Are you with me Jean?
I can hear you little sister.
Good. Now we're going to build up a proper barrier between you and the rest of the world. And as an added bonus, we'll keep other psychics out.
So where do we start?
First we make a shield. This is nothing more than a barrier between you and the outside noise.
Jean concentrated on a simple shield. Slowly, so slowly, the noise of the other minds outside started to go away one by one.
Now we need to give your mind a defense. Now to me, thorns are painful and should be avoided. Let's give you something that your mind instinctively knows is painful. Since your codename is Phoenix, let's try fire.
Jean began to slowly envision fire in her mind. However she was afraid of it.
This is a part of who you are Jean. Fire does not harm a phoenix. It is a cleansing element that brings new life back to the world. You are a phoenix Jean, try embracing it instead of fearing it for once.
Jean could feel it. There was a flame burning brightly inside her, waiting to be unleashed.
That's it sister. That is your power. The core of your soul. It is part of you, so there's no reason to fear it.
Jean could feel the flame burning brighter. It was threatening to overwhelm her. She shied back from it, startled.
That's enough.
It was the Professor.
Jean and Artemis opened their eyes to see...the entire room levitating?!
Upon waking up, there was a lot of crashes...and not just from inside the room.
Hearing the muffled curses of Logan through the window, they realized it had happened throughout the entire mansion.
The Professor wheeled into the room.
"Might I suggest a more secluded setting the next time you train Jean in mental shields?"
"Oops..." said Artemis sheepishly.
"While I applaud your efforts to help your sister, I think we should insure you don't effect the entire mansion whenever you two train."
"Is it my fault Jean's a tenth-level psychic?"
"You should have taken proper precaution."
"We were only making shields. It's not my fault Jean's still unsure about her true nature as a hedgewitch!"
While they were building up a defense, Artemis sensed a magical core. Not enough to preform spells, but enough that Jean could relatively qualify as a hedgewitch capable of small feats of magic.
"What."
The Professor evidently wasn't expecting that.
"Jean has magic. Enough to do a few tricks, but not enough to cast spells. Odds are her animagus form is a phoenix. And considering how frayed she's been lately, I'm guessing she's overdue for a burning day."
"In any case, I think you two have caused enough of a mess today. If you can survive for thirty minutes in the Danger Room, I'll let you continue. Otherwise you'll have to help clean up the mess for not taking proper precaution," said the Professor sternly.
Artemis waited until his back was turned before she stuck her tongue out. One of the benefits of shielding her mind was that he couldn't tell when she mocked him.
Jean didn't look too happy about it either.
The Danger Room was bad enough during training. As a punishment, it was generally set at the highest level to teach a lesson about getting ahead of yourself.
Thirty minutes of that was going to be a nightmare, especially since the highest Artemis had ever gone through was medium.
And if one failed, they both did.
"What's going on?" asked Logan.
"Jean and Artemis apparently forgot to watch what they were doing and levitated half the school. The Professor's making them go through a half hour of the Danger Room or they'll have to help with the clean up," explained Scott.
"Wait... I thought Artemis was helping Jean get rid of the migraines she was having for the past week. How would making shields cause that mess?" asked Logan.
"Jean's a tenth-level psychic, even stronger than the Professor. Apparently while they were building up a defense to keep people out, she brushed up against the core of her powers and they reacted," shrugged Scott.
"So what's the big deal about this Danger Room?"
"Under normal circumstances? It's a training room meant to hone your instincts. On punishment duty...it's set on it's highest level and if there's more than one you have to survive with your team or it's a fail."
"This I gotta see," said Logan.
Artemis was in full uniform, as was Jean. In her hand was a collapsible bow and several short arrows made of steel.
"Jean, Artemis, you have thirty minutes to survive. If one of you fails, the Danger Room will turn off and you will have to undergo punishment duty. Survive and you'll only get a warning. Any self-contained abilities are allowed, but if it gets out of control then it automatically counts as a fail. So Artemis, no fancy conjurations or trying to mimic Storm or Cyclops. Are we clear?" said the Professor from the intercom.
Artemis rolled her eyes.
"We will proceed. Your test begins...now."
Artemis brought out the claws without a second's hesitation. Her reflexes were on high alert and for good reason.
For the first time in a month, she lowered her shields, sending all of her reflexes to their maximum output.
She dodged a laser to the left, then another from above and to the right.
Her arrows began to spin as if by some unseen wind. Her eyes were dilated, a sign that she had given in to her more feral nature.
Where Logan went into a berserker-like state when he was enraged, Artemis went a different route.
Her body might have the ability to take damage, but she was more agile and speedy than her father. As such she was better suited to hit and run tactics...a fact she demonstrated quite aptly in the simulation.
"Woah... kid's got skills. Where'd she learn to do that?" asked Logan.
"I'm more concerned about the fact she's left her shields down. Usually she can't handle more than twenty people being around her before her powers start to overwhelm her. I've tried to slowly increase her tolerance but it's been difficult."
Logan looked around and noticed that there had to be at least thirty to thirty-five kids watching the run.
"Maybe you used the wrong method?"
"Indeed."
Xavier noticed the time limit. The girls had been surviving for twenty-five minutes and still going strong.
When it hit the thirty minute mark, he cut off the simulation. Jean he knew could handle it...but Artemis had been a surprise. Before the professor could open the door, Logan had already beat him to it.
"Logan, what..." started Jean...before she got a good look at Artemis.
"Professor, you might want to turn the thing back on. Only way I know to calm down someone who's gone feral is to tire them out...otherwise she might start attacking everyone she might think is prey," said Logan, popping his knuckles.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Jean.
"The only reason she hasn't targeted you is because she connects your scent to 'family'. She does the same with me. Trust me, it'll be easier for all involved if I wear her out without any interruptions."
"If you're sure Logan, then I'll leave her in your capable hands."
Jean reluctantly left the Danger Room. Logan grinned when he heard Artemis' growl.
Definitely in a more feral mode. Explained how she survived in the wilderness for two years.
"Let's play, kid."
"Are they still at it?" said Scott four hours later.
Jean nodded, though it was clear she was not happy about the fact Artemis was still in feral state.
They heard the sound of the lift open up behind them.
"Storm, is Artemis going to be alright?" asked Jean.
"She came out of her feral state about 45 minutes after he went in to calm her down. They asked if they could 'play' in the Danger Room for a while and he saw no harm in it since she was never allowed in on her own."
That might change shortly if she could turn off her 'feral' state as Wolverine called it without having to wear herself out.
"Wait...they've been 'playing' in the Danger Room at almost the highest setting for four hours?" said Scott incredulous. Most people didn't like going in there.
"Apparently she keeps 'upping' the level without telling him," said Ororo amused.
As if triggered by his amused comment, the dial slowly began to turn upward to a higher setting.
Jean was not as amused as he was. She stopped it cold.
"That is enough you two!" she scolded them.
"Aw... Come on sis! This is the most fun we've had in ages!" whined Artemis.
"No. Unless you want to sleep inside for the next week this ends now," said Jean firmly.
"Spoilsport..."pouted Artemis.
Logan said something to her, making her grimace.
That was when the intercom cracked to life.
"Everyone, into the main hall now! There's a situation brewing in the White House!"
Everyone dropped what they were doing and headed into the main hall, where the other students were watching with growing horror.
There, on the TV, was the newsreel proclaiming a mutant attack on the White House. However something felt...off...about this.
"If this guy is a teleporter, then why did he just scare the president? If they were trying to send a message, wouldn't standing outside the White House with signs be more effective? This is just counterproductive."
"I agree. This seems more like the first opening move for something much worse," said the Professor.
Even Magneto wasn't this foolish.
The Professor had a bad feeling about this 'attack'.
Huntress: So it wasn't one of yours? I had a feeling that was the case.
Magneto: Believe me, if we had sent someone to pull something like this they wouldn't have settled for a dagger in the desk. Not to mention I would have used Mystique since she could have slipped away with none the wiser. This was too visible for my tastes.
Huntress: I believe you. This feels more like someone trying to paint one massive target on mutants to justify a 'cleansing' or something. And I keep thinking about this hatch I saw while we were in Canada. There was something that didn't feel right about it.
Especially since it looked like it lead right under a massive reservoir of water. An effective way to bury the evidence...and anyone stuck inside the bunker.
Huntress: is it possible a human who hates mutants is behind this? Because I really don't see any of the pro-mutant groups you associate with pulling something this stupid off.
Magneto: I'd say it's more than likely. In any case if this is the prelude to something and you're separated from the X-Men, feel free to hide with us.
Artemis was considered a neutral mutant. The only reason she lived with Jean was because she was a minor and Jean was her legal guardian.
A fact Magneto was fully aware of. The fact she genuinely listened to him and treated him with the same respect she gave Xavier, despite the fact he was a bit more...bloodthirsty...and even offered a suggestion that wouldn't piss off the humans only meant she could still be open to his cause.
Well that and Mystique seemed to like her. She tended to chat for hours with the girl whenever she had the time. Something about cooking, apparently.
About the only one who didn't like her was Sabertooth.
Artemis was half-asleep when her sharp hearing caught the faint whump-whump sound of helicopter blades. No matter how silent they made the engine, if you were listening for it you could still hear the sound of the rotary blades cutting through air. There wasn't any way to hide that completely. She hid behind the curtain and peered outside.
Five helicopters were making a beeline to the mansion. Jean, Ororo and Hank had left the mansion because the Professor had a lock on the mutant who 'attacked' the president.
Which left Scott and Logan in charge of the children at the mansion, since the Professor had been called away by a colleague at the last minute.
She waited until she knew for sure they wouldn't deviate from their course. In fact they were slowing down and the blades became slightly more audible the closer they got.
She was an unofficial warning system in the event of unwanted guests. Because she preferred sleeping outside, she was the first person to notice if someone was coming.
The Professor didn't allow visitors this late at night. Only emergencies, and she didn't think this would qualify.
She carefully opened up her shields and very nearly slammed them shut.
She had thought she had seen the most foul minds in her 'aunt' and 'uncle'. These...people...were ten times worse because they believed that god had told them to wipe out all mutants.
Instead she did something more productive. She sent out a mental alarm to the mansion five minutes before the helicopters began to empty.
MANSION IS ABOUT TO BE UNDER ATTACK! ANTI-MUTANT SOLDIERS ABOUT TO BREACH PERIMETER! GET THE OTHERS OUT!
Since it was sent on a mutant-frequency, the soldiers making their way to the mansion never heard her mental warning.
Artemis, are any of them making their way to the tree house?
It was Logan.
No. I seriously doubt they even know I sleep here and not inside, and you know it's closer to the Owlry than it is to the house. Not to mention it's covered from above by the tree itself, so odds are they don't even know I'm here. I only woke up because I heard the helicopter blades.
I'm setting off the alarms. Do not go after them!
Rendezvous point?
No time. Contact me online once you get on. See if your...chat buddies...can't pick you up first.
Wolverine knew Artemis talked to Magneto. Considering he was less likely to hurt her on sight than he was the other X-Men, he could live with it. If one of the more dangerous and radical mutants liked Artemis, it meant she had more people she could fall back on.
Artemis slipped out of the treehouse, taking her things with her. The sooner she was past the perimeter of the grounds, the smaller the chance they would realize she had given the X-Men and all the mutants inside a five-minute head start of getting out.