Chapter 10: Ready, Aim, Fire Part 1: Ororo Munroe
"You, Christian!" Essex shouted. "Halt in the name of Pharaoh!"
Ororo sped away from several of Essex's guards as they pursued her. She looked up and noticed a statue. Seeing gray paint on the ground, Ororo quickly rubbed it all over herself and stood by the statue to make it seem like she was part of it. When Essex investigated, Ororo stepped on Essex's head, knocking him down, as she called up a fog to obscure Essex's vision and flew off.
"After her!" Essex shouted.
()()()()()
At the mansion, Kurt and Jean were up a tree wearing leaves to blend in as Hank observed them.
"I love climbing trees, but I never thought I'd be one." Jean said.
"You missed a spot, Jean." Kurt said with a smirk as he plucked a leaf from the tree and put it on Jean's mouth.
"Kurt, any sign of the courier?" Hank asked.
"Not yet." Kurt said plainly.
"Well keep looking." Hank said plainly. "And fix your camouflage. I can still see you."
Hank then turned to Scott, who had grown a few inches.
"Scott, why aren't you in position?!" Hank snapped at Scott as he rushed to the opposite sight of his position with bows and arrows.
"I'm going!" Scott groaned. "Don't get your jeans in a bunch!"
"How am I supposed to work with a bunch of amateurs like this?!" Hank asked Charles, Moira, and Alex angrily.
"What's wrong with Henry, Professor?" Alex asked. Hank seemed a lot snippier than usual.
"Well Alex, the courier we're waiting for is Hank's old schoolmate, Ororo." Charles explained.
"She's a freedom fighter, and a Story Keeper for Africa, and Henry wants to make a good impression." Moira explained.
"Here she comes!" Jean shouted from the tree.
"Positions everybody!" Hank said at once as everyone prepared to defend themselves and Ororo.
Ororo, a white haired African woman with blue eyes, rushed to their position, chased by several guards.
"She's not gonna make it!" Kurt exclaimed.
"I'll activate the emergency barricade!" Hank shouted as he fired an arrow at a bundle of barrels, but he instead hit a wall.
Working quickly, Scott took off his glasses and singed the rope himself, releasing several barrels that blocked the soldiers' path.
"You Christians can't escape Pharaoh's justice forever!" Essex shouted as he slipped and fell while the others hid.
()()()()()
Inside the mansion, Charles hugged his old student, Ororo.
"Ororo." Charles said with a smile.
"We're so glad to have you with us." Moira said happily.
"Not as glad as I am, Moira." Ororo said, catching her breath after her extended chase. "For a moment there, I didn't think I'd make it. Now, where's my old friend?"
Charles went to check and found Hank firing arrows at a sand bag with a bulls-eye on it.
"Hank, don't you wanna see Ororo?" Charles asked.
"I can't believe I missed that shot." Hank groaned. "She's going to be so disappointed."
"Everyone misses a shot now and then." Charles points out.
"You don't understand, Charles." Hank sighed. "Dad was the best aid to Africa they ever had. He'd never have missed, and Ororo'd know that."
"There you are!" Ororo called out as she came over to them with Alex. "Henry!"
"Ororo, watch this!" Hank shouted as he hit a tree. "I don't understand!" Hank said angrily. "This never happens!"
"Well, you hit the mark when it counted." Ororo said comfortingly. "You saved my butt back there."
"I thought Scott hit the tar-" Alex began to say before Charles quickly covered his mouth.
Ororo then looked Hank over and smiled.
"You are the image of Mr. McCoy, God rest his soul." Ororo said, and Charles had to agree with her. "I also bet you're every bit the strategist he was too. That reminds me, I have something for you."
Ororo reached into her pouch and held up a necklace with the symbol of Wakanda on it.
"Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough." Ororo said. "A medal T'Challa's father gave him once Africa was freed from Nur."
Hank put the necklace on.
"Thanks Ororo." Hank said with a smile. "I promise I'll be worthy of it."
"Ororo did you and your husband really lead an uprising in Ethiopia?" Kurt asked as he suddenly popped up with a BAMF.
"Did you really defeat an entire garrison of Nur's troops?" Jean asked as well.
"Tell us about the freedom fights in Wakanda!" Scott called out.
"That's enough!" Hank snapped. "Ororo doesn't have time to entertain a bunch of children!"
"Well of course I do." Ororo said with a smile at Charles' young charges. "Hank, you remember the way Jesus said we should treat children?"
"What?" Alex asked. "What did he say?"
"Well Alex," Ororo said as she sat down and picked Alex up and set Alex on her lap. "One day, Jesus and his disciples were on the way to Jerusalem. It had been a long, hard journey. The disciples had become irritable and were quarreling with one another.
"During a stop and meal at a welcoming house, Jesus asked, 'What were you arguing about earlier?'
"As it turned out, they had been arguing about which one of them was the most important.
"In response to this, Jesus picked up a young boy that giggled, and Jesus said, 'I have already told you that my kingdom belongs to people who are like this child.'
"The disciples knew how important children were to Jesus because of something that had happened on another occasion. Jesus was teaching as the disciples tried to keep the children out.
"Noticing this, Jesus said, 'Let the boys and girls come to me. Don't stop them. Anyone who does not accept God's kingdom like a little boy or girl will not get inside.'
"So you see, Henry, Jesus holds children in very high regards."
"As do I, Ororo." Hank said grandly. "What good is a leader without followers? Alright everyone, break time's over. Attention!"
All the children stood erect.
"It's time to show Ororo how efficiently we can set up for tonight's meeting. Move out!"
All the children walked off.
"You know Ororo, I think Hank might have missed the point of your story." Charles observed as Kell ordered the children around like an army sergeant.
"I think you're right." Ororo said plainly.
()()()()()
At Nur's New York palace, he was observing a model of Bayville as Gambit watched in silent disgust.
"Now let's see…" Nur pondered. "Where shall I build my new Pantheon? Try to the south, Mesmero!"
Mesmero picked up the model of the pantheon and walked off as Essex arrived.
"Hail, Pharaoh!" Imperiex called out.
"Ah, Essex." Nur said offhandedly. "I understand you lost another Christian courier in Bayville's market district."
"Pharaoh," Essex defended. "The district is riddled with secret passages and tunnels. It's impossible to accurately patrol… So what if we burned it to the ground?"
"Hm…" Nur observed. "That would provide a perfect spot for my pantheon. Don't just stand there, Mesmero!"
"But Pharaoh, a fire in the market district could kill hundreds o' people!" Gambit protested.
"Wonderful." Nur said with a wicked grin, which after becoming a Christian, Gambit noticed more and more. "Essex, have you a plan?"
"As a matter of fact," Essex said as he held up the model of a huge canon. "I call it, The Wrath of En Sabah Nur."
"Impressive." Nur observed as he put a small charge in there and fired at the model of Bayville's market district, setting half the thing ablaze. "Most impressive."
Gambit quietly slid over to a servant friend of his, Piotr Rasputin and knelt down low to avoid being heard.
"You must get word to Charles." Gambit whispered. "He's holding a meeting tonight in the market district. I'll do what I can to stall Essex, now go."
Piotr nodded and sneaked off, Nur absorbed in the simulation of the market district burning to the ground. Nur sickened him to his very core these days.
Uh-oh. It's never good when En Sabah Nur's happy.