A new day dawned as Ella woke up from her slumber and got out of bed
"Ah man, what a sleep... I wonder if Markus is already up." Ella said within her mind as she switched out of her pajamas and put on her dark grey t-shirt, jeans with knee holes, an cloth bracket that her mother made that said ""Worlds Greatest Daughter"", took a scrunchie after she dyed her hair into a sleek golden yellow and made her hair into a low ponytail and finally wore her new black and white Converse shoes until she heard a knock
"You, like, almost ready?" Kitty said after she knocked on her door
"Yeah, almost ready Kat... Do I look good?" Ella said before she asked her close friend, Kitty, on how she looked
"Like, perfect El. Come on or we are gonna, like, be late for the mall to be open." Kitty said as she grabbed Ella's wrist and ran down the stairs
"Wait! I need to say goodbye to someone." Ella said as she noticed Markus walking across the hall.
"Markus, wait! Wait!" She shouted as she caught Markus in time
"What's wrong?" Markus asked
"No nothing wrong, I'm sorry I just wanted to say goodbye. I'm going to the mall with Kitty before lunch." Ella explained
"Oh well... See you later El." Markus said before Ella came up to hug him
"See you!" Ella said as she rushed to Kitty's side as they took the X-Van to the mall as Markus went down the stairs
Later at the mall...
Now at the mall, Kitty and Ella were shopping for new clothes so they could update their wardrobe and hopefully, a boy could take them out for a date
"So... Any boys you're eyeing Kat?" Ella said as she was browsing through the clothes
"Well... There's this one boy I've bumped into, but he goes to Midtown High." Kitty said as she also went through clothes
"What's his name?" Ella asked
"Peter... Peter Parker and get this: he's a straight A's, Honors student. Pretty, like, smart guy and cute. Oh I wish he could ask me out. How about you El? Any boy who likes you?" Kitty said as she starts to think about Parker and how cute and smart he was before she asked if Ella was interested in anyone despite that she already knew the answer
"Uh- N-no one." Ella stuttered as she started to blush about Markus
"Oh come one El, just, like, admit it. You like Markus." Kitty said as she was smirking
"How would you know?" Ella said as she playfully punched Kitty's shoulder
"Girl please. I can tell when someone starts to be, like, blushy, besides he's extra sweet to you. Well he is, like, sweet to everyone but he's extra sweet to you." Kitty explained
"Yeah… Even at first, he told me that he had a friend teasing him on how he felt about me. Of course he denied it, but he took a chance to confess what he felt to me and to be honest… I felt the same, the more we talked on the phone, opening up to each other's lives, I knew that God brought him into my life for a reason, I know he wants us to be together and such and believe me… I'd love to do that but I just feel like time is the only thing that prevents it, is time. " Ella said as she explained her feelings for Markus, that she does like him but knows deep down that she needs to trust in God for her future and that the timing wasn't perfect for now
"Yeah, I, like, see." Kitty asked as she and Ella started to put their selected clothes into a cart and started to head over to the cashier when they didn't notice a raven haired girl that wore a torn blood red t-shirt, jet black leather jacket, and jeans. She then started to stalk the pair, unbeknownst to them
Meanwhile back at the Mansion...
Meanwhile, Markus is cleaning out his room, going through his belongings, vacuuming, cleaning his window, and making his bed when he saw something land on the floor, he then went to pick it up and smiled at it
"That was a good time. At least my old folks didn't treat me like I was stupid back then." Markus said within his mind as he saw the picture, which had Jean and Markus's parents in there when he was eight, and reminisced a time when his parents didn't treat him bad
"Hey Markus." Scott said as he went into Markus's room
"Scott, what's up?" Markus asked, as he placed the picture down on his desk
"I was just gonna check up on you, how are you?" Scott said
"Pretty well actually, since me and Rachel made up, I'm just cleaning my room… Obviously, and just thinking about my future, maybe help others and figure out how mutant physiology works." Markus explained as they walked down the hallway
"Think you could someday figure out other people's abilities? Maybe help with my eyesight?" Scott asked
"We'll I ain't a MASTER scientist but since you're nice to my sister and such, of course I'll help." Markus said as he teased Scott about his sister
"Oh come on man, your sister is with Duncan you know that." Scott said
"Yeah but I can tell that you like her… Didn't even need to read your mind to know that." Markus said as he could tell Scott has feelings for Jean
"Yeah sure." Scott said as he went off to do something else, just to hid his faint blushing at the mention of his feelings for Markus's sister
Meanwhile with Ella and Kitty...
Back with Ella and Kitty, they start to head on over to the X-Van in the subterranean parking lot as they carry their bags of clothes
"Hey, thanks for, like, hanging out with me." Kitty said, feeling happy that she had a good friend to hang out with
"Of course Kat… Now where is that-" Ella said as she tried to find the keys but the lights in the parking garage start to flicker more and more
"What is, like, happening?" Kitty asked as she started to look worried
"… Trouble." Ella replied as she thought she saw a figure that resembled a red and black feminine ninja at the other end of the parking garage and came closer and closer as the lights kept on flickering and suddenly stopped
"Though I've been wrong before." Ella said after a moment of silence between the two friends
"On that you are quite correct." The red and black ninja said as the girls dropped thier bags and stood, ready to fight until the ninja threw nerve gas that knocked them out and waited for her other fellow ninjas to pick her and her prisoners up
Meanwhile back at the Mansion...
The Professor is getting ready to hold a meeting with the instructors Ororo and Logan and the X-Men team but is missing Kitty and Ella
"Where in the world is Kitty and Ella? They should have been here minutes ago." The Professor said as he expressed some frustration and worry about the two girls
"You know how young girls are Chuck, they do their own thing and forget, or they got into trouble." Logan said as he leaned against the wall
"I most certainly hope not, besides they- Jean." The Professor tried to reply until Jean came with Markus outside, eavesdropping on the conversation
"Sorry if I'm intruding Professor, but I've tried to telepathically locate them myself and no luck so far." Jean explained
"I don't like the sound of this, come, we will find them by using Cerebro." The Professor said as he started to wheel towards Cerebro with Ororo, Logan and Jean following and Markus keeping his distance
Meanwhile in an unknown location...
Ella awakens in a cave which doubles as a chamber, dangling over a pool of lava, she tests her bindings only to realize her wrists are bound by a metal shackle and her knees and ankles were bound as well. Then she realizes Kitty is in the same predicament as they were tied back-to-back as Kitty was wearing an unfamiliar collar
"Kat… KAT! You ok?" Ella said as she tried to wake up her best friend
"Uhhh… El? Ella, you, like, ok?" Kitty said as she tried to move but couldn't due to her bonds
"I'm fine… Don't know where we are though, could you phase us out of here?" Ella said before she asked Kitty to try and phase them out of their bindings
"Wha?… I can't!" Kitty said as she tried to focus as much as she could, but she could not phase the both of them
"That collar was specifically designed to negate any superpower that a person has... " The raven haired girl said as she came out of the shadows
"Wh- Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to you?" Kitty asked as she started to worry about the both of them getting closer to the lava
"Nothing… This is nothing more than a test." The raven haired girl said as she paced the land a little far from the lava pool
"Test? Test for what? Besides, our friends are coming for us, and they'll kick your butt!" Ella shouted as she started to struggle more
"I'm counting on it… There was no way I could be alone… Now my Hands hide in this chamber… Once the X-Men are here, we will test them." The raven haired girl said as she lifted a ninjas mask to cover her lower face and the other ninjas took their places to spring a trap while Elektra took a potion that mimics a power surge that Cerebro will pick up
Meanwhile back at the Mansion...
Back at the Mansion, everyone returned back to The Professor after they checked other places where Ella
"Still nothing?" The Professor asked
"I caught something… A scent I haven't smelled since my days in Japan." Logan said as the others looked with curiosity
"What was it Logan?" Ororo asked
"It was a kind of powder… The only kind of powder The Hand uses… Unfortunately they are REALLY good at covering their tracks besides thier powder which was only there at the parking lot." Logan says as he growled at the mention of The Hand
"I guess we must- Wait, my watch is giving me a Cerebro warning." The Professor said as his watch gave him a mutant alert before everyone ran to the Cerebro room and The Professor used Cerebro to find the signature
"What is it, Professor?" Jean asked after some moments of silence
"It wasn't a mutant… WAIT! No, I can faintly see Kitty's mutant signature, she must be trying to use her powers but somehow couldn't… X-Men, go to these coordinates and rescue Kitty and Ella." The Professor said as he noticed the faint signature of Kitty's powers and orders his X-Men to rescue the pair
Back with Ella and Kitty...
Meanwhile with Ella and Kitty, they are still struggling with their bonds as the raven haired girl and Hand ninjas await the X-Men's arrival
"Comfortable? Soon you will no longer feel pain in this world… No noise, or I'll drop you now." The raven hairs girl said, mocking their discomfort before hearing voices from one of the tunnels and gets into positions and threatens the girls with a quicker death
"Alright Wolverine, what are we dealing with here?" Markus asked quietly as everyone moved in the cave
"These ninjas aren't exactly like your typical ones… They are master assassins, so don't get yourselves killed." Logan said to Markus, hoping that everyone else listened in until all of The Hands ninja's suddenly surrounded everyone
"Yeah I don't think we'll have a problem with that Wolverine." Scott said as he was surprised as everyone when they got cornered by the ninjas, before noticing Ella and Kitty
"Markus, Rogue take care of Kitty and Ella, we'll take on the ninjas." Scott said as he sent Rogue and Markus to rescue the pair while the X-Men dealt with the ninjas, with Scott using his optic blasts, Jean her psionic abilities, Kurt his teleportation, Storm weather manipulation and Wolverine with his famous claws and healing factor
"Halt!… Or they die here." The raven haired girl shouted after revealing herself with a smoke bomb while simultaneously making threats
"Yeah I don't think so, ninja woman." Rogue said as she and Markus made their stance
"My name is Elektra, your doom." Elektra said, unsheathing her sai's as the battle between the two X-Men and The Hands top ninja, as it because almost equal with Rogues physical training, Markus's powers and tactics and Elektra's agility and techniques made it hard for them to define their dominance
"It is impossible… No one has lasted this long against me…" Elektra said in disbelief and anger before she was blasted away by Markus's psionic blast
"Until now you mean." Rogue quipped as she did a little smirk
"… You might have defeated us but with The Hand… Death is not the end…" Elektra said in defeat as she noticed the other ninjas surrendered to the X-Men and silently ordered them to escape using smoke bombs and Elektra throwing one of her sai's to the rope that dangled Ella and Kitty over the lava pit before she disappeared
"Ahhhhhh!" The pair of girls shrieked as they began to fall towards the pit of lava, but before they knew it, a rushing wind pushed them to safety, Ororo used her powers to get them to their side of the volcano as Markus and Rogue tan to their help
"You ok El?" Markus asked as he untied Ella from the ropes and helped her up
"Yeah… Just sick and tired of being the damsel in distress you know?" Ella said as she did express some frustrations as she was always the one girl that was constantly captured
"Yeah I, like, don't blame ya." Kitty spoke as Rogue helped free her from the ropes and the collar
"Let's go home children, I'm sure The Professor will be relieved that you two are now safe." Ororo said as she signaled everyone to get back to the X-Jet to blast back to the Mansion