Aburameclanhead: Sorry for the long wait.
It was just two days after Christmas but Logan had asked Shawn, Laura, Rogue, Jubilee, and Bobby to suit up and meet him in the Danger Room.
"Hey Mister Logan, what's going on?" Bobby asked.
"Breaking into Worthington Pharmaceuticals won't be easy. So for the next couple of weeks, this is gonna be a boot-camp." he answered gruffly as he locked the door.
The students all wore looks of shock and fear (except for Laura). What would someone like Logan call boot-camp?
Shawn was very surprised when the floor began to move and a pair of walls rose up on either side of the group, lasers crisscrossing the new pathway. The lasers seemed to activate and deactivate randomly.
"Alright, first objective, get the entire group through the path without activating any of the lasers or pressure sensitive tiles."
Jubilee's jaw dropped, "You're joking, no one could do that."
Logan smirked before he ran up to the laser field and, without slowing down, tumbled through the hall like an acrobat. "Anyone else think it's impossible?" he grinned.
The kids looked at each other, knowing there was no way out of this.
Laura stepped towards the laser grid, "Follow my lead, I can get us through,"
Shawn was a little confused but decided to trust her. The group lined up behind Laura, waiting for her instructions.
She stepped out and placed her foot in a small gap in the field on the floor. She looked for the opening and went through, but before she finished going through she stopped and jerked her foot to the next tile over. When it touched the floor she let out a sigh of relief.
"Laura, what's wrong?" Shawn asked.
She looked back and yelled to the group, "It's okay, I think I found the way through, just keep an eye out for any tiles with gaps around them, those are pressure sensitive."
Shawn was the first to head in, "And, how exactly do you know that?"
"Experience," she answered, ducking a laser that had just activated right above her head.
Soon, all of them were in the grid, ducking and dodging lasers. All things considered, they were doing very well. However, Bobby did get stuck once and Rogue had to suck in her stomach to avoid a laser that was trying to pin her against the one behind her.
They were all relieved when they reached the end, or so they thought. They were walking up to Logan when Laura stopped them. Just then a literal wall of laser beams activated, trapping them.
"Oh come on, a laser wall? Really?" Rogue groaned.
"First rule of covert missions, be ready for anything. The only way to control the lasers is this thing right here." Logan patted the side of the control panel and waited to see what they would do.
Laura took a moment to study the pattern of the lasers, after a few seconds she turned to Bobby. "Do you think you can make ice mirrors?"
"Yeah sure, how many?"
She looked back at the wall, "Three should be enough."
Bobby made the mirrors and handed two of them to Shawn and Laura.
Laura told them which lasers to use the mirrors on. The wall split just enough for someone to go through, "Jubilee, go through before the mirrors melt and blast the control box." she commanded.
As soon as Jubilee went through they let go of the failing ice mirrors, closing the path again.
Jubilee ran up to the panel but Logan stepped in front of her.
"Didn't think it would be that easy did you?" the older mutant smirked.
She looked nervous as she got into a messed up version of a stance she learned in practice. "I-I can't beat you."
"You have to if you don't want to leave your friends trapped in there." he crossed his arms.
"You can do it Jubilee!"
She turned around and saw Bobby, yelling encouragement. She took a deep breath and nodded to him, then turned back to Logan and got ready to fight.
"Looks like you finally got your confidence back."
Jubilee tried to blast him with her fireworks but he kept dodging.
Logan kept getting closer and close and when he finally got close enough he grabbed her and threw her at the laser wall.
Bobby stepped forward, stuck his hands between the lasers and made an ice wall to keep Jubilee from hitting the laser wall.
She hit with a thump and an 'oof' before she wobbled back onto her feet, "Thanks, Bobby," she tried to run around Logan but he was too fast.
He tried to grab her again but she shot a blast of fireworks at him.
He managed to dodge again and sweep kicked her feet out from under her, "Sorry kid, but that trick isn't gonna cut it." he smirked.
"ugh, I wasn't aiming for you." she groaned as she propped herself up on her elbows.
"What?" he looked at the control panel, now broken.
Suddenly, the lasers deactivated and the other students rushed to help.
Logan turned around to fight them when his right hand got in-cased in ice. He unsheathed his claws, breaking the ice, before retracting them.
Out of nowhere, Shawn leaped through the air towards him before getting grabbed and thrown into Rogue, who was trying to sneak up on him. He just barely managed to dodge Jubilee's next blast when Laura jump kicked him in the chest, making him stumble backwards onto a patch of ice Bobby had made, causing him to slip and slide into the wall. "Alright!" he held up a hand to stop them. "You all did very well, but you have a long way to go if we're going to break into Worthington Pharmaceuticals," he stood up and the Danger Room returned to normal.
As the team walked out, Shawn said, "I can't believe we managed to beat Mister Logan," still in slight awe of the victory.
"He was holding back," Laura corrected him.
"You're kidding," Shawn said in disbelief.
"It's true," Rogue wiped the sweat from her brow, "If he was actually tryin' we'd be gettin' carried out on stretchers,"
"Man, I never knew he was so strong," he said to himself, before being jerked off to the side into another hallway. He felt a pair of lips smash into his. "L-Laura?"
She smiled up at him, "Sorry, I've been waiting to do that all day."
He pulled her close, "I know the feeling. I don't think we'll have much time for a real first date, with all this extra training."
"Well then you better take me someplace nice when this is all over," she teased. When they leaned in to kiss again, her eyes suddenly widened and she pushed him away.
Logan walked right by, giving a warning grunt to show he knew what was about to happen.
Shawn let out a deep sigh. When he heard the door close on Logan's elevator he said, "Someone should really put a bell on that guy,"
Laura laughed at the thought of Weapon-X wearing a bell, "Yeah, good luck with that,"
Shawn looked a little surprised at her.
"What? Did I say something weird?" she said in a cutely shy way.
Shawn couldn't help but chuckle at the face she made, "No, it's just that that was the first time I've heard you laugh. It sounds beautiful," he looked at her with lovestruck eyes.
Laura began to blush furiously, "S-shut up!" she punched him in the arm, causing him to grab it in pain.
"Nnn, I forgot how hard you hit," he rubbed the sore spot. "C'mon, let's get to the showers, the others will be wondering were we are. Last thing we need is rumors flying around about us," he looked around the corner to check for anyone then gave the all clear signal. They climbed into the elevator and when they reached the ground floor they shared one quick kiss before separating.
Meanwhile, Logan, who was in his room, had just finishing changing back into his regular clothes when he heard a knock on the door. "Who's there?"
"It's me Logan. Can I come in?"
Logan smiled and opened the door, "Hey there Ororo, is there something I can do for you?" ha asked in a failed attempt at being suave.
Ororo just chuckled at him, "I just wanted to talk about today's training session," she stepped through the doorway.
Logan looked slightly disappointed, "Oh yeah, they've got good teamwork but they've still have a lot to learn to survive a mission like this," he stared at the floor with a blank face. He felt Ororo's hand on his shoulder and looked at the comforting expression on her face.
"It'll be okay Logan. With your training, they'll definitely succeed,"
He smiled at her, "Yeah, I know," he stood up and walked out the door. He walked along the walkway outside, the same place he used as an obstacle course for the New Mutants. He was trying to think of what each of the team needed to work on, together and separately. He stopped when he heard something behind a line of trees. The healer stalked up and looked for the source.
It was Shawn. He was out in the wooded part of the grounds. He swung his arms foreward and shot out his claws, trying to hit a can that he 'nailed' to a tree about ten feet away. Only two claws even hit the tree. "Ugh, why can't I get this right dammit?" he ran his clawed hands through his hair.
"Having problems?"
Shawn jumped slightly and turned around, "Mister Logan? Why are you out here?"
"I'm thinking of tomorrow's exercise. You doin' some target practice?" he asked.
Shawn rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, it's not going too well though. I can't even hit the tree most of the time,"
Logan rubbed his chin, "Try it again,"
Shawn shrugged but did as told and swung his arms around, missing the tree completely.
"There's your problem," the elder mutant walked up, "You can't just swing like a kid throwing a tantrum, hold your arms straight out and shoot."
Shawn rolled his eyes and obeyed. This time the claws only got most of the way to the tree, falling to the ground.
"Huh, not enough force," Logan thought for a moment, "Try swinging your arms straight out instead of around,"
The boy groaned in frustration but tried once more, pulling his arms behind him then throwing them forward. This time the claws flew straight and fast, all ten burrowing into the tree bark. "I did it!" Shawn pumped his fists in the air.
Logan grinned, "Good, keep practicing until you can hit the can without missing,"
"Sure, thanks a lot sir," the young mutant answered as the older man walked back to the mansion.
Shawn kept practicing for a while when he heard someone in the bushes, "Who's there?" he yelled. "Come out, I can smell your stink a mile away!"
"That's uncalled for, yo," he heard from the bush behind him. He reached in and pulled out Toad.
"Who are you?" he growled, holding his claws up to Toad's face.
"Whoa whoa! Easy. The name's Toad, and I just hopped over to see the new guy those X-chumps suckered into joinin'." he smiled with his green teeth.
"You're not making this any better for yourself, he dropped the sickly looking guy on the ground.
Toad got up and dusted himself off, "Why you waistin' yo time with them when you could join up with us?"
"And who's 'us'?" he asked slightly relaxing.
"The Brotherhood dog. We ain't posers like those goody goody X-men,"
Shawn snarled at his insult.
He backed off slightly, "Hey, it's cool, it's cool. If you change your mind, just come on up to the Brotherhood House," then hopped away, leaving Shawn all alone wondering what a poser was.