I'm depressed, really. I've looked through the other X-fiction and it's disappointing. I like to think my plot's better, at least marginally, than some of the other fictions. And my characters are better.
At least, I think so. . . At least Switch is. Switch is cool. My favorite scenes to write are with Switch and Belial. . .
Maybe it's the introduction? I think I'll change it, just to see if I get some more reviews. . . . –cough- Please guys? Really, it makes me feel bad, like what I write isn't good enough. . .or something. . . .
Alright. . . .Emo phase over.
"We need to save her!" Owen yelled, slamming a fist down on Ororo's desk. The teachers had all returned from the out-of-school excursion and the three hour wait had left Owen angry, Ant tired, Argus annoyed and Shogun on the verge of breaking into a few people's minds to get his way.
"We have no proof." Storm said calmly. "What you're suggesting is ludicrous."
"We were in there." Shogun sighed, exasperated that they didn't understand what was happening. "Belial spoke to us."
In the office were Ororo, Susanna and Logan, standing off to the left, Peter, Hank and Warren. They had already explained what had happened in Cerebro, along with the psychic connections that Shogun had gathered information from. They hadn't gotten very far in convincing the teachers they weren't just out for attention.
"I'm telling you. Jamie's in trouble." Owen growled, glaring at Ororo. "And we need. To. Save. Her."
Ororo sighed. "When the rest of the X-men get back then-"
"Everyone stand in a circle." Shogun said suddenly. Everyone looked at him. "Now." It was odd to see the six adults take orders from this small boy, but they did. "Hold hands." He ordered. Owen and Argus pushed their way in, hoping to see what actually happened in Cerebro. Ant, however, was fighting back sleep in her chair, and stayed where she was, determined to just block everything out.
Shogun took a deep breath.
"Brace yourselves," He muttered.
Ant couldn't tell what was happening, herself on the verge of falling asleep. The people inside the circle, however, got a full view of Cerebro, as if they were Shogun. They felt Ant's hands on their shoulders, and a calming presence enveloped them.
"Ant."
"Hmm?"
"Ant, I need your help." Shogun said, eyes closed.
"Why? You got memories. Just play them like a tape, or something."
"I need you to make them feel."
"Do I gotta?" Ant complained, shifting out of her seat anyways.
"Ant."
"Comin', ya big pushover" She muttered, forcing herself in between Shogun and Hank McCoy.
Instantly the vision changed, and as the lights popped up they got a full blast of the emotions that Ant had felt during Cerebro. Tears formed at the edge of a few eyes, Logan started to grind his teeth, and Susanna's tail curled right up. Shogun went through the memories quickly, the feelings that came from Ant passing through the circle swiftly. Then they got to the point where he had passed through each consciousness' individually.
"Wow." Owen muttered.
"This is really. . " Ororo said, just as they felt the essence of a priest. Argus said a little 'Oh' right before Shogun stopped at Belial, noticing where he was located.
"And you feel this every day? With everyone?" Hank asked, not turning towards Ant. The girl didn't have time to respond because Shogun had stopped. It was Belial, tousled hair, button up shirt, slacks. The young man turned.
My name's Belial, by the way.
A collective intake of breath from most of the circle as Shogun proceeded through the whole interview with Belial, ending in the part where he had disappeared, an evil smile on his face. The odd thing was, the entire time, Ant had only felt a pleasant heat and the slight taste of honey in her mouth.
"There." Shogun muttered, letting go of everyone's hand. Logan went over to the open window and spat, trying to rid himself of the taste.
"Been a long time since we had a rescue mission, Ororo." Logan muttered, cracking his knuckles. "I can already smell the boy." He growled, one hand on the windowpane.
"Let's wait until the rest of the X-men are here." Ororo said, going back behind her desk. She quickly flipped open a small box that was supposed to contain sticky notes and pressed a button. The top of the desk flicked up, exposing a thin laptop. Ororo made some swift adjustments then pressed a button on the keyboard. The entire room stood still.
"Iceman here." Came a voice from the speakers.
"This is Storm." Ororo replied. "We have a kidnapping and a possible threat to the school."
"Who's the hostage?" came another voice from the speakers, this man had a distinct southern drawl, extending his vowels.
"Acrobat," Storm replied, "Blue hair, remember? She went on that mission to Borneo with you."
"Roger, roger." spoke a female voice. "What's the threat?"
"He calls himself Belial," Shogun cut in, skipping behind Ororo's desk and talking into the speakers. "We don't know how, but he can control people effortlessly. He has massive numbers at his disposal-", again it was unnerving how grown-up this small boy sounded, "-and he's gathered near the school, less than three miles away."
"We're on our way." Iceman said. "Who do we have?"
There was a pause as Ororo looked around the room.
"Storm, Angel, Wolverine, Sting, Collosus and Beast." Ororo said. There was a small cry of outrage from both Shogun and Owen, Ant was content not to be part of the action, and Argus knew that he wouldn't be much help.
"I can help!" Owen cried.
"You know we're ready!" Shogun argued. Logan narrowed his eyes.
"Let 'em in." he growled. "Couldn't hurt to teach them a lesson or two." Ororo looked up at Logan, who shrugged.
"Along with Shogun and Mercury." Ororo said, severely regretting her decision.
"Gotcha Ma'am" The southern voice again.
"Sounds good Storm," Iceman said. "We'll be there in two hours. Domino, activate stealth mode. Cannonball, fire up the engines. We're going supersonic. X-men, over and out."
They disappeared with a buzz of static. Ororo closed the lid of the computer, looking around at the mutants around her.
"Let's agree to keep this under cover until we get the situation under control." She said, Owen nodding furiously, willing to do anything to maintain his position. "Let's suit up."
Owen grinned at Ant as they walked down to the lower levels of the school. They were going into the wardrobe room, where they would officially don the uniform. In the circular room Ant could hear Susanna arguing with Ororo about her suit – apparently the top was too confining.
Hank complained that his suit was too small – still and Ororo told him to suck it in. Owen laughed like a little kid and chose out his own suit. Ant sat with Argus and watched as the X-men donned the leather uniforms.
Wolverine, Colossus, Angel, Storm, and Beast all looked well fitted, while Owen dug around to find a few more pieces that would fit him and Shogun.
In the end, Owen choose a sleeveless top and long pants that had a yellow bar along his hips and behind his knees, for more flexibility while running, along with bracers that went down his forearm and fingerless gloves. Shogun was a little tougher, being so small, and he wore a cut-off of another suit, shorts and sleeves that went down to just below his elbow. He also wore gloves; these however were lacking material over the palms, giving him a conduit for his powers.
Susanna was a different story. She had only been there six months, so Ororo hadn't the chance to acquire a suit for her. Susanna decided that it wasn't a problem, took a pair of old leather pants, ripped holes all down the front and back and an opening for her tail.
"There." She said, coming out adjusting a loose belt around her hips. "Problem solved."
Logan raised an eyebrow but said nothing, causing Owen and Shogun to go into a near-hysterical fit of giggles. Ant repressed a yawn.
"Alright everyone," Ororo said, addressing the group and causing Owen to stop fiddling with his gloves. "The senior X-men and I are going on a recon mission." She said, turning to Owen and Shogun. "You four will stay here and brief the rest of the team when they come in."
Owen nodded, his eyes wide. Ororo narrowed her eyes. "No funny business, I'm still in charge here." Then they were gone, Warren's wings barely fitting into the tight elevator as they ascended to the upper levels of the school.
"We are so cool!" Owen gushed as Shogun tightened a belt around his loose pants.
"Speak for yourself," said Ant as Argus smiled.
"Come on Ant!" Owen said, pulling her up and taking her over to the closet. "Let's find something for you!"
"Owen! I don't want-"
"Here." Owen said shoving a scanty top at her.
"Absolutely not." Ant exclaimed, if she was going to be dressed up like some kind of action figure she sure as hell wasn't going to end up looking like a whore. Owen rolled his eyes and dug into the multi-level wardrobe again.
"How about this?" He asked, giving her a top. It had a steep neckline, all things considered, but it was pretty decent. Owen, not sensing any real protests then handed her a pair of tight shorts and boots.
"Go!" Owen laughed, pushing her into the dressing room. Ant was glad that she was underground – she really didn't feel like music anymore.
She came out a few minutes later, squeaking that she needed a belt. Owen quickly handed her one and Ant edged out of the dressing room. Owen whistled and Shogun smiled, causing Ant to blush.
"Not bad. . .for a kid." Argus said, laughing at Ant's expression. She was wearing nearly skin-tight shorts that only came to her midthigh. Her shirt covered almost her whole upper body, with slits around her elbows and midriff. All things considered, it was very flattering on Ant, granting that she had little or no cleavage to speak of and her curves were only visible because of her skinniness.
They suddenly fell silent as an explosion of noise resounded throughout the building. A whining squeak issued above their heads and everyone looked upwards, save Argus, who didn't have to move to glance at the ceiling.
"That'll be them." Owen said, Jamie's plight forgotten as he dwelled on being part of the fabled group.
A few minutes later, Ant pulling down her shorts to cover more of her leg, a pair of doors swooshed openrevealing the three X-men. There was Iceman, looking relatively normal, a big, burly blonde that looked like he could take on all four of the kids with one hand tied behind his back and a young woman who couldn't have been older than twenty three. The woman was by far the strangest looking, with chalk-white skin and a black, almost bruise-like oval covering her left eye.
The blonde one looked over the three outfitted mutantss with a slight look of disdain.
"We gotta take these kids-" (He pronounced 'kids', 'kay-ids') "-with us Ice?"
Iceman looked over at the larger man. It was the woman who spoke up from behind the sizeable mutant. "No Cannonball. There here for the damn scenery." She said, rolling her bright blue eyes. Cannonball turned and glared at her.
"Shaddup."
"Vocabulary is as impressive as ever." She muttered under her breath, passing by a dumbstruck Owen.
"I think I'm in love." The boy muttered to Ant, who had reached out to hold his hand at the arrival of the X-men. He turned and watched the leather-clad woman disappear behind a door.
Iceman looked over the three outfitted mutants. Argus stood up.
"I'm hungry." He said, "I'll. . .see you. . .guys around, right?"
Ant nodded and Owen and Shogun waved as Argus turned and began walking towards the elevator. Ant looked apprehensively up at Iceman.
"So." Cannonball folded his arms behind the team leader. "You're. . .going to help us?" He asked lamely, at a loss for how to deal with the kids.
"I'm Mercury." Owen said, sticking out his hand for Iceman, who took it. "That's Shogun, and this is Antennae, Ant for short."
Iceman nodded at each of them, shaking Owen's hand firmly. He seemed a bit more at ease, glad he could treat these mutants like adults, at least a little.
"Alright. Now, tell me about yourself."
Ant blanched, but again, Owen came to her rescue, speaking for the group of three.
"I have enhanced speed, the ability to find things and a wicked tendency to unearth trouble. Shogun's a psychic, predicted Alpha/Omega. And Ant-" he paused, causing Ant to clutch his hand tighter and look down. "An empath that can also project her feelings."
Iceman raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "Do you know what's going on?" he asked, Cannonball grunting in the background as Domino came back into the small forum.
"Xavier had a son." Shogun cut in, "He has the power to dominate people. We don't know how, but he does. Irrevocably, instantly, completely. And he's camped out three miles from our present location." Domino smirked, amused at Shoguns' vocabulary.
"The boy's a freaking dictionary." She said, laughing a little. Iceman looked at her.
"Aren't you losing sight of the situation?"
"Quite possibly." Domino said, smiling brightly. Behind her Cannonball growled. Domino turned to retort but was cut off by a female voice that issued from a small speaker on each of the outfitted mutants collars.
"We have engaged Belial! I repeat, we have engaged Belial in combat!-" It was broken off here by a few unhealthy sounding cracks. "That'll teach you!" Definitely Susanna talking through the speakers "Requesting- oh damn it all! – Get out here now!" Another crack and then static for a second before the speakers went mute.
"Can you find them?" Iceman asked Owen. He nodded eyes wide.
"Sweet." Domino giggled, taking out one of her guns. "I've been wanting to try this thing out."