Disclaimer: Goes without saying but I do not own any of the X-Men characters, nor any other Marvel character herein included. They're the properties of the original creators as dictated by official documents, whom you can find out more about in Wikipedia or something. Stan Lee, Marvel Comics, etc.

Rating: T for a bit of violence. I censor profanity like they would in a comic, if I ever use it.

(This story happens in the same timeline/universe as Spider-Man: Repulse, Bruce Banner: The Abysmal, Avengers: The Galaxy's Mightiest, and The Mighty Thor: Moxy. but it's self contained!)

PART 8: Relentless.

Storm woke up in a cell of some kind.

It wasn't that Ororo had been asleep, but rather, she had been under a hypnotic effect that very much felt like sleeping.

Slowly, she began to remember what had happened.

Mesmero had walked into the room with her already hypnotized, as well as Bobby. Hisako, not knowing how his powers worked, quickly fell under his spell as well.

Sooraya turned into her Dust form to resist it, and while that had worked, Bobby had instantly frozen her. Sooraya was now the oddest ice statue in the world, frozen in her half-dust form.

"Is she completely free?" A familiar voice asked.

Mesmero's voice surged, mockingly. "As requested."

Ororo saw the dark fur and the evil little grin of an enemy that looked too much like a friend. She blinked, fully focusing her vision, and confirmed it was none other than Henry's alternative self, whom everyone simply called Dark Beast.

He grinned hungrily. "Hello, Ororo. It is such a pleasure to meet again."

Ororo frowned and said nothing. She would not be meeting Mesmero's eyes again, that was for sure.

She glanced around at her cell, finding it surprisingly spacious. It didn't even look like a cell, being surrounded by normal walls on every side but one, and that was where the two were standing around looking confident and in control. She knew it before she even touched it, but she still made sure that the open wall wasn't opened at all. It was a see-through glass that was likely capable of withstanding a lot of punishment.

"Are you not even surprised?" Dark Beast asked.

She was, but Ororo knew how not to satisfy egomaniacs such as them. She kept ignoring them, looking around the room for anything she could use. There was no window. She didn't even know if she was underground or not. More importantly, she couldn't feel the connection to nature.

Ororo closed her eyes and concentrated.

"That won't work, my very overrated lady." The Dark Beast said, grinning happily, and Mesmero also smiled. "You may think yourself a goddess, maybe everyone does, but divine, Ororo, you are not. You are like any one of us, and your abilities, despite appearances, are given and empowered by science."

Ororo turned her back on them and focused further, trying to find even a shred of the connection she was familiar with. A thread that she could hold onto.

"Can you hear me? Hello?"

Dark Beast quieted down behind her after that. He was probably triple checking all of the systems and gadgets being used to keep her incarcerated, and at the same time, communicable. Meanwhile, Ororo could almost feel something, but it was indeed too far away and closed off for her to grab onto and use. It was like seeing sunlight, but it was too far away to reach and feel the heat.

Opening her eyes, Ororo crossed her arms and began to think.

Hank knows we're here, he'll be sending backup soon. But the Dark Beast is as much of a genius as Hank is, and unlike us, who didn't know about them, he knows exactly what our roster is. Our support might suffer the same fate we did, should they attempt a rescue.

"No, it's all working, she's just ignoring us," the fake Henry said.

Mesmero scoffed. "Truly? Well that is just disrespectful."

"That is because I have no respect for evil maniacs like yourselves," Ororo said, not turning around to meet them, "especially when you are nothing but pawns in a larger plot."

"Pawns?!" Mesmero reacted, angry, but the Dark Beast laughed.

"Now now, this is why you always lose, my friend. You do not have the wisdom, nor the confidence, to know a manipulation when it stares you in the face with the stealth of a stampeding elephant. That's a nice try, Ororo, but-"

"It is Storm to you, vile Beast," Ororo said, meaning to insult.

The fake Henry went silent for a couple of seconds, and then emitted a small growl. "It is Dark Beast…and you know that. Ororo."

She winced at hearing that familiar voice say her name, with despicable intent, but there was nothing she could do. That's what was preoccupying her thoughts at that moment, that there really was nothing she could do. Ororo was trapped, and so was everyone else. Far as she knew, Mesmero still had Bobby under his control, and that would truly catch their backup by surprise.

Even without the surprise factor, Bobby would likely still win.

"It doesn't seem like she wants to talk," Mesmero pointed out, amused. "Are you sure we do not want to use her?"

"Very little chance she will allow it now," Dark Beast said, and that was the absolute truth. "But no, not at all, I want her to be very aware of her failure. I want her to savor every single second. Bring him in."

Ororo glanced back and saw a man being dragged inside by soldiers. It was a man wearing a lab coat.

"Besides myself, this is the only person on the base that can disable the ordinance you have been sent to disarm." And then, one of the soldiers shot the man in the head.

It was quite sudden, but Ororo didn't even flinch. She expected it.

"And we are only getting started, my queen," the fake Henry announced, proudly grinning at her. "Soon, that will be our friend Drake. And then your children, as well."

"I recommend you think twice before continuing that line of thinking, Hank," Ororo said, threatening him. "I am not the X-Man I once was. My patience is thinner, and my mercy quick to dissipate."

But the fake Hank chuckled, and so did Mesmero.

"When you're right, you're right," Mesmero said, giving the Dark Beast a few bills of money. "Shall I get ready to receive the inevitable rescue team?"

"Yes. Should we succeed at that, then Ororo shall meet the real faces of our administrators." He grinned even more widely as the gloating sentiment turned sadistic. "I cannot wait to see her expression."

And then they left her, which was always the mistake to make. It was the mistake even the X-Men made time and time again, to leave someone inside a cell with time and space to gather their thoughts. Their strengths.

And their plans.

Ororo sat, with her back straight, and closed her eyes. She relaxed and tried to reach out to the forces of nature once again. She sought after that tiny, faraway crack. Perhaps she could improve her mental ability while she was there, and make use of that tiny, fleeting connection.

Ororo breathed in and breathed out. It was so hard when she couldn't visualize it, and she couldn't. She could sense a tiny canal of pressure, which was likely an inch-wide crack somewhere in her cell. It had to be very small because she couldn't really feel it. Yet, she could sense it.

Ororo breathed in and breathed out. She did something which she was not very familiar with, which was to send a gust of her will out through the crack. She waited, and a few seconds later, she sensed a difference in what little she could sense through the crack. She had nudged the environment, even if only slightly.

There we are. It will take a while, but it is doable. Ororo breathed in and breathed out. And she pushed with her power, sending another nudge through the crack. It wasn't a lot, but it was something.

If there was anything she had learned with the X-Men, it was that there was always something that was possible to be done. No situation was truly hopeless.

Part End: Thank you for reading, please consider leaving a review if you have the time.

Quite in a pickle that our X-men are in. How will they ever get out of this one? Check out next part and find out :)