XXXXXXXXX
In the sub-complex of the institute the following morning, Storm was in uniform preparing the controls for the Danger Room. She pressed a couple of buttons and set the level at five before stepping out into the hallway to see Logan leaning against the wall with a smirk on his face.
"Preparing for a Danger Room session?" Logan asked.
"You're still here," Storm responded, a little surprised.
"Yeah. I've decided to stick around for a little while."
"What are you going to do?"
"I know that you need to train the others. And with Scott gone I figured that I could help you."
"You really want to help?"
"I'm not good at much but I've been fighting all my life. I think I could teach them all a thing or two."
Storm looked down at the floor and sighed a little. Logan took notice of the hesitation that was written on the face of the weather godess.
"What's that look?" Logan demanded.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you want to help," Storm then chose her next words carefully. "But you're not exactly a team player. You don't follow orders, you don't use team work-"
"So what? You can't always depend on the team for help."
Storm looked him in the eyes.
The reason this team works is because we know that out there, we can rely on each other. If you're going to be with us, than be with us."
That was the last thing said between them as Nightcrawler, Iceman, Rogue, and Colossus came around the corner all in uniform. Logan was the only one without one on. He looked down at himself and sighed.
"Just give me a minute."
Wolverine then ran into the dressing room and changed into uniform as quick as he could, which was much easier said than done. He cursed these damn leather uniforms before running into the Danger Room just as the lights turned off the doors closed behind him. The lights then came back on as the room began to change its size, shape, color, and soon the X-Men found themselves standing in...
A wasteland.
Beneath their feet was the cracked, scorched earth of a desert. A couple of completely dried up, dead trees stood in his distance as several tumbleweeds blew by them. The room even simulated extremely hot, dry air. There was nothing around, except when they turned to look behind them, a large pyramid stood in the center of the desert.
"So what do we do?" Colossus questioned.
His question was quickly answered as several large drones came down from the yellowish sky and began firing down upon the pyramid, blasting pieces of it off with their laser guns.
"Stop them from damaging the pyramid at all costs," Storm directed the team. "Logan, Kurt take the right side. Bobby and Pitor take the left. Rogue and I will stay in front."
To her surprise, Wolverine did what he was told with no argument. As one of the drones came down again, Iceman released a wave of ice at it but it was too high up and it nailed the pyramid again. The second drone came down, beginning to fire at the pyramid as well and Wolverine looked at Nightcrawler.
"Get me up to it!"
Nightcrawler grabbed him and teleported up into the sky, dropping Wolverine down on the back of the drone. Wolverine drove his claws straight into the machines 'brain'. It exploded and began spinning out of control in mid-air.
BAMF!
Teleporting back up, Nightcrawler grabbed Wolverine and got him back down to the ground safely. The pyramid was hit once again by another blast from a drone.
"That's it," Iceman said to himself.
Iceman then pointed his hands to the ground and formed a wave of ice beneath his feet. He extended one of his hands and continued forming more ice that he began 'surfing' on. He circled around the pyramid, coating it in a thick lair of frost, giving it some protection from further strikes. As Iceman continued on, Storm looked to Rogue and held out her hand to the younger girl.
"Absorb some of my power, Rogue."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Reluctantly, Rogue tore off one her gloves and touched Storm's hand for a brief moment. Suddenly, she began to levitate high off the air. The second drone came down but before it could fire, Rogue looked over and saw that Storm was now flying right next to her. Feeling the power, her eyes rolled back as Rogue held out her hands and fired a lightning bolt at the drone. Storm did the same and together, they electrocuted it.
"Two down, one to go," Wolverine said, as he looked on.
The drone that Storm and Rogue took down began falling to the ground. Colossus in his metaled up form ran and jumped up, catching it. He spun himself around once and hurled it like a Frisbee at the third and final drone. It crashed right into it, causing an explosion in the sky. The team got out of harms way as pieces of flaming debris came raining down. Storm and Wolverine looked at each other and grinned as the session came to an end.
"Great job, everyone," Storm congratulated the new recruits. "I think that his was our best session yet."
Wolverine looked upon the four newest members of the X-Men and couldn't help but feel proud of them.
"I think we'll give you all the rest of the day off. You deserve it."
Storm nodded in agreement as the new recruits looked at each other, big smiles on all of their faces. The room went back to normal and they all stepped out. After changing Ororo walked out of the dressing room to see Artie and Jones, two of the younger students standing together, seemingly waiting for her.
"What are you two doing down here?"
"Ms. Munroe, there's someone here to see you," Jones said. "He says is name is Henry McCoy."
"Hank?" Ororo smiled.
Back in the study, Henry was staring a picture on the wall. It was of him, Scott, Jean, and Ororo, all in their X-Men uniforms. It was taken years ago, right before he left. Suddenly, Ororo ran into the room.
"Hank!"
Henry spun around and laughed heartily.
"Ororo!"
The two of them hugged tightly as Kurt came walking in. After they separated, Ororo motioned for Kurt to come over.
"Kurt, this Henry McCoy," she introduced. "Hank, this is Kurt Wagner."
The two blue mutants shook hands.
"Pleasure to meet you Kurt."
"Likewise."
By the other doorway of the room, Logan now stood there, watching the reunion with a bemused look on his face.
"Who's the furball?"
Henry slowly turned his head to look at Logan, a slight growl escaping his mouth at the insult.
"This is Hank McCoy," Ororo said while placing a hand on Hank's wrist in order to help him remain calm. In the old days, Hank had a temper on him that could rival Logan's. "He was one of the first X-Men, Logan. Even before me."
Suddenly, Xavier appeared and rolled his wheelchair into the room.
"I heard that we have company."
"Professor," Hank smiled.
He walked over and leaned down to give the Professor a light hug.
"It's nice to see you again, Henry."
"You too. Sorry for just springing in on you like this."
"It's no problem at all, Henry," Xavier assured. "You're apart of this place."
"How long are you staying?" Ororo asked.
"Unfortunately, not long. This is not a social call. I have news."
"Good or bad?"
"Both," Hank sighed.
"Why don't we hear the good news first?" Xavier suggested.
"Well, after my television appearance, the President contacted me and offered me a job in his cabinet. And I accepted."
Ororo looked at the Professor, slightly taken aback by Hank's statement before looking back at her former team mate and smiling brightly.
"Henry, that's great."
"It seems the President is becoming much more acceptant of mutant kind," Xavier said, remembering the meeting between him and the X-Men right after they had flown from Alkali Lake. Right after Jean sacrificed her life...
"What's the bad news?" Logan asked.
Hank took a deep breath. He wasn't looking forward to this.
"The President gave me a report on something that a company called Rao Labs has been working on. It can supposedly suppress the mutant X-gene. They're calling it a cure."
Ororo looked to Xavier and they stared at each other for a moment, taking in the news before Ororo looked back at Henry.
"That's ridiculous. You can't cure being a mutant."
"Well, scientifically speaking—"
"What is there to 'cure', Henry?"
"Ororo," Kurt began. He had the television that stood in the corner of the room turned on and had it on the channel of a news broadcast. "They're announcing it now."
Everyone else in the room focused their attention on the television. Meanwhile, in the student lounge, Rogue was sitting on the couch, watching the same broadcast as a reporter on screen began speaking.
"We are now about to go to Warren Worthington Senior, who has made a breakthrough discovery about a possible cure for mutation."
Rogue sat up, on the edge of the couch, her full attention now on the broadcast. Outside of the Worthington Industries building located in Manhattan, Worthington stood at a podium. Seated to his left was Dr. Kavita Rao. He began to address the crowd, the reporters, and the entire world who had tuned in.
"They've been called saints and sinners. They've committed atrocities, and been the victims of atrocities themselves. They've been labeled monsters, and not without reason. But these so-called monsters are people, just like us. And we want to help them. Dr. Rao."
Worthington moved aside as Kavita stood up and took the podium.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thanks to generous funding of Mr. Worthington, I and my team at Rao Labs have finally found the solution that mutants out there have been looking for. Like Mr. Worthington has told you, mutants are people. People like us. People with a disease. The mutant gene is nothing more than a corruption of healthy cellular activity."
Rogue continued watching the television as now other students had gathered in and began watching the screen as well.
"Ladies and gentlemen…we have found hope," Kavita said. Rogue's gaze intensified as Kavita held up a test tube with a glowing purple liquid inside of it. "Finally, we have a cure."
Rogue took a deep, realived breath. Back in the study, Ororo and Kurt were sitting down on the couch, just finishing watching the same broadcast. Logan sat on the desk, Hank stood off in the corner with the Professor. They all were quiet for a moment before Ororo finally spoke, a hint of anger in her voice.
"A 'disease'? Since when are we a disease?"
"Bet our government boy knows all about it," Logan said, looking towards Hank but he shook his head.
"I can assure you, the government had nothing to do with this. Rao Labs is a private venture."
"Who would want this cure, anyway?" Ororo asked as she looked around the room. "I mean what kind of coward would give up their gift just to fit in?"
Kurt looked down at his three-fingered hand.
"Not all of us have such an easy time fitting in, you know."
Ororo closed her eyes for a moment before touching Kurt's hand.
"Oh…I'm sorry, Kurt. It's just—"
"Believe me, I understand," Xavier finally said. "Forget the personal crises—this is a veritable Pandora's box. I'm not so worried about what this cure can do, as I am about what the government can do with it."
"And Magneto?" Logan questioned. "How do you think he's going to react to this?"
Before any of them could answer, Rogue suddenly ran into the room.
"Hey! Is it true? They can cure us?"
"Yes, it appears to be true, Rogue-" Xavier began.
"No!" Ororo yelled while standing up. She then walked over towards Rogue. "They can't cure you, Rogue. Because there's nothing wrong with you." Ororo then looked to the others in the room. "There's nothing wrong with any of us for that matter."
"I don't think you're qualified to make that statement, Ororo!" Hank said heatedly while getting to his feet. "There are plenty of mutants who-"
"What do you want me to think, Hank? Our powers are part of who we are. It's part of our identities!"
"You think I want this to be part of my identity?" Rogue said, incrediously.
Everyone in the room then looked at Rogue.
"I'm Sorry, Ms. Munroe, but if that's the case, you gotta think again. I don't care what anyone says, there is something wrong with me, and I wanna fix it."
Logan frowned heavily as he continued to stare at Rogue.
"And it's my choice," Rogue finished. She then slowly turned and walked out of the study. Everyone else in the room just stood in silence, the news of the cure for mutation having a heavy effect on them all.
While the reaction was being felt in Xavier's Institute, elsewhere in a forest, black combat boots glided over the grass of the forest as a figured moved at a brisk pace until reaching a rather large distinctive looking tree. Pyro pushed on a branch that opened a door that led down to the underground hideout Magneto had designed for The Brotherhood. Inside was grey and metallic in look and texture. Pyro walked down the stairs and went through a set of corridors until he finally came to a set of metal double-doors of Magneto's office. Inside, the leader of the Brotherhood was sitting quietly at his desk.
"They've just announced it," Pyro informed him. Magneto just continued to sit there, staring at the clanging balls of Newton's cradle game on his desk. "Have you gotten any word back from Mystique?"
"No," Magneto finally spoke. "I'm afraid something has gone wrong."
"How could she of gotten caught? She can imitate anyone."
"We will have to go to San Francisco tonight."
Magneto stood up, ignoring the younger mutant's question. The plan always was to attack Alcatraz to free the mutants being held there, it just wasn't supposed to be this soon. "Save your strength, we'll attack late in the night, so not to risk interference from Charles."
Pyro shook his head.
"I don't understand something. If the Professor is intent on always interfering in your plans why don't you just attack the mansion and get rid of him?"
"For the same reason you wouldn't turn against your old friends."
"Just say the word and they're ash."
Magneto smiled a little. He clearly didn't believe the pyromaniac.
"Even now, despite everything that has happened between us, I still have far too much affection for the Professor to attack his very own home. Hopefully Pyro, the day will come when you and your friends will be reunited in a world free of humanity's prejudice."
"They aren't my friends."
Magneto ignored him and began to walk out of the office. He then called over his shoulder.
"Be ready at midnight."
XXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, back at the Worthington building, Warren Senior and Kavita walked along a long hallway of the large office building, making their way to the room of James Hawkins, also known by the name 'Leech'. The mutant child who's DNA was responsible for the creation of the cure.
"I'm afraid we might have a little problem, Mr. Worthington," Kavita began.
"What is it?"
"I've just gotten word that the President has appointed a mutant to be part of his cabinet."
"So what's the problem?" Worthington questioned.
"Well, we are keeping a mutant child here, and his powers are the focal point of the serum." Kavita reminded him. "The new appointee might insist on an investigation of the cure before we can release it to the public."
"We're not mistreating the child, and his father has been compensated very generously. We'll keep everything on schedule."
"Very well. Tonight we will test the cure on several of the mutant prisoners at Alcatraz. Just to be absolutely sure that it works."
The two of them then stopped outside a room with a viewing window. Worthington looked inside and saw his son playing video games with Leech. The child was bald with bright green skin and yellow eyes. Kavita smiled at the sight.
"Your son has been keeping him company ever since you two arrived."
Inside of Jimmy's room, it was all white and padded. A bed was at the side and a flat screen television in the corner of the room. Warren and Jimmy sat in front of it, playing the new Burnout game on the PlayStation 3.
"Ready to lose this time?" Warren grinned as a new race started up.
"Not on your life," Jimmy responded.
"Are you saying you want me dead?" Warren fake gasped.
Jimmy laughed as their cars crashed into each other on the screen. Warren maneuvered his car around and now was in the lead. "How much longer do you have to stay here?" He then asked.
"I don't know. Not too much longer I hope. It's boring here."
"How did Dr. Rao find you anyway?"
"My dad works for her."
"Really?"
Jimmy nodded as his car again crashed into Warren's.
"Where were you before you were here?"
"At a school."
Warren looked over at Jimmy, surprised by his answer.
"What kind of school?" To be perfectly honest, Warren couldn't believe any school would take him in. It was actually a miracle that he was still alive and that he hadn't been harmed by some crazy anti-mutant protestor. His parents must have done a good job in keeping him safe.
"Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters," Jimmy finally said. "It's a safe place for people like me."
Warren stared at the screen absent-mindedly. A school for mutants? A safe place for mutants? There would be others like him there? The thoughts caused him to lose his concentration and Jimmy's car regained he lead. The door then opened up and Warren's father stuck his head in.
"Warren. We have to go."
Warren frowned a little as he put the controller down.
"Sorry," He apologized. "We'll play longer when I visit again. And I'll beat you next time."
"Please, I beat you three straight times."
"I was just taking it easy on you."
Warren placed his hand on Jimmy's bald head and lightly shook it as Jimmy laughed and shoved the older boy's hand away. He then watched Warren leave the room to head back to the penthouse with his father.