X – Men Mansion
Shadow was getting the official tour from Professor Miles Xavier himself. He wasn't sure why the fox who both looked very old and very young at the same time was spending time with him, but whatever the reason, Shadow figured that he shall be gone in a couple of hours, so it didn't matter in the slightest.
Shadow walked slowly, pacing the professor's wheelchair as it moved silently along the floor. They were in a wing of the mansion that Shadow hadn't seen before. The place was massive. He had already been shown a huge solarium and more rooms than he could count. And everything was distinctively first class. Clearly there was some money behind all this.
Of course, if the professor could read minds as it seemed he could there certainly wouldn't be a problem getting money.
"The dining rooms, kitchen and parlour are found in the other wing" the professor said, "As you can see everything on this floor and above has been designed to be viewed by the general public. As far as they know, this is merely a school for 'gifted' students"
The professor led Shadow to a panel in the wall and stopped. A hidden lift door opened with a Ping and they stepped inside.
"So how did I get in here?" Shadow asked. "You didn't bring me in through the front door."
The door of the lift opened revealing the lab corridor that he had been dragged through.
"Come on," the professor said "I will show you"
They moved down the corridor, turning twice before reaching wide silver doors that opened automatically onto a massive hangar. It was bigger than anything than Shadow would have imagined. More than likely it could hold an airliner or two. But at the moment, it seemed to be primarily dedicated to a modernistic, shiny black and silver jet like nothing that Shadow had ever seen.
"Vertical takeoff and landings" The professor said, motioning toward the jet "Instruments that allow it to fly in any weather, and in theory can take you to the moon"
"Amazing" Shadow said, moving out into the hangar and looking around curiously. He pointed to the large doors at the end. "Hidden entrance?"
The professor nodded "perfectly hidden"
"So why all this?" Shadow asked, motioning at the equipment and the jet.
"Everyone here has abilities." Xavier said "Powers. Curses, until they can be controlled. All of us have hurt and been hurt. And none of us asked to be the way we are."
"I heard you there" Shadow said
"When I was eight years old." The professor said, "I began to hear people's thoughts. At first, I thought I was going mad. One day I read the mind of one of my teachers and saw that he was going to fail me simply because he didn't like me"
"I bet that pissed you off" Shadow said
"It did at that" The professor commented "I was so mad that I put a suggestion in his mind that he was having a heart attack. He nearly died"
Shadow looked down at the two tailed fox with a little more respect. It hadn't dawned on him that reading someone's mind could have other uses. Dangerous uses, it seemed. "So what did you do?"
"I was terrified," The professor said "As most everyone here was when something first happened to them. Just last week, a student was nearly killed by her father because she possessed the ability to turn into a wolf. She is in safe hands now. But it was then when I sought companionship in a young woman called Fiona…" The professor paused at this as if choosing his words very carefully. "She was like a sister to me. She can shapeshift and was hunted down by so many people. A couple of years after that I met Scourge Lehnsherr. Scourge, too, had a power. He can create magnetic fields, enabling him to manipulate metal. Eric, Fiona and I were in the same position and all three of us along with some help found others like us."
"How long ago was that?" Shadow asked
The fox smiled "A long time ago. 1962 to be more precise. But Scourge had a different view of the world than I did. He believed that humanity would never accept us, that a war between mutants and the rest of the world is inevitable. That was when he became Magneto, and he managed to sway Fiona to his side…I opened this school, a place where mutants could be safe from persecution. This is a place where they could not only learn to focus their powers, but also learn that mankind is not evil. Just uninformed."
"You still had not answer my question" Shadow asked. "Why all this hardware?"
The professor continued. "There are mutants out there with incredible power, Shadow. I knew that a day would come when some of them might use that power against the rest of humanity. And that if there was no one to challenge them, humanity's days would end."
"So, you are the challenge" Shadow said, nodding.
"Evil men succeed when Good men do nothing." The professor said. "A quote that Scourge told me many times."
Shadow nodded again. This was a much, much bigger operation than he had first thought. It was going to be great to get out of here and let them fight all their good fights for as long as they wanted.
"Now if you don't mind, if we want to find what it is that our friend wants with you we need to do a few tests. Please follow me" The fox said suddenly all business like, as he guided Shadow down a corridor.
The East Coast – above Washington DC
Senator Kelly hung up the phone and sat back in the soft chair of the helicopter, staring out of the window at the ground flashing past. The drone of the motors faded to background noise in the extraordinary luxurious interior. Kelly loved travelling like this. He considered it one of the God – given rights of his job. And he used his rights as often as he felt he needed, which was often.
He stared at the phone. That call with the president had gone almost exactly as he expected. Sometimes things went well, sometimes they didn't and other times it was a mix.
"Well," Guyrich said "What was his opinion?"
Kelly shrugged and leaned forward to pour himself another glass of scotch. "He's the president of the United States. He doesn't have an opinion. He smiles, he waves, he shakes hands."
"Isn't that what you do, sir?" Guyrich asked. Kelly shot his aide a sharp look across the table, then put the scotch bottle back between them. Guyrich had been acting strange lately. If he didn't shape up, Kelly would have to have a talk with him about his attitude. The last thing Kelly needed right now was a problem with his staff. However, Guyrich knew too much and the last thing he needed was an angry employee spilling out all of his secrets to the opposition party. That happened too many times throughout history and he was determined not to repeat it.
"Well," Kelly said, leaning back and sipping, enjoying the smooth taste of the expensive scotch, "this time it's not up to him. It's up to me and Congress." "Have you thought about a demonstration of some kind?" Guyrich asked. "Maybe use the UN Summit to our advantage. The whole world will be watching."
"I am only interested in Americans" Kelly said, his voice harsher than he intended. He caught himself. "Let the rest of the world deal with mutants in any damn way they please. I don't care if the British treat mutants like royalty or if the Canadians give them special privileges or if the North Koreans commit genocide or if China makes a mutant army. Besides, only Americans can vote for me."
He laughed and took another sip, then decided to go on "This is the sort of problem that the left and the liberals beg you to ignore, rather than stamp them you embrace them, then it crawls up and bites them in the ass and its people like me who are left to clean it up. This situation, these mutants are the reason people like me exist"
Kelly glanced out of the window as the helicopter crossed over the cold dirty waters of the Atlantic. Kelly blinked. They weren't supposed to be over water on this flight. A lake or two yes, but not the Atlantic.
"Hey, where the hell are we?"
Kelly glanced back at his aide, waiting for an answer. Instead he witnessed a horror story. Right before his eyes, Guyrich was changing. His face was shifting, his clothes seeming to draw inward, until finally, where Guyrich had been sitting, Kelly found a beautiful fox woman covered completely in iridescent blue and red scales. She had solid yellow eyes that made he look more like a cat than a human.
She just smiled and said nothing.
It took a moment for Senator Kelly to register what he had witnessed. Then he realized that he was facing a mutant. A mutant who had been posing as his aide.
Instantly he jumped for the cockpit door, but the blue and red fox woman was faster. A lot faster. As he moved past her she plated a solid kick to his stomach.
The air rushed out and he doubled over, sliding toward the door. As quick as he could the climbed back to his feet and yanked open the cockpit door.
"Pilot! Help!"
The pilot leered at him through grotesque features. A long tongue flickered briefly at him. The co-pilot seat was empty.
It shouldn't be empty he thought frantically there are always two piolets on these flights
Kelly turned back to the blue and red fox woman, who was standing behind him.
She took a step toward him, and he swung at her. He wasn't going to let any damned mutant take him without a fight. It was as if he were moving in slow motion. She caught his hand and hit him five or six times with kicks and punches before he could even fall down. He coughed, trying to catch his breath as he lay face-down on the carpet-covered floor. Suddenly strong hands grabbed him and flipped him over on his back. The blue and red face and yellow eyes came right down over him like a nightmare that he couldn't seem to wake up from.
"You know," the blue and red fox woman said, "people like you are the reason I was afraid to go to school as a child." She stood and kicked him solidly in his stomach, forcing what little was left of his breath out of him. He worked to breathe, choking and coughing as he stared up at her through water-filled eyes.
She started to turn away, then, almost as an after thought, she raised a foot and brought it down solidly on his face.
Merciful blackness took him almost instantly.
It would be hours before he awoke and then he would be very sorry that he did.