The woman jumped back, trying to circle, and find a weakness in my defense. She feinted an attack, and I swirled my heated water-ropes in a blurring figure-eight before her eyes. When I saw that my distraction was successful, I immediately lessened the temperature in the ropes, and wound them around her. Once she was secured, I waited for the others.
As they tromped up the stairs, I said over my shoulder, "So glad you could join us, David."I returned my attention to Mystique, and asked her, "Why did he send you?" She snarled at me, and I raised the temperature to nearly unbearable heat. She finally muttered, "Because Sabertooth was falling behind, and not doing his job."
I threateningly raised the temperature slightly higher, and she hissed in pain, but said no more. Unsatisfied, but unwilling to do more for now, I turned her over to Scott and Kurt, who took her away somewhere. I turned back to the professor, to finish our earlier conversation.
"She was sent on a different type of agenda than Sabertooth. I must end this, trap or no. And I must go alone." I turned to leave, but stopped when Logan grabbed my arm.
"No! I refuse to let you go alone!" I argued with him for a moment, and turned to the others for support of my plan. But, they had grouped in front of me, blocking my exit. They stared me down, until we reached a compromise. I would go first and follow the instructions that had been presented after I read the note. I must go to the school and meet this "friend", and hope that he was not affiliated with Magneto in any way.
Q
When I arrived at York State, I immediately resumed my normal illusions, and wandered into the cafeteria, carefully avoiding all the people who could recognize me. I sat down at a lunch table - my usual one - and waited for the note writer to show up. It didn't take long.
Laughing loudly enough that their voices traveled through my head like cymbals in my ear, the entire York State football team sat down, surrounding me. In the one seat in front of me was a face that I remembered fondly, as though from long ago, though it had barely been two weeks. I smiled in greeting, but Tom didn't return the gesture.
"So Aria, you finally see fit to return to me after I promised to help you." Suddenly, I realized that he was truly bitter over my leaving. I tried to explain, hoping that I wouldn't end up 'explaining' so much that he decided to call for the police.