Thanks again to my. . .reviewer. Much love Certh. Read and enjoy, this one took a while.
It was Saturday afternoon when Ant was again ripped from her bed to go on another wild misadventure with Shogun and Owen. Sleeping in was obviously not an option. This time however, she did manage to rip her hand out of Owen's, put some decent clothes on and find a hair tie before she was led through the halls of Xaviers.
This was the first weekend of the month, and most of the teachers had volunteered to chaperone the students while they went to the nearby town, making the school nearly deserted except by those mutants who could not blend in easily. According to Owen, even the more vague students managed to convince Ororo by making up some disease or just covering up with more layers than needed.
Ant was grateful for the reprise, the absence of almost a hundred consciousness' easing the pain in her chest exponentially. She left her headphones hanging around her neck, just in case.
Owen and Shogun wanted to relax before embarking on their trip to the basement, (most students knew that Xavier's was the base of operations for the X-men, although most didn't know the full extent of the underground headquarters,) so they stopped by the lounge to play a game of pool.
Ant rolled her eyes and tagged along, thankful that she only had to put up with Shogun, Owen and Argus, who happened to be watching TV loudly in the lounge.
She sat on a nearby stool and listened to the two boys talk.
"So we're going to be able to get in there?"
"Sure." Shogun shrugged. "You'll find a way."
"Arrogant jerk." Owen muttered, but Ant noticed that he was trying very hard to hide a smile.
"And once we've gained access into Cerebro, I will be able to combine my psychic abilities with Ant's empathetic capability-" Ant hated the way his voice turned almost mechanical as he analyzed the situation "and we should be able to locate this mutant. Maybe then we'll have something definitive to present to Ororo and the other faculty." Shogun said, standing on his tip toes in order to hit the cue ball.
"What's Cerebro?" Ant asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
Owen looked at Shogun. "Guess we should've explained it to her, huh?"
Shogun nodded and Owen sighed as he turned to Ant, leaning on his pool stick. "Alright. Cerebro was made by the founder of Xavier's, Xavier, obviously. Anyway, this guy was an amazing psychic. Not to mention a martyr to all the students here. He also trained up the first X-men team. Anyway, he built this giant dome underneath the school."
"Just like that?" Ant interrupted, confused. "Just built it?"
"He had help you know. Not to mention that the entire underground levels are the X-men HQ." Ant's eyes widened as Owen turned back to his pool game. "But listen, Cerebro amplified his psychic powers by enormous amounts. He was able to locate mutants to bring them here by using Cerebro. So, we think that if we can get into Cerebro, we can wing it from there."
"That's it." Ant said as Owen sunk a red pool ball. "You're expecting an eleven year old kid and me to just be able to walk into this giant ball of whatever and just be able to wing it?"
Shogun and Owen paused.
"Yeah."
"That's the general idea." Shogun said, shrugging slightly.
"That's the general idea?" Ant repeated Shogun, eyes wide. "No way are you two serious. This Xavier guy must've had years of experience and huge amounts of psychic power to be able to do this and you're expect us to just waltz in and get it the instant we touch. . .whatever it is we touch." Ant sputtered, an upset flush gracing her cheeks. "Do you even know how this thing is supposed to work?"
The two boys looked at each other. Owen shook his head. "No idea."
"So all you know is that it's a giant planetarium that will, hypothetically, find mutants?"
"Yep." Shogun said, aiming at the cue ball.
Ant blinked.
"I'm going back to sleep."
Owen and Shogun put down their pool sticks as Ant slid off the stool. She began to make for the door before Owen ran in front of her, his body far too close to hers for comfort.
"You can't." There was no joking tone in his voice.
"We need you." Shogun said, standing next to Owen.
"Why can't you just find the right mutant?" Ant asked Owen, exasperated.
"I don't know him." Owen explained. "If I knew what he looked like, at the very least, I would be able to find him, easy. But you know what he feels like."
"That gives us an amazing advantage to finding him, rather than manually filtering through every mutant on the face of the earth." Shogun said, dark eyes wide "We need you to help us find him." He said resolutely, folding his arms in front of him.
Ant looked from Owen to the little boy, and back again.
"But you have no idea what you're doing!" She hissed, her eyes wide with a panic that came from realizing she was almost convinced. "What if something goes wrong? What if-"
"What if this mutant starts to control us?" Owen asked, grabbing onto Ant's shoulders, her feelings of alarm flooding through him. "What if he comes here and tries to attack us? What if we can stop him?"
"We don't even know if he's doing anything!" she cried helplessly, looking at Owen desperately.
"Actually." Argus had snuck up behind Owen as Ant had been attempting to leave. "I've been seeing . . . some awful weird. . . things. . . gatherings, you know. . . just saying. . . it doesn't look. . . good."
Ant's eyes widened. Another person convinced of the school's imminent doom? Just what she needed, she sighed and rubbed the back of her neck as Shogun and Owen began to interview Argus.
"I don't. . . normally tell people this." The many eyed boy began. "But I don't just. . . see what's. . .in front of me."
"So. ." Owen left off, urging Argus on.
"All I've . . . seen is that. . .someone has. . .been calling mutants. From everywhere. . . he's very. . . persuasive."
"See Ant!" Owen said, happy at this bad news. "Calling mutants! We're definitely in deep shit!"
Ant was overwhelmed. She could only nod as Owen smiled.
"Good. You know." He looked at Argus and Shogun. "Let's go right now."
Five minutes later found Ant clutching onto Owens hand hard, her eyes wide as she descended to the basement levels in a hidden elevator she had not known existed until less than a minute ago.
This is what you get, Ant thought, for going to a school for mutants. She started as the elevator slid to a stop and the metallic doors swooshed back, opening into a sterile white hallway. Owen darted ahead, and then darted back.
"Coast clear," he said quietly, excitement obvious in his voice, "God I've always wanted to say that." He grabbed Ant's hand and pulled her across the hall then into another corridor. Ant's eyes widened. How large was this place? There were about three more turns that were taken in utter silence then Owen stopped.
"What is it?" Shogun asked, whispering.
"Peter." Owen muttered, Argus quickly grabbed Owen's hand and Shoguns arm, took them around another corner and opened a door, shoving everyone in the room. He followed, the door giving a reassuring click as it locked.
"I saw it was. . . a computer room. . " Argus whispered, the other mutants spreading out and hiding. "I'll keep a . . . lookout."
He didn't move for a second or two, then one by one, each of his many green eyes closed, the last one on the back of his hand fluttering softly. His mouth opened.
"He's coming down our hallway." Argus whispered, not pausing like he normally would. "He can't hear us, but he's coming down here, part of his route-" Footsteps began to echo down the hallway. "He'll just pass on by us." Just as Argus muttered those last few words, Peter, in a regular jeans and t shirt, walked right by the cluttered computer room. "Give it a few minutes." Argus mumbled. "Then he'll turn and be in another section entirely."
Sure enough, less than two minutes later, Peter's footsteps had completely disappeared and Ant let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Owen appeared at the doorway and opened it.
"We need to hurry."
Argus opened his eyes and stumbled out the door as Shogun lightly ran around the corner. Ant was helped up by Owen, who held her hand as they trod lightly through the white hallways. Shogun reappeared from around a wall.
"Found it!"
Owen rolled his eyes. "No shit Sherlock." He muttered. "I told you where to go."
They all rounded a corner and came face to face with the burnished steel door. Circular, with a giant 'X' through the center. Shogun tilted his head to the side and walked up to it. He poked the circle at the center of the door. It slid open.
"Engaging retinal scan." A female voice said from the door. Ant's eyes widened and she took a step back. A blue light came out of the circle and scanned across Shogun's face, first horizontally and then vertically.
"Retina scan rejected. Unknown person. Please step away from the door." Shogun quickly took a few steps away from the door. He turned to Owen.
"You got a way to find the professor's old eyeball?"
Owen didn't answer, but darted around the door, materializing first on the right side, then on the left. He kept this up, running his hands over the surface.
"Gotta be another way in. . ." He muttered. "There has to be a way to override the system." He said, "It's only a machine. They can be reprogrammed. . . Edited."
Owen didn't notice, but Argus had stepped forward. He knelt down to the level of the circle and Owen nearly ran into him, backing up just in time. The door whirred to life and the three other mutants could tell Argus was taking a deep breath. The many-eyed boy reached up and took off his glasses just as the female voice announced its retinal scan.
Ant gasped. It didn't seem like Argus had eyelids. His eyes were just placed into his skull, big, round, bulging things that seemed far too large for his head. Suddenly, they shifted - the green color fading and replaced by a gray, then brown, then an almost yellow color. The scan had just started when the color suddenly shifted again to a blue.
"Retina scan accepted." The voice said pleasantly. "Welcome back, Professor."
Argus stood up and put his dark glasses back on.
"I can tell. . . .what people. . .want to see. If I can . . . tell what. . .a machine is looking for. . . it's not too hard . . .to fool. . . a scanner." He said, shrugging.
"Argus, you are amazing." Owen said, slightly awestruck as he watched the X door open. Owen then turned to Shogun and Ant. "Go get him girl." He said, pushing the empath forward. Ant's eyes widened as she quickly stepped through the door, clutching onto Shoguns shoulder as the inside dome of Cerebro.
It seemed like they were stepping into thin air, then the lights flickered on and the walkway lit up. Ant gasped, looking around at the panels that formed the machine. She looked ahead and saw an oversized helmet-looking thing. Shogun skipped ahead and ran over to the consol, brushing the dust away. He smiled, "This is so cool!" he whispered as he put the helmet on his head. When the metal touched his temples, the door behind them began to close. Ant looked back, nearly panicking.
She saw Argus smiling, arms folded, and Owen, who blew her a kiss as the door slid shut.
"Ant! Hold onto me!" Shogun said, excitement cracking his voice. The helmet nearly fell off his head as he turned towards the girl. Ant jumped and ran over to him, placing her hands on his slight shoulders.
"Brace yourself."
The room suddenly faded, the metal disks on Shogun's temples glowing a light blue. The plates seemed to fall away from their view, and suddenly pinpricks of light appeared everywhere.
"What we're seeing. . ." Shogun muttered as he held his hands out in front of him, as if trying to direct the blinking lights. "Are consciousness'."
"Try to find mutants." Ant said, the ringing in her ears starting. Shogun nodded and suddenly all around them the lights burst into flame, bright red standing out against the pale white lights.
"This is going to hurt."
Suddenly Ant screamed as the feelings of thousands and thousands of mutants came crashing on her. She recoiled, and backed away from Shogun, crying and scratching at her skin, pulling her hair, her breath coming in sobs as she tried to recover from the onslaught of feelings.
"Pull yourself together!" Shogun barked, annoyed and distracted. "Let the feelings pass through you. Instead of letting them affect you, affect them! You are emotion! You can give them emotion!" He yelled, fighting the effect of the minds himself.
Ant nodded, sobbing. She shook her head and brushed the tears from her eyes, standing up and taking a few deep breaths. She placed her fingertips lightly on his shoulders again, letting the emotions wash over her.
Tears ran again down her face as she struggled against her own reactions. She tried to pass her own feelings through the minds, but it was hard, her only feeling being panic.
"I'll try to get only the high level mutants." Shogun said through clenched teeth. "Alpha and up. . ."
The pain eased considerably, but there was still an enormous rush of emotion coming into Ant. She concentrated on breathing, letting the simple task of passing air in and out of her lungs absorb all of her focus. Calming down, she was able to distance herself from the emotions of others, as if viewing them like a book.
"Try to get into their mind." Ant asked. "Not what they're feeling, but who they are."
"I'm trying." Shogun grimaced, "It's harder than it sounds. . . "
Now instead of emotions, what came through was a wave of sentient feelings. They shifted and moved, changed and vibrated. All Ant had to do was close her eyes and she could feel them passing by as Shogun moved through the different mutants. Suddenly she felt it again –
"Stop!" Ant cried.
"Did you find him?" Shogun asked, his voice making it seem like he was close to tears himself.
"It's getting stronger." Ant said, "Go slow."
Shogun's mind slowly sorted through the consciousnesses of the mutants. The feeling of sunlight faltered then flared up again, exceptionally strong. Ant gasped and opened her eyes. In front of her, displayed on the screen, was an attractive, middle-aged man that was fairly oozing warmth from his every pore.
"That's him!" Ant whispered, awestruck.
"Thank god." Shogun muttered, as he breathed out and suddenly all the other mutant lights retreated, and the image of this one shrunk too, but it seemed like Shogun and Ant were following him as he descended. He landed on a man, just a speck, glowing slightly brighter than the others. Shogun's eyes widened as he looked at the United States.
"Nevermind." The boy said, black-brown eyes fearful. "He's right on top of us."
"What?!"
"This guy! He's right-"
My name's Belial, by the way.
The image of the man appeared again, and this time it turned to face them, its eyes open and looking at them.
"What. . ." Ant whispered, confused beyond anything she had ever experienced.
Belial. – His lips didn't move – Did I stutter?
"What do you want?" Shogun asked, sweat breaking out along his brow.
The question is, what don't I want? Belial said, thought, whatever it was, his head tilting to one side. Either way, I'm not going to tell a couple of X-men. I'll tell you one thing though. I want you to come get this girl – she calls herself Jamie. Blue hair, alias Acrobat, know her?
"What have you done to her?!" Ant cried, clutching onto Shoguns shoulders.
Nothing- Belial smiled – yet.
Then as suddenly as the voice had come, it disappeared, along with the image of Belial and the map, the shutters of Cerebro coming back into view. As the last of the panels clicked back into place, the door to Cerebro opened, and Ant turned around, shakily, hoping to see Owen or Argus waiting with concerned faces.
Instead she saw the very angry face of Logan and Susanna, along with Peter, standing in the background, arguing with Owen.
Logan marched up to Ant and gripped her wrist hard, making her wince as she looked into his unshaven face. Realizing he was hurting her, Logan sighed and loosed his hold.
"Alright." Susanna barked at Shogun. "What's all this about some new villain?" Her tone was sarcastic, she obviously hadn't believed one word that Owen had been saying. It was apparent that he was currently in in a yelling match with Colossus over the existence of the controller.
"No time," Shogun muttered, stepping shakily towards the exit of Cerebro.
"And why not?" Susanna growled, grabbing his wrist much in the same way that Logan had Ant trapped. Shogun looked up at the professor, any trace of his age gone from his face.
"Because he's going to kill Jamie."
Instantly everyone stopped. Logan looked over at Shogun, Ant's eyes filled with tears, and Owen finished the sentence he had been yelling in very hushed tones.
"Really deep shit. . . "