The New Mutants
Written by Darkstorm5000
Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Enterprises.
…………………………………………..
Story 7- Who you callin' Volcano-Girl? (Flashback)
…………………………………………..
(A/N: This story takes place during A Force To Be Reckoned With.)
Location: Nova Roma, Brazil.
Nestled deep within the Brazilian Andes of South America's Amazon Jungle sits this small, inland nation, hundreds of miles to the west of Rio de Janeiro. Literally translated, Nova Roma means 'New Rome', just as its original founders had intended it to be. Built in the First century B.C. on lands that were controlled by local Incan tribes, this Roman settlement stood as a refuge preserving the ideals of a then-dying republic back home, which was right on the verge of becoming one of the greatest empires the world had ever seen. And despite their vast cultural differences, the Incans and Romans would eventually manage to overcome them to find common ground, together building a new and fairly prototypical civilization that would end up preserving two cultures the world had thought to be lost to the ages.
This very isolated community would stand the test of time; amazingly remaining undiscovered and virtually unchanged for nearly two thousand years. That is, until explorers and anthropologists stumbled upon these remarkable inhabitants, all of them living in an ancient Roman way of life well into the very early twentieth-century. Even then for decades following its discovery, the antiquated society would only be regarded with little more than passing curiosity from a modern world that had long since passed the people of Nova Roma by.
It wasn't until the years following the end of World War II that Nova Roma finally began to pursue a more contemporaneous existence, redeveloping its economic infrastructure by fully utilizing its vast mineral deposits and other abundant natural resources in trade with the rest of the world. Currently, thanks to the efforts in recent decades by the republic's most esteemed Senators, Marcus Domitius Gallio and Lucius Antonius Aquilla, Nova Roma has become a foremost leader in technological innovations, while remaining a richly renowned cultural epicenter worldwide.
But at this moment, however, Amara Julianna Oliviaro Aquilla, daughter to the aforementioned Senator Aquilla, was currently standing in the city square, also commonly referred to as the city's forum, waiting for her best friend Analise to join her this afternoon. Now that classes had concluded for the day, the two teenagers were able to at last hang out together in the city's enormous shopping complex that was located close by in the downtown area of Nova Roma's capital, which would rival and in some cases surpass the malls of most major cities around the world.
While they would be able to shop and catch up on the latest gossip of the day, judging by the petite and chic tan outfit that Amara was wearing, shopping was probably not the driving motive for her excursion this day. Amara's ensemble consisted of a light-weight, long-sleeved top that had three diagonal straps that fastened over her left shoulder and matching pants, which had been created by one of the world's top fashion-designers and was currently only seen in the realm of top fashion magazines.
"So, how was tennis practice today?" Amara asked, as Analise came towards her down one of the fairly wide walkways that led into the open square setting, which was lined on both sides by large trees that had very beautifully-trimmed flowered bushes in between them.
"You could learn for yourself. I still do not understand why you don't join the team, we could always use another player." Analise replied, as she approached her classmate. Looking at her, Amara's slightly curly, brownish-blonde hair, blue eyes and olive-toned skin definitely showed off her mixed European and Native Incan heritages.
"With all of the extra classes that I have to take, I simply do not have the time." Amara replied in her genuinely prim and proper voice.
"Unlike finding the time to spend at the mall today?" Analise smiled, as she had a small bookbag slung over on her left shoulder and pushed her longer and darker brown hair back behind her right ear.
"Actually, I am supposed to be at home right now studying for my Calculus examination later this week. Then again, if my father had his way, all I would ever do is spend my time studying and that would be such a bore." Amara replied.
"I don't believe it! Amara Aquilla, the girl who simply lives to be the ideal pupil and daughter, is actually defying her father's wishes. How utterly wicked!" Analise said with a smirk, in a tone that sounded very similar to how Amara spoke, as the two girls started down a pathway that crossed one of the city's many cobblestone streets and led towards the mall.
"You don't have to get overly excited, a true bad-girl I am not. At least not--" Amara started to say with a smile, before she was forced to pause when an extremely sharp pain struck at the base of her skull.
"Amara, are you okay?" Analise inquired, as she grabbed Amara by the arm, helping her friend to regain her balance and then to sit down on a curb by the cobblestone street, which had specifically been redesigned to be able to accommodate the clean-burning automobiles now owned by the citizens of Nova Roma.
"Yes. I believe that I just need a moment to regain my bearings is all." Amara responded, as she sat on the curb with her eyes closed and rubbed the sides of her temples, in the hopes of alleviating the pressure that she felt continuing to build inside.
"You're having another one of your headaches, aren't you?" Analise said, as she was really more stating than she was actually asking of her friend, as she sat down next to her on the curb dressed in a light-blue skirt outfit of her own.
"I'm afraid so." Amara confirmed, her eyes still closed.
"You've been having them for weeks now, and they only appear to be growing worse. I still think that you should tell your father." Analise suggested, just as she had been doing each time that she had bore witness to Amara's prior acute headaches.
"But, he's so busy with affairs of state, and I detest having to disturb him. Besides, this headache will soon pass." Amara said, as she opened her eyes and turned to face Analise, believing that the spell had now run its course.
"You still need to learn whether it is something seriously wrong that is causing them." Analise warned her.
"I suppose that I could always ask my stepmother to take me to the doctor, although with her work she stays just as busy as my fathe--" Amara started to say just as she and Analise were standing up from the curb, so that they could then continue their journey to the mall.
But, another migraine immediately hit Amara, and unlike the others, this one felt ten times worse than any of her previous ones. It was so bad that it caused Amara to loudly scream out from the pain coursing through what felt like her entire brain, as she fell to her knees in the street writhing in pure agony.
Then IT happened.
"Amara, by the gods, look at you!" Analise exclaimed, after what sounded like a bomb had gone off on the street and had knocked her off of her feet. Analise was then able to stand back up and continued staring at Amara, who was still kneeling down in the street in front of her. But, Analise started to back away from her friend, until she was once again far up on the sidewalk.
"What are you talking about?" Amara just managed to utter, as she knelt in the street and continued trying to regain her composure, barely even hearing Analise's comment.
"You…you are on fire!" Analise yelled, as other Nova Roman citizens within earshot also took notice of the girl on fire in the street, and a few of them began to make their way over to try and get a better idea of what was going on.
That is, until the very ground beneath their feet began to sway and tremble. Various parts of the street, the adjacent sidewalk, and nearby landscaping all suddenly and violently cracked open, spewing forth huge clouds of volcanic ash. This was immediately followed by small trickles of lava flowing out of the fissures in the ground, which was a result of the Earth's shifting tectonic plates. The trickles rapidly turned into larger and faster moving streams of molten rock, which began to quickly overtake the area with the flames as they spread throughout the southern half of the city's square. While all of this was happening, Amara had finally managed to open her eyes enough to see what Analise had been talking about, and saw that her stylish outfit had been completely incinerated when her entire body exploded into a miniature inferno.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?!" Amara now screamed, more out of fear than actual pain, feeling frightened beyond belief by this shocking set of events. Meanwhile, those bystanders that had been around her were now running for safety, heading away from the numerous volcanic eruptions that continued to spring up in the central forum area of the city.
"That girl, she's causing all of this somehow. She must be some manner of demoness!" One of the observers vocally stated to the other observers.
As the frightened mob continued to hurriedly head further into the downtown area of the capital city away from the volcanic scene, Amara finally stood to her feet and saw the scared and beleaguered looks on their faces at the very sight of this 'fire-monster' standing before them. She also saw the devastation that was being wrought around her, all because of her. Amara was as unsure of what was going on, as she was unsure of how to stop the widespread havoc that she was creating around her.
So, she did the only logical thing that she could think of at the moment.
Amara took off running, running away from everyone and everything else in an attempt to keep from hurting or killing any of them. Even so, she managed to leave a very noticeable and lengthy trail of damaged buildings, ripped open cobblestone streets, destroyed cars, and scorched earth behind in her wake, along with a fairly frightened populace, and a very worried and concerned best friend.
…………………………………..
At Xavier's School for the Gifted, its Headmaster Professor Charles Xavier had isolated himself down below in the school's sub-levels. But, he wasn't in the large chamber that housed Cerebro, the device he used to locate mutants worldwide. Cerebro was just now becoming operational again after nearly a year's worth of work, coming in the form of assistance from the mutant machine-smith known as Forge, in which they had to essentially rebuild Cerebro from scratch following Colonel Stryker either stripping or destroying most of its essential core parts.
Instead, Professor Xavier sat in his Ready Room, another area that he had created far below the mansion which served as both a private workroom and as a personal refuge from the rest of the mansion, hidden behind an unmarked door inside one of the auxiliary storage rooms. It was in here that, arguably, the most powerful mind on Earth could sit in silent contemplation, while continually remaining apprised of current events around the world through the global communication feeds displayed on numerous, hi-tech monitors that surrounded him in the room. It was on this early spring morning that one news report on a feed coming in from South America managed to catch his attention.
"Interesting." Professor Xavier said aloud, despite the fact that he was the only person currently in the room, sitting in his motorized wheelchair and dressed in a simple black sweatshirt with a small X-design on the front and dark casual pants.
"Computer, enlarge feed number 27."
"Request processed." An automated voice responded to Professor Xavier, focusing in on the news feed and increasing the volume of that particular broadcast. Then, the small platform where Professor's wheelchair was sitting slowly whirled around into a position that gave him a better view of the news coverage.
As he watched the report talking about unusual seismic and volcanic activity the day before in the small nation of Nova Roma, and also about eyewitness accounts on the ground of a young girl that had apparently set herself on fire before causing all of the devastation, Professor Xavier knew that he had to act and act quickly, as time would most assuredly be of the essence.
…………………………………………….
"Gee, I like wonder what the Prof wants with all of us so early in the morning?" Jubilee asked, as she, Kitty, Bobby, Peter, and Rogue had been telepathically summoned from their beds to the Professor's study on the first floor of the mansion, and were currently walking down the corridor towards their destination dressed in pajamas, robes, and other sleepwear.
"Ah'd say he probably wants to congratulate you on finally getting a homework assignment in without needing an extension on it." Rogue teasingly remarked to her roommate, as the group continued on.
"Well, if it's a gold star he wants to give me, I at least hope it's the kind that comes with a gold chain so's I can sport it with my new outfit." Jubilee playfully replied, as the five students had now reached the door to the study, and Peter briefly knocked on it.
"Come in." Professor Xavier instructed each of them through the psi-link he maintained with his students.
When they entered into the study, the students were somewhat surprised to see both Logan and Kurt already inside. Logan was standing by the large window behind the Professor's desk, while Kurt was crouching up in one of the seats as his long blue tail slowly moved from side to side behind him.
"Professor, is everything alright?" Kitty inquired, as she asked the question that was on both hers and her classmates' minds.
"I have a dilemma, of sorts." Professor Xavier started, "I have reason to believe that a young and very powerful mutant has recently manifested her powers in a small South American nation called Nova Roma. If this is the case, given the potentially devastating nature of these newfound abilities, we must get to her as quickly as possible before harm comes to either her or to the general public as a result. But, with Ororo currently gone to her ancestral village in Kenya, and Scott on an extended leave as well, I am very much needed here with the other students. Logan and Kurt have both volunteered to go find and bring back this new mutant, but I don't wish to send them there alone. I was wondering if you, my junior X-Men, feel that you are up to accepting such an assignment as to accompany them down there?"
In the year since the events at Alkali Lake, Professor Xavier had designated Rogue, Iceman, Shadowcat, Colossus, and Jubilee as his junior X-Men squad. He had put these the five of his most experienced students through such an endless and rigorous regiment of physical, academic and even psi-defense training, that it might make one think that Professor X had fancied himself a bit of a Marine drill sergeant, in addition to being an educator.
"Our first real mission? You better believe we're ready!" Rogue excitedly replied, as the deputy leader of the junior squad answered for the rest of her squad mates, while they all nodded and cheered in agreement.
"Glad to hear that, Rogue-darlin'. All o' you kids got an hour to get dressed and get your gear together before the Blackbird takes off." Logan said to the group, as he turned back around from the window to face them, grinning as he placed an unlit cigar that he had pulled from his leather jacket pocket in his mouth.
"I imagine, then that I should go and pack my sunscreen?" Kurt jokingly said to Logan, as he sat perched in his seat wearing an olive-colored dress shirt and tan slacks.
"Whatever floats your boat, Elf. But, from the way Chuck here was describing the powers this kid down there's got, you just might need more than a little sunblock before we're through." Logan replied, as the junior X-Men all left the study in a hurry, so they could go get ready and head down to the underground airplane hangar located beneath the school's basketball court.
Kurt then teleported out of the study, followed by Logan walking out of the room behind the junior squad. In his hand, Logan was carrying with him a folder given to him by the Professor Xavier, which had what little info the Professor had been able to ascertain on the new mutant, and also contained other useful information regarding Nova Roma. Once they were gone, the Professor thought that he would have a little time alone, so that he could prepare himself for his morning English class that was set to soon begin.
But, he would have to think again, as the phone in the study suddenly began to ring.
"Xavier's School for the Gifted, Professor Charles Xavier speaking." Professor Xavier said, as he picked up the receiver of the telephone sitting on his large wooden desk, which he was presently sitting behind.
"Charles, I must say, it's been much too long since I've had the opportunity to hear that verbose phrasing of yuirs." The voice on the other end jestingly said to him.
"Moira, is that you?" Professor Xavier inquired, in a slightly flabbergasted tone.
"Och, who else do ye know with a thick Scots accent that's gonna call ye all the way across the Atlantic, and greet ye on a first name basis t'boot." Dr. Moira MacTaggert replied.
"Well, Great Britain is a sizable country, and I did make my fair share of rounds during my time there." Professor Xavier playfully replied.
"And ye're just as full of yuirself now, as ye were when I first met ye at Oxford all those years ago." Dr. MacTaggert laughed in response.
"And I now realize that it's also been some time since we last spoke to one another, Moira. How have you been?" Professor Xavier now asked his oldest friend.
"Me? I've been doin' just fine, Charley-luv. But, how I'm doin' has little t'do with why I've called ye." Dr. MacTaggert told him.
"Is everything alright?' Professor Xavier continued questioning her, this time in a slightly more serious tone.
"For the moment. But, I need ye t'come t'Muir Island as soon as possible, there's a matter of great personal importance to me that I need t'discuss with ye." Dr. MacTaggert revealed.
Professor Xavier paused and sat contemplatively for a moment, before giving his response to Dr. MacTaggert's request.
"Certainly, I'll be there as soon as some important business here at the school has been attended to." Professor Xavier agreed.
"Thank ye, Charles. Ye have'nae idea how much this means t'me." Dr. MacTaggert replied.
Then, she and Professor Xavier spoke for a few more brief moments before saying their goodbyes, which would only be until they could meet again face-to-face.
After placing her cell phone down on the kitchen-style counter in front of her, Dr. MacTaggert then turned to leave the small break room inside of her Muir Island research facility. She was heading back down to the living quarters within the large complex, so that she could rejoin a red-haired young lady who was sitting and eagerly awaiting her return. The two had become inseparable, ever since Dr. MacTaggert had rescued the pre-teen from an angry mob that had been intent on killing the girl, all because they believed her to have been sent by the Devil himself when her mutant ability to metamorph into the form of a wolf unexpectedly emerged.
In the six months since that fateful night, Rahne Sinclair had become like a daughter to Moira MacTaggert, and Moira had relished every second of stepping in as the girl's new adoptive mother. But, by taking the step to contact Charles, Moira knew that the time was rapidly drawing near when she would have to send Rahne from her side, placing her young ward under the tutelage of her oldest friend in the world, so that he could properly instruct Rahne in the use of the mutant abilities that she had been gifted with. It was a decision that Moira had finally made, but not a choice that had come easily to her.
………………………………………
A little more than an hour had passed, and true to Logan's words, the Blackbird was now airborne and heading due south towards the other side of the equator. While Logan and Kurt had changed into their all too-familiar black leather uniforms before lift off, the junior X-Men were donning their dark blue and silver-trimmed uniforms that denoted their current junior status. Kurt had then went and took his place in the Blackbird's cockpit as pilot, with Bobby sitting in as co-pilot next to him.
In the middle of the plane, Peter was sitting in the passenger section busily sketching in a notebook-sized pad that he had brought with him. As he did, Peter had garnered the attention of one very curious onlooker, who was watching him intensely while he worked.
"I still think it's so amazing that you can draw like that." Kitty said simply, as she sat in the seat right next to Peter on the plane, watching him create his rough illustration of a snowy forest meadow.
"It is just unfortunate that this picture is nowhere near living up to your gracious compliments." Peter less then enthusiastically replied, as his artwork wasn't quite turning out the way that he had originally envisioned it.
"I think it's beautiful. Really. Honestly, I do." Kitty encouragingly told him.
"Then to be honest, I do not see how you haven't long since been bored to tears just sitting there and watching me draw this embarrassment to other artists everywhere." Peter commented to her, still looking down at the sketchpad in his lap.
"You know, I think I could probably sit here and watch you ALLLL day." Kitty sighed in a wispy and gushing tone, which she didn't even realize she was doing.
It caused Peter to abruptly look up from his sketchpad and over at Kitty, as she sat with her arm propped up on the armrest between them, her smiling face gently resting against the palm of her leather gloved hand as she gazed in his direction with a giddy, and somewhat pining, expression aimed at him.
Whereas the other students had noticed and would sometimes tease Kitty about her growing schoolgirl crush on the slightly older Peter Rasputin, he seemed to be the last one in on the joke. But, one would have to wonder if it could even be called a crush, especially if the recipient had started to feel much the same way about her? It was a question that both Kitty and Peter would certainly get the opportunity to more deeply explore in the weeks to come, as they could both sense a mutual, almost undeniable, attraction building between them.
Meanwhile in the rear of the plane, Rogue had herself also taken on the role of observer, as she sat on one of the benches back there and watched Jubilee and Logan playing cards close by.
"…so, that's why I spend so much time on the basics of hand-to-hand combat and self-defense skills, because you never know when knowin' those things might come in handy." Logan said, as he was finishing his thoughts on the subject that he, Rogue, and Jubilee had been discussing while he reshuffled the deck.
"Just makin' sure we're the best that we can be then, huh?" Rogue sarcastically replied, as she had spent more time training with Logan than any of the others, learning various martial-arts disciplines and various forms of armed and unarmed combat from him.
"But dude, like why do you even worry about it? You got those claws to protect you from any muggers or carjackers that're stupid enough to run up and try 'n do you some damage." Jubilee posed to Logan, as she put down a card from the current hand she had been dealt.
"And you can light up the sky like a Friday night fireworks show with those sparkle powers of yours, but that didn't keep you from figurin' out how to use a flashlight, did it?" Logan responded, as he threw down a couple of cards and dealt a few more to himself and Jubilee.
"Um, that analogy doesn't hold up. I knew how to use a flashlight waaay before I found out I was a mutant." Jubilee smirked at Logan, as she examined her new hand.
"You know what I meant." Logan replied, as he also looked at the new cards that he had just drawn.
"Analogy? That must be your new word of the week." Rogue now teasingly said to Jubilee.
"Gawd Rogue, like, can you lay off with your whole, Jubilee MUST be learnin' disabled or somethin', routine. Just 'cause I don't spend all my spare time in the library, doesn't make me movie of the week material about illiteracy." Jubilee shot back, "Besides, if I really wanted to, I could go around just like Kitty making up big words that nobody but her and the Professor knows the meaning to."
"Yeah, you only wish you could."
Jubilee, Logan, and Rogue heard the remark loudly voiced, as Kitty had happened to hear her name mentioned in their conversation in the back of the plane, and she decided to make sure that her two cents was accounted for. Then, Logan made a declaration of his own.
"That's gin!" Logan exclaimed, announcing yet another victory over Jubilee.
"Sooner or later, your mega-streak is gonna come to an end. And I'm gonna be the one who breaks it, Wolvie!" Jubilee promised him, as she threw her cards down on the makeshift table they had made from a fold out cot, sitting back and folding her arms over in front of her.
"Well, get to dealin' and we'll just have to see, 'Mall-rat'." Logan responded, as he handed her the card deck and she dealt them out this time.
As they were about to begin another game, Rogue suddenly stood up from the nearby bench where she had been sitting.
"Ah'm gonna head up front for a little bit. You got any messages for Bobby or Kurt?" Rogue asked them, but was mainly speaking to Logan.
"Yeah, one." Logan replied, as he looked up at her from the bench where he was sitting.
"And what's that?" Rogue inquired.
"Tell 'em not to crash." Logan remarked, as he winked at her, and then looked back down at the cards in his hand.
"Will do." Rogue smirked, as she turned and continued on towards the front of the Blackbird, while Logan and Jubilee continued to play and talk.
"You know, I noticed how good a job you did on fixin' up Pete's uniform. I was wonderin' if you wouldn't mind doin' the same for me, when you've got some spare time? You know, so it'd be a lot better suited for some serious throwin' down." Logan asked Jubilee, referring to the alterations that she had recently made on Peter's uniform by removing the sleeves and reworking the stitching on it.
"Sure, like, no prob. When I get through, maybe I can even help you with the rest of your wardrobe too. Like, actually gettin' you a wardrobe, 'Mr. Jeans-and-T-shirts all the time'." Jubilee smirked and teasingly replied, as she continued shuffling the deck of cards.
"Just go ahead and deal, will ya." Logan smiled, as he shook his head a little.
Meanwhile after a very brief journey, in which she had passed Kitty still sitting in her silent enamoration of Peter, Rogue was standing directly behind Kurt and Bobby in the cockpit area.
"Kurt, if you wanna take a break, Ah can sit in for you?" Rogue offered.
"Danke, your kindness is beyond description." Kurt comically replied, as he looked up at her and immediately teleported from the chair in a cloud of smoke, reappearing near the back of the Blackbird so that he could retrieve one of the bottles of water kept in a pullout cooler bin back there.
"You know, you could've offered to sit in for me instead." Bobby pointed out to Rogue with a slight smile, as he continued observing the instrument panel in front of him, all while Rogue put on her small headset communicator that fit snugly around her ear.
"But, you looked like you were having so much fun there that Ah didn't want to ruin it." Rogue playfully replied, as she sat down in the pilot's chair, "Plus, you just seem like the kinda guy who'd jump at the chance to be my co-pilot."
"And how do you know I'm not the kind of guy wants to be the pilot?" Bobby grinningly inquired.
"Well, Ah just never figured that the guy who got me this would mind takin' orders from a girl." Rogue happily told Bobby, as she took off the dark blue-leather glove covering her right hand and showed off the promise ring that Bobby had surprised her with back on their six-month anniversary "And, Ah also figured he'd jump at every opportunity he could get for a little alone time with me."
"So, are saying that I need to be more of an opportunist then?" Bobby light-heartedly replied, as he reached out to touch the ring that he had given to Rogue.
"Nah, Ah guess Ah'm happy with you just the way you are." Rogue said, as Bobby held and slowly stroked her bare hand inside of his own blue leather-gloved palm for a little while, before they both finally turned their attention back to monitoring the Blackbird's flight controls.
………………………………..
In what seemed to be almost no time, Bobby and Rogue looked at the Global Positioning Satellite data on display before them on the Blackbird's console, and saw that they were approaching the coordinates of their final destination in Nova Roma.
"So, this is Nova Roma? Not much to look at if ya ask me." Jubilee commented, after she, Logan, and Kurt had come up to passenger and cockpit sections of the plane when Rogue yelled back that they were almost there.
"We're not quite there yet." Logan told her, as they looked out onto the dense rainforests of the Amazon down below, "We're just now entering the Maderia, the general region where Nova Roma is located."
"It looks like we've got a problem." Bobby now said from the co-pilot's chair, "If we continue on our current course, we're gonna fly right into those mountains up ahead."
"Not everything is as it appears." Kurt now told Bobby, as he came up and stood behind him and Rogue in the cockpit, reaching in as he began to cue up topographic information for them on the console, "According to the Professor, Nova Roma actually sits hidden in between those mountains' valleys, and is concealed by a perpetual cloud-mist that surrounds the mountains' tops high above that creates a visual barrier around it on all sides.
"Well, I hope we get there soon. I can't wait to see my first spontaneous Toga-party break out!" Jubilee excitedly commented, as she now sat down in a seat in the front row of the passenger's section.
"Jubilee, it's not like we're going there so we can remake some old party movie." Kitty now said, as she joined in on the conversation from a couple of rows behind Jubilee.
"Yeah, you kids got all of college to look forward to for that." Logan sardonically remarked to the group, "Right now we got a job to do, so I hope all 'o you are ready."
"Man, what a coupl'a buzz-killers." Jubilee responded in a low voice, referring to both Kitty and Logan.
As the Blackbird continued on into the cloudy barrier surrounding this section of Brazil's Andes Mountains, the X-Men were soon through it and on the other side. Below, they beheld a sight that looked as though it had been taken straight of a history book, as they laid eyes on the magnificence of Nova Roma.
"Wow, it looks just like that movie we watched that time about Julius Caesar." Rogue was the first to comment, referring to how the capital city looked, which was surrounded on its perimeter by a huge jungle forest area that was dotted with small native villages.
"And from the way it looks, it was probably built around that time too." Kitty added, as she was leaning over, and up against Peter, to look out of the window next to him. Which he didn't seem to mind, though.
"Set a new course, vector west. I'll tell you when to start braking speed." Logan said to Rogue and Bobby, as he had come and stood next to Kurt behind them.
"Radar's still clear, no one's spotted us yet." Bobby informed the rest of the X-Men, as the Blackbird proceeded into Nova Roman airspace.
"Alright, head over there and just kick in the verticals." Logan instructed the pilots a few minutes later, as the Blackbird flew over to an area towards the center of the capital city and began to hover by use of the plane's vertical thrusters high above, which was where Xavier had said the mutant in question had reportedly first appeared.
"I believe it is safe to say that this damage was most likely caused by the mutant that we are looking for." Kurt commented, as they could see that the city square looked as though a huge fire had swept through it.
"Should Ah find a spot for us to set down?" Rogue now inquired, as she used the Blackbird's surveillance capabilities to search for an open area to land.
"What, and try 'n explain to the local law enforcement what we're doin' here. I don't think so. No, we're gonna follow that flame-charred path that's headin' outta the city." Logan responded, to which the Blackbird began to aerially follow the path of Amara's exit out of Nova Roma's capital, in the hopes of quickly finding her.
As the Blackbird flew further into the surrounding jungle, it became apparent that things would not fall into place as easily as they might've thought, especially when the trail that they were following slowly began to fade until it disappeared into the overgrown environment.
"It looks as though our trail has now grown cold, Dr. Watson." Kurt light-heartedly said, as he looked over at Logan.
"Then all that means is we get out, and see where the fire's got to." Logan replied, as he instructed Bobby and Rogue to land close by in a small clearing in the rainforest.
In a matter of minutes, the ramp to the Blackbird was lowering and the X-Men were disembarking, preparing to continue their search on foot.
"Okay, where we should start?" Shadowcat asked, as the X-Men all gathered around the bottom of the ramp.
"Over there." Wolverine replied, pointing over towards one part of the jungle's thicket where the ground still maintained a slightly scorched appearance.
Nightcrawler, Rogue, Jubilee, Colossus, Iceman and Shadowcat all followed behind Wolverine, as he used his claws to cut through the underbrush and his heightened senses to track the scent of burnt flora and of the young mutant that they were in search of. In addition, Colossus was now armored up and aiding Wolverine in clearing a path through the dense jungle for the X-Men.
After about a half-hour trek into this wilderness environment, the X-Men had unquestionably found who they were looking for. Now, as they finally made their way out to the other side of the concentrated foliage in a small clearing, they were left with the task of figuring out how what they were going to do now?
"So, you got anything else to help us out in that bottomless bag of tricks of yours?" Jubilee turned to her side and asked Wolverine, as the X-Men saw a very frightened young girl in front of them who was, literally, on fire. She was kneeling face down with her arms wrapped around herself on a small circular landmass that was in the middle of a large lava pool, which the X-Men were standing by the edge of.
"I can't speak for Logan, but I've got a few tricks of my own." Iceman said, as he proceeded to ice up his entire body with his mutant ability.
Iceman then went to work on using his frosty abilities to try and put out the swirling pools of molten rock surrounding the girl on her artificial island, and also extinguish the numerous volcanic eruptions that were producing the lava streams feeding the pools around her. But, Iceman soon learned that it would be far easier said than done, as he had stopped the magma flow by freezing a good number of the lava pools feeding into the main one surrounding Amara, but realized that he was only going to have very limited success with that particular method.
"It seems like the more lava I freeze, the more comes up out of the ground to replace it and cover up what I've just solidified." Iceman told the others, as he ceased the sub-zero ice-blasts that he had been shooting from out of his hands.
"Ah think we to rethink our strategy." Rogue now said to the group.
"What ya got in mind darlin'?" Wolverine asked Rogue.
"Goin' straight to the source to stop this." Rogue replied, "If Ah can get close enough to touch her, Ah'm sure Ah still have enough residual memories of how John's powers worked to let me cool things off here."
"But, how do you intend to get over there?" Colossus asked Rogue.
"Don't worry, 'Nightcrawler Travel Lines' is here, and at your service." Nightcrawler suggested, as he grinned and bowed slightly in front of Rogue.
"And if I aim a freeze blast directly at that girl, I think I can buy you enough time to absorb her powers." Iceman added.
"Well, quit standin' around jawin' and get to it." Wolverine now said to them, as Iceman immediately shot an arctic energy blast in the girl's direction. His powers began to have the desired effect, as the sudden drop in temperature quelled Amara's spontaneous combustion and she shifted back from her fire-form into her human state.
"Alright, it's your turn." Shadowcat said to Nightcrawler and Rogue, as they embraced each other closely and disappeared in a black cloud of sulfur-tinged smoke.
When Rogue and Nightcrawler reappeared on the miniature island, the young mutant that had caused all of this bedlam didn't even notice their arrival. Amara was in a deep, catatonic state, sitting down with her knees pulled in to her chest, curling herself up into a tight ball as she stared off into space.
"Don't worry, everything's gonna be alright. Ah'm just gonna take over for a little bit. You might feel a little discomfort, but it'll pass, trust me." Rogue said in an attempt to assure the girl, as she slowly took a few steps towards her on the island. But, Amara was so far out of it that she didn't even notice, nor bothered to look up and acknowledge Rogue's presence.
Rogue then proceeded, although it was apprehensively at first, to remove her blue leather-glove. She then touched Amara on her shoulder, who was currently in a state of undress after having burnt off her designer clothes the day before. Immediately, Rogue could feel that familiar tug, the rush of memories flooding her mind coming from a life that she hadn't lived; seeing hopes, dreams, and fears that weren't hers. As happened each time that she had absorbed another person, Rogue felt a tinge of uneasiness at being privy to the deepest, most private parts of another person's mind and soul. After a few brief moments, Rogue could finally start to feel the surge of power flow through her, as Amara's powers were being transferred and drawn into her.
"Kurt, Ah think you'd better grab Amara here and teleport her offa this disc, Ah'm about to go to work." Rogue told Nightcrawler, to which he picked up the unconscious young girl, carefully cradling her in his arms before teleporting the both of them back to where the other X-Men were.
Once they had gone, Rogue put to use the knowledge that she had retained from Pyro about pyro-kinetic fields and how to control them. Her own body began to illuminate, glowing radiantly as flames began emanating from it. But, unlike what had happened when Amara first used her mutant powers, Rogue was able to keep these powers from exploding into a devastating display and she managed to create an tight, invisible field around herself that prevented her uniform from being incinerated by the flames that she was throwing off. Rogue then set about to the task of quelling the various magma pools that were flowing into the lava lake surrounding her on the mini-island, and began to cool off the rest of the area in their immediate vicinity. Within a few minutes, she was finished and it seemed to be just in time, as the powers that she had borrowed from Amara were starting to fade.
"Not terribly bad, if I do say so myself." Rogue said to the others, as she walked across the now cooled and solidified lava lake.
To which, Jubilee greeted her with a tremendous burst of laughter.
"And just what may I ask is so funny?" Rogue inquired of her roommate.
"It's…it's just the way you're talkin' right now. You sound like an actor from one of those TV shows from overseas or somethin'." Jubilee said in between her snickering, referring to the fact that Rogue was for the moment stuck with Amara's noticeably different and more refined accent when she talked.
"You will have more than enough time to continue your conversation later. I think that right now we should hurry and get Amara back to the Blackbird." Kurt now told Rogue, Jubilee, and the rest of the group, as he turned and teleported ahead of the group back to the Blackbird with a still unconscious Amara in his arms, while the rest of the X-Men began their lengthy walk back through the rainforest to the plane.
…………………………………….
"Do you think that I am going to be in big trouble now?" A just awoken and now fully cognizant Amara asked, as she sat in the back of the Blackbird and had a blanket from one of the emergency packs wrapped around her.
"In trouble for what?" Rogue responded, as she had left when Amara had first begun to stir on the pullout cot that Kurt had first placed her on, and was now on her way back to the rear of the plane.
"For what I did back in the city square." Amara elaborated, as she looked up from the edge of the metal cot where she had now sat up.
"With that major redecoratin' job you left behind kid, prob'ly." Logan sarcastically said to her, as he stood close by in the rear of the plane.
Logan continued puffing on the cigar that he had lit once they had gotten back to the Blackbird. They were still parked in the rainforest area surrounding Nova Roma's capital city, as they had been waiting for Amara to recover and wake up from the after-effects that Rogue's power-drain had on her.
"Oh." Amara softly replied, as her head dropped a little and she looked down at the Blackbird's metallic floor, remembering the tremendous damage that her mutant powers had caused.
"Logan, stop it! You're gonna make her feel worse than she already does, and about somethin' she had absolutely no control over." Rogue scolded him, as she then came over to Amara and handed her a small bundle, "Here Amara, these're some extra clothes for you to put on, since I guess you got a little too hot for your other ones. There's a small change room over there, just pull those two tall bins out the rest of the way to give yourself a little privacy."
"Okay. Um, thanks." Amara replied, as she stood up with a blue-gray blanket still wrapped around her. She took the yellow t-shirt, blue X-windbreaker and blue pants in her hand and started over to the side-area on the Blackbird, but then stopped to ask Rogue something else.
"What is going to happen to me now?" Amara wondered aloud.
"Well, after you get changed, we're going to take you back home and talk with your family about your new mutant abilities. We'll explain to them everything that we just told you about Professor Xavier's school, and see if they'll let us take you back there so you can learn how to better control your powers." Rogue told her.
"I'm just so afraid of what my father is going to think, when I tell him that I am…I'm a mutant." Amara revealed, as she closed her eyes and paused for a moment.
"Everything's gonna be fine, Amara. Ah promise." Rogue said, trying to calm Amara's current anxieties. But, Rogue knew full well what it meant to have to tell your parents,
"Mom. Dad. I think I'm a mutant…"Rogue recalled what that moment felt like from her own personal experience. But, when she happened to look up to the front of the plane where Bobby was sitting, Rogue also remembered quite vividly the nightmare that had unfolded outside of Boston, when Bobby finally revealed the truth about his mutant powers to his parents and brother.
Rogue now understood that the reaction you get is one that you can never truly predict with one-hundred percent accuracy. Nor one that you can ever prepare yourself for, especially if the people that you call family and love with all of your being are simply unwilling, or just plain unable, to accept who it is and what it is that you really are. As she watched Amara go over into the small change area, Rogue hoped against hope that this time the young Nova Roman would be the one of them to catch that elusive lucky break.
In what gave Amara just enough time to get decent, and for everyone else to change out of their X-Men uniforms and into their 'civvies' (as Logan liked to refer to them), they were then getting strapped into their seats and the Blackbird was lifting off from their tropical landing pad, heading towards Nova Roma's capital city. Rogue had gleamed enough information from Amara during their absorption exchange to know Amara's full name, and also who her powerful and well-known father was. So, a course was set for the Aquilla estate-compound, located on the outer-edge of the capital city.
…………………………………..
"My word, what in the name of Jupiter is that?" One of the additional Centurio protectores that had been dispatched from Nova Roma's Praetorium said, as he and his fellow cohorts saw a strange aircraft descending upon them, coming straight down from the sky.
The Centurions had been charged with maintaining the country's security as its main armed military and civil defense force. But, a select few also served in a special capacity as security guards for the nation's Senators, and for the individuals who worked in the other upper-levels of its government. This particular detachment had been recently assigned with the task of protecting First Senator Lucius Aquilla, just as detachments had been stationed at all of the other Senator's homes following the shocking attack that had occurred in the city square the day before, and would remain until they could determine the implications of what had happened.
They watched as the large, black craft, which they now recognized as being a military airplane, continued on its downward track. The Blackbird landed right on a grassy section of the well-landscaped and attended to grounds of the enormous, classical-styled Roman villa owned by Senator Aquilla, which was located in an outer suburban section of Nova Roma's capital city. And, having drawn the obvious attention of the security force on the estate, the half-dozen Centurions assigned there came out and surrounded the plane, with their handguns and larger weapons drawn.
Despite their official title, these modern-day Centurions were actually dressed in regular clothes, wearing dark-colored business suits and sunglasses, a look that apparently had taken a cue from their Secret Service counterparts in the United States. The Centurions usually only wore their more traditional silver armor, helmets with decorative plumes at the top, cape, leg guards, battle sword and other accessorizing décor when they were standing guard outside of the Senate building when convened in session, for important official ceremonies, or for other very special occasions in Nova Roma.
But, the Centurions quickly re-holstered the weapons that they had drawn upon the sight of seeing the Senator's only daughter, Amara Aquilla, appearing at the top of the ramp that was lowering itself down from the Blackbird.
"Lady Amara, what set of circumstances dictated your disappearance amidst the chaos of that mutant's terrorist attack on the city's square yesterday, and then your miraculous return to us in this manner of transport?" Mercurius, the head Centurion also known as the Centurio ordinatus on her father's detail inquired, as he came to take Amara by the hand and guide her down the last remaining steps of the Blackbird's ramp.
"It is a long story, and one that I would rather first discuss with my father as soon as possible." Amara told Mercurius, as she at last made it down off of the ramp, with the X-Men soon coming down behind her now dressed in their more casual clothing, "These most compassionate individuals aboard this vessel are to be commended for the aid in which they bestowed upon me, in perhaps my greatest hour of need."
"Yes, of course." Mercurius replied, and with a simple hand gesture he ordered the other Centurions to return to their posts along the protective, fortifying wall that encircled and enclosed the villa. Meanwhile, Amara and the X-Men proceeded through the villa's inner-court and colonnade passageway onward into the main house, which actually looked more like a small palace.
"Nice digs you got here, Amara." Jubilee commented, as they walked down an expansive corridor within her home, which was lined with valuable antique furniture, vases, statues and busts, and other highly decorative items, while her home also possessed all of today's modern conveniences.
"Jubilee, that is impolite." Peter bent down slightly and said to Jubilee in a low voice, as they walked along.
"Hey, it's not like I was raggin' on the place or anything. That guy on 'The Apprentice' could only hope to do half as good." Jubilee replied, as the group continued on and soon reached one of the main rooms in the house.
Instantly, a feeling of complete relief came over the lone individual in the living room at the sight of his only daughter standing in its entranceway. Especially, since he had spent the last twenty-four hours pacing around his home, fearing the worst regarding his daughter's sudden disappearance during yesterday's melee in the city.
Senator Lucius Aquilla was a stocky, heavy-set man in his forties with fair skin and balding brown hair. Currently, he was dressed in an expensive, tailor-made navy-blue business suit. Senator Aquilla was someone, who upon first sight definitely emitted a presence about himself, and did so without even having to utter a word. It was an attribute that had turned out to be a valuable asset in his life, especially when he was conducting business on the floor of the Nova Roman Senate.
"Amara, the gods have certainly shown their favor this day, and brought you back to me." Senator Aquilla said in Latin, as Amara ran down the few steps by the entranceway into the living room, hurrying over to embrace her father.
"And I am glad to be back. I've missed you so, father." Amara ardently told him in English, as the two linguistically fluent Nova Romans continued hugging one another tightly.
"And I see that you have brought some company along." Senator Aquilla said, as he now took notice of the other people that had accompanied his daughter, most notably the figure cloaked beneath a dark-brown robe with the group.
Before leaving the Blackbird, Kurt thought that it would probably be a good idea for him to try and disguise his appearance, so as to not upset the local populace that might be on edge at the sight of another very noticeable mutant. The monk-style, long robe that Kurt was wearing had also drawn a couple of very light-hearted comments from Kitty, most notably about him 'having his whole Jedi-look down', to which Kurt happily replied that he was glad to have made her day.
"They are friends of mine, father. They came all of the way down here from the States, just to find and rescue me." Amara told him.
"Rescue you? From what? Amara, tell me what exactly is going on here." Senator Aquilla anxiously requested of his daughter, which caused Amara to pause and take in a deep breath.
Then…
"Father, there is something that I need to talk to you about. It has to do with the mutant, the one that created all of the damage and pandemonium downtown yesterday, and I believe that you may want to sit down before I begin..." Amara said, as she then initiated what might have been the most difficult conversation of her life.
As Amara and her father talked, the X-Men silently watched them and unintentionally gauged Senator Aquilla's reaction to the news from his daughter that she was indeed that very mutant everyone was on guard about. Amara told her Dad everything, starting from the beginning with the headaches that she had started having a few months before now, and how they had progressively grown worse. Amara also revealed to her Dad how scared and freaked out she was when her powers first burgeoned forth on that city street, and how she didn't mean to cause all of that damage on purpose.
Amara next told him about her flight into the outlying jungle areas, in an attempt to keep from hurting anyone else with these powers that she hadn't asked to be given, and that seemed to work with less than a thought. She then told him how these wonderful people behind her had come to her rescue. Finally, Amara wanted to know from her Dad if he hated her for what she had done, and if he was embarrassed or ashamed of having a mutant for a daughter?
"Amara…" Senator Aquilla started, as he stood up from the chair in which he had been sitting in, while giving his daughter the chance to get out everything that she felt that she needed to say to him, "I could never hate you. You are my first and only daughter, and I love you regardless of these new abilities that you have exhibited."
Upon hearing his words of acceptance, Amara's eyes swelled with tears and she ran over to once again hug her father. The dread that Amara had been harboring about how he would feel about her and look at her, once he knew the truth, had at last been relieved.
As Bobby Drake watched Amara's Dad dote on his baby girl, kissing her on her forehead and continuing his supportive embrace, Bobby wished with all of his being that things could have turned out in a similar fashion with his family, that they could've accepted who he was just as easily. Inside, Bobby hoped that Amara truly realized just how lucky she was to have such an understanding parent.
Just then, another door that led to a side-room from the living room opened, and in came a woman that instantaneously grabbed everyone's attention. If the gods really did walk the Earth, as the Roman's had believed, then this woman entering looked as though she could most definitely qualify as a goddess with her long, flowing jet-black hair, a ravishingly beautiful face, and a figure to die for.
"Amara, Mercurius just informed me of your safe arrival. We've been so worried about you, when did you return?" The woman asked her, as she stepped into the room dressed in a conservative white blouse, knee-length black skirt, and high-heeled pumps, walking over to stand next to Senator Aquilla.
"Just a few minutes ago." Amara replied, as she turned to the group standing right behind her, "I'd like you to meet my new friends from the United States, they are the ones who brought me home. They come from a special school there created to help mutants. They say that I am a mutant too, and that's why I've been having all of those headaches, because of my emerging new powers."
"Mutants…ALL of you?" The woman quietly muttered, the shocked expression on her face making her look almost as if she had seen a ghost.
"I am so sorry, I have yet to properly introduce you to this other important person in my life." Amara said, as she turned to speak to the group from the U.S. standing and sitting down right behind her, then turning back to extend an open hand out towards the woman right beside her father,
"This is my wonderful step-mother, Selene Aquilla."
"And in addition to being my beautiful wife, also my most trusted advisor." Senator Aquilla said, as he put his arm around Selene's waist and kissed her on the side of her beautiful cheek.
"Mine is only to serve and be dutiful to you, my husband." Selene smiled and said in response, as she wrapped both of her arms around one of his, proceeding to kiss his hand as her cloudy, hazel eyes gazed almost hypnotically into his.
Then, Rogue decided to step up and discuss the other reason that she and the others had traveled to Nova Roma from Westchester County. Rogue told Amara's father and step-mother about the school run by Professor Charles Xavier, and how the Professor had helped each of them to live with the difficulties caused by their various mutations. As an added visual, Kurt finally revealed his…distinctive characteristics from underneath his hooded robe, in order to help drive home Rogue's point.
"Amara, how do you feel about going to this school? The United States is very far away from your home, your family, and your friends." Senator Aquilla now asked his daughter, after Rogue had finished telling him about the school.
"I want to go, father. I don't wish to spend the rest of my days living in fear of these powers. I want to master them, and not allow them to rule me." Amara eagerly responded.
"It seems like a wonderful opportunity for her to learn how to control these…mutant powers, so that she won't be a danger to herself or to others. It is also an excellent chance for her to be exposed to another culture by being completely immersed in it." Selene encouragingly told her husband.
But, deep inside Selene had also considered the ramifications of what would happen were it to become public knowledge that one of Nova Roma's top Senators, who also served in a capacity similar to its Head of State, had a mutant for a daughter. By sending Amara away, Selene hoped to quell any potential political fallout that could hurt her husband's career, and also for other, more 'personal' reasons of convenience to her.
"Very well, Amara go and begin gathering your things, I will send for the servants to help you and to have a car arranged to take you and your new friends to the airport." Senator Aquilla told her.
"Um, we won't be needing a car, except to take us across that football field you call a front yard. Our plane is parked out by your sidewalk." Jubilee now chimed in, as she leaned back with her hands up behind her head, sitting in a large chair in the room.
………………………………….
It took Amara and the numerous servants that worked at the estate less than an hour to gather her things together, with Colossus amazing them all as he used his armored strength to easily take the numerous items out by himself and load them onto the Blackbird.
"You 'bout ready, kid?" Logan asked Amara, as he stood at the bottom of the Blackbird's ramp, while Amara and her parents had come out to the Blackbird with her.
"Yes, I believe so." Amara said, as she then turned to say her goodbyes to Senator Aquilla and Selene, "I am going to miss you both so very much."
"As will we." Senator Aquilla replied, as he and Selene embraced Amara in a family hug. Then, Amara turned to quickly head up the steps to board the plane, before her emotions got the better of her.
"We'll have her call you as soon as we get back to the school and get her settled in." Logan promised Amara's father and stepmother, before turning to go up and join everyone else who was already aboard and ready for lift-off.
"Thank you." Senator Aquilla said in response to Logan's recognition of how difficult this was for him and his daughter, before commenting on something else that he had found very interesting, "But, I must say that this is quite an unusual aircraft, especially for a school to be using for travel."
"Yeah, ain't it a hoot what they'll let ya charter these days." Logan sarcastically replied with a huge smile, as he turned back and continued up the steps, with the ramp soon being drawn closed behind him.
Amara sat and looked out of one of the window seats on the plane, watching as the two people that she cared most about in the world quickly became two smaller and smaller dots on the ground, until they were indiscernible from their surroundings. As the Blackbird was fast on its way back home, Rogue could tell that Amara looked a little down, and decided to take a break from her piloting duties to come back and cheer her up.
"Ah think you're gonna really like it in Westchester with us." Rogue said, as she had turned on the auto-pilot on her side of the cockpit before coming to sit down next to Amara. She had left Bobby to watch everything up front, and Kurt was sitting in the front passenger row writing a letter, still close enough to give Bobby a hand if he needed it.
"I hope so." Amara replied, as she honestly wanted that to be the case.
"And Professor Xavier is the best, he's like one of those guys you--" Rogue was about to tell Amara, when they heard a ruckus behind them with Kitty shouting and walking towards the back of the plane, which was where Logan and Jubilee were.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!" Kitty very loudly yelled, as she continued towards the back of the plane looking directly at Logan.
"I say alotta things, kid. You're gonna have to be a little more specific." Logan replied, as he had a few cards in his hand from the game that he and Jubilee were currently playing.
"I'm talkin' about that chauvinist word you just used." Kitty replied, as she continued storming to the back, having gotten the attention of everyone else on the plane, "You shouldn't refer to women as 'broads', that's an extremely demeaning term and I never thought you were like that."
"Uh-oh, here she goes again." Jubilee sighed to herself, having had experienced one of Kitty's diatribes on the subject before.
"I think you're lookin' for somethin' that ain't there." Logan told Kitty with a dumbfounded expression, as he and Jubilee had been talking some more about the subject of self-defense, with Logan using Mystique and Deathstrike as examples of two tough women (broads as Logan had worded it) who definitely gave him a run for his money when it came to fighting.
"Hell, I could've always used words that were A LOT more colorful than that to describe Mystique and Deathstrike." Logan continued, "Besides, if I'm this big chauvinist you seem to think I am, then I wouldn't be lettin' Rogue fly the Blackbird. And I sure as hell'd have a REAL big problem with takin' orders from Storm, who also happens to be a woman if ya hadn't noticed."
"But, you do have a problem takin' orders from Storm." Kitty pointed out to him.
"Yeah, but it's got nothin' to do with her bein' a woman. It's just the idea of authority in general I gotta problem with, whether it's comin' from her, or from the 'boy-scout'." Logan smirked, "Fact is, I got a lot of respect for women."
"Still, you shouldn't use a word like that." Kitty continued saying to Logan.
"I see your point, but you gotta see mine. In my day, I guess it had a different meaning than it might now." Logan explained, "But, if it bothers you that much, then I promise not to use it anymore."
"Really?" Kitty asked him, surprised that despite his rough and tumble exterior, Logan would actually make it a point to be sensitive and respectful to her personal feelings.
"Really." Logan nodded slightly, as he now laid a few cards on the makeshift table that he and Jubilee were playing on.
"Well, then…okay. Thank you." Kitty said to Logan, as she didn't think there was anything left to say between them, and she turned to make her way back to the passenger section of the plane.
"You're welcome. And by the way, if you wanna go give Drake a hand flying this heap, then this 'reformed chauvinist' won't have a problem with it. That is, if you don't, 'Short-stuff'." Logan called out to Kitty, his eyes remaining trained on the cards in his hand the entire time, as he had found his new nickname just for her.
To Logan, it perfectly described the seemingly the short-fuse that Kitty had on her temper, which was something that Logan realized that they might have in common.
Even if she wanted to get mad and argue about the nickname he had found for her, all Kitty could do was smile when she heard it, now that she had a better understanding of the mindset of the man who had given it to her.
"I was going to suggest taking all of you to see the gladiators perform at the Coliseum when next we all returned to Nova Roma. But, after seeing those two, I don't believe that any of you would be all that impressed." Amara commented, after Kitty had passed them by on the aisle in the middle of the plane, continuing on to the cockpit to take a seat next to Bobby.
"Ah don't see how they could compare with people fightin' for their lives, against live animals and other people." Rogue responded to Amara's remark.
"Unlike the classic gladiatorial events, the gladiators now are trained professionals. I believe they are akin to what you might refer to as professional wrestlers in your country. Amara explained, "And it didn't seem that those two were acting."
"Yeah, it's pretty much run of the mill stuff back home, which you'll get to see more of." Rogue told her.
"Oh boy. That certainly gives me something to look forward to." Amara sarcastically commented, as she placed her elbows in her lap and rested her face upon the palms of her hands.
But, despite any reservations that she might be feeling, Amara still thought that she was more than up to any challenges that awaited her at this new school, as the Blackbird now rocketed a little faster towards home, partially thanks to a certain short-fused young lady sitting as co-pilot at its helm.
The End.
……………………………………….
(Well, maybe not quite the end, at least not yet…)
Epilogue:
As the Blackbird had just left Nova Roma and headed for home in Westchester, another private jet was currently on its way down to that same small, inland nation that the X-Men had just departed. One look at the insignia crest marked on the outside of this small, expensive jet automatically denoted it as belonging to the Hellfire Club, an exclusive organization were the wealthy and elite worldwide came to mingle with one another, both on a professional and on a personal level.
Traveling on this flight was Emma Frost, CEO of Frost Technotics, Headmistress of the Massachusetts Preparatory Academy and member of the aforementioned Hellfire Club, where she also secretly held the notorious title of White Queen within its Inner Circle. Emma was currently on her way to Nova Roma to personally confirm the sighting of a very powerful mutant in the city, whose powers had manifested themselves nearly twenty-four hours ago. But, the platinum-blonde passenger was about to receive a bit of discouraging news, with regards to her desire to recruit this new mutant for her own Massachusetts Academy.
"Reese, what have you uncovered so far?" Emma said, as she spoke into her cell-phone, answering the incoming call from one of the Inner Circle's mercenary operatives, who had already arrived in Nova Roma ahead of her.
"We lost the girl, it looks like the X-Men got here a few hours before us. By the time we figured out who this kid was, they had already got to her and her parents." Reese replied.
"That is disappointing news, to say the least." Emma told him, "Although, having just beaten Xavier to our most recent acquisitions, the Jones and the Cargill girls', they will have to suffice as a more than suitable consolation, for the time being."
"Should I gather the men and return home?" Reese now asked Emma.
"No, I want you to remain. Although the mutant in Nova Roma may have eluded us, I do believe that the Hellfire Club may still have some other, very important business to deal with there. I will rendezvous with you and your men at the airport in Nova Roma's capital city, I should be touching down within the hour." Emma replied, as she then hung up the phone, and in a display of her irritation at having missed out on the chance to get this new mutant that wielded such raw power, she angrily tossed the cell-phone down into the empty seat next to her.
Alone on the corporate-chartered plane, Emma was now left alone with her thoughts, in a mind powerful enough to literally reach out and touch the world around her.
"A few of Nova Roma's more notable, and rather high-ranking citizens, have expressed a private interest in joining us. I imagine that it to only be proper to give them a fair opportunity, to see if they are truly worthy of an invitation into the Inner Circle. At the very least, I imagine that it can't hurt to have a few more public officials on our payroll, to go along with the others already indebted to us." Emma wickedly smiled and thought to herself, as the private plane that she was on crossed into the region of Brazil known as the Maderia.
The arrival of the White Queen, and the possible interjection of the Inner Circle into the affairs of this small country, carried with it the potential of severely altering the way of life of every single person residing within Nova Roma.
Forever.
………………………………….
Next Chapter: Wheel of ideas, turn, turn, turn…
………………………………….
A/N: Special thanks to my three reviewers from last chapter-
ishandahalf- Glad you found your way into the latest part of my little saga, and that you like the short-story format of this fic. I hope you like what's coming up, and don't worry, Rogue and Remy will get their chance to shine.
TheDreamerLady- Well, I hope this chapter satisfied your craving for a little, old-school New Mutant action, and that it whet your appetite for more to come at the same time, especially with Selene and the Hellfire Club at work behind the scenes in Nova Roma. Oh, and the big words say they feel the love back at ya…
Independent Fire- Glad you liked the fact that the Alison/Scott situation is starting to get very interesting, and you liked the other stuff going on with the flip-side at the Massachusetts Academy. If you think John and Lance's drama has been exciting, you ain't seen nothin' yet. And as far as Lance getting caught, Frederick J. Dukes may not be many things, but being unable to count isn't one of them.