The X-men, Bob and Edna sat at the beautifully designed kitchen island; splashed with dark greens and blues. Edna sat with a stern look on her face as she fondled with her fingers on the table.
"So you're telling me that thing can be Ashford?" Ororo asked; her look contained a hint a fear.
"This thing has been lingering around my place for some time. I wouldn't necessarily say it's a ghost as some of you might call it. I believe that Ashford technically never died. There were no remains of his body after the clash. I think he is after something I hold." Edna replied as her thick eyebrow knitted with frustration.
"What do you think that might be?" Jean asked from across the table.
Edna merely looked at everyone sitting at the table. Her eyes locked everyone else's for a short while. "There is a device that is heavily guarded in a particular section here in our city if its not destroyed in the next 48 hours It will obliterate a super's or in your case mutants powers. It can also kill that everyone in the process" Edna concluded with a sigh.
"But who made such a weapon?" Remy asked as he leaned more comfortably on his chair.
Edna became slightly tense and the rest noticed. "I asked myself that plenty of times. I know Eugene Ashford was greatly involved in the project but it was never completely done and now a year later Ashford's henchmen declared it officially up and running. He must have never died but rather evolved since that fight. He must have. There was never a recovered body at the scene." Edna's voice grew commanding as she slammed her fist onto the table.
Suddenly a blaring siren can be heard sweeping the entire area.
"Everybody! Outside at once! Someone's here." Edna ordered and they all followed her command.
The team all headed in the massive front yard nothing can be heard but the rustling of trees and the faint siren from inside her home.
"Ahhh!" Logan growled as he stabbed someone hiding in a nearby bush.
Edna merely crossed her delicate arms over her chest with a smirk and watched her extended team in action. She stood at her porch with great confidence.
People dressed in all black appeared out of nowhere. They looked as if they can be professional assassins.
"Hey Storm, think fast." Bob shouted with a smile. He grabbed one assassin in each hand and threw them about 200 feet in the sky while Ororo commanded a single lightning bolt that punched through both of them.
Gambit took out his staff and began to strike at a couple aggressively with speed, and a hint of grace.
Cyclops used his optic blast sending quite a few flying onto a sturdy brick wall.
Jean used her telekinesis making the last remaining two stop at their tracks.
"Who do you work for?" Jean commanded.
Edna meanwhile walked to the unknown men with her head held up high. She looked look straight into their ski masked face her eyes over accentuated due to her bulky glasses.
"Answer her question." Edna sternly said with a single raised.
"Someone else is here." Logan informed taking huge whiffs around the yard he walk around like a blood hound and finally halted at a big man made fountain with a shapely statue woman in a dancers pose the middle. She was spitting water out of its mouth it appeared something was irregular about it.
"I don't remember that thing being here." Bob announced.
"You can come out Mirage." Edna said coolly.
Suddenly the fountain converted into a tall thin woman that to a degree resembled Storm just not as shapely. It caught Logan by surprise from her sheer beauty.
"Damn, chere, ya'll kinda look alike. ya gonna have a real challenge now." Remy uttered with tease over to Ororo.
"No she doesn't." Ororo angrily whispered back. She doesn't like to be compared to other people girls for that matter.
She had stunning green eyes with platinum back length hair and light mocha skin. "They did exceptionally well." Mirage announced truly impressed from their actions as she walked towards Edna.
"You X-men have passed the virtual reality test. I just wanted to witness how grand you really were before we went on to further business. I must say I was overwhelmed."
"So this was all a gig?" Cyclops asked with frustration built arms over his chest.
"Have I not made myself clear?" Edna sarcastically replied with exasperation.
Mirage brought her hands up and made all the assassins disappear with a wave of a hand.
"So is the whole matter of this thing destroying all people with powers in two days a trick too?" Jean sternly asked eyes knitting.
"No, that I must say is no laughing situation. I merely wanted to see your skills in combat." Edna reassured with cool composure.
"From this moment on you will meet your new fellow teammates and your first mission will take place tomorrow at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. I want all of you to discreetly track down a man by the name of Jeff Jensen I'm positive he knows a big part of this plan."
