Sanctuary Part 9:

Siege

The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Salem Center NY

Automatic gunfire burst all around outside as the mansion's defenses attempted to keep the highly trained men at bay. It wasn't going so well. One of the many facets of the mansion's defenses was the eight large auto-firing gun turrets, partially controlled by Cerebro they wouldn't fire on anyone working at or attending the Academy. The gate and metal top of their surrounding wall became electrified. Disguised metal plates in the ground became charged with electrical energy. The front entryway would actually become a steel trap armed with knockout gas. Its walls were bulletproof and a special program could be activated to seal off various parts of the mansion with mobile bulletproof walls sliding to cover the doorways. There were other programs that could be activated as well, a smokescreen, misleading audio, the rocks in front of the main entrance could be blown up, creating deadly shrapnel. It was too bad Beast was the only one to know all of the programs, no one else but Scott and Xavier took an interest. Wolverine knew most of them just by sniffing them out, and besides this wasn't the first time the mansion had found itself under siege.

The attackers had done their best in determining the mansion's defenses with what little information the government had on the X-Mansion. It had barely scratched the surface. "Salvador, get behind that decorative rock and take out those damn turrets. Everyone else, take cover until the turrets are taken care of." The four remaining soldiers dove for trees and statues that would provide the best cover. Two had already died in the siege.

Salvador was one of the best snipers the US military had to offer, not just in his distance and accuracy but also due to his efficiency and speed. It took him eight shots in under a minute to reduce the turrets to hunks of broken metal.

"Everyone get to the garage doors, and remember we cannot leave a single witness," the Commander shouted as they charged forward, avoiding a few obvious traps.

One of the men placed a charge on the largest garage door and they retreated to a safe distance. When the explosion was over they saw to their dismay that the door, while slightly smudged, was barely scratched.

"That does it, everyone get to the main entrance, we're going to blast that damn door open!"

"Didn't you see what happened to Hunt?" one of the men asked.

"No, I failed to notice his bottom half exploding into pieces," the leader snapped. "He got too close. There are other methods of blowing up a wooden door." He pulled out two grenades and pulled the pins, held them for a moment, then tossed them at the mansion's main wooden double doors. In a second the grenades ripped through the door like cardboard.

"Now, go in with caution, we don't know what kind of resistance to expect or what powers they have, expect anything," the leader said as they advanced in formation. They ducked to the side as the soldier in point dove with a shout into the main entryway of the mansion. Then silence. The rest of them followed suit. The entryway was empty and the mansion was completely silent.

"I don't like this," the soldier that had mentioned Hunt blurted out.

"Neither do I, soldier," the leader agreed in a grim voice, his eyes narrowed menacingly as he led the soldiers deeper into the mansion.

Danger Room

Forge stood at an open panel in the Danger Room's metal wall, inside was a control module that he was using to invent something. He was concentrating so hard that he didn't realize that the remaining mutants had all gathered behind him in an anxious crowd. Cannonball had done an excellent job of making sure everyone had gotten to the Danger Room. It was too bad Karma was gone looking for her siblings, they really could have used her in his plan.

"Forge, do you think you could fill the rest of us in on your little plan here?" Polaris prodded curiously.

"In a moment," Forge grunted as he used a small torch built into his arm to finish welding.

"Can we get everyone present?" Polaris asked, turning to the most famous person present, Dazzler.

Dazzler, better known as Allison to her friends, didn't look too happy to be asked. "Fine."

In one corner stood a man in a large-brimmed hat and a white surgical mask leaning against the wall and watching them all with glittering eyes. Dazzler shuddered internally. Something about him creeped her out without even a word spoken between them.

"Forge is getting ready to tell us his plan, he asked that everyone be a part of it," the man didn't respond at first, just stared at her with oddly light blue eyes. She could feel herself shivering under his gaze. She gave him an impatient look. The best she could muster, she was afraid if she spoke her voice would crack. After a few more agonizing seconds of awkward silence, the man nodded at her very slightly. That was good enough for Dazzler.

She turned and saw a few kids loitering in the corner. She wasn't surprised to find it was Empath, Beef, and Firefist. She hadn't been at the mansion for more than a week and she already knew the three to be troublemakers. She couldn't judge them too harshly, she had been a bit of a wild child herself, but these three were a different breed of troublemaker. Bullies.

"Alright you three, get back over to the group, we're going to go over Forge's plan."

"Come on, lady, what are they gonna do, have us risk our lives for everybody?" the cocky and handsome Empath snorted derisively. Beef and Firefist chuckled at his 'joke'.

"I hope so, now get your butts back over with the rest of us or I'll send Polaris over here to get you," Dazzler snapped, accidentally causing a deep red spark of light when she did so. The effect was startling.

"Alright, alright," Firefist narrowed his eyes at the former X-Man then motioned for his friends to follow him to the rest of the group.

Dazzler rolled her eyes and glanced over and was relieved to see the creepy guy had joined at the back of the crowd. She maneuvered her way back to the front to stand with several of her former teammates, Polaris, Forge, and Multiple Man. Since there was no active X-Men at the mansion they would have to do. The remaining mutants were all murmuring nervously.

Forge raised his hand for everyone to silence themselves. "It won't be long until they make their way down to the Danger Room and these walls won't be able to hold them back for long." Everyone looked at each other nervously. What were they going to do? Abandon the mansion? Where would they go?

"Please, everyone," Forge said loudly. "I have hooked the Danger Room directly into Cerebro which is now connected to a satellite. I have hacked nearly every satellite to broadcast what is happening here at the mansion live to nearly every country and every channel in the world. We know these men are military trained and the government will be forced to recall them. It will also help gain some sympathy for us when it is at an all-time low."

"That's your big plan?" the man known as the Arm asked.

"That's the start," Forge took back over. "Dazzler is going to create a realistic-looking glowing little girl illusion using her powers and keep them distracted and perhaps even cause them to hurt one another. Meanwhile, Clarice here will get Little Sky and anyone else that is injured to a hospital. I have also disabled the elevators down here so they will have to climb down the shaft if they want to come down here. When they do they will be incredibly vulnerable. That's when I, Dazzler, Polaris, Madrox, and any other volunteers we can get will attack."

Several young men, including Sam, raised their hands to volunteer. "You must be an adult to volunteer," Forge said. They groaned and lowered their hands.

"Is that it?" Polaris said loudly to everyone. "A bunch of teenagers have more spine than the rest of you?"

"I came here to be safe, not risk my life for people I don't know," said the woman known as Madame Drache.

Three people stepped forward. "I don't believe in violence but I can't stand by while they try to murder children." The one who spoke was Cecilia Reyes, she had a nearly impenetrable personal forcefield. The other two were a man named John Wraith, he had been pretty much silent ever since arriving at the mansion, and Evangeline Whedon, the lawyer.

"Very well," Forge nodded at the three volunteers. "The rest of you stick with Switchback and Mimic, they have agreed to protect you in case they get past the rest of us."

"Forge, this is my home too and I should be allowed to defend it!" Sam shouted.

"You may get your chance," Forge said. "Meanwhile why don't you stay here and protect the rest of the kids."

"You know I could be useful."

"I do, kid, I do, but I could never justify using you on the frontline. I could never look your mother in the eye again. Even if you never got hurt."

"This is complete b-!"

"Sam!" Danielle Moonstar barked at him. "I know you're scared for both your families, but I need you here right now." Sam gave Forge one last scathing look and stalked back over with the huddled crowd of mutants.

Alphabet City, New York

Alphabet City may have had some riverfront property but none of it was worth anything. It was rundown, had been since the nineties. Now it was infested with gangs, drugs, and the homeless, especially the drug-addicted. This was the place to get the cheapest drugs, who cared if they were cut with other more dangerous substances, at least you could get your high. Feel normal for a bit, even if you were a low-down dirty bum. It was thanks to this that you also found the most runaways here.

The young girl that raced down the streets, a wild look in her dark green eyes, was not an unfamiliar sight. She wasn't even noticed by the man she bumped into or the bum she jumped over to keep running. She had been discovered when they opened the luggage compartment at the bus station. Only three security guards had died in her escape. The police that arrived on the scene were too late and she had escaped, but she hadn't noticed. She was sure they were just behind her, ready to catch up the moment she stopped to catch a breath.

She had faced down much deadlier foes many times in her past, but always it had been under the influence of The Scent. Now she was alone, no voices or scents telling her what to do, telling her where it was safe to sleep, feeding her. She thought she had wanted to be free of their influence but now that she was it was like there was a hole in her life. She was nothing without the guidance but a scared lonely little girl who was all alone. It was absolutely terrifying.

She stopped, just for a second, and sniffed. There was no one nearby. No one at all. Sniffing again she slid into an alleyway and discovered a small window into the basement of a ramshackle husk of a building. It was much too large for any normal adult to slip into, but it was just the right size for her. She slid into the window and dropped onto a cement floor ten feet below. There was water covering the floor but the room was so dark X23 could see little else other than her own reflection in the water. Good thing she didn't rely on her sight to guide her.

She sniffed until she found a pile of wooden pallets where someone had left their hoodie long ago. She sniffed it again, whoever they used to be their scent had faded. She slipped it on over her Kevlar vest and it covered her legs wherever fatigues had ripped. They had not only trained her to kill, but they also taught her to observe, to blend in, to survive in any environment, even an urban one. Already she looked more like a normal runaway. She could make this her base of operations until she had the next step. She had found her shelter, now she had to find food and water.

Back at the bus station, they had nearly the whole stationed cordoned off. Angry transit employees and customers verbally shared their irate feelings with policemen present with gusto. Amongst the shouting humans stood four quiet people. All of them were covered in large coats, hats, and sunglasses, all except one.

Mystique had quickly disguised herself as a policewoman and hadn't had a chance to change. "She was here alright, " she confirmed to her comrades. "They're still searching for the first security guard's left ear. Have you picked up her scent?"

"Hard to say, since I got no idea what she smells like," Sabretooth growled.

"You're in luck," Mystique pulled a candy bar wrapper from her pocket. "I found a bit of evidence."

Sabretooth grabbed the wrapper and inhaled its scent. "Poor girl." He said after a few sniffs.

"Why? You're the one that wanted to kill her."

"It ain't that," Sabertooth grinned. "The poor things smells almost exactly like her dear old dad." Mystique laughed.

"Let's circle the place, I'll find her trail." Mystique's new Brotherhood slunk away into the shadows.

The White House, Washington DC

"Madam President! Madam President!" Ziegler dashed into the President's private meeting with Gyrich.

This had better be cataclysmic," Gyrich growled.

"It's the X-Mansion, it's under attack!"

"How did you know about that?" Gyrich questioned before the President could even open her mouth.

"It's being broadcast!" Ziegler burst out. "Everywhere!"

The President blanched. Gyrich jumped to his feet. "Show me." The pair raced off and Ms. Marvel poked her head in.

"Do you need me to escort you somewhere Madame President?

"Yes! Take me wherever they just went, and hurry!" The President leaped to her feet and the two ran down the hall to the Situation Room and joined the two men at the display screens. Other people were beginning to gather around as well.

The team she had hand-picked to be the M-Squad was advancing down a hall of the mansion, their guns at the ready. She could hear them whisper orders to each other. There was audio, this was bad.

"What channel?" She asked.

"All of them!" Ziegler shouted back while changed channels on a different screen.

"We have to contain this!" She shouted at Gyrich.

"Relax," Gyrich growled. "No one even knows who they are."

"Yet!" The President reminded.

"I should go help them!" Ms. Marvel offered.

"No!" The President said in a panicked voice. Everyone looked at her in confusion or with disgust. "This will likely incite another mutant retaliation, you need to stay here and protect . . . everyone!"

"Very well," Ms. Marvel said, but she was looking at the President differently now.

On the screen, a young mutant girl, glowing and floating, appeared before the team of soldiers. "Why are you attacking us?"

The leader pointed his rifle at the girl, "Humanity will not tolerate mutants any longer!" He fired a few rounds but she appeared to teleport out of the way.

"So, the six of you are going to take down all of mutantkind all on your own?" the girl laughed derisively.

"Stupid girl," one of the other soldiers said. "We have the backing of the President. No mutant will survive her vengeance."

The Situation Room fell dead silent. Slowly everyone turned and stared at the President.

"Someone is trying to frame you, Madam!" Gyrich burst out.

"We have to stop this!" the President screeched, her voice breaking.

"Then let me go help!" Ms. Marvel shouted.

"Go!" the President barked. "Gyrich what are you going to do about this?" With a blast of air Ms. Marvel flew out of there.

"I'll stop this anyway I can," Gyrich growled and stalked out of the room.

"Madame President," Ziegler said, staring at the green-tinged politician. "We have to come up with a recovery plan."

"I want all relevant personnel to stay the rest of you get back to work!" She barked. This was going to be a bad day.

Highway 81, West Virginia

Iceman's ice wall had been reduced to ice cubes and a growing puddle of water. The assailants, who Xavier had identified as the Friends of Humanity, were advancing on the group of mutants. Iceman created an ice dome for Lucinda and the rest of the refugees to hide in while the X-Men came up with a plan.

"Colossus, when you make your charge I need you to be as distracting as possible while Kurt gets behind them with Bobby. Storm, keep them distracted with your weather while Jean steals as many of their weapons as possible. I'll be helping with the distraction while Beast and Rogue keep Lucinda and the others safe."

"Distracting as possible?" Colossus was a creative man, a painter, but not when it came to fighting, at least not in his own estimation.

"I do hate to make such an intemperate suggestion, but the road before you is clear."

"What?" Colossus looked more confused than before.

"Hank, don't forget English isn't Piotr's first language," Xavier admonished. "I think Hank was suggesting that you use the road itself as a distraction."

"Why didn't he say so?" Piotr shrugged. "This is a wery good idea." Colossus stepped out from behind the ice dome and roared. He slammed his organic steel fists into the asphalt before him. A few slow-thinking Friends of Humanity members fired on him futilely. The road shattered, several large chunks of asphalt broke free. Piotr picked them up as easily as paper and threw them at the advancing fanatics.

Several of the killers were taken out by the asphalt as it crushed their bones before breaking up and crumbling. Beams of red sent a few flying, Cyclops took potshots at the extremists. They opened fire on the ice dome and more asphalt chunks and optic blasts came flying. Some of them suddenly looked confused, staring at their automatic rifles. Without any other warning, they were yanked up high into the air, just as a gale-force wind whisked them away. Then, just as they began to charge forward in unison, they froze. Literally. Each of one them was buried neck-deep in ultra-dense ice.

"Insert cheesy ice joke here," Iceman joked walking up from behind them.

"Ya! Your timing vas great!" Kurt, better known as Nightcrawler, agreed, joining Bobby.

"Everyone, confiscate their guns," Xavier ordered loudly. It didn't take long to disarm troops that couldn't move.

"Thank you," Lucinda walked out from behind the ice dome. "I could never thank you enough. I'd like a word with these child-killers!"

"Now Lucinda, how about we focus on how to get home," Xavier suggested.

"Who sent you?" Lucinda demanded as she marched toward the frozen battalion.

"Lucinda!" Xavier shouted in a voice he rarely used. A voice that he only used when he was seconds from using his powers in a way that he'd regret. "Sam is in terrible danger, we must focus on saving him, not avenging deaths that didn't happen."

Lucinda turned on Xavier. "Unless you have an immediate plan I have a plan of my own to save my baby boy."

"I understand how much rage you must feel seeing as how these people tried to kill your children, but we must not kill them."

"Kill them?" Lucinda laughed and it was a hollow, eerie sound. Her children flinched. "I plan on returning the favor and visiting their own families, each in turn. The children shall pay for the sins of their fathers!"

"No!" shouted one of the incapacitated soldiers. Despite being trapped in ice he was sweating profusely. "My babies had nothing to do with this! Please! I know you can't feel emotion like us but I'm begging you, take me, spare my children!"

Lucinda stared at Xavier who smiled slightly, "Let's work on getting back home, I have what I need."

"How'd I do?" she asked Xavier as she walked away from the icy walls of soldiers.

"Beautifully!" Xavier told her. "Sir Patrick Stewart couldn't compare to your performance!" Stewart had played Magneto in a biopic of the Avengers. His performance had been widely lauded by critics.

"What?!" one of the soldiers screeched at them.

"Now, " Xavier said to his X-Men as they huddled around him. "We just have to figure out how to get home." Cyclops nodded in agreement and the rest of the X-Men joined him.

Behind them, unnoticed, a single soldier broke free of the ice.

As these characters vary slightly from our normal 616 X-Men I am going to include a few short bios in each issue going forward.

Portal: (real name Charles Little Sky) This Charles Little Sky is very close to his 616 counterpart before he became director of ARMOR. He was identified by a Kisani shaman as having special abilities and fled in fear of what they would bring him. He was soon being hunted by his own people as well as others and eventually escaped from them all through his first portal. It took him to a different dimension where he had to learn to fight, kill and survive. He tried to get home but didn't understand his own powers and toured parts of the multiverse then when he got back to his own dimension he was on an alien planet. He was eventually captured by some space pirates but eventually, he broke free, killed/abandoned them all, and stole their ship, and finally got back to his Earth. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to land and crashed where he was found unconscious by the then Brotherhood who brainwashed him and used him against the X-Men until Xavier freed him from their control. He then helped the X-Men defeat the Brotherhood but he no longer felt like he belonged in his own world as his travels had changed him. He returned to a reality where he had found someone he learned to care for (Switchback) and stayed with her until their circumstances got so bad that he brought her back to his own Earth. A mere three months later Xavier sent out the call for the Mutant Sanctuary and not long after Switchback was attacked by a mob. Portal saved her again and took her to the X-mansion where a visiting Morlock healed her.

Sunspot: (real name Roberto *Bobby* da Costa) Roberto was born into a very wealthy and privileged family in Brazil. He had lived that life very comfortably until he was about sixteen and he manifested powers. Thanks to his father's influence and their quiet staff that didn't really change his life until a group of mutant-hunting mercenaries kidnapped his girlfriend in an effort to kidnap him and extort money from his father and then kill him anyway. Thankfully Xavier had sent a few other young mutants to invite him to his school so Sam, Danielle, Doug, and Xi'an showed up in time to help them track down his girlfriend but they were too late, she had died refusing to call him to them. After taking down the mercenaries with his new friends' help he was worried his family would be in danger and so agreed to attend Xavier's school with them. He and Sam, despite being complete opposites in almost every way, soon became best of friends. He hasn't really had many adventures since as that was all just under a year ago. There is little difference between himself and his 616 counterpart at the same age. Bobby has recently disappeared and the X-Men have no clue how to find him.

Cyclops: (real name Scott Summers) Field leader of the X-Men this Cyclops is much like his 616 counterpart, being the leader of the original X-Men as well as the recently disbanded X-Factor. He and Jean have been together for almost two years now but one major difference is while he has met Cable he doesn't know that the man is his son and Nathan has yet to appear as a baby in this world. This Cyclops is still very much under Xavier's shadow and is, as of yet, still content to stay there. Upon rejoining the X-Men about six months ago he was instantly placed back in a position of leadership but he is little nervous about not having earned the position in the eyes of the newer X-Men. He is a mentor to Cannonball and cares for the young but has yet to actually recognize the leadership potential in the Kentuckian. As far as he knows his father and mother died in the airplane crash and has not met the Starjammers. He is not close to his brother Alex but still cares for him deeply. He sees Xavier as a second father.

I have thrown a ton of characters and info dumps into this X-Men series as I want to build something special for all mutants in my story but I imagine for my readers it must be confusing who is where in this universe so I compiled a few lists for you to help clarify things.

X-Men: Professor Xavier, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Colossus, Angel, Beast, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Storm, Wolverine,

Students: Cannonball, Legion, Blink, Empath, Sunspot, Karma, Firestar, Firefist, Warlock, M, Catseye, Cypher, Magma, Wolfsbane, Roulette, Wiz Kid, Copycat, Moonstar, Beef, Shadowcat, Sunpyre, Siryn, Warpath, Hollow, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Chamber, Rictor, Magik, Marvel Girl, Synch, Jubilee, Ernst, Skin, Husk, Prodigy, Icarus, Spyke,

Refugees: Switchback, Portal, Connie, Wing, Papillon, Polaris, Multiple Man, Forge, Dazzler, Forgetmenot, Mimic, Wraith, Madame Drache, Evangeline Whedon, the Arm, Dr. Nemesis, Cecilia Reyes, Tek, Iceheart, Wildfire, X, Rush, Leech, Healer, Bevatron, Lucinda Guthrie, Aero, Discharge, Elizabeth Guthrie, Joelle Guthrie, Lewis Guthrie, Cissy Guthrie,

Mystique's New Brotherhood: Mystique, Vanisher, Destiny, Sabretooth,

X-Force: Archangel, Wolverine, Switchback, Cannonball

Missing: Sunspot, Leong & Nga Coy Manh, Wolfsbane,