Professor X watched as Iceman, Rogue, and Gambit led Gwyna into the Danger Room. She had been with them for almost six months and had yet to test out her powers. Of course she would be afraid. After all, her powers had rendered her unconscious. She had been trembling when Rogue presented her with the generic student X-Men uniform.
"I-I'm not so sure this is an entirely sane thing to be doing," Gwyna said.
"Don't fret chère. If trouble should come, the Gambit will be there in a flash," Gambit replied, trying to sound reassuring.
"Professor X won't let anythin' happen t' ya, sugah," Rogue added, glaring at Gambit.
"Right, well, let's get this show on the road then," Bobby said, turning into his snowy form. He turned around and gave Professor X a thumbs up.
"Mission start," announced a cool, female voice.
Gwyna looked about her, seemingly expecting some hideous beast to appear. All of a sudden the scenery changed and they were in the heart of Manhattan. Everything appeared normal until a Sentinel appeared. She screamed.
"Gwyn, remember, it's not really real," Bobby said.
She gulped and nodded, her eyes trained on the Sentinel that had just appeared. Her tail was twitching horribly. She watched as Rogue flew up at the first giant robot and threw a punch to the middle of its face. Gwyna cheered as it crashed into a building.
"Well if you like that, chère," Gambit muttered. He ran to the third Sentinel that had come and threw a multitude of cards at it. The explosions created fireworks of a sort. He bowed as Gwyna applauded.
"Your turn, Gwyna," Bobby called as he dispatched the second Sentinel.
"But what do I do?" she asked, looking at the robot heading towards here.
"That's what we're here to find out," he replied.
Gwyna's mind froze as the robot moved nearer and nearer. All she could do was stand there. That is, until Rogue went at it and was brushed away like a crumb. Gwyna's ears filled with the sound of her closest friend hitting the side of an apartment. That ticked her off.
Without thinking she flew into the air, her wings beating rapidly. She hung there for a moment and all she thought about was hurting that stupid robot and its pal that had just entered the street. All of a sudden there was a ball of fire in each of her hands. With all her might, Gwyna hurled them at the first Sentinel.
They tore through it like a bullet rips through a human.
Two more fire balls appeared and she hurled them at the oncoming Sentinel. The effects were the same. The next one didn't even have enough time to register the four mutants as targets. Gwyna had blown it to bits the moment she caught sight of it.
"Behind her," Rogue cried. Bobby and Gambit turned around, as did Gwyna.
Laser beams shot out of its eyes, catching her in the stomach. Her friends watched in horror as she made contact with a window. The glass shattered and the Sentinel set its sights on the other three.
Gambit, Rogue, and Bobby rushed across the street to Gwyna. She came out of the front door of the apartment building. The only damage they could see was where she had been cut by the glass.
Without a glance towards her concerned friends, she took off towards the Sentinel. They stared after her as she blew it to bit. Except this time, fire hadissued from her mouth as well. They didn't have time to recover from the shock seeing asthree more Sentinels had emerged.
Gwyna was out of breath and very, very angry by now. She didn't like it when her friends were hurt and she didn't like getting hurt either. These Sentinels were moving closer to the top of her list of things she disliked. It was as if she was on autopilot the way she moved to get rid of them. She tried to avoid the laser beams of one, but the beam of another grazed her upper arm. She fell to her knees.
That was it. The final straw had been broken. She was fed up with these machines, which she hadn't wanted to battle in the first place. She was fed up with not knowing what her powers were. She was fed up because she was starting to cry. She was simply fed up.
"Uh-oh," Bobby said weakly. He watched as Gwynarose slowly, miraculously avoiding being shot.
"What?" asked Gambit. He too watched Gwyna.
"She's gonna do it!" Rogue cried. Gwyna was rising very slowly into the air. There was fire in her hands and it was creeping over her entire being.
"Do what, chère?" Gambit asked. He was thoroughly confused.
The Sentinels had formed a circle around the floating Gwyna. The minute it seemed as though they would blow her to bits, she curled into a fiery ball. The next second she opened up and a bubble of fire erupted from her. She completely annihilated the Sentinels. She also began falling.
"I've got you," Iceman called as he created an icebridge to her. He caught her moments before she hit the street.
"Mission end," the voice announced.
Gambit was speechless. His jaw had dropped as soon as the fire began spreading over her body. Rogue pushed his mouth closed with a trembling hand.
"You saw her do this before, didn' you, Rogue," he asked. Looking away, she nodded. Beast came down and took Gwyna to the medi-lab.
Bobby turned back to normal, shaking his head. He had expected that to happen sooner or later. He had witnessed her knock herself out before, but that time had really been his fault. He had put her up against much more than Sentinels. He winced at the memory.
Professor X watched the three students, curious to see how they would take their friend's newfound power. They had been relatively shocked at first. Gambit seemed to be the most awestruck. He hadn't been there before; only Iceman and Rogue had seen her. Neither of them had told Gwyna what she was capable of. Bobby probably felt too guilty to tell her. However he wasn't sure about Rogue.