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"Good morning. My name is Sebastian Shaw."
The attention of Xavier, Carol, Logan, Ororo, Scott, Jean, Emma, and Alex were now focused on the smirking mutant presidential candiate who had been led into the conference room by his security team. He stood in front of them all as if he belonged there and strode his way towards the table they were sitting at.
"We know who you are, Mr. Shaw," Carol confirmed. "We were just discussing you, in fact."
"Well, I assure you I'm not as bad as you've heard," Shaw continued to smirk as he took a seat at the head of the long table.
The security members walked down to where the rest of the group was sitting.
"Mr. Shaw wishes to speak with Secretary Danvers and Professor Xavier only. Everyone else must leave," said one of the them.
"Wait a minute," Logan growled. "You don't just come in here and start barking orders."
"I apologize," Shaw said. "But it is a matter for the people in the need to know."
It was rare for Scott to agree with Logan. He didn't appreciate the attempt to throw them out of the room and judging by the look on Emma's face, she didn't either. However, Xavier saw the rest looking towards them and gestured for them to do what was asked, which they reluctantly did. Once the group was gone and waiting on the outside, pictures were then brought to Xavier and Carol.
"It seems that my opponent Graydon Creed has some skeletons hiding in his closet. Apparently he is the son of two mutants."
The photos brought to them were that of Raven Darkholme, also known as Mystique and Victor Creed, also known as Sabretooth. The next couple of pages were the results of a DNA paternity test. Xavier looked over it, shocked. He of course knew Mystique and Sabretooth but never would have guessed that had ever been...involved with each other, let alone have a child.
"Are these results...accurate?" Xavier asked.
"Absolutely."
"So Graydon could be a mutant himself?" Carol wondered out loud.
"He could have the mutant X-Gene, even though he has never shown any signs of mutation. We would have to run more tests for that, and Mr. Creed would have to be willing to participate."
"This will do a lot of harm to his campaign, if this is true."
"That's the point," Shaw responded. "I want to fight just as dirty. He isn't going to steal this election from me."
"So this is the reason you wanted to see us?" Carol questioned.
Shaw smiled a little, ignoring the question and looked directly at Xavier.
"Actually, I came looking for your support, Professor Xavier."
Xavier raised his brows.
"My support?"
"Of course. And to ask you to accompany me somewhere."
"And where would that be?"
"I've put together a function that is taking place in Las Vegas. Lots of important benefactors will be there, lots of press. I think it would be good for everyone for you to be there. For them to find out just who you are and what you have done for mutantkind. I have a private jet ready to go, we will be there by tonight."
Xavier shook his head.
"I'm afraid that's out of the question. I can't just leave, I have work to do as far as my school goes. And as far as coming out before the world's press, I'm not so sure about that."
"Our brother mutants will inherit the earth someday and it's in everyone's best interest to make this transition as peaceful as possible. I believe we must teach the public that the alternative is just too painful to even contemplate. The public should know, Professor. They should know the dedication you've had to keeping the peace between humans and mutants. How you've stopped multiple attempts from others to start a conflict."
Xavier continued to listen as Shaw then smiled.
"And I think it's time for the X-Men to meet The Hellfire Club."
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"Are you sure about leaving with him?" Ororo asked. "This seems to be a little soo spur of the moment." Xavier was now meeting with the X-Men in another room, telling them all about Sebastian Shaw and what he had asked of him.
"Yes. Whatever this 'Hellfire Club' is, it would be nice to see it firsthand."
"I don't like it," Logan stated. "At least one of us should go with you."
"I can take care of myself," Xavier assured.
"You're really serious about revealing yourself as a mutant to the whole world?" Ororo asked, somewhat shocked.
"Yes, Ororo I am. I've been thinking about something ever since Henry died. Maybe it's time for us to finally stop hiding."
The rest of the group looked at each other, unsure of how to feel about that as Carol sighed.
"Very well. I can equip you with a tracker and a phone. As far as your school goes-"
"Don't worry, Carol. I'm sure I could persuade Emma Frost to look after things while I'm gone."
While they continued to talk, at the same time, Sebastian and Emma were speaking in Shaw's limousine.
"Why me?" Emma asked.
"Because you're a predator, Emma," Shaw answered. "Because at the end of the day, you will do what's best for you. In the long run, that will mean planting yourself where you can be of the most use to me, my White Queen."
"You seem awfully confident about this, Sebastian."
"Dear Charles was the only real threat to our little cabal, and he's wrapped up in his own little problems as always."
"I don't know what it's like in Vegas, but here in New York the original Hellfire Club has devolved into a glorified strip-bar."
Shaw raised his chin.
"We still have an actual mission. A holy one, to me. We were all brought together to do this. Jean Grey is the one the Hellfire Club has been searching centuries for, Emma. She is our Dark Phoenix."
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Despite the rest of the groups objections, Xavier left with Sebastian Shaw. He assured them he would be fine and they returned to Westchester without him. Once they got back, Cyclops and Havok were standing in front of the controls in uniform as the leader of the X-Men prepared the upcoming Danger Room session for the team.
"Listen, I don't know if you should be training with us today, Alex."
"Why not? You said yourself that I've improved faster than anyone you've ever seen."
"Yes, you've done very well. It's just, we're going to be doing the level ten exercise. Out of all of us only Jean, Ororo, and myself have done it."
"I can handle it."
Cyclops noticed the tone in his younger brother's voice.
"I'm just trying to look out for you."
"And I appreciate it. To a point."
"What does that mean?"
"You can be very uptight, dude. You're going to snap one of these days if you don't loosen up."
"Somebody has to be the responsible one around here."
"It can't always be you." Havok then glanced over the impressive looking control system again. He had honestly never seen anything like it. "Who designed this thing anyway?"
"A mutant named Forge. It was his power, being able to invent things like this."
Just then, Rogue appeared in the doorway not in uniform.
"Hey, I think I'm going to sit this one out."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'm just not feeling it today."
"That's fine. Why don't you just stay in here? Remy should be down here soon, I asked him to come watch and learn."
"Remy." Rogue muttered his name as the brothers left the room. She took a seat in front of the controls and pressed a button which caused the wall in front of her to disappear as the technology allowed her to watch the team train safely from the control room. Unbeknownst to her, Remy had silently entered the room and sat down next to her, smiling when she jumped in surprise.
"Hey. I didn't hear you coming."
"That's because I didn't make no noise," Remy smirked. "That's what made me a great thief."
He then reached into the inner pocket of his trench coat for a cigarette and lighter.
"Smoking is bad for your health, swamp rat."
Remy arched an auburn brow.
"You worried about this Cajun, river rat?"
Rogue crossed her arms over her chest.
"Not really, no."
"Sure you're not, Chere." He then squinted his eyes as he looked up at the ceiling. "I should'a brought my shades with me. These bright lights ain't too friendly with my eyes."
"That's what happens when you have devil eyes. They're more accustomed for darkness and sulfur."
Remy was quiet and his lips tightened at her words. Rogue then realized she may have struck some sort of nerve and rolled her eyes.
"Don't be so sensitive. I like your eyes."
The corner of Remy's mouth tilted up in a half-grin.
"Good to know."
Inside of the Danger Room, Cyclops, Phoenix, Havok, Iceman, Colossus, and Shadowcat stood in the center of the dome as they waited for the last two members. Iceman made sure to keep his distance from Colossus as the larger mutant was giving him intense looks of quiet fury whenever he made eye contact with him.
"How long is the session going to be?" Shadowcat asked.
"Ten minutes," Phoenix answered.
"Ten minutes? Are you kidding?"
"Level ten. Ten minutes."
Iceman then raised a question of his own
"What's the objective?"
"Survive," Cyclops responded.
Just then, Wolverine and Storm walked in the room wearing their uniforms as the doors closed behind them.
"Where have you guys been?"
"We had the pleasure of running into the Professor's substitute," Wolverine muttered. He really didn't like the woman and was aggravated that Xavier asked her to look after things in his absence when any of them were capable. Xavier explained an interest in a working relationship with her school in a Massachusetts but Wolverine could care less about any of that.
Cyclops thoughts went to Emma Frost just as the bright lights went off and the holographic technology began transforming the room. After a few more moments, the X-Men found themselves standing in the middle of a jungle known as The Savage Land. It was filled with thick trees with vines hanging from, plants, and a tangle of brush and vegetation. The room also simulated the wet tropical region with a hot, humid climate.
"Are we going to be fighting a bunch of giant bugs and snakes?" Wolverine asked while looking around at the surroundings in amazement.
"Not exactly." Storm said.
Through the thick bushes, a creature with orange fur moved along. Zabu growled and crouched and prepared to strike. Havok did a double-take when he saw the hologram which then roared and lunged at him. Havok quickly jumped out of the way.
"Did you see that!?" Havok yelled. "That's a damn sabretooth tiger!"
The tiger leaped again, but Phoenix held it back telekinetically before sending it flying yards away until it crashed head first into a thick tree. Iceman then saw a shadow pass over from above and looked up. His eyes widened in shock.
"Above us!"
The rest of the X-Men looked up to see a seven-foot, green-skinned half-man, half-pterodactyl diving towards them from the sky. The creature came at them with its claws as the team hit the deck and the hologram creature blew over them.
"What is that thing?" Iceman asked.
"That would be Sauron," Cyclops answered.
Phoenix tried to stop it but Sauron fired a beam from his eyes that struck her in the chest. It began firing more beams at them as the team scrambled out of the way.
Wolverine then looked to Storm.
"Storm! Take care of that flying lizard!"
Storm's eyes rolled up as she floated high into the air and soon came face to face with Sauron. The hologram dashed towards her but Storm summoned a tornado around her. Sauron was swept up inside and hurled away.
Down below, the X-Men all stood back to back in a circle as raptors began charging at them. Colossus in his metaled up form lunged at two of then, grabbing them by their throats and slammed their heads together. Iceman formed a large ice shield which stopped one but was bit in the arm by another. He yelled out in pain before driving an ice-spike into the raptor's mouth. He then iced over his wound. Cyclops and Havok were firing their respective blasts of energy at the raptors but as the first wave of them fell another group of a dozen began running towards them. Phoenix lifted up two large rocks and dropped it onto them, taking the second wave out all at once.
A third wave of raptors then charged, this time from the opposite side. A dark cloud formed overhead as Storm began blasting them with lightning bolts but she didn't notice Sauron flying right behind her and snatched Storm with it's claws. The hologram started draining her life force as she screamed. In her struggle, the storm clouds went wild and lightning bolts started hitting everything including her own teammates down below. Colossus quickly grabbed two rocks off the ground and chucked them into the air, one of them hitting Sauron right in the head. It let go of Storm who fell to the ground, landing hard on her left side. Sauron let loose an angry screech and flew towards Colossus who quickly rolled out of the way of the incoming charge. Sauron passed over him but as it did a turn in mid-air and came back around, Havok nailed him with a powerful blast of energy, effectively taking care of it.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
The ground began to shake from side to side. Iceman looked over and his eyes widened when he saw a large Rhinoceros charging them.
"Look out!"
Inside of the control room, Rogue and Remy looked on in bewilderment as the X-Men scattered to avoid the rhino. However, Remy had been watching the whole thing with much more amazement then Rogue. She might have never done this session but she done all the others so it wasn't that much of a surprise to her.
"So, this is normal for you guys?" Remy asked.
"Yeah. It's pretty normal."
"Fighting dinosaurs?"
"We've fought robots, drones, aliens, monsters...so yeah. Normal," Rogue explained.
Remy then blinked as he saw a man swing from a thick vine of one of the trees.
"I think I just saw Tarzan."
What he actually saw was Ka-Zar, a hologram of a muscular man with brown hair and wearing nothing but a loincloth swung on a vine, straight towards Wolverine. He grabbed a hold of him and kept going until he was a good distance away and slammed him hard to the ground. A waterfall was in the background as Ka-Zar leap down and pulled out a sword that had been strapped to his back. Wolverine got back to his feet and cracked his neck.
"Bad move, bub. You've just pissed me off."
Wolverine charged at Ka-Zar with his claws. Ka-Zar swung his sword and the blades clashed, sparks flying into the air with each swing. Ducking his head, Wolverine grabbed onto one of the hologram's legs and launched him up in the air. Ka-Zar landed hard on the ground but quickly nipped back up.
Ka-Zar slashed Wolverine across his chest then leaped over him and stabbed him in the back. The hologram jumped away, dodging Wolverine's left hook as his wounds began to heal. Wolverine then came at Ka-Zar again, this time slashing his right arm. The two then clashed in another spectacle as the two then locked their blades together in a battle of strength. Wolverine growled at his taller opponent as Ka-Zar then headbutted Wolverine, only to be left stunned. Wolverine seized his opportunity and came forward, stabbing Ka-Zar in the chest with his claws.
As the hologram fell to the ground, Wolverine snatched up his sword and stood over him.
"Sweet dreams pretty boy!" Wolverine yelled as he brought the sword down upon Ka-Zar.
Elsewhere, deep into the jungle, Iceman and Shadowcat were doubled over both gasping for air as they had finishing running from the rhino which was now incased in a thick lair of ice.
A menacing growl from nearby caused the two to look behind them to see a robot.
A big robot.
A full-sized, red and orange, Tyrannosaurus Rex, robot.
Iceman and Shadowcat looked at each other.
"Run." She said.
The two spun on their heels. Howling like lunatics and frantically waving their arms, the two X-Men ran across the jungle, the rex in pursuit. Eventually, it was getting too close and Shadowcat tackled Iceman, phasing the two of them so it passed harmlessly by. The same could not be said for Colossus as the T-Rex stepped on him, crushing him through the ground. Wolverine attempted to stab it but the T-Rex swung his large tail and it slammed into Wolverine, sending him careening through the air.
The T-Rex then roared as it was suddenly frozen in place. Phoenix was glowing with telekinetic energy as her eyes burned orange. Cyclops fired his optic blast at its torso. Havok send an energy blast at its legs. Iceman got back up and released a thick wave of frost at its back. Storm had recovered at this point and summoned a bolt of lightning at the T-Rex's head.
After all that, finally the big dinosaur went down. The X-Men then breathed in relief as the jungle began to fade away and the session came to an end. Rogue and Remy continued to watch in the control room when a voice from behind them suddenly got their attention.
"Extraordinary."
"Are you the one watching the school for the Professor?" Rogue asked.
"I am," Emma confirmed before nodding in the direction of Cyclops. "Tell me, is he the leader of your group?"
"Cyclops? Yeah, he's been the leader of the X-Men for years."
"Hmm..."
Emma ran her index finger across her lips as she continued to look him up and down before smiling. She then turned away and walked out of the control room. Once she was a good distance away, Rogue looked back at Remy with her eyebrows raised.
"Well, that was odd."
"Yeah. She was looking at him the same way you look at me."
"I don't look at you, Remy."
"Sure you don't."
Rogue threw her hands into the air before getting up and leaving the control room in a huff, muttering under her breath as Remy chuckled to himself.