Ever.But still, with Alba,odds are I'm watching Into the Blue for all the wrong reasons. But my number one babe for all time is still definitely Kiera Knightley. Damn she is fine. Anyway, Hank's straight, but he pretended to be gay to piss his ex off after she broke up with him because thepaper ran their relationship as a case of bestiality. Also, side note, they revived the Angel franchise through a new series of comic books. Heard of it? They say it picks up after "Not Fade Away". Anyway, canceling that show? Bloody stupid.
Anhayla: Thanks, Bendis' run on New Avengers and the House of M made the X-Men and the Avengers fight side by side on numerous occasions, so it only seemed natural that they act like allies here. And the Kitty not feeling any pain wasn't for any ominous reason. There's a hint of someone using her power to anesthetize Kitty while she underwent the emergency prep. And I promised I wouldn't highlight Kitty and Peter's relationship, but that only meant I'd be giving the other team members (except Logan, I'm sick of seeing him on every comic book marvel churns out) equal share in the spotlight. Didn't mean that I won't be writing about them. Besides, misleading as I am, I do enjoy their relationship.
Madripoor Rose: Yeah, it took me like half an hour just to think about something Peter would say that cold resonate. I edited that part like, I don't know how many times, but in my first draft, they were supposed to take the elevator (because God knows superheroes taking public facilities are supposed to be funny) Turned out that their scene played out too long and way too forced, so I just decided to cut it. There's actually a mistake there, because when Peter jumped, he was facing Tony, which meant he would be facing backward while Tony faced forward in flight, making for a very awkward image.
Previously on…a normal day gets cracked wide open when Rachel Summers, AKA MARVEL GIRL, attacks headmistress EMMA FROST in broad daylight. And even though there were no permanent injuries, it did leave both the faculty, and the student body rattled, as the possibility of an aggressor within the institute arises. It doesn't take long for the senior team to conclude that the attack was telepathic in nature, and targets people through an empathic, or emotional connection. With the toll of the days events getting to her, KITTY PRYDE tries to spend her early hours of rest training instead, an idea that didn't go to well, as the psionic entity that corrupted Marvel Girl possessed her as well, making her lash out at her teammate COLOSSUS, nearly killing him. Meanwhile, a band of mutants, led by the psionic TELEPLEX and the sadistic BILE, begin an assault on the people of New York. The X-MEN are called by S.H.I.E.L.D. because they're the only team readily available, and the X-Men answered the call, confronting Teleplex's team and preventing them from doing further damage. The fight didn't go well for the X-Men however, and the timely arrival of both the AVENGERS and the FANTASTIC FOUR managed to save them from complete defeat under the SILVER THORN…
Chapter 8: "Swallow"
"So, it's settled." Bile declared, taking one, heart swig from a bottle of champagne.
"We'll better get packing if we want to kill them, and be back by seven. I don't want to miss Rockstar INXS." The Mist Mistress suggested, her head now leaning on Teleplex's shoulder.
"…I'm pretty sure that by the end of the day, we'll have S.H.I.E.L.D. ready and waiting for us with a gift shop full of violence." Teleplex muttered, taking a drink from a bottle of wine.
"What? Wait, I thought S.H.I.E.L.D. is practically crippled right now?" Coil asked, sitting on the floor.
"Yeah. Means they can't take us head-on. Doesn't mean that they can't rig this entire floor to blow up by the time we finish what we'll do." Explained their leader.
"So you're saying that this is a one-way trip?' manacle asked, leaning against the doorway.
"It could be. Unless any of you all want to live the remainder of your lives running away from a world that persecutes us for being who we are." Teleplex replied.
"I say when we go out; we make the world take notice." Bile remarked, raising his bottle.
"…Do onto others…" Coil muttered, raising her glass. Manacle raised his bottle after her.
"So, double M, are you in?" Teleplex asked, nearing his glass of wine to hers.
"…" The Mist Mistress smiled as she took her own glass and raised it against Teleplex's. "Let's get going then." She declared, taking a deep breath, and drinking the entire glass.
BlackBird/16:00
"We should send Tony some flowers." Emma commented as she stared out the windshield of the Blackbird. "Why so? Henry asked, co-piloting the jet with Scott.
"Well, without his skyscraper, we wouldn't have any place to park this thing when we're on call." Emma explained. "There's still the Baxter Building." Logan noted, his face having grown much of what was blown away by Bile's shotgun blast.
"Anyway, we still have a bunch of mutants to track down." Scott reminded.
"Which you're quick to point out on account that it's my job to do so." Emma retorted, watching a sly smile find its way on her lover's face.
"Maybe we can just have the Cuckoos do it." Henry suggested. "I mean, we couldn't have stopped Jean without their back-up."
"No. I only allowed them to use Cerebra back then because the world was at stake. This is something I'd rather do on my own." Emma responded.
"They've proven themselves capable more than once…" Henry retorted.
"Sophie died in that machine."
"…"
"I will not allow them in that machine, in that chamber, unless we have absolutely no choice."
"…Okay." Scott turned and looked at Emma, who sat behind Hank. "We get home, we get some rest, then Emma'll use Cerebra to find our band of geriatrics."
"I'll be at the bar, then. Call me when we're ready to get our asses handed to us again." Logan remarked, scratching the area that was once his brow.
"Do we have a bar?" Henry asked, prompting Logan to snicker.
"Logan, if any of the kids turn up drunk…" Scott threatened, not bothering to look back to the last row where Logan was. "Don't worry. Only me and Emma know about it anyway."
"Emma?" Scott turned and found a grin on Emma's face. "Oh be glad with it. At least I'm secretly seeing a fridge, not someone else." She contested, with Logan chuckling behind her.
"…Are we sure Peter's still up there?" Kitty asked, changing the subject. Her arm was in a sling.
"We're still moving at a relatively slow speed, so I'm pretty sure he's still up there." Scott replied.
"I could patch you into him, Kitty." Emma suggested. "So you can have a nice chat with our windsurfer."
"…" Logan turned to Kitty, who looked like she was unsure of whether to accept Emma's offer or not. And as Kitty struggled for a course of action, everyone began to shift in their seats, an awkward silence setting in.
"…You should talk to him, Kitty." Henry commented, breaking the discomfort. "You're the only one he remotely talks to anyway." Logan added.
"Well, okay, sure…patch me in, or something." Kitty flustered, looking much more uncomfortable than she was earlier on. "Try not to rock his world; there aren't any seatbelts up there." Emma reminded, as Kitty began to feel lightheaded, as if everything started to disconnect from where her body was.
"I have been humiliated." Colossus thought as he rode the top of the Blackbird, recalling the fight that did not go as well as he recalled the fight earlier on that did not go as well as anyone would have wished. His metallic skin hung in melted layers, that only seemed to grow larger the longer one would stare at them.
"…Peter?" came a soft, feminine voice, drifting into his consciousness like an echo that went the opposite direction. It was a voice that he did not need to think about to recognize. "Kitty."
"…Uh, so hey. How are you up there?" she asked, wondering if she could get a chance to find out what Peter was really thinking, right from his mind.
"I am…recuperating." The steel mutant responded.
"Okay…so, uh…how do you feel?" she then asked, hoping she could get a glimpse of Peter's thoughts on what her question truly entailed.
"…Tired." Came a monotonous response.
"Oh…well…maybe you should come in here, get a proper seat." Kitty offered, trying to hide her disappointment.
"We are in flight, Katya. There is no door to the cockpit from here." Colossus replied.
"Are you okay up there?"
"I'm fine. Thank you."
"…But you've been hurt."
"I told you, Katya, I am fine. There is no need for you to worry."
"Well maybe if you didn't enjoy playing lone ranger all the time, we wouldn't have to worry about you falling of the damn plane!" Kitty snapped, finally becoming frustrated that she couldn't find any trace of emotion in Peter's voice.
"You have to give him time, dear." Emma interrupted, as Kitty found herself back in her seat.
"Wait, you were listening?" Kitty asked, clearly still hostile.
"Maybe Peter is feeling crowded." Emma suggested.
"You were listening?" Kitty asked again her voice becoming much more shrill.
"I was the one patching you in, remember? And try as I might, you're thoughts are much to loud to ignore." Emma answered, still looking out the window.
"You didn't tell me that you could listen to what I was thinking!" Kitty snapped back.
"Oh? Well I'm sorry for presuming that you had half a brai-"
"We're here!" Logan interrupted, as they finally began to hover over school grounds.
"Oh, thank God." Henry muttered.
Men's Dormitories/16:27
"Okay." Mark announced as he unlocked the door to the room that he shared with Derrick. "Welcome to my room." He then said, as he pushed the door open and allowed the Stepfords to enter.
"What's that smell?" Celeste asked, as she started to walk around.
"Laundry. Just don't open that closet, or you'll want to mind wipe the smell from your systems." Mark casually replied, closing the door and taking a seat on his bed.
"You do what he says or I'm kicking you out of the uni-mind." Phoebe telepathically told her sister, Mindee.
"I'm just curious." Mindee retorted as she walked over to a cabinet.
"You just want to see what his underwear looks like!" Phoebe chided, taking a small, framed picture of Derrick and his mother, standing on the bedside desk.
"I hope you ladies aren't talking about something I should be hearing." Mark interrupted, eyeing each one of them suspiciously. Mindee quickly furrowed her browns and shook her head, pretty much making everything obvious.
"This is…" Phoebe handed the framed picture to Celeste.
"Find something?" Mark asked, standing up. Celeste narrowed her eyes and focused on the framed photograph. "It's not real." She muttered, her eyes lighting up with psychic energy.
"Not…huh?" Mark took a closer look at the photograph.
"It's a burn." Phoebe declared. "A psychic image forced into reality. At least this one doesn't have any booby traps." She then explained, as she glanced at Mindee, who in turn joined them to become the three-in-one.
"…What do you see?" he asked, taking a step away from the girls to give them some space to work.
"It's all a lie. It's…" the three girls concentrated, as they mentally peeled off layers upon layers of the framed photograph in Celeste's hands. "There. He left a fragment of the past when he created this image. He…there's a memory…columns and forests and volcanoes..."
"…What? What is it?"
"…It's a place called Nova Roma."
Women's Lockers/16:30
"…" Kitty rubbed her temples with her free hand as she sat on the bench in front of the lockers. With Emma already keen on who they were facing, all she needed was a minute in Cerebra to track each of them down and neutralize all of them from there. It meant that the rest of the X-Men had nothing else to do for the rest of the day.
"Katya?" interrupted a distinct, male voice, the voice of the only person who called her that name.
"Hey." She greeted, as she turned to find Peter, still in his costume, standing by the doorway.
"You're fine now." She muttered, as she found the older man back in his organic form, with only mild red marks to commemorate the massive burns that he got earlier on.
"Healer wanted to know where you were. I told him you got shot." Peter remarked, stepping into the room.
"Oh. Just like that." Kitty whispered to herself.
"I'm sorry?" Peter stepped closer, unable to hear what she muttered to herself.
"No, nothing, listen, I'm sorry for snapping at you back there." Kitty remarked. "I've just been really…uppity lately. Stress and all, but I am so back in track. You know…with the not being snappy."
"…It's not a problem. You really should see the healer. Get that sling off your arm."
"…Yeah, yeah I will. I just…need some time."
"Why? What's the problem?' he asked, still keeping his distance.
"Nothing." She responded, leaning her chin on her hand. "Get a clue! This bench isn't just for one person you big lug!" she thought, as her eyes trailed over the distance between them.
"Oh. Well then, I'll check up on Scott, see if there's anything needs to be done." Peter declared, as he began to turn for the door.
"Uh, Peter!" Kitty called, causing him to turn back. "What do I say? What do I say? What do I say?"
"…Katya?"
"…Nothing."
"…"
"Yeah, you'd better see if Scott needs anything."
"…I will. Take care of yourself."
Headmaster's Office/16:34
"Why do you and Kitty fight all the time, anyway?" Scott asked, leaning on his desk. He finished buttoning his gray shirt, and then proceeded to fix his collar.
"Funny story, I kidnapped her friends, your teammates, and tried to murder them all. You'd think she would have gotten over it by now." Emma responded, a little too weary to be discussing things. Like Kitty, she was still in her white costume.
"Well, you're not making it particularly easy for her to forgive you. You two bicker like-"
"If I hear the world 'old' come from your mouth, I promise I'll tie your brain to a toilet in a foster home."
"Emma, I'm serious."
"…" Emma took a deep breath and drew closer to her lover, tenderly placing her arms on his waist. "So am I. Now, you said we should relax before I go mind hunting…" she seductively purred into his ear, tracing her hand over his chest. "I do believe I have a good idea of some…way to relieve myself…"
"Miss Frost?" came a sudden, telepathic intrusion. "We are ever so sorry to interrupt. But if you needed to know, Mr. Summers isn't in the mood right now, anyway."
"Someone there?" Scott asked, as he noticed Emma turn her head to the direction of the door.
"Excuse me for a moment Scott, darling, but my girls, at the risk of a lethal amount of detention… are alarming me to the possibility of an emerging first order mutant inside the campus." Emma explained, as she stepped away from her lover.
"What?"
"…They're telling me to look into a student's mind."
"Wait, is this the student who's making us all suddenly go crazy?"
"They say they don't know. They just…oh…oh my."
"Emma, what is it?"
"Scott…be a dear and have Henry prep the X-lab. I need to have a talk with one Derrick Gallis, immediately."
Literature Class, End/16:40
The bell rang. A steady stream of students started leaving the classroom, Derrick and Mark among them. "So…post-colonial sexual politics, huh? What's up with that?" Mark asked, trying to start a casual conversation. Amazing how difficult something so easy could become. It was the price of knowledge. "…"
"Yo, Derr." Mark called again, tapping his best friend on the shoulder. "You there, man?" he asked, unable to keep the concern in his voice hidden.
"Huh?"
"Dude, you've been zoning out a lot recently." Mark exclaimed as they began to walk to their next class.
"I have?"
"Yes. You have. A lot."
"Cool." Derrick absent-mindedly responded.
"No, it's not cool. It's…" Mark stopped, trying to find the words. Unlike almost every other student on campus, he wasn't one who was good with the drama.
"Uh, hey, I'm, I'm sorry if I've been out of it for the past few days. I'm…I'm just stressed is all." He explained, feeling a sudden surge of guilt as he saw a look of complete worry in Mark's face.
"…" Mark scratched the back of his head, something that became a habit whenever something was unsettling him. "he really cares…" Derrick thought as he let out a loud sigh. "…stop it Derrick, Mark isn't like you." He then scolded himself. "…God, is it so wrong that I'm actually feeling good about how bad he feels for me?" Derrick licked his lips, feeling the dryness settle in. "I'm turning all of this into an excuse just for him to notice me more!" A couple of guys passed them by, waving at Mark as they did. "What's the hells the matter with you, Derrick?" he asked himself, as gave one of them a high five. 'You're freaking me out. It's like, you're hiding something… something dangerous." The two friends turned a corner, finding themselves in another corridor lined with classrooms. "…Why the hell doesn't he let me in? We've been best friends for years, Christ, it's not like I'll crucify him!" Mark smiled at a girl who gave him a hearty wave.
"Derrick Gallis?" came a sudden, telepathic intrusion. Derrick stopped in his tracks, with Mark doing so as he noticed his best friend turn around."Miss Frost?"
"I'll need you to come with me." The buxom educator declared. "Now."
X-Labs/16:00
"So, you think this Gallis person had anything to do with our recent misfortunes?" Henry asked as he readied the neural neutralizer, a small dome-shaped apparatus connected to the top of a surgical chair.
"Not really." Scott responded. "But he was in Emma's ethics class when the first attack happened."
"Doesn't prove anything either way. We've been through late blooming mutants who have a myriad of abilities." Henry replied, just as the steel door slid open.
"…Am I in trouble?" Derrick asked as he stepped into the white room. Aside from the two teachers and a surgical chair hooked to a stand full of panels and monitors at the middle, the room was completely bare.
"It depends on what I find." Emma responded, stepping ahead of him. "I'll be needing sometime alone with young, Mr. Gallis, boys." She remarked, gesturing for the scared mutant to enter.
"Henry, be a dear and take his jacket for him?" she asked, pointing to the orange hued, denim one that he wore.
"Uh…no, I'm fine." Derrick politely protested as he shyly turned to face the blue-furred mutant.
"I meant for me. That color is hideous on you." Emma immediately corrected.
"Oh." Derrick watched nervously as Henry stepped towards him.
"There's nothing to be scared of, son." Scott declared as he made his way to the door. "Let's go, Hank." He then called.
"Don't worry, she doesn't bite." Henry noted as he took Derrick's jacket, and followed Scott out the door.
"You really shouldn't be hiding under so many clothes, you know?" Emma remarked, noticing that he was wearing a light blue, fitted sweater underneath what Henry already took.
"Uh…huh?"
"Shh, enough banter, come on and sit yourself down."
"…." Derrick bit his lower lip as he made his way to the chair. "Uh…whatever you find in my head…don't tell anyone, okay?" he pleaded, untying his shoes and then awkwardly positioning himself on the chair.
"What do you-oh. Oh. That's sweet. He doesn't know?" Emma asked, as she went to the head of the chair.
"He's…not into…he likes girls."
"Well, maybe he'll come around." She commented as she pulled down the neural neutralizer to fit on the top of the student's head. "This will help you get some sleep. I could do it myself, but if something goes wrong, then chances are it would be a little too strenuous to journey into your mind, and keep you sedated at the same time."
"Okay. So, what…what are you looking for?"
"Things."
"…Oh."
"Now, take a deep breath, and let's see what you've been hiding…"
Campus Grounds/17:24
Logan kept his arms over his head as he laid himself on the grass. Like the rest of the team, he was already back in his civilian outfit, finding it much more easier, mentally, to heal whenever they're not in brightly colored spandex. By that time, the students were already taking their last classes for the day, meaning most of the grounds were already cleared. Just the way Logan wanted. The afternoon sun was retiring early that day, as its golden streaks faded to an encroaching hue of orange and violet. A cold gust of wind blew his way, singing melodies of scents that he long knew. And some that he didn't. Soon enough, the smell of pine and lemon grass began to get overpowered by the stench of steel melting and wires burning. "Someone's screwing with the security systems…" came his first thought. "Blast it." He muttered to himself as he jumped to his feet, racing past the green acres of the Xavier estate.
"Can't be hitting us back already…not this fast…" he thought as he found himself on the main lawn of the institute, seeing a thick, layer of mist seeping into the hidden panels were the security measures were hidden. Logan unsheathed his claws. Even from there, he could hear an engine humming, mixed with the sweat of hunger and anticipation and hate so reckless. "They're back." He muttered to himself, as he watched a black F-150 Pick-up tearing through the road. "Team!" Logan shouted at the top of his lungs, just as the pick-up truck crashed through the front gates, headed straight his way.
Chapter 8, End
Next Chapter – One more match!
Author's note: Carb-starve is killing me. Do reviewJ