Disclaimer: X2 belongs to Marvel and 20th Century Fox. SPD belongs to Disney.
A/N: This takes place after X2 but before X3. This also takes place after Endings Part 2. For the sake of this fic, let's just say that X2 and SPD were set in the same year.
Heroes No Longer
Chapter 1: New Allies and New Enemies
It was just another day at S.P.D. for the B-Squad power rangers. They were seated in the recreation room watching the noon edition of the news. A particular story caught their attention, but not in a good way.
"In today's national news, the president of the United States of America has just passed the Mutant Registration Act. Under this legislation, all mutants are to be placed under arrest," said the female news anchor.
The four B-Squad rangers exchanged nervous glances with one another. Words didn't need to be spoken, for they knew that they were all thinking the same thing. 'Does that mean us?'
Just then, Kat's voice came across the intercom. "Power Rangers, please report to the command center immediately," Kat announced.
This had to mean one of two things. Either this was some sort of freakish coincidence that Kat summoned them to the command center after the female news anchor reported that the president passed the Mutant Registration Act, or Kat asked the rangers to report to the command center because of the passing of the Mutant Registration Act. B-Squad certainly hoped it was the former rather than the latter.
1-1-1
Sky, Bridge, Z, and Syd hesitantly made their way to the command center. They saluted their commander upon arriving and stood at attention.
"I'm sure that the four of you have seen the news. I regret to inform you that I have no choice but to strip you of your ranger powers. With that being said, please give your morphers to Kat. Furthermore, you four are dismissed from the Academy," Cruger stated in a rather neutral tone of voice.
The now former B-Squad rangers' faces told the whole story. Shock was evident on their faces from their widened eyes and their dropped jaws. Sky stepped forward on behalf of his friends.
"Commander, you can't be serious! Why are you doing this? You're the one who selected us to be rangers in the first place!" Sky exclaimed.
While Cruger's face was devoid of any sort of emotion or expression, Kat averted her gaze and fixated her eyes on the floor instead.
"First of all Sky, I am not your commander anymore. Secondly, I have no choice in the matter. S.P.D. is a government funded agency, and because the Mutant Registration Act was passed, the Academy can't harbor any mutants or else we will lose all government funding," Cruger said in the same emotionless voice.
Sky, Bridge, Z, and Syd reluctantly handed in their morphers to Kat. This whole ordeal had rendered them utterly speechless. Cruger, who after everything they've been through together has become somewhat of a father figure to them all, was taking away their ranger powers and essentially kicking them to the curb. The four of them didn't really know what to make of all this, but they didn't have time to worry about that now.
A bunch of cadets entered the command center at that moment with their civilian blasters pointed at the former power rangers.
"We don't want to hurt you, so do us all a favor and turn yourselves in peacefully," Cruger said in the same neutral tone of voice as before.
Just then, everyone in the command center with the exception of Sky, Bridge, Z, and Syd ceased any movement whatsoever.
Bridge waved his hand in front of Cruger's face. "Uh guys, what just happened?" he asked.
"I did this," said an unfamiliar voice.
The former power rangers saw that the speaker was an elderly, bald man in a wheelchair. He wasn't alone either. There were three others with him. All of them donned the same black outfit with the letter "X" on the chest. There were two males and one female.
The female was African American with hair as white as snow. She was wearing a cape in addition to her black outfit. The cape was black on one side and silver on the other.
The first male was Caucasian with brown hair. He had a visor covering his eyes for some strange reason.
The second male was Caucasian as well. He wasn't as tall in stature as the other guy, and whereas the first guy was clean cut, this second male had facial hair. He had brown hair as well.
Sky, Bridge, Z, and Syd didn't know what to make of these strangers, and as a precaution, Z had already replicated herself twice. Syd had hold of a pellet of iron ready to turn her hand into a fist of iron at a moment's notice.
"Who are you?" Sky asked the man in a wheelchair.
"I am Professor Charles Xavier. That's Storm, Cyclops, and Wolverine. We are known as the X-Men. We're mutants much like yourselves," Professor X stated.
"We think that it's best that the four of you come with us. It isn't safe here for you anymore," Storm said.
Syd released the pellet of iron and Z got rid of her duplicates. The former power rangers thought they might as well go with the X-Men people. It sure beats getting arrested. That's for sure.
"By all means, take a few moments to pack your belongings, for you won't be returning here again," Xavier said.
1-1-1
After packing their things, Sky, Bridge, Z, and Syd followed the X-Men out of the Academy. They noticed that parked outside was a huge jet.
"This is the X-Jet. It is our primary means of transportation, and now yours too," Xavier said.
The former power rangers marveled at the sheer size of the X-Jet. Sky and Bridge were most impressed by the X-Jet though, but for two entirely different reasons. Sky was excited because he had a certain fondness for flying. In his spare time, he would paint model airplanes. Bridge on the other hand, was excited because he was a technological genius and the X-Jet was state of the art.
The eight of them boarded the X-Jet, took their seats and fastened their seat belts. Soon, they were flying through the air. Once they were airborne, Professor X undid what he had done to the Kat, Cruger, and the rest of the S.P.D. cadets.
"So where are you taking us exactly?" Syd asked.
"We're going to the Xavier Institute in the Salem region of upstate New York. The four of you will be safe there," Xavier replied.
When the X-Men weren't looking, Bridge had removed one of his gloves and scanned the X-Men's auras. There was nothing particularly alarming about them, but the four of them were still uncertain as whether or not they could trust the X-Men.
"How were you able to locate us?" Z asked.
The other three were wondering the exact same thing. That was probably the freakiest thing to them. All of a sudden, the X-Men showed up out of the blue and asked them to come with them.
"I was able to locate you through Cerebro," Professor X answered.
The former power rangers exchanged confused glances with one another. Xavier said it as though it was something that they should be familiar with, but they had no clue what it was.
"Cerebro?" Sky asked.
"Yes, Cerebro is a computer that amplifies my telepathic abilities enabling me to establish telepathic connections with any being on the planet, mutant and human alike. That is how I was able to track the four of you," Xavier responded.
Xavier kept referring to them as mutants, yet nobody ever labeled them as being mutants before. Sure they had powers, but they had been called civilian powers not mutant powers.
"This Xavier Institute, what is it exactly?" Sky asked.
"It's a school for mutants. Besides the normal curriculum of any other school, we also help mutants to learn to harness their powers," Xavier replied.
This was the first that the four of them had ever heard of such a thing as a school for mutants. They all felt overwhelmed because so much was changing now all at the same time. Cruger's betrayal still stung even though it had happened nearly an hour ago now.
"We're coming up to the Xavier Institute now," Storm announced.
As the X-Jet decreased it's altitude in preparation to land, the former B-Squad rangers looked out the window at the mansion underneath them. When they heard "Institute", they had envisioned something that wasn't too large, but this was very expansive.
"This is the Xavier Institute? It's enormous!" Syd remarked.
After the X-Jet had landed in the basketball courts, Professor X led Sky, Bridge, Z, and Syd in the front entrance. The new residents were shown to their rooms and were given some time to get situated before being given a tour of the Xavier Institute. As it turned out, Sky and Bridge still shared a room as did Syd and Z.
1-1-1
Later on, Professor X gave Sky, Bridge, Z, and Syd a tour of the Xavier Institute just like he said he would.
"The Xavier Institute has three floors to it. On the ground floor is the dining room, the library, the classrooms, and the living room. The dormitories, as you know, are located on the second floor. Below the ground floor is the subbasement. That is where you will find the medical wing, the lab, Cerebro, the Danger Room, the brig, and the X-Jet hangar," Professor X said while walking around the Xavier Institute.
Sky, Bridge, Z, and Syd just nodded along not sure what to really make of all this. They had no idea what half the stuff Xavier said even was.
"Hey, so you four must be the new mutants. The name's Rogue, and this is my boyfriend Bobby," said a teenage girl with dark brown hair that had a streak of white in it. Her boyfriend was a teenager as well and had spiked blond hair.
Bridge was the only one of the four to give a small wave to Rogue and Bobby. "So, what are your mutant powers?" Bridge asked curiously.
"My powers are a bit well complicated. It involves skin to skin contact. I can temporarily borrow other mutant's powers just by touching them which is why I always wear gloves," Rogue answered.
"As for me, I can lower the internal temperature of my body to subzero temperatures and freeze the moisture in the air around me, which is why I go by the code name Iceman," Bobby replied.
Sky, Bridge, Z, and Syd had no idea there were so many other mutants like them. Throughout their whole lives up until today, they hadn't even met other mutants, yet here was a school full of them. Each of them had their own distinctive abilities.
"So, were the four of you really power rangers?" Rogue asked.
"Yeah, we were power rangers," Sky answered.
Storm walked up to Professor X. "Charles, our surveillance cameras show that Magneto is here," she said.
Okay, so I've had the idea for this fic floating around in my head for about a week now. However, at the time, I had six "In-Progress" fics, so I wanted to wait until I didn't have quite so much on my plate so to speak. I have no idea what to categorize this under, so for right now, we'll say it's under the category general. As for the rating, I also have no clue, but we'll rate this T just to be safe. I know this fic is off to a slow start, so please bear with me. I hope you'll take time to read & review this fic. Constructive criticism is welcome because I am a first year fanfic author, so I appreciate getting advice. However, I'm going to ask that you don't flat out flame me. Thanks for your time.