Shao (Little Dragon): Part Six
DISCLAIMER: Marvel owns all the characters. No money is involved (story of my life). Thanks to a slew of people (especially Chi_Kokoro, Ken Barnes, Amy Hunt) who helped me with their suggestions so some of the ideas weren't mine also.
SUMMARY: Jubilee fights her worst enemy, her fears. Can Logan and the others save her from herself?
FEEDBACK: Please send feedback of any kind (praise, flaming, constructive criticism, etc.) to naiya@mauimail.com
NOTES: Any bordered by triple characters (e.g. |||) means telepathic speech. Each telepath has a different signature. Phrases bordered by parenthesis mean the person is speaking in Japanese. Phrases bordered by * are thoughts. Any questions see feedback for my email address and I'll answer as best as I can. Archive at will
*****
Logan wasn't usually wrong but a quick exploration of the boathouse and surrounding lake proved he was fallible. Jubilee was nowhere to be seen though his senses confirmed she had been here briefly. The traces were so faint he almost had to strain to pick them up.
As dawn broke over the horizon Logan was about to admit defeat and head back to the mansion. He stood at the edge of the meadow that separated the lake from the stables and inhaled through his nose and mouth. The scent of anger nearly knocked him off his feet. It rose from small, barely noticeable footprints in the grass. Logan bristled, reacting to the strong emotion but kept it in check and dropped into a hunting crouch. Soon the footprints widened as if she had been running.
*Darlin', where are you?* he fumed, angrily following her trail up and into the mansion. Too many old and new scent trails overlapped each other for him to discern which direction she'd gone. Cursory inspections of all her favorite escapes, including the little known hiding place in the library turned up nothing. Frustrated, Logan leaned against the wall to gather his thoughts.
Minute vibrations made his arm hair stand on end. Logan blew out sharply through his nose, grimaced and smacked himself upside the head. Jubilee had picked up many of his habits, especially anger redirection. He hurried the nearest computer console and tried to pull up the Danger Room's itinerary. 'Voice command access only' flashed in blood red at the bottom of the screen.
Growling under his breath, Logan shut his eyes and recalled that Professor X was starting to charge him for damaged equipment. In a low, suspiciously calm tone, "Computer cease all Danger Room sessions, clearance code J(uliet), L(ima), E(cho), E(cho), A(loha), W(hiskey)."
"Password invalid. Access denied," it replied.
Logan smelled a rat, a small boned, Chinese, computer genius rat; the day wasn't looking any brighter. After giving the terminal six more ports, he figured by lunch he'd owe the Professor a small fortune.
"Access that," he grunted and ducked under the sparks flying out of his new editions. The machine finally stopped protesting when he yanked the cord out of the socket. *I guess this means I haveta go through the Vault* Logan concluded and left the library running.
He made his way through the mansion's maze of hallways. At the last turn the hallway dead-ended. Logan slid his hand along the topside of a picture-sized mirror three by three feet long hanging on the wall. There was a faint click and pop of air as the seal behind the mirror broke. A seem from floor to ceiling appeared at the frame's edge. The entire panel recessed an inch back and slid noiselessly into the wall revealing what the younger ones had nicknamed the Vault.
Four, three inch thick bars sprang from the center of the huge circular door and disappeared into the walls, ceiling and floor. In the center a viscous finger print pad sat next to a small monitor that displayed welcome and warning messages. Above the screen a pair of goggles lowered into view flashing orange. It turned to green when the retinal scanner warmed up.
"Identify," it commanded in a programmed polite voice.
Logan felt the small hairs on his neck and shoulders rise. Already keyed up with concern for Jubilee, these little obstacles were beginning to get annoying. Plunging his fingers into the gel pad, he barely felt the needle stab his thumb for a blood sample. The retinal scanner was set at default height, usually inches too high.
"Retinal scan required. Comply," the computer continued to prompt when he wasn't fast enough adjusting it to his height.
"I am you sorry excuse for a..." Logan stopped himself from arguing with an object only doing what it was programmed to do, although he itched rip out its circuitry. Uncomfortable and inpatient he set he jaw against any further outbursts of cursing and waited for the computer to run through its security checks.
"Invalid profile. Access denied."
Logan snapped, roaring wordlessly, he pulled his hand violently out of the gel-pad, unsheathed his claws and slashed into the door.
Metal raked across metal screaming like nails on chalkboard amplified ten times over. Smoke issued from his burnt arm hairs, singed by sparks from the grinding metals. Adamantium cuts through most materials like a hot knife through butter but the door did not yield.
True to the laws of physics the force of Logan's blow sent him flying backwards. Stunned back to sanity, he lay on his back staring at the ceiling. A smile broke across his face and turned into an ear to ear grin. A resounding laugh spilled up his throat and rang out into the empty hallway. He had forgotten about the door. It would be nearly impossible for him to get through his way; carbonadium is stronger than adamantium.
*****
Keeri had been told to stay away from this part of the mansion. It wasn't fair she complained to her mother one day while Dr. Hank finished her blood work. Even Dr. Hank was against her, saying something about 'she could when she was older'.
*I am older* Keeri thought and drew up to her full height of three feet, nine inches. "I'm a whole seven years old today," she said defiantly, walking with purpose towards the forbidden hallway. Before she had gotten halfway down the first corridor, she was nearly run over by Uncle Logan.
Keeri yipped and steeled herself for a scolding but the big man leapt right over her. He didn't even bother to say hello and was gone just as suddenly as he appeared. Torn between curiosity and fear, she spent a few moments to think about going back. However, there was only one choice a seven-year-old mutant would make. She took off in the same direction Logan went as fast as her small feet could move.
In no time she caught up to Logan, right about the same time he was flown back from the Vault. Keeri's eyes went huge and she scrambled to hide behind one of the mansion's many grandfather clocks. Cautiously she peeked around the clock and was startled when he started to laugh.
*Uncle Logan must've knocked himself silly* she giggled softly, edging out into the open. "You okay uncle," she asked and squatted by his head.
*****
*The kid has guts, I'll give her that* Logan admitted, rolled over into a crouch beside her and ruffled her shock of red hair. She carried herself well almost to the point of making him forget how young she was. It was the only part of her father besides his skin tone that Logan could see in her. Everything else was her mother's. "Keeri Summers, does yer mother know you're here," he scolded using her real name.
Keeri knew she was in for it now. He never used her real name always calling her "Squirt". Slowly she shook her head, huge tears welling up in soulful green eyes.
"Tell ya what, Squirt. If'n ya help me with this door, I just might forget I saw ya here," he bargained, kicking himself for taking his frustrations out on the child. Of all the mutants to run into, Keeri was just the right one. Dumb luck seemed to be on his side for a change and the day might not turn out as bad as he thought. Her mutant ability allowed her to cause things to happen. Professor described it as an unconscious telepathic "push" that mysteriously corrected anything that was going wrong.
"Sure," she cried and ran towards the Vault. "C'mon uncle. I need you to lift me up."
Audible rumbling drifted into the hallway and shook the walls. As Logan held Keeri up so that her hand could reach the gel-pad he tried not to think of how much damage Jubilee was doing to herself.
"Access granted," drew his attention back to the Vault. After Keeri withdrew her hand, the center console rotated 360 degrees, releasing the bars. A series of mechanical pops followed as the bars were drawn away from the door. With a final metal groan, the Vault split into uneven halves and opened.
Released air pressure from the door rushed over them. Keeri started to complain loudly and wiggled out of his grasp, pawing at her ears. Logan caught her by the chin and held her nose. "Blow Squirt. It'll help." He was concerned when her face turned red but her relieved smiled eased his fears.
"All better?" Her enthusiastic nod made him grin. Now, go get yer mother and father."
Her face fell as if he had asked her to give up her favorite puppy. "But..." she started to argue.
"No buts. I promise ya won't get in trouble. Tell them Auntie Jubilee is in danger. Go on now. Hurry."
Logan waited until she obeyed, then ran into the control room. As soon as he entered the Vault automatically shut. He hoped the others wouldn't have the hard time he did. Somehow he had a feeling he'd need backup real soon.
"Computer display program." If it wouldn't allow him to change the sequence, perhaps it would let him see it. His hunch worked and the program filled the screen. Dread froze his blood and made his heart skip a beat. The Danger Room was set on its highest levels on a program unlike anything he'd seen. Nothing in the program was constant, completely unpredictable.
Without warning a betadroid crashed through the observation window and knocked him to the floor. Logan howled in pain as molten steel from its slagged metal body dripped onto his spine. Shards of glass embedded into his shoulders but were easily shaken off. While his healing factor shifted into overdrive, Logan sunk a claw into the sputtering remains of the droid until it finally went dead. It should have never gotten through. Normally an energy field protected the observation windows.
"Nanotech regeneration activated." The computer confirmed his suspicions. Jubilee had managed to bypass the Control Room security blocks. If the nanotechs were activated, it meant all safety protocols were deactivated. Jubilee was playing hardball.
Metallic clangs and explosions flooded into the room but he heard her frenzied howling first. Rage, pain, and despair, everything he felt when he went berserk he heard in her voice.
His first view of the scenario as he leapt onto the windowsill of the broken window seemed normal. He recognized the setting as feudal Japan. Image-inducers made the betadroids look like Hand ninjas, but it wasn't until he dropped down to the floor that he realized they bore real weapons. Things were going from bad to worse.
Jubilee crouched low in the center deflecting attacks with her twin swords. Despite being bruised and cut in several places she moved with incredible agility in a style he had never seen before. Her face was twisted up into a feral snarl, but the look in her eyes sent a shiver up his spine that rose the fine hairs on his back. Cold hatred that promised deadly unrelenting harm emanated from those blue orbs.
She snarled viciously and used a windmill parry to block two incoming attacks. They couldn't recover their balance when she twisted redirecting them into four naginata bearing droids sneaking up from behind.
Once the droids were out of the way Jubilee remained still long enough for Logan to get a good look at her. A light blinked by her temple from a small metal pad attached to the side of her face. It was a neural unit that jacked the user's brain directly into the Danger Rooms computer and anything in that brain could be used either in regular state or altered as the computer saw fit. Any hopes he had about being able to predict this program went out the door.
Sure enough the scenery shifted in an electrostatic wave from Japan to the main living room of the mansion. *What the heck? Why this?* he mused and quickly ducked behind the heavy velvet curtain when Jubilee came closer. He watched her through one of the holes he remembered creating during a particularly physical argument with Ol' One Eye.
"She's just a child and a small one at that," Storm's voice grew louder as she approached the room. Jubilee flinched, startled into a calmer state of mind, and scrambled for the closest shadow. Her slight frame fit into the small space between two bookshelves nestled in the corner.
Jean palmed on the lights and motioned for Storm to sit on the couch. "Agreed, but the process should give her a little more stature. Then she will no longer be a nuisance." Storm unwrapped a piece of chocolate and listened to Jean's lecture about Jubilee's viability as a specimen. Stranger still, they were both dressed in Hand uniforms.
Logan watched the scene play out and finally realized that this is how Jubilee thought the X-women thought of her. Deep down she believed they truly thought her as a liability. Two more uniformed figures dropped in from access panels in the ceiling. They pulled off their masks and slid onto the couch next to the women.
There was a small electronic hiccup but the room remained the same. Its occupants, however, were standing with champagne glasses facing the entranceway. While they waited Logan stole a glance at Jubilee. Even through the shadows he recognized the unwavering intense gaze of a predator. All the occupants in the room were vulnerable, easy targets. Why was she waiting?
Another strange electronic hiccup forced him to seek better cover when the living room phased into a hauntingly familiar laboratory. In perfect unison to the change, Jubilee shifted with the shadows, creeping closer to the odd foursome. Beast ushered his small audience toward large windows. Heavy metal shutters beat gently against the double thick panes in time with his longwinded explanation.
"Oh do get on with it Hank, my bubbles are going flat." Storm fixed him with a mournful gaze and pouted. Logan bit back his bark of laughter, remembering how many times he had come up against that look and lost. He also remembered how Jubilee hated it.
"Of course my dear. Friends, Romans, citizens lend me your ears," Beast grinned and it sent a shiver up Logan's spine. Pure evil radiated from that gleaming grin. For an instant another face superimposed over the blue fur, eliciting a low growl from deep in his throat.
While Beast launched into another speech, Logan felt a telepathic brush and dropped his outer layer of mental shields. ~~~Can you see through my eyes Jeanie? Do you understand what's going on?~~~ He didn't bother to hide the bestial overtone in his mental voice. Current events were sinking him closer to one of his famous berserker rages.
|||Yes to both I think. We're at the Vault. ETA to your position: two minutes.||| She cut him off quickly with a warning to be on guard; he was alone again.
"Behold the X-Mens' doom. Our Little Dragon." Highly dexterous claws tapped a rapid dance across coded keys that controlled the shutters. With a metallic whine they folded away revealing an arena-like room.
As Beast, Cyclops, Storm, and Jean toasted their success they morphed into other people. Shinobi Shaw and three others Logan didn't recognize walked down a few steps and sat in theater-like seats three feet away from the windows. Apparently a show was going to begin and Logan belly crawled to the next console to get a better view. An ache started in his heart, one that screamed for violence until the walls ran with red blood, at his first glimpse of the horror inside that arena.
Another Jubilee lay curled in a tight ball in the middle of the floor. Bruises covered her naked body in any free space where her tattoo didn't touch. The tattoo itself looked fresh, maybe only a week old, and still seeped blood in small places. She appeared to be asleep, but the shaking in her shoulders betrayed her. When she uncurled, Logan could tell from her face that the shaking was from fear and pain.
An aura erupted around her in the shape of her tattoo, circled high above, then dove into her chest. Through the overhead speakers, Logan heard the air rush out of her lungs in a surprised grunt as she staggered backwards. The walls separated and folded into the floor, extending the arena another twenty square feet. Rolling doors screeched open revealing uniformed men and women baring every conceivable hand weapon. Yelling a concerted kiyai, they rushed towards Jubilee. Bile crept up into Logan's throat and he had to remind himself that that wasn't the real Jubilee who still had her eyes closed to the oncoming attack.
A blur rushed past him and he realized the room had changed again. They were inside the arena; his console was now a shadowed doorway. Hologram Jubilee's eyes snapped open. They were multifaceted like jewels, glowing in swirls of red and blue. Logan felt his own inner beast respond to the violence held in those eyes and growled. He needed only the slightest push to send him over the edge but retained enough of himself to register the real Jubilee rushing the back of the horde, blades ready.
With a scream Hologram Jubilee convulsed, her shape shifting until it exploded into a dragon. Logan clamped down on his beast and sent it packing to the deepest part of his mind. Thoughts clear once again he saw the attackers phase into various X-members, even himself. He finally understood why this and why now. Jubilee felt she had something to prove. She needed to physically defeat the monster she thought of as herself. And what better way to do so than to "save" the lives of those she held dear. *Or die trying* whispered at the back of his mind.
The dragon bellowed at the attacking crowd and seemed to have an answer for each individual assault. It absorbed energy blasts from Cyclops and began to emit high frequency vibrations, incapacitating Logan and Beast instantly. For Storm it encased her in a plasma bubble and compressed it until there was only enough room for her to curl into a ball. Claustrophobia turned her into a small child incapable of resistance.
Static energy brushed his back. Logan whirled claws out before he had a chance to think about unsheathing them. Luckily, Jean had her shield up or she would have been gutted. Cyclops reached around her and grabbed onto Logan's wrist. They remained frozen for a few seconds before Storm pushed through them.
"We are here for Jubilee," she reminded them without turning around, her eyes fixed on the battle raging inside the arena.
By the time they emerged from the doorway, the dragon had slaughtered their holographic counterparts. It lumbered over to Jubilee and knocked her across the room using its tail like a whip. Seconds before she slammed into the far wall Jubilee tucked her arms and legs in and inverted. The swords hit first greatly reducing her speed. They sank into the steel reinforced wall up to their hilts. Her feet, which were glowing, white hot, burrowed through the metal. She looked like a moose-head trophy still clinging to the swords' handles.
Finally her backward motion was halted. She pulled herself back through the hole into a handstand and dropped to the ground. Blood burst from her mouth, a sign that the hit from the dragon's tail had broken something deep inside her body. A deep purple bruise spread rapidly across her chest. Humanity drained from her expression; her body radiated tangible rage.
*****
"Logan, have you lost your mind? Release me at once! Jubilee is in serious danger," Storm demanded when he grabbed her ankle mid-flight.
"Don't you think I know that?" he shot back and tightened is grip. "You go in there half cocked and you may end up dead."
"And Jubilee isn't?" Cyclops asked quietly too angry to shout. His visor began to glow.
"We can't interfere. No let me finish..." he held up his free hand when Jean started to speak. "Jubilee needs to do this and it's killing me to stand by and watch but she needs to do this alone."
"Then why are we..." Jean never got to finish her question as a multicolored vein of energy veered towards them. It pounded into her telekinetic shield and ricocheted into the far wall. It exploded leaving a gaping hole in the hologram of the arena.
"Warning! Structural integrity compromised. Estimated regeneration: ten minutes," the computer dutifully reported.
Jubilee didn't see them or hear the warning. Instinctively she drew the energy veins around herself like a shield and rose into the air. Above the din of crackling energy, Jubilee heard the dragon's thundering voice. "Now for the rest of the mansion," it taunted and fired a beam with the same energy signature as Jubilee's at the roof from its gaping maw.
"No, no, no! I can't let you harm anyone else!" she shrieked and flexed the shield outward in an attempt to intercept the beam.
The impact was a spectacular dance of light and sound. Absolute concentration wiped her features clean of expression as she modulated her shield around the beam and gathered it into a ball. Blood trickled from her nose responding to the increasing pressure as she wove the energies into a single entity.
*****
After years of working together each person acted in concert without a single order to keep the Danger Room from tearing itself apart. When holes continued to appear in the fabric of the hologram, Jean alternated the frequency of her telekinetic shields around them to block Jubilee from siphoning the photons into her power ball. Ceiling panels buckled, but held their place when Storm magnetized them with diluted bolts of lightning. Those that managed to elude her were blasted to atoms by Scott's dead-fire aim.
Trusting everyone to save the mansion, Logan focused on Jubilee and the dragon. They circled each other mid-air and the energy between them began to waver. Then everything went deceptively calm. Neither of them spoke for what seemed like an eternity.
Abruptly the dragon shifted back into human form. "Even now you can't bring yourself to destroy me. We are a part of each other. You belong to me."
Jubilee shrunk into a fetal position as if she was giving up, yet the power ball brightened to blinding intensity. Her eyes turned a multitude of colors before settling into an iridescent white. She uncurled so fast Logan couldn't follow the entire movement. "I belong to no one. You have no power over me!" she cried, arched powerfully and cast the ball at the image.
Its hissing laughter died away in a flash of multicolored brilliance. The surface solidified and locked the turbulent mass in translucent shell. Movement within the ball became frenzied until stress fractures spider-webbed throughout the outer layer. Fire spat from Jubilee's eyes, a visual manifestation of effort that was costing her dearly. More blood seeped from her balled fists but she paid them no mind.
At first Logan thought he was dreaming, but when he was almost underneath Jubilee it was finally clear despite the pandemonium of swirling energy and structural failure. She was roaring, the kind that came from the pit of your soul. It grew steadily louder punctuated by precise slashes she made in the air with her nails.
Taking a deep breath, Jubilee uttered a final piercing keen. The shell ruptured into hundreds of marble sized globes that sped overhead, circling around Jubilee in the exact pattern she had drawn. Logan shielded his eyes from the light. Agony stabbed through his heart as his eyes fell on her moving lips.
(As a phoenix is reborn through fire...) she mouthed then paused; her eyes now closed her face almost serene. The marbles stopped circling. As one they dove towards Jubilee packing in closely until they blocked her from view. Only Logan was close enough to hear her whisper, (... so shall I), before the marbles sunk into Jubilee.
Deadly silence filled the room. Then as sudden as the birth of a storm at sea noise returned in a single deafening boom of thunder. Helpless, they watched in horrid fascination as the energy suddenly exploded, ripping out through her eyes, mouth, nose, and skin. Churning, raw plasma rode high on the leading edge of the resulting succession of concussion waves that radiated outward.
Saved by the sound wave that preceded the explosion, Logan waited for the plasma wave to pass and flipped onto his feet. He hit the floor running, and launched into the air. Jubilee's limp body fell into his outstretched arms. "Gotcha!" he yelled. It took all his balance to land without dumping her on the ground.
Jean's shield held up against the sound wave but was shattered by the concussion wave. Already airborne, Storm called a small whirlwind and lifted Jean to safety until she recovered enough to levitate herself. The wave passed under heading straight for Scott. Neither of them would be able to help him in time.
Scott braced himself for impact arms crossed over his face for protection. He was praying so hard that he almost missed the computer's announcement.
"Safety protocols reactivated. Repair sequence initiated. Session terminated. Default system's program reinstalled."
Although the air was still heavily charged with static, the wave was gone. Jean and Storm touched down, bewilderment adorning each face. He shrugged, just as confused. Then he felt a gentle tug on his pants leg and looked down into the smiling green eyes of his daughter.
"All better?" Keeri asked.
He nodded and scooped her up into a big hug. She had disobeyed him by following but now wasn't the time to scold her. His wife thought differently but he did notice how closely Jean held Keeri while she ranted.
Storm had already left to get Hank; not all was well. Logan bent over Jubilee's battered body ear close to her mouth. She wasn't breathing but his sensitive ears caught her weak but steady pulse. Gingerly he pushed the tattered remains of her top aside and traced the bruise that extended from the center of her chest to the bottom of her rib cage. All her ribs were broken and must have pierced her lungs.
"C'mon Jubes, fight!" he whispered when he saw her eyelids flutter. At last they opened completely, dull with weariness. When she tried to take a breath she coughed up blood and couldn't get any air into her collapsed lungs. The frightened look she gave him was unbearable and he came to a decision. He would breathe for them both.
After clearing most of the blood in a couple of mouthfuls, he locked his mouth over hers and blew gently. His hand lay flat on her chest to feel it rise. She covered his hand with hers and squeezed it in thanks.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught a flash of black cloth before Storm stepped into sight and spread her cape over Jubilee. "Hank's here my friend. Let him take over," she urged and tried to pull him away and couldn't get him to budge. His thick fingers wrapped around her wrist and shoved her roughly back.
"Computer. Activate emergency Medlab program." Hank commanded and soothed the seething weather witch while his hands worked with what appeared to be a gun. She rewarded his patronizing with a reprimanding frown. In one smooth motion, he pulled back the slide, loaded two oversized darts, hit the release and fired. Both darts found their mark in the back of Logan's neck.
Five minutes later he collapsed beside Jubilee. Without his help she started to gasp for air and shook his hand that was still on her chest. She fixed Hank with such an accusing gaze, that he actually scolded her. "Don't you start with me Miss Lee," he said and slid an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. "Those mercury laced tranquilizer darts won't last forever and I need peace if I'm to put you back together again..."
*****
Mere hours after his initial surgery to seal the puncture wounds in her lungs so that she could breathe on her own, Jubilee popped most her stitches trying to get up. He protected the fresh stitches with the tape he used to let her ribs. Once taped, he added a final layer of fiberglass gauze.
"If you so much as crack my handiwork with your stubbornness, I'll...I'll," Hank fished for just the right threat.
"I'll sit on her," Logan finished from the bed next to Jubilee. He rolled onto his side and pushed up onto his elbow to back his threat up with a scowl. It would have been more effective if his eyes were in focus and he wasn't rubbing the back of his neck like he had a hangover.
"You and what army?" Jubilee laughed, then her face scrunched up in pain. "Ow!" she gasped gripping the bars around her bed until the spike of pain subsided.
"Me and about a few dozen nerve clusters," he retorted and dissolved into helpless laughter.
Hank joined in and decided that it may be best to keep Jubilee under sedation. Time would heal her broken body to match her restored soul.
DISCLAIMER: Marvel owns all the characters. No money is involved (story of my life). Thanks to a slew of people (especially Chi_Kokoro, Ken Barnes, Amy Hunt) who helped me with their suggestions so some of the ideas weren't mine also.
SUMMARY: Jubilee fights her worst enemy, her fears. Can Logan and the others save her from herself?
FEEDBACK: Please send feedback of any kind (praise, flaming, constructive criticism, etc.) to naiya@mauimail.com
NOTES: Any bordered by triple characters (e.g. |||) means telepathic speech. Each telepath has a different signature. Phrases bordered by parenthesis mean the person is speaking in Japanese. Phrases bordered by * are thoughts. Any questions see feedback for my email address and I'll answer as best as I can. Archive at will
*****
Logan wasn't usually wrong but a quick exploration of the boathouse and surrounding lake proved he was fallible. Jubilee was nowhere to be seen though his senses confirmed she had been here briefly. The traces were so faint he almost had to strain to pick them up.
As dawn broke over the horizon Logan was about to admit defeat and head back to the mansion. He stood at the edge of the meadow that separated the lake from the stables and inhaled through his nose and mouth. The scent of anger nearly knocked him off his feet. It rose from small, barely noticeable footprints in the grass. Logan bristled, reacting to the strong emotion but kept it in check and dropped into a hunting crouch. Soon the footprints widened as if she had been running.
*Darlin', where are you?* he fumed, angrily following her trail up and into the mansion. Too many old and new scent trails overlapped each other for him to discern which direction she'd gone. Cursory inspections of all her favorite escapes, including the little known hiding place in the library turned up nothing. Frustrated, Logan leaned against the wall to gather his thoughts.
Minute vibrations made his arm hair stand on end. Logan blew out sharply through his nose, grimaced and smacked himself upside the head. Jubilee had picked up many of his habits, especially anger redirection. He hurried the nearest computer console and tried to pull up the Danger Room's itinerary. 'Voice command access only' flashed in blood red at the bottom of the screen.
Growling under his breath, Logan shut his eyes and recalled that Professor X was starting to charge him for damaged equipment. In a low, suspiciously calm tone, "Computer cease all Danger Room sessions, clearance code J(uliet), L(ima), E(cho), E(cho), A(loha), W(hiskey)."
"Password invalid. Access denied," it replied.
Logan smelled a rat, a small boned, Chinese, computer genius rat; the day wasn't looking any brighter. After giving the terminal six more ports, he figured by lunch he'd owe the Professor a small fortune.
"Access that," he grunted and ducked under the sparks flying out of his new editions. The machine finally stopped protesting when he yanked the cord out of the socket. *I guess this means I haveta go through the Vault* Logan concluded and left the library running.
He made his way through the mansion's maze of hallways. At the last turn the hallway dead-ended. Logan slid his hand along the topside of a picture-sized mirror three by three feet long hanging on the wall. There was a faint click and pop of air as the seal behind the mirror broke. A seem from floor to ceiling appeared at the frame's edge. The entire panel recessed an inch back and slid noiselessly into the wall revealing what the younger ones had nicknamed the Vault.
Four, three inch thick bars sprang from the center of the huge circular door and disappeared into the walls, ceiling and floor. In the center a viscous finger print pad sat next to a small monitor that displayed welcome and warning messages. Above the screen a pair of goggles lowered into view flashing orange. It turned to green when the retinal scanner warmed up.
"Identify," it commanded in a programmed polite voice.
Logan felt the small hairs on his neck and shoulders rise. Already keyed up with concern for Jubilee, these little obstacles were beginning to get annoying. Plunging his fingers into the gel pad, he barely felt the needle stab his thumb for a blood sample. The retinal scanner was set at default height, usually inches too high.
"Retinal scan required. Comply," the computer continued to prompt when he wasn't fast enough adjusting it to his height.
"I am you sorry excuse for a..." Logan stopped himself from arguing with an object only doing what it was programmed to do, although he itched rip out its circuitry. Uncomfortable and inpatient he set he jaw against any further outbursts of cursing and waited for the computer to run through its security checks.
"Invalid profile. Access denied."
Logan snapped, roaring wordlessly, he pulled his hand violently out of the gel-pad, unsheathed his claws and slashed into the door.
Metal raked across metal screaming like nails on chalkboard amplified ten times over. Smoke issued from his burnt arm hairs, singed by sparks from the grinding metals. Adamantium cuts through most materials like a hot knife through butter but the door did not yield.
True to the laws of physics the force of Logan's blow sent him flying backwards. Stunned back to sanity, he lay on his back staring at the ceiling. A smile broke across his face and turned into an ear to ear grin. A resounding laugh spilled up his throat and rang out into the empty hallway. He had forgotten about the door. It would be nearly impossible for him to get through his way; carbonadium is stronger than adamantium.
*****
Keeri had been told to stay away from this part of the mansion. It wasn't fair she complained to her mother one day while Dr. Hank finished her blood work. Even Dr. Hank was against her, saying something about 'she could when she was older'.
*I am older* Keeri thought and drew up to her full height of three feet, nine inches. "I'm a whole seven years old today," she said defiantly, walking with purpose towards the forbidden hallway. Before she had gotten halfway down the first corridor, she was nearly run over by Uncle Logan.
Keeri yipped and steeled herself for a scolding but the big man leapt right over her. He didn't even bother to say hello and was gone just as suddenly as he appeared. Torn between curiosity and fear, she spent a few moments to think about going back. However, there was only one choice a seven-year-old mutant would make. She took off in the same direction Logan went as fast as her small feet could move.
In no time she caught up to Logan, right about the same time he was flown back from the Vault. Keeri's eyes went huge and she scrambled to hide behind one of the mansion's many grandfather clocks. Cautiously she peeked around the clock and was startled when he started to laugh.
*Uncle Logan must've knocked himself silly* she giggled softly, edging out into the open. "You okay uncle," she asked and squatted by his head.
*****
*The kid has guts, I'll give her that* Logan admitted, rolled over into a crouch beside her and ruffled her shock of red hair. She carried herself well almost to the point of making him forget how young she was. It was the only part of her father besides his skin tone that Logan could see in her. Everything else was her mother's. "Keeri Summers, does yer mother know you're here," he scolded using her real name.
Keeri knew she was in for it now. He never used her real name always calling her "Squirt". Slowly she shook her head, huge tears welling up in soulful green eyes.
"Tell ya what, Squirt. If'n ya help me with this door, I just might forget I saw ya here," he bargained, kicking himself for taking his frustrations out on the child. Of all the mutants to run into, Keeri was just the right one. Dumb luck seemed to be on his side for a change and the day might not turn out as bad as he thought. Her mutant ability allowed her to cause things to happen. Professor described it as an unconscious telepathic "push" that mysteriously corrected anything that was going wrong.
"Sure," she cried and ran towards the Vault. "C'mon uncle. I need you to lift me up."
Audible rumbling drifted into the hallway and shook the walls. As Logan held Keeri up so that her hand could reach the gel-pad he tried not to think of how much damage Jubilee was doing to herself.
"Access granted," drew his attention back to the Vault. After Keeri withdrew her hand, the center console rotated 360 degrees, releasing the bars. A series of mechanical pops followed as the bars were drawn away from the door. With a final metal groan, the Vault split into uneven halves and opened.
Released air pressure from the door rushed over them. Keeri started to complain loudly and wiggled out of his grasp, pawing at her ears. Logan caught her by the chin and held her nose. "Blow Squirt. It'll help." He was concerned when her face turned red but her relieved smiled eased his fears.
"All better?" Her enthusiastic nod made him grin. Now, go get yer mother and father."
Her face fell as if he had asked her to give up her favorite puppy. "But..." she started to argue.
"No buts. I promise ya won't get in trouble. Tell them Auntie Jubilee is in danger. Go on now. Hurry."
Logan waited until she obeyed, then ran into the control room. As soon as he entered the Vault automatically shut. He hoped the others wouldn't have the hard time he did. Somehow he had a feeling he'd need backup real soon.
"Computer display program." If it wouldn't allow him to change the sequence, perhaps it would let him see it. His hunch worked and the program filled the screen. Dread froze his blood and made his heart skip a beat. The Danger Room was set on its highest levels on a program unlike anything he'd seen. Nothing in the program was constant, completely unpredictable.
Without warning a betadroid crashed through the observation window and knocked him to the floor. Logan howled in pain as molten steel from its slagged metal body dripped onto his spine. Shards of glass embedded into his shoulders but were easily shaken off. While his healing factor shifted into overdrive, Logan sunk a claw into the sputtering remains of the droid until it finally went dead. It should have never gotten through. Normally an energy field protected the observation windows.
"Nanotech regeneration activated." The computer confirmed his suspicions. Jubilee had managed to bypass the Control Room security blocks. If the nanotechs were activated, it meant all safety protocols were deactivated. Jubilee was playing hardball.
Metallic clangs and explosions flooded into the room but he heard her frenzied howling first. Rage, pain, and despair, everything he felt when he went berserk he heard in her voice.
His first view of the scenario as he leapt onto the windowsill of the broken window seemed normal. He recognized the setting as feudal Japan. Image-inducers made the betadroids look like Hand ninjas, but it wasn't until he dropped down to the floor that he realized they bore real weapons. Things were going from bad to worse.
Jubilee crouched low in the center deflecting attacks with her twin swords. Despite being bruised and cut in several places she moved with incredible agility in a style he had never seen before. Her face was twisted up into a feral snarl, but the look in her eyes sent a shiver up his spine that rose the fine hairs on his back. Cold hatred that promised deadly unrelenting harm emanated from those blue orbs.
She snarled viciously and used a windmill parry to block two incoming attacks. They couldn't recover their balance when she twisted redirecting them into four naginata bearing droids sneaking up from behind.
Once the droids were out of the way Jubilee remained still long enough for Logan to get a good look at her. A light blinked by her temple from a small metal pad attached to the side of her face. It was a neural unit that jacked the user's brain directly into the Danger Rooms computer and anything in that brain could be used either in regular state or altered as the computer saw fit. Any hopes he had about being able to predict this program went out the door.
Sure enough the scenery shifted in an electrostatic wave from Japan to the main living room of the mansion. *What the heck? Why this?* he mused and quickly ducked behind the heavy velvet curtain when Jubilee came closer. He watched her through one of the holes he remembered creating during a particularly physical argument with Ol' One Eye.
"She's just a child and a small one at that," Storm's voice grew louder as she approached the room. Jubilee flinched, startled into a calmer state of mind, and scrambled for the closest shadow. Her slight frame fit into the small space between two bookshelves nestled in the corner.
Jean palmed on the lights and motioned for Storm to sit on the couch. "Agreed, but the process should give her a little more stature. Then she will no longer be a nuisance." Storm unwrapped a piece of chocolate and listened to Jean's lecture about Jubilee's viability as a specimen. Stranger still, they were both dressed in Hand uniforms.
Logan watched the scene play out and finally realized that this is how Jubilee thought the X-women thought of her. Deep down she believed they truly thought her as a liability. Two more uniformed figures dropped in from access panels in the ceiling. They pulled off their masks and slid onto the couch next to the women.
There was a small electronic hiccup but the room remained the same. Its occupants, however, were standing with champagne glasses facing the entranceway. While they waited Logan stole a glance at Jubilee. Even through the shadows he recognized the unwavering intense gaze of a predator. All the occupants in the room were vulnerable, easy targets. Why was she waiting?
Another strange electronic hiccup forced him to seek better cover when the living room phased into a hauntingly familiar laboratory. In perfect unison to the change, Jubilee shifted with the shadows, creeping closer to the odd foursome. Beast ushered his small audience toward large windows. Heavy metal shutters beat gently against the double thick panes in time with his longwinded explanation.
"Oh do get on with it Hank, my bubbles are going flat." Storm fixed him with a mournful gaze and pouted. Logan bit back his bark of laughter, remembering how many times he had come up against that look and lost. He also remembered how Jubilee hated it.
"Of course my dear. Friends, Romans, citizens lend me your ears," Beast grinned and it sent a shiver up Logan's spine. Pure evil radiated from that gleaming grin. For an instant another face superimposed over the blue fur, eliciting a low growl from deep in his throat.
While Beast launched into another speech, Logan felt a telepathic brush and dropped his outer layer of mental shields. ~~~Can you see through my eyes Jeanie? Do you understand what's going on?~~~ He didn't bother to hide the bestial overtone in his mental voice. Current events were sinking him closer to one of his famous berserker rages.
|||Yes to both I think. We're at the Vault. ETA to your position: two minutes.||| She cut him off quickly with a warning to be on guard; he was alone again.
"Behold the X-Mens' doom. Our Little Dragon." Highly dexterous claws tapped a rapid dance across coded keys that controlled the shutters. With a metallic whine they folded away revealing an arena-like room.
As Beast, Cyclops, Storm, and Jean toasted their success they morphed into other people. Shinobi Shaw and three others Logan didn't recognize walked down a few steps and sat in theater-like seats three feet away from the windows. Apparently a show was going to begin and Logan belly crawled to the next console to get a better view. An ache started in his heart, one that screamed for violence until the walls ran with red blood, at his first glimpse of the horror inside that arena.
Another Jubilee lay curled in a tight ball in the middle of the floor. Bruises covered her naked body in any free space where her tattoo didn't touch. The tattoo itself looked fresh, maybe only a week old, and still seeped blood in small places. She appeared to be asleep, but the shaking in her shoulders betrayed her. When she uncurled, Logan could tell from her face that the shaking was from fear and pain.
An aura erupted around her in the shape of her tattoo, circled high above, then dove into her chest. Through the overhead speakers, Logan heard the air rush out of her lungs in a surprised grunt as she staggered backwards. The walls separated and folded into the floor, extending the arena another twenty square feet. Rolling doors screeched open revealing uniformed men and women baring every conceivable hand weapon. Yelling a concerted kiyai, they rushed towards Jubilee. Bile crept up into Logan's throat and he had to remind himself that that wasn't the real Jubilee who still had her eyes closed to the oncoming attack.
A blur rushed past him and he realized the room had changed again. They were inside the arena; his console was now a shadowed doorway. Hologram Jubilee's eyes snapped open. They were multifaceted like jewels, glowing in swirls of red and blue. Logan felt his own inner beast respond to the violence held in those eyes and growled. He needed only the slightest push to send him over the edge but retained enough of himself to register the real Jubilee rushing the back of the horde, blades ready.
With a scream Hologram Jubilee convulsed, her shape shifting until it exploded into a dragon. Logan clamped down on his beast and sent it packing to the deepest part of his mind. Thoughts clear once again he saw the attackers phase into various X-members, even himself. He finally understood why this and why now. Jubilee felt she had something to prove. She needed to physically defeat the monster she thought of as herself. And what better way to do so than to "save" the lives of those she held dear. *Or die trying* whispered at the back of his mind.
The dragon bellowed at the attacking crowd and seemed to have an answer for each individual assault. It absorbed energy blasts from Cyclops and began to emit high frequency vibrations, incapacitating Logan and Beast instantly. For Storm it encased her in a plasma bubble and compressed it until there was only enough room for her to curl into a ball. Claustrophobia turned her into a small child incapable of resistance.
Static energy brushed his back. Logan whirled claws out before he had a chance to think about unsheathing them. Luckily, Jean had her shield up or she would have been gutted. Cyclops reached around her and grabbed onto Logan's wrist. They remained frozen for a few seconds before Storm pushed through them.
"We are here for Jubilee," she reminded them without turning around, her eyes fixed on the battle raging inside the arena.
By the time they emerged from the doorway, the dragon had slaughtered their holographic counterparts. It lumbered over to Jubilee and knocked her across the room using its tail like a whip. Seconds before she slammed into the far wall Jubilee tucked her arms and legs in and inverted. The swords hit first greatly reducing her speed. They sank into the steel reinforced wall up to their hilts. Her feet, which were glowing, white hot, burrowed through the metal. She looked like a moose-head trophy still clinging to the swords' handles.
Finally her backward motion was halted. She pulled herself back through the hole into a handstand and dropped to the ground. Blood burst from her mouth, a sign that the hit from the dragon's tail had broken something deep inside her body. A deep purple bruise spread rapidly across her chest. Humanity drained from her expression; her body radiated tangible rage.
*****
"Logan, have you lost your mind? Release me at once! Jubilee is in serious danger," Storm demanded when he grabbed her ankle mid-flight.
"Don't you think I know that?" he shot back and tightened is grip. "You go in there half cocked and you may end up dead."
"And Jubilee isn't?" Cyclops asked quietly too angry to shout. His visor began to glow.
"We can't interfere. No let me finish..." he held up his free hand when Jean started to speak. "Jubilee needs to do this and it's killing me to stand by and watch but she needs to do this alone."
"Then why are we..." Jean never got to finish her question as a multicolored vein of energy veered towards them. It pounded into her telekinetic shield and ricocheted into the far wall. It exploded leaving a gaping hole in the hologram of the arena.
"Warning! Structural integrity compromised. Estimated regeneration: ten minutes," the computer dutifully reported.
Jubilee didn't see them or hear the warning. Instinctively she drew the energy veins around herself like a shield and rose into the air. Above the din of crackling energy, Jubilee heard the dragon's thundering voice. "Now for the rest of the mansion," it taunted and fired a beam with the same energy signature as Jubilee's at the roof from its gaping maw.
"No, no, no! I can't let you harm anyone else!" she shrieked and flexed the shield outward in an attempt to intercept the beam.
The impact was a spectacular dance of light and sound. Absolute concentration wiped her features clean of expression as she modulated her shield around the beam and gathered it into a ball. Blood trickled from her nose responding to the increasing pressure as she wove the energies into a single entity.
*****
After years of working together each person acted in concert without a single order to keep the Danger Room from tearing itself apart. When holes continued to appear in the fabric of the hologram, Jean alternated the frequency of her telekinetic shields around them to block Jubilee from siphoning the photons into her power ball. Ceiling panels buckled, but held their place when Storm magnetized them with diluted bolts of lightning. Those that managed to elude her were blasted to atoms by Scott's dead-fire aim.
Trusting everyone to save the mansion, Logan focused on Jubilee and the dragon. They circled each other mid-air and the energy between them began to waver. Then everything went deceptively calm. Neither of them spoke for what seemed like an eternity.
Abruptly the dragon shifted back into human form. "Even now you can't bring yourself to destroy me. We are a part of each other. You belong to me."
Jubilee shrunk into a fetal position as if she was giving up, yet the power ball brightened to blinding intensity. Her eyes turned a multitude of colors before settling into an iridescent white. She uncurled so fast Logan couldn't follow the entire movement. "I belong to no one. You have no power over me!" she cried, arched powerfully and cast the ball at the image.
Its hissing laughter died away in a flash of multicolored brilliance. The surface solidified and locked the turbulent mass in translucent shell. Movement within the ball became frenzied until stress fractures spider-webbed throughout the outer layer. Fire spat from Jubilee's eyes, a visual manifestation of effort that was costing her dearly. More blood seeped from her balled fists but she paid them no mind.
At first Logan thought he was dreaming, but when he was almost underneath Jubilee it was finally clear despite the pandemonium of swirling energy and structural failure. She was roaring, the kind that came from the pit of your soul. It grew steadily louder punctuated by precise slashes she made in the air with her nails.
Taking a deep breath, Jubilee uttered a final piercing keen. The shell ruptured into hundreds of marble sized globes that sped overhead, circling around Jubilee in the exact pattern she had drawn. Logan shielded his eyes from the light. Agony stabbed through his heart as his eyes fell on her moving lips.
(As a phoenix is reborn through fire...) she mouthed then paused; her eyes now closed her face almost serene. The marbles stopped circling. As one they dove towards Jubilee packing in closely until they blocked her from view. Only Logan was close enough to hear her whisper, (... so shall I), before the marbles sunk into Jubilee.
Deadly silence filled the room. Then as sudden as the birth of a storm at sea noise returned in a single deafening boom of thunder. Helpless, they watched in horrid fascination as the energy suddenly exploded, ripping out through her eyes, mouth, nose, and skin. Churning, raw plasma rode high on the leading edge of the resulting succession of concussion waves that radiated outward.
Saved by the sound wave that preceded the explosion, Logan waited for the plasma wave to pass and flipped onto his feet. He hit the floor running, and launched into the air. Jubilee's limp body fell into his outstretched arms. "Gotcha!" he yelled. It took all his balance to land without dumping her on the ground.
Jean's shield held up against the sound wave but was shattered by the concussion wave. Already airborne, Storm called a small whirlwind and lifted Jean to safety until she recovered enough to levitate herself. The wave passed under heading straight for Scott. Neither of them would be able to help him in time.
Scott braced himself for impact arms crossed over his face for protection. He was praying so hard that he almost missed the computer's announcement.
"Safety protocols reactivated. Repair sequence initiated. Session terminated. Default system's program reinstalled."
Although the air was still heavily charged with static, the wave was gone. Jean and Storm touched down, bewilderment adorning each face. He shrugged, just as confused. Then he felt a gentle tug on his pants leg and looked down into the smiling green eyes of his daughter.
"All better?" Keeri asked.
He nodded and scooped her up into a big hug. She had disobeyed him by following but now wasn't the time to scold her. His wife thought differently but he did notice how closely Jean held Keeri while she ranted.
Storm had already left to get Hank; not all was well. Logan bent over Jubilee's battered body ear close to her mouth. She wasn't breathing but his sensitive ears caught her weak but steady pulse. Gingerly he pushed the tattered remains of her top aside and traced the bruise that extended from the center of her chest to the bottom of her rib cage. All her ribs were broken and must have pierced her lungs.
"C'mon Jubes, fight!" he whispered when he saw her eyelids flutter. At last they opened completely, dull with weariness. When she tried to take a breath she coughed up blood and couldn't get any air into her collapsed lungs. The frightened look she gave him was unbearable and he came to a decision. He would breathe for them both.
After clearing most of the blood in a couple of mouthfuls, he locked his mouth over hers and blew gently. His hand lay flat on her chest to feel it rise. She covered his hand with hers and squeezed it in thanks.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught a flash of black cloth before Storm stepped into sight and spread her cape over Jubilee. "Hank's here my friend. Let him take over," she urged and tried to pull him away and couldn't get him to budge. His thick fingers wrapped around her wrist and shoved her roughly back.
"Computer. Activate emergency Medlab program." Hank commanded and soothed the seething weather witch while his hands worked with what appeared to be a gun. She rewarded his patronizing with a reprimanding frown. In one smooth motion, he pulled back the slide, loaded two oversized darts, hit the release and fired. Both darts found their mark in the back of Logan's neck.
Five minutes later he collapsed beside Jubilee. Without his help she started to gasp for air and shook his hand that was still on her chest. She fixed Hank with such an accusing gaze, that he actually scolded her. "Don't you start with me Miss Lee," he said and slid an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. "Those mercury laced tranquilizer darts won't last forever and I need peace if I'm to put you back together again..."
*****
Mere hours after his initial surgery to seal the puncture wounds in her lungs so that she could breathe on her own, Jubilee popped most her stitches trying to get up. He protected the fresh stitches with the tape he used to let her ribs. Once taped, he added a final layer of fiberglass gauze.
"If you so much as crack my handiwork with your stubbornness, I'll...I'll," Hank fished for just the right threat.
"I'll sit on her," Logan finished from the bed next to Jubilee. He rolled onto his side and pushed up onto his elbow to back his threat up with a scowl. It would have been more effective if his eyes were in focus and he wasn't rubbing the back of his neck like he had a hangover.
"You and what army?" Jubilee laughed, then her face scrunched up in pain. "Ow!" she gasped gripping the bars around her bed until the spike of pain subsided.
"Me and about a few dozen nerve clusters," he retorted and dissolved into helpless laughter.
Hank joined in and decided that it may be best to keep Jubilee under sedation. Time would heal her broken body to match her restored soul.