Chapter 9
Skyler still remained atop of the rock she had perched herself upon what seemed like an eternity ago. Mara appeared intermittently talking about random philosophical truths or memories from their time in the Dante1312 program. To be frank, Skyler was becoming annoyed with Mara randomness. All Skyler wanted to do was wake up. She believed she was not dead and wanted to find a way out of this place. Skyler watched as Mara floated by her on the fog river. Mara laid flat on her back staring up at the diamond ceiling.
Mara broke her pensive silence with a quote. "The universe is an infinite sphere, the center of which is everywhere, the circumference nowhere."
Skyler rolled her eyes. "Who said that one?" Skyler feigned interest.
"Blaise Pascal. He was a French mathematician and natural philosopher." Mara replied simply.
Skyler placed her head in her hands and sighed. "Since you have been an encyclopedia of quotes why don't you quote something funny."
"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened." Mara said with a smile.
Skyler laughed. "Nice, Douglas Adams?"
"Yup."
Skyler shook he head at Mara's antics and looked to the diamond ceiling. In an instant the ceiling and the cave disappeared. She fell to the ground hitting plush grass. Skyler picked herself up and looked at her new surroundings. In the distance she noticed the mansion. 'How did she get back on school grounds?' Skyler thought.
"Where are we?" Mara said. She too was confused by their present situation.
"We are at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters." Skyler answered Mara question. Just as Skyler answered Mara question their attention was diverted from the conversation by a car's headlight. Mara and Skyler hid behind a bush and watched in disbelief as Skyler exited the car. As Skyler walked by the two girls a bald man was fast on her heels.
"Who's the bald guy?" Mara whispered to Skyler.
Skyler didn't hear Mara. She was too busy try to figure out what was happening. It looked like she was watching her memory, but the Professor wasn't there the night she was stabbed.
Mara hit Skyler's arm to get her attention. "Who is that guy?"
"Sorry. It's the Professor. But what is he doing in my memories?" Skyler watched as the memory Skyler and the Professor passed. "Come on Mara. Let's follow them."
Skyler and Mara made it to where Skyler and Gabriel had the confrontation. They watched as Gabriel went through his monologue and stabbed Skyler. Skyler instinctively held her stomach as if she could feel the knife penetrating her stomach again. They then watched as the Professor followed the wounded Skyler to where she finally fell. And as fast as the Professor and her memory appeared it then disappeared leaving Skyler back atop of a rock in a dark cave.
"Damnit!!!" Skyler cursed as she felt as if she would never get out of this cave.
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The Professor broke his link from Skyler and turned to his team. "Let's go to the briefing room. We have much to discuss."
In the briefing room the Professor recounted the events he had seen in Skyler's memory to the X-men. "The man who stabbed Skyler called himself Gabriel. He claimed to be a prototype for the program Skyler is from."
"Why would he stab Skyler?" Scott asked the Professor.
"According to Gabriel, Skyler and two other individuals were seen leaving an underground bunker. The data file we found under Skyler's bed was from that bunker. Gabriel said that he has plans that he doesn't want anyone interfering with. It seems that Skyler and her two friends have stumbled onto something."
"The data file was addressed to a Shawn." Jean said as she brought up a picture James on the screen.
"I want to find this young man. He may have some pertinent information on this Gabriel character. I will locate him with Cerebro and give you his location. Bring him back to the mansion so we can talk to him." The Professor said to his team before leaving the briefing room.
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The X-men landed the blackbird in a clearing in a forest. With the directions from the Professor the X-men made their way through the forest. Scott led the group to a camping site about half a mile away from where they landed the blackbird. Scott hid behind a tree and surveyed the camp site.
"I don't see anyone at this camp site. He might be sleeping." Scott said to his teammates. "We should do are best not to startle him. We don't want to scare him away."
Logan stood next to his teammates making no effort to hide. "I hate to wreck your great plans Shades, but Shawn has excellent hearing, remember? He probably already heard us and is on the run." Logan said as he crossed his arms.
Ororo stood up after hearing Logan's comment. "He's got a point. It looks like he has already left."
"Ok. Let inspect the camp ground and find out which way he may have gone." Scott said in a slightly irritated tone.
The group walked into the campsite and noticed a dwindling fire. Two sleeping bags lay close to the fire along with two backpacks.
"Shawn is obviously traveling with someone." Jean said as she noticed the two pairs of camping equipment.
Logan stopped as he walked around the camping site. From his heighten sense of smell he picked up the scent of blood. Logan followed the smell to a near by bush. As Logan pushed aside the bush a sense of sadness and anger filled him. "I found Shawn and his companion."
The group walked up next to Logan and looked down under the bush.
"Oh, my God!" Ororo said as she covered her mouth with her hand. Under the bush laid two bodies. One of the bodies was James the other body was that of a young girl.
Jean checked the vital signs of the two individual in a vain hope that they would be seriously wounded, but alive. It was useless, neither Shawn nor the girl had a pulse. "Their bodies are still warm. They were killed recently."
"The professor can only track mutant who are alive through Cerebro. That was approximately 3 hours ago. They must have been killed between now and then." Scott said as he walked toward the camp fire and put it out with some dirt. "We need to take their things and bring the bodies back with us. Jean you can do an autopsy and then we can give them a proper burial."
For once Logan had no problems with Scott's orders. These kids deserved a proper burial, something the person who killed them did not believe in. Logan was sure that Gabriel had killed these kids and left their bodies to be eaten by the local animals. Truly, an evil character that Gabriel.
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The unconscious Skyler still lay in the infirmary days after her near fatal stabbing. The Professor sat next to Skyler waiting for her to awake. When he had searched her memories the Professor felt that Skyler was close to regaining consciousness. And the Professor wasn't wrong because right before him Skyler's eyes began to flutter. The Professor wheeled himself closer to Skyler and placed his hand on Skyler's arm.
"That's it Skyler. You are almost there." He encouraged the waking Skyler.
When Skyler eye finally open and her eyes adjusted she noticed the Professor by her side. "Professor…" Skyler said weakly.
"Shh…take your time and catch your strength, you have been out for quite awhile." The Professor said soothingly.
Skyler did just that. She looked around the room trying to get her bearings. She remembered being stabbed and falling on the basketball court, but she remembered nothing after that. As Skyler lay in her bed in the infirmary April and Bryce rushed in. The Professor must have called them telepathically to the infirmary.
"Skyler, you're awake." April said as she gently hugged Skyler.
Bryce followed April's action and hugged Skyler gently. "Gave us quite a scare, Skyler."
Skyler smiled wryly. "Sorry. Didn't mean to do that."
April waved her finger in mock lecturing way. "What are we going to do with you? You can't seem to stay out of trouble."
"That's what Skyler does. It's apart of her persona." Bryce said as he gently poked Skyler's arm.
Skyler could only smile at her friends. She had been out for days, but she still felt incredibly tired. The Professor noticed that Skyler was fading and turned to April and Bryce.
"Sorry to cut this visit short, but Skyler needs her rest. You may visit her tomorrow if you would like."
Both April and Bryce nodded and said their goodbyes to Skyler. Once her friends had left Skyler returned to a peaceful slumber.
The Professor left the infirmary and head back to his office. He stopped when he heard the blackbird land and waited for a report from Scott. Scott found the Professor in the hallway. "Did you find Shawn?" The Professor asked.
Scott nodded grimly. "We did find him. He's dead. So is the girl who was traveling with him."
The Professor sat back in his chair and rubbed his temple. "Do you have the bodies?"
Scott nodded.
"Good. Jean can do an autopsy tomorrow and I will find a place to burry their remains. I know a few private cemeteries in the area. For now let's get some rest. It has been a long day." The Professor went to his office and turned on the television. Before the Professor went to bed he always watched the news. He kept up with politics, especially mutant politics. The Professor only watched the news half heartily when a certain story caught his attention.
"Today, Vice President, Gabriel Lindsay, of Neogene Pharmaceuticals announced that they would donate $100,000 to AIDS research…."
The Professor was shocked when he saw the picture of the Vice President of Neogene Pharmaceuticals. It was none other than the man from Skyler's memory. The same man who had stabbed Skyler on nights before.
In Chapter 10 the Professor gives Gabriel a visit, and the X-men confront Gabriel in their first battle. The next one will be longer I promise. By the way Beast will be making an appearance soon. Mostly because I need him to move the plot along and since this is AU I can do whatever. So for Beast fans he will be in the next chapter. Also Rogue, John, Jubilee, and other teenage X-men will get to use their powers next chapter. Wow…next chapter is going to be long.