AN: I want to thank everyone who has left support on this series so far. You have no idea how much your comments encourage me to write. I also want to ask everyone who reads this to leave their comments below, as aforementioned, feedback helps me enormously.
I leave updates about the series on my profile page including descriptions of upcoming episodes, notifications about delays and release dates, as well as other general news.
Thank you and please enjoy Episode Two of X-MEN: STANDING GUARD
Rogue laughed. "Yeah right!"
Gambit acted offended. "You don't believe me, Chere?"
"You're telling me you could get out of this base without bein' caught…with only one card?" Rogue asked incredulously, holding up the card in her hand.
"Oui!" he replied. "Wanna see?" he asked devilishly, holding out his hand.
Rogue pulled the card back, a wicked look in her eye. She sat for a minute as if thinking before slowly moving the card towards the door. She got almost six inches away when Gambit's eyes flickered with hope and Rogue pulled it away.
"Merde! Com'on Rogue!" Gambit exclaimed.
Rogue laughed and moved the card through her fingers like a snake before returning it to her inside pocket.
"Nope. I kinda like my job as double-oh Rogue."
"You're a tricky little diable, Chere." Gambit said, leaning back inside his cell.
"Don't you know it." Rogue replied flirtingly. "You wanna know what else I can do?" She asked tauntingly, leaning towards the jail-bars.
"What?" Gambit asked, leaning close to the bars as well.
There was a moment of silence before Rogue moved slightly closer, closer. Gambit closed his eyes and leaned in as well—
"Agent Rogue!"
Rogue leapt back, falling out of her chair and landing on the floor with an "oof!". Gambit stumbled backwards into his chair as Secretary of Defense Bolivar Trask walked down the hallways towards Rogue and Gambit.
"Agent Rogue, what exactly are you doing back here?" Trask asked, looking down on the girl.
Rogue was dressed in skinny jeans, a yellow long-sleeved shirt with a green short-sleeved shirt covering that and a short-sleeved leather jacket. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but her white streak was hanging over her face.
"I…uh…" Rogue froze. She had long since come up with an excuse for seeing Gambit. Trask waited expectantly. Gambit took the field.
"She was taunting me. Of course, she can't get through to moi because I am the master at—"
"Shut up, Gambit." Trask ordered. He turned and walked off. "Get up, Agent Rogue. My office, now."
Rogue stood up and brushed herself off, glancing at Gambit before running off after Trask.
"Sir, I can explain—" Rogue started as she entered Trask's office.
"I don't care why you were in the prison cells, Agent Rogue." Trask replied.
X-23 glanced at her knowingly.
Trask's office was very neat and clean. That was the first thing anyone noticed when they walked in. The walls were made of a darker-gray metal, as were the floors and ceilings. Trask had white lights, four of them evenly spaced, in the ceiling. There were three doors in the room. The one Rogue had just entered from was the doorway to the public hallways and normally wasn't used. If you didn't have an appointment with Bolivar Trask, or he didn't summon you, you entered through the second door, on the right wall. This door led to Trask's secretary's office. She was always busy and quiet. Rogue wondered if Trask was as harsh with her as he was with Rogue and X.
The third and final door led to Trask's personal quarters. No one had ever seen the other side of that door except Trask. He didn't have a wife or kids and he didn't want any. Rogue had heard rumors about what was on the other side of that door: mutant prisoners Trask experimented on in his spare time, an arsenal of weapons and mutilated heads on a wall. Rogue shivered just thinking about it.
While the inside of Trask's personal quarters may have looked like that, his office was brisk and professional. It could have even been cozy or welcoming had he used something other than harsh white lights and cold, dark gray metal.
The room itself was square, about 20 feet wide and eight feet tall. The door Rogue had entered from was four feet from one wall where Trask had placed a bookcase, made of the same cold metal, with "showoff books". There was empty space on his wall until his desk, also made of the dark metal, which sat directly in the middle of the room. It sat firmly on the ground. He had papers, folders, and other office necessities sitting in ordered piles on the top. The inside of his desk was another unexplored region with just as many horrible stories about it as his personal quarters. Behind his desk were two more bookshelves with more books. Rogue wasn't sure if Trask ever read any of them, but they looked more used than the ones at the door. Hanging on the wall directly behind where Trask sat was a picture of some old General. Rogue could never figure out who the man was, and didn't really care.
As Trask sat down in his chair and turned to face the two agents, Rogue estimated that the chair was the only thing in the room that was comfortable and real. It, too, was made of the same cold-metal as the rest of the room, but had black, plush fabric lining the inside where Trask sat.
"I have a very…complicated mission for the two of you." Trask said, placing his hands on the desk. Rogue noticed he had no picture frames, no mementos of a life outside this cold and harsh office.
"Complicated?" X asked.
"Top-secret." Trask said bluntly. "Girls, the mission I'm about to give you will never happen. If you are caught, we will deny anything you say about us."
"If you are caught the secretary will disavow any knowledge of yo'r actions." Rogue muttered. "Hangin' ya out t' dry."
"What was that, Agent Rogue?" Trask demanded.
"Nothin', sir." Rogue replied, standing up a little straighter.
"Good," Trask said, putting on his reading glasses and opening the file in front of him.
Rogue stuck out her tongue at him.
"The mutant we're going after is the daughter of a powerful and rich political family from Nova Roma."
"Nova Roma?" X-23 asked.
"It's a country descended from the remnants of the Ancient Roman Empire." Trask said. "They're very war-like, like an island of Amazons, and we can't afford to upset any of them. Do you understand?"
Rogue muttered an affirmative under her breath and X-23 just stood, straight with her hands behind her back.
"The girl's name is Amara Aquilla, she's thirteen and staying in Derek Bishop's Hotel in New York City. Her father's name is Lucius Antonius Aquilla. We don't have much on the girl as her type keep themselves tightly under wrap."
"Her kind?" Rogue asked suddenly, angrily.
"Nova Roman." Trask replied coldly.
Rogue, who had thought he was throwing an insult at mutants, backed down.
"You two can pick up your new equipment in Tech."
"New equipment? Is our old outdated, sir?" X-23 asked.
"No," Trask said. "This equipment is specially formatted for this mission. It also includes your cover identity, Agent X."
"Her cover identity?" Rogue asked. X-23 herself was stunned, emotion showing on her face for a solid five seconds before removing itself.
"Yes, Agent Rogue," Trask said. "We believe you will be unable to get close to the girl due to your age and…"
"And what?" Rogue demanded.
"And the fact that you're "too American"." Trask finished.
"What makes me too American?!" Rogue practically yelled.
"Your hair to begin with." Trask replied sharply.
"My hair?!" Rogue exclaimed. She grabbed a strand of her white streak. "What's wrong with m' hair?!"
Trask sighed. "Agent X's age and physical appearance make her more acceptable to the Nova Romans than you, Agent Rogue. That's the bottom line."
Rogue's fists were clenched so hard, her knuckles were turning white. X-23 noticed out of the corner of her eye and shifted a leg enough for Rogue to get the message.
"You will be known, for the duration of this mission, Agent X, as Kirika Richards. Tech will brief you more, but you are the niece of Doctor Curtis Connors and staying in New York on a vacation. Agent Rogue will have to train you on how to interact with other people successfully. That is all, dismissed!"
Rogue and X-23 left Trask's office, Rogue closing the door slightly harder than necessary to make a point. She turned to see X facing her with a look on her face Rogue had never seen before.
"You okay?" she asked. "I'm sorry I slammed the door and got so mad in there—"
"Marie?" X asked.
Rogue paused. She had told X her real name long ago, but neither had never used it.
"Yeah?" Rogue asked.
"I'm…" X paused, looking at Rogue, into her green eyes before snapping away and turning around, walking off. "Nothing, nevermind. It's not important."
"X!" Rogue called, darting after her. "What's the matter? You seem kinda…shaken up."
X kept walking. "It's nothing."
Rogue knew when to stop pushing. She walked down the hallway, wondering what could be eating at her friend.
X-Men: Standing Guard
Season One, Episode Two
"Sizzling Rich"
-*
Xavier Institute, Lower Levels
September 24, 12:03 EST
-*
The doors to the elevator hissed open, Jean and Scott walked out.
"We're counting almost a dozen students missing." Scott said. "The other kids don't know what's going on. How's Charles?"
"He's been in there with Cerebro all morning." Storm replied as the couple walked up. "He's in pain, deep pain."
"I can't imagine what he's going through." Jean said.
"How long do you think he'll stay in there?" Scott asked.
"I don't know." Storm responded, glancing at the door behind her. "My guess is at least until lunch time. He won't want to disappoint the children."
Lunch time came, lunch time went. Charles Xavier didn't emerge. In fact, no one saw the Professor until he emerged covered in oil and grease the next day to announce that Cerebro was almost operational. He grabbed leftover sandwiches from the refrigerator as well as a soda and disappeared into his room. The other students were starting to worry. Storm made up an excuse about Charles working on some important project, she refused to make an official announcement about Erik's defection without Charles's permission.
-*
New York City
September 25th, 14:00 EST
-*
X-23 stood on the rooftop as Rogue walked circles around her, studying her.
"I feel ridiculous." X said.
"Oh, hush. You look fine." Rogue replied standing in front of her, resting her chin in her hand.
"Well?" X asked.
"Kirika Richards", as Trask had named her, was dressed in a dark blue tank-top with a low neckline, a black mini-skirt, elbow-length gothic-looking fingerless gloves, knee-high black leather, heeled boots, a military cap over her straight, brown hair, and a leather, sleeveless jacket. She had earrings (Rogue was scared she would skewer the man piercing her ears) with blue gems on a silver pendant shape hanging from each ear. Multiple rings adorned each hand and Rogue had painted her nails blue to match her shirt. Around her neck she had a choker necklace, black like the rest of her outfit and with five blue gems on the front. On top of that was another, silver chain necklace hanging to mid-chest. At her waist was a large belt mainly for looks.
Rogue had been forced to fit tech into pieces of the outfit. The choker necklace was a microphone linked to Rogue. The left ear-ring was a receiver, its settings adjusted so that only Kirika's super-hearing would pick up what Rogue was saying. The right ear-ring was a microphone so Rogue could hear everything that was going on and help Kirika through the mission. Each ring had a different use. To activate these uses, Kirika needed to press the gemstone three times. One ring would signal an emergency extraction. Another ring signaled Kirika was done with her mission. A third ring signaled that Kirika needed to get away for a minute and Rogue should cause a (discreet) distraction.
"You look beautiful." Rogue said. "If that were in my size, I'd keep it after the mission were done 'cause girl do you look hot."
"I don't feel so hot." X replied. She shook her foot. "How do you run in these heels?"
"That takes a lot of practice. If you get in that sticky of'n emergency, you can always slice off the heels with ya claws." Rogue replied. "I suppose I don't need to brief you on your cover and all that?"
"No." X replied, continuing to shift back and forth on each foot. Rogue grabbed each of her shoulders with a firm hand.
"You'll do fine. I have faith in you."
"I…I…" X refused to look Rogue in the eyes at first, but she finally turned her brown ones to Rogue's green. "I'm scared."
Rogue was completely taken back. X-23 was not the type of person to get scared. Rogue leaned down enough that she was eye-level with X-23.
"What're ya scared of?" she asked.
"I've never done anything like this." X replied, looking away again. "I can kill people, I can track them, I can fight them, I can tell them what to do and I can follow their orders, but…make conversation? Gossip? Do…girly stuff? I can't do that, Rogue!"
"Yes, you can." Rogue replied firmly. "You're the strongest willed, most determined and fearless person I know. You can do this."
X looked at her for a moment before reaching up and hugging her tightly. Rogue, shocked for the second time in the same minute, took a second to respond and hug her back.
The two girls embraced tightly for a minute before X pulled away. Rogue slid sunglasses low on X's nose.
"Now get out there and kick ass!" Rogue exclaimed.
-*
Undisclosed Location
September 25th, 14:12 EST
-*
The air was frigid. Every time Erik breathed, his breath created enough fog to cover a small bay. He didn't seem to mind, though, as he stood at the helm of the cargo-ship. The wasteland before him was ice and snow with harsh, cold winds whipping around, stinging the other mutants in their faces. Many were hunkering down inside the commandeered cargo ship, wondering why on Earth Magneto had brought them to this God-forsaken corner of the world. The captain of the commandeered ship, and only surviving member of its crew, was nervously watching the crimson-clad mutant standing at the helm of his ship.
Erik stood with his eyes closed, face absorbing the cold around him. He felt alive for the first time in years. The ship stopped suddenly. Erik turned and glared at her captain.
"I'm sorry! This is as far as we can go! The ice is too thick!" The captain called, risking the cold to lean out the window and yell over the wind.
"Then this will do." Erik replied. "Come my brothers and sisters! We have arrived at our new home!"
The mutants all filed out onto the deck of the ship, some cursing, other knowingly keeping their mouths shut to absorb as much heat as possible.
"Are you tired of being thrown out in the cold like this, brothers?" Erik began. "This is how we have been treated our entire lives. Why? Was it because we committed some evil? No! It was for the simple fact that we were born different! Are—"
"Are we freezing our asses off? Hell yeah! What are we doing out here, Erik?" someone yelled.
Erik smiled. "You wish for warmth and comfort?"
"Hell yeah! And no more speeches!"
Erik bowed and moved aside as if he were gesturing for someone to pass through an unseen door. Nothing happened for a minute, but then from somewhere deep in the belly of the ship, a loud groan was heard. More groans, creaks, scraping came from the ship. To everyone's amazement, the ship began to tear itself apart and the pieces fly across the snow and ice.
The feeling of cold seemed to disappear as the mutants watched in wonder as Magneto took a cargo ship and built a circle in the snow. The circle grew taller and taller until it became a tower. A tower of metal.
"My brothers: the first structure in our new base! Let us grab supplies and fill it! Go inside, be merry, and be warm most importantly!"
Mutants cheered and ran towards the tower. Erik grinned. Things were starting to look up.
-*
New York City
September 25th, 15:36 EST
-*
"Get close t'er!" Rogue whispered through the microphone.
"How?" X replied, holding up a shirt and pretending to look at it as she watched Amara Aquilla move out of the corner of her eye.
"That's part a' field work!" Rogue replied. "You gotta learn t' improvise. What's she doin'?"
X put that shirt up and picked up another. "She's still looking for clothes."
"Well go talk fashion!"
"I can't talk fashion! I sharpen my claws, I don't paint my nails." X could hear Rogue slap a hand to her head on the other end of the line. X turned and picked up a red tank-top, holding it up to her torso. "This one looks nice."
"No, I'd go with purple if I were you." A voice said from behind her.
X made a sound of alarm and spun around, dropping the shirt onto the floor. Her claws started to extend out of instinct, but the gloves hid the motion and X quickly retracted them. The comment had come from her target: Amara Aquilla.
"I'm so sorry!" Amara said, bending down and picking up the shirt. "I didn't mean to startle you!" She handed it back to X who took it with slightly shaky hands.
"No, it's fine. I just didn't expect anyone to be behind me." X replied, brushing a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. "I'm Kirika." She added, extending a hand.
"Amara." The girl responded, accepting the handshake.
Amara was right around X's height, same build. Her skin looked like she had spent her whole life in the sun which X suspected she had. Amara's hair was a creamy brown that seemed as smooth as her skin. It was straight and ran halfway past her shoulders. Her eyes were a caramel color; they seemed to radiate excitement like beams of light.
She was dressed in skinny jeans and a pink tank-top. It was a very simple outfit, but it worked for her. She had on white tennis shoes and a mess of bracelets on her right arm. Two small, but very expensive, diamonds sat on her ear. If Kirika hadn't known who Amara was, she could have easily mistaken her for a normal American girl.
"You're looking in the completely wrong section, girl!" Amara added, snatching X back into the present.
"Huh?" X asked blankly. Her cheeks flushed. "Oh, the shirts! Yeah! This is my first time at this mall, I'm kind of lost." X admitted the last part with such a perfect accent of sheepishness, even Rogue believed it.
"Here, come with me!" Amara said, grabbing the shirt out of X's hand and throwing it back on the rack. "I'll show you where to get some real fashion statements!"
X followed Amara out of the clothing section as she led X across the store.
"God, what are you, a freakin' noob?" Rogue exclaimed.
"You didn't tell me she looked like that!" X whispered back.
"What's that got t' do with anythang?" Rogue demanded.
"Nothing, just…caught me off guard." X replied with a smile on her face. "Hey, I'll call you back, Rogue."
"X! Don't you dare hang up on me!" Rogue exclaimed. The line went to static. "That damn girl…" Rogue cursed.
-*
Xavier Institute
September 25th, 16:45 EST
-*
"Charles! Open up!" Scott demanded, knocking on the door to the Professor's bedroom. His red sunglasses glinted in the artificial light, making him seem only slightly more agitated than he already was.
"I'm busy, Scott. I'm not coming out right now. Whatever it is, consult Storm." The Professor's muffled response came from behind the door.
"Charles, we need to talk." Storm called.
"I'm really busy, I'm afraid I can't help you." Charles' muffled response came again.
"With what?!" Jean exclaimed. "You've been in there for a day, Professor! You haven't come out to eat or talk to anyone—"
"How do you expect me to explain to the students—" Charles opened the door and wheeled into the hallway. "—that Erik and several other students went rogue to form their own mutant group that will attack humanity?"
"We didn't mean talk to the students, we meant talk to us, Charles." Storm replied, pleadingly. "I know what you're going through is tough, but let us help you, Charles!"
"Do you, Storm?" Charles asked accusingly. "Do you know what it's like to have a life-long friend turn his back on you and everything you've fought to build, declare war on you and humanity? Do you Storm?"
Storm backed down, but Scott didn't.
"I do, Professor! You want to know what? You're not the only one who lost someone that night!" Scott partially yelled.
"Scott…" Jean said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Scott shook it off.
"No! He needs to hear this! He's not the only person at this Institute! When Erik left, Alex went with him! My own brother who I've risked life and limb for countless times, who I thought was dead and then he wasn't, he left me without saying anything!"
Charles looked at Scott.
"If it had been Alex in Erik's position, you would have never let me pout in my room for this long! You would have forced me to get up and move on! You wouldn't have let me give up hope, and I'm not going to let you!"
Charles made a slight noise and turned to enter his room.
"Professor, you close that door, I swear these shades are coming off and I'll blow it down!" Scott exclaimed.
Charles paused in his doorway, sighing and lowering his head before turning sideways to face them.
-*
New York City
September 25th, 17:27 EST
-*
"What about this?" X asked, holding up a loose, sleeveless white shirt with gold trim.
"And look like a Roman? Ha!" Amara replied, turning back to the rack of jeans.
X smirked, looking over her shoulder at the turned figure of Amara before returning to browsing clothes racks.
X had never felt like this before. She didn't know what had come over her. No other target had ever attracted so much attention from her before. None of the guys or girls that Rogue had ever evaluated before had ever had this kind of gravitation. Of course, she thought, it could just be her emotions about her first field mission getting in the way. She should have never cut off radio contact with Rogue and she should never have been in here this long.
Of course, X had never had a friend before. Rouge was nice to her, sure, but Rogue was more of an older, and definitely wilder, sister to X than a friend. X never talked to anyone but Rogue and her commanders. Any memory of her time before the Sentinel Project was fuzzy and it hurt her head to think about it, so she didn't.
Amara Aquilla though, she seemed…different than anyone X had ever had contact with before. It was something about her entire person, her carefree attitude…maybe it was her keen eye for fashion that made X want to stick around longer rather than to stick her with a needle and gather intel.
X turned and was just about to say something to Amara, what she had no idea, when she heard a slight buzzing. She was immediately on alert, her claws extending, thinking it to be some government taser device.
Amara pulled out her phone. "Oh!"
"Hmm?" X asked nonchalantly, her claws retracting.
"One of my friends is here! Come on, I want you to meet her!" Amara replied. She dropped the jeans she was looking at and grabbed X's hand, dragging her away.
Amara dragged X outside of the clothing store, all the way to the food court. Someone was waving, jumping up and down from in front of the taco restaurant. Amara waved back and ran over, X hot on her heels.
"Hey!" Amara greeted, hugging the blonde. X stood back.
The girl Amara was addressing was about Rogue's age and height. She was much…thicker was the only word Kirika could think of. She wasn't fat by any means, but where Rogue was a slim teenager, this girl was…what was that word she'd heard Rogue use once?...bodacious.
The girl was dressed in a red, skin-tight shirt with a small diamond cut to show her belly and extremely short-cut jeans. Her short, spiky, blonde hair was pulled back in two pony-tails on either side of her head. Her blue eyes seemed to spark with mischief and X could literally smell trouble. The girl reeked of it.
"Tabitha, this is Kirika. Kirika, my best friend Tabitha." Amara introduced.
X held out her hand. Tabitha looked at it blankly.
"Come're you!" she exclaimed, hugging X tightly. The assassin wasn't quite sure what to do and gave an awkward hug back. Amara laughed.
"Ouch!" Tabitha exclaimed. At the same time, something buzzed in X's pocket.
"You can't help getting static shocks, can you?" Amara asked, laughing.
Tabitha started laughing as well. X pulled out the buzzing item from her pocket. It was a smart-phone case that had been stripped inside and replaced with a device that gave a physical reading on mutants. It buzzed when it discovered an active X-Gene in a person. X realized she must have pricked Tabitha with the needle and gotten a reading that she was a mutant.
"Hey, Amara, I gotta take this." X said. "It's my sister."
"Sure! Just don't take too long!" Amara replied. "I'll get you a taco!"
X smiled and nodded, jogging off. She tapped the gem in her ear.
"Rogue? You still there?"
"Where the hell have you been?" Rogue demanded.
"Undercover, listen: I've got a problem."
"You're damn right you got a problem! When I get my hands on you—"
"No, Rogue, there's a second mutant here!"
"What?"
"Amara introduced me to her friend: Tabitha. I accidentally pricked her with the MGD* and it popped up positive."
There was silence on the other end of the line.
"Well? What do I do?" X asked.
"I'm thinkin', I'm thinkin'." Rogue replied. She sat in silence for a little longer. "It's almost six o'clock. Since you already have a sample of this other girl's blood, all you need is a sample of Amara's and you can leave."
"Well they invited me to eat tacos with them."
Silence once again on the other end of the line.
"Hello?"
"Eat, get a sample of her blood. If you're not out by seven, I will literally come in there and drag you out."
"Okay, thanks. X out."
"Don't you dare—"
Static.
"—hang up on me. Again."
-*
Undisclosed Location
September 25th, 18:00 EST
-*
The base Magneto had set up in the snowy ice fields managed to keep the mutants warm if not cozy. The tower stood almost sixty feet tall and was completely hollow inside. It was about twenty feet across, giving the mutants a small amount of space to work, sleep, or eat. The ship's engine from which this Tower was built was sitting in the corner, chugging away and heating the tower.
Magneto sat in one corner talking to some of the more experienced mutants, among them Alex Summers, his daughter Wanda, Lorna Dane, and the mutant known only as Pyro. Pyro was as fiery as his name and mutant ability.
"So what are we doing here, mate?" Pyro demanded in his Australian accent. He was of normal height and build. In fact, he looked normal if not for his orange eyes and hair. He was currently tucked away in a fur overcoat that had belonged to the ship's captain before Pyro had tossed him into the ocean. Professor X had always thought of Pyro as a loose cannon and danger, which was why he had been so intent that Pyro attend the Institute. "I mean, we're sittin' here in a metal canister in this icy hell! We're going to run out of fuel soon, and it's all gonna go downhill from there!"
"Calm down, Pryo." Alex replied from across the table. "Erik knows what he's doing, he wouldn't drag us all the way out here if he didn't have a plan!"
Alex was built like a surfer, and he had been before Scott had found him and brought him to the Institute. Alex, unlike his brother, had that dirty-sand-blonde hair and blue eyes that seemed default to a surfer. His skin was tanned deeply and his muscles well developed. He had noticed the glances Lorna kept shooting from across the table.
"So what is your plan, Erik?" Pyro demanded.
"Oh hush." Wanda replied. "Maybe if you'd shut up, father would have a chance to reply."
Wanda, or as she referred to herself, The Scarlet Witch, was a beautiful woman who's attractiveness came from her simplistic looks. Long, curly brown hair and soft blue eyes seemed to belong to those of a small town prom queen. Wanda wasn't in her usual red outfit, instead dressed for warmth in parka pants and fur coat.
"Thank you, Wanda." Erik said in a voice that made him seem both wise and powerful. "Two things, young Pyro, first: you will address me only as...Magneto from this day forth, do you understand?"
Pyro scowled.
"Secondly, this is merely the beginning of our kingdom. A kingdom that gives a feeling of safety to mutants and terror to humans. Yes, we will need to collect supplies to expand our base. This is why I have picked this location. The world's natural currents take ships on an arc up here on their way across the Atlantic Ocean. We will take these ships and there supplies to expand our base. Is that a satisfactory answer?"
Pyro's scowl increased.
"Father, if I may ask," Wanda said, speaking up. "What about our numbers? Charles Xavier is actively recruiting, we are not. Are you not fearful he may build up an army against us before we can even set up our defenses?"
"Charles Xavier is a noble man and would never attack us. He stated the night we left he would only stand defender to the human race, he would not attack us." This of course was a lie, but Magneto continued. "As for recruitment, I have someone who can help me go to and from this base to allow recruiting while others help construct this great kingdom."
Wanda seemed satisfied with this answer.
"Is there anything you wish to ask me, Lorna?" Magneto asked. He had caught her in one of her quick glances at Alex and she blushed sharply as she muttered a "No, sir."
"Good, I sense a new ship should be arriving soon. Ready the others, Wanda."
-*
New York City
September 25th, 18:53 EST
-*
"I'm so sorry! I have to go or my sister is going to have my head!"
"It's fine!" Amara said. "I'm glad we met!"
"Me too. Maybe we'll see each other around."
Amara smiled and the two girls hugged before X ran out of the building, waving to her friend.
Rogue was waiting on the rooftop as X climbed back up, her red hair whipping in the wind, arms folded over her chest looking upset.
"I'm sorry I cut contact." X started, but Rogue just held up her hand.
"You got their blood?" she asked.
"Yeah." X replied, taking off her heels and slipping on combat boots. "Here,"
Rogue took the strip from her partner and plugged it into the laptop, uploading the information to the server.
"Amara isn't a threat, at least not that I could tell. Her friend Tabitha might be trouble though. She likes to walk on the wild side of things and with mutant powers, that could be very bad."
"Good," Rogue replied. "Let's go."
-*
Aquilla Household
New York City
September 25th, 19:22 EST
-*
Amara's keys rattled in the doorway as she pushed open the door, lugged her bags in, and shut it behind her.
"I'm home daddy!" she called.
Her father did not respond. She heard voices in the kitchen and walked towards them, dumping her bags in the floor. She peeked inside the kitchen and saw her father talking with another man.
Amara's father was tall, over six feet, and very well built. He was a well exercised man and was very handsome. Amara had always thought of her father as very Roman, and given where they came from, it seemed to fit. Her father had brown eyes and a short, very militaristic haircut. He was wearing a black polo shirt and khakis. His arms were folded over his chest and he seemed very concerned.
The man he was talking too was slightly shorter than her father, only by a couple of inches though. He was Caucasian, with short and dark brown hair. His hair was luscious and full. His right eye was blue, the left one covered with an eyepatch. Amara saw a long and nasty scar running over it as if a creature's claw had just taken the eye like Amara would a grape. He had stubble on his face and a cigarette sticking out of his mouth. He was wearing black military pants and a leather jacket with a faded blue sweater underneath. His military boots and leather gloves seemed to help his imposing figure radiate the fact that this man deserved respect. He was built like the classic hero. Amara noticed a final detail: on the sleeve of his jacket was an emblem. Amara had never seen it before. It was a bird holding arrows in both claws. The letters S.H.I.E.L.D. stood out, though Amara couldn't read what they spelled from this distance.
Upon noticing his daughter's entrance to the room and his conversation, he turned to her.
"Amara, sweetie," her father started. He sighed and ran a hand over his scalp before turning to the man and gesturing to the living room. Amara followed obediently. The three sat on the couch in silence for a short amount of time while Amara's father thought of what to say.
"Amara, dear," he started again. "Do you remember a few days ago? Your little…accident?"
"You mean where I melted the grill? Yeah." Amara glanced at the eyepatch man. "Is this some sort of punishment?"
"No, sweetie, it's just…this man, his name is Nick Fury, he says that you're going through some…changes."
"Of course I am, dad," Amara replied. "I'm thirteen years old!"
"Not those kind of changes." Fury cut in. His voice was rough and gruff, very forceful and commanding, but also soft and compassionate. He leaned forward and took the cigarette out of his mouth. "Have there been any other accidents?"
Amara glanced at her father.
"Tell him anything, sweetheart." Her father encouraged, running a hand over his head again.
Amara listed almost six instances before Fury stopped her. He glanced at Amara's father. "I'm sorry, Lucius."
"What?" Amara demanded, looking at her father's worried expression. "What is it?"
"Amara, honey, you know about mutants right?"
Amara sat in silence for several seconds, piecing it together.
"I'm a mutant?!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, you are." Fury replied in the same gruff voice.
"Are, are you sure? Amara asked, worried.
"Yes, we are positively sure." Fury replied.
Amara sat in silence for a moment, looking at her feet. Her father sat in awkward silence and Fury sat like he knew what was coming next.
It was almost a full two minutes of silence before Amara looked up, tears streaming from her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, daddy!" she whispered.
"Oh, my baby girl!" He exclaimed, grabbing her and hugging her hard. "Nothing would ever make me love you any less!"
The two stood hugging, and Amara crying until they got their emotions back under control and sat down again.
"Amara, how do you feel about this?" Fury asked.
"About what?"
"About being a mutant."
Amara paused, looking at her father. "I—I'm fine with it, really."
Fury nodded. He leaned back. "Well then I have an offer for you."
Amara looked up at him.
-*
Xavier Institute
September 25th, 20:36 EST
-*
Charles leaned back in his wheelchair and sighed. Every X-Man remaining at the Institute was in this room with him. Jean, Scott, and Storm were behind him, backing him up, but this was still very hard.
"My dear students," he began. "I am sure you all have noticed that many of our number are missing. I am sure that you all are also curious as to what has happened. I am here to explain."
Charles took another deep breath. Storm put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Our, my, dear friend Erik Lenscher, has taken those students missing and left the Xavier Institute."
Gasps went around the room. Other, older students just folded their arms, knowing what had happened, but still curious as to what the Professor would say next.
"Erik believes that a war is brewing between humans and mutants. He believes that the two species can not peacefully co-exist together and one will need to be wiped from the face of the Earth before the other can live a happy life."
Silence. Shocked, stunned looks floated around the room and the faces of the younger students, even on some of the older students.
"Well isn't he right?" one student asked. "Hasn't the war already begun?"
"No, Shiro! The humans are afraid of us, and understandably so. We must show them that, except for a few subtle differences, we are the same as they are."
"I don't want to be like the humans!" Shiro exclaimed, looking at several others who shook their heads no emphatically.
"Shiro—" Charles stopped and put his head in his hand.
"Shiro, listen," Jean said. "What have the humans done to indicate they're planning to eradicate us?"
"Besides beating the crap out of me?" Bobby demanded from the back of the room.
"Bobby, you can't blame the actions of a few on the entire race!" Jean warned. Shiro spoke up as well.
"See? This dude is with me!"
"No, no." Bobby said. "I'm not leaving the X-Men, this is my home. I'm just speaking my mind.
"Something we encourage all of you to do." Scott said, stepping forward, his glasses glistening in the light. "We need to talk about this now and get the elephant out of the room."
"Yeah," Shiro added. "Who's with the geek squad and who's with Erik and me?"
"Shiro, we're not going to force people into a decision!" Kitty Pryde exclaimed, stepping forward as well.
"Yeah! We need to talk about this before we do something stupid!" Bobby added, stepping up beside Kitty.
"Something stupid is sitting in this mansion while the humans prepare war on us! Have you seen Kelly's pep rallies? The man couldn't love his own mother if she was a mutant!"
"Kelly's just a bad apple!" Kitty exclaimed.
"Kelly is just like the rest of them!"
"He is not!" Bobby responded.
"You're blind, Icepop. You haven't been here long enough to have an opinion!" Shiro replied, jabbing his finger into Bobby's chest multiple times to make his point.
"Get your hands off me, Sunshine!" Bobby growled.
"Oh yeah?" Shiro demanded. "What are you going to do about it?"
Bobby's body turned to ice, hardening and chilling the air around him.
"Oh yeah?" Shiro said tauntingly. "You wanna go Icicle Jr.?" He lit up his body into a supernova, forcing Bobby to fall back.
"You leave him alone!" Kitty exclaimed, stepping forward and waving her fist at Shiro.
"Stop it! Stop it all of you!" Jean exclaimed, raising her hands and moving the three apart. "We don't need to fight about this!"
"Yeah, there's plenty of that coming! With the humans!" Shiro exclaimed.
Voices erupted around the room as the argument reached a dangerous level, with many students activating their powers, their bodies changing form, many forms of projectiles ready to throw at a moment's notice.
"STOP!" Charles yelled, flattening the students with a psychic blast. They all looked at him stunned.
"We have had enough fighting for one week!" Charles said, livid, and quite scary. "I want you all to go to your rooms and go to sleep. I want you all to think about this long and hard and we will discuss this, without powers, tomorrow!"
The students looked at Professor X in shock.
"GO!" he exclaimed angrily.
The students filed slowly up the stairs to their bedrooms, whispers of arguments still flying about. Charles put his head in his hands. Storm, Jean, and Scott turned and looked at him.
"Professor?" Scott asked.
"I've never seen you act like that before!" Jean exclaimed.
"Are you alright, Charles?" Storm asked softly.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine. I'm just so tired of all of the fighting." He replied softly.
"Professor?" Emma Frost called, leaning in the doorway.
"Yes, Emma?" Charles asked, tired, turning his wheelchair to face the blonde.
"Fury just phoned in, he's bringing a new recruit by chopper. It should be here any minute."
"Thank you, Emma." Charles said. He turned and wheeled towards the front door, Jean and Scott following with Storm.
The evening was already late, the sky was dark, but retained its beautiful light-blue hue. Clouds gathered on the horizon, great big white, fluffy ones. Stars were already shining, the small white lights twinkling in the sky. A dragonfly buzzed around Charles' head, but he waved it off.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter looked more like a cargo plane body with propellers and wings. Blue lights flickered showing the vehicle's location in the sky. The S.H.I.E.L.D. logo was painted all over the plane, on the body, on the wings, on the bottom, on the cockpit.
The helicopter itself kicked up a strong wind, causing Xavier and the rest to stop short of its landing site. The helicopter landed, but it's propellers didn't stop turning. The cargo bay door slid open and two figures jumped down onto the grass, walking towards Xavier.
"Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D." Fury greeted with a salute.
"Welcome, Director." Xavier greeted. "Logan has told me much about you."
"Let's hope not too much, sir." Fury responded with a clever smile.
Xavier returned it. He glanced at the second figure. "Who is this?"
"A new recruit for your school: Amara Aquilla." Fury responded.
"Ah, welcome Ms. Aquilla. My name is Charles Xavier." Charles leaned forward and offered a handshake to the girl.
Amara shook his hand. "Do you run this place? What is it?"
Xavier glanced at Fury who nodded and walked off. Part of Fury's ability to work with Xavier was he didn't technically know what he was doing here. Xavier waited for the bay doors to close and the helicopter to take off before turning and wheeling back to the house, Amara at his side.
"This is the Xavier Institute." He explained. "It is a training facility, school, and safe-haven for mutants, like you and me. I run this place. As I explained before, my name is Xavier, but you may call me Professor X."
-*
Sentinel Project Main Headquarters
Private Agent Quarters
September 25th, 23:07 EST
-*
The room that Rogue and X shared was small and narrow. Only about six feet wide and almost twenty long. The quarters were supposed to house a dozen soldiers. The extra beds had been removed to make room for other furniture like chairs, desks, armoires. Two desks were side-by-side on the wall. There was a bookshelf on either side of that.
X's bookshelf contained neat and orderly instruction manuals on piloting, killing, surviving, and anything else a soldier should have. Her desk itself was neat and orderly, only the fold-up touch-screen monitor was seen on it. The desk and bookshelf themselves were exact replicas of the ones in Trask's office.
Rogue's desk was a large, cherry wood desk. It was almost as long as her bed and much handsomer. The wood was smooth and old, lacking a layer of shine and glister. There were stains and burn marks on it, notches made in the surface. None of these marks were from Rogue, they all came with the desk. Where exactly the female had gotten it from, no one knew. She had absolutely refused to let them install a computer into the desk, so she had taken an old PC. Her desk was covered with papers marked TOP SECRET (she had doodled on these to the extent it was impossible to tell whether the document said "target" or "paintbrush"), books turned upside down to hold her spot, and empty Starbucks coffee cups.
Rogue's bookshelf was full with rich, old novels and some more modern ones. Some of the books had been sitting on the shelf so long, they had begun to collect dust. Some were maroon with gold binding, others a velvet green with a rotting black spine. There were many classical books on the shelves including Le Morte de Arthur, Atlas Shrugged, The Three Musketeers, a collection of H.G. Wells, Pride & Prejudice, Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Stories, and an edition of the Bible. Holding these books up and perched on the shelf was the stone bookend of a cat. There was only one and Rogue treasured it more than the books it held up. The bookshelf itself was a simple, small wooden bookcase painted brown. It stood on four rickety legs and was at any instant capable of falling to pieces. This was the only piece of Rogue's array of furniture that was actually neat.
The beds the two slept in were bunk beds, tucked into the corner of the room across from the door. X kept the bottom bunk and Rogue the top. Both girls were lying in bed, Rogue reading and X tossing a ball against the wall. The girls sat in an uncomfortable silence, and had been for almost half an hour. X finally couldn't stand it anymore, caught the ball, and took a deep breath.
"Are you still mad at me, Rogue?" she asked.
There was silence before Rogue replied: "Naw."
X smiled and went back to bouncing her ball, Rogue returned to her book. After about half a minute, X spoke again.
"What happens to the mutants we track?" she asked.
Rogue was completely taken aback by this question. She didn't expect anyone to ask it openly, much less X.
"Uhh," Rogue thought. "I 'on't kno'" Rogue responded. "I suppose they live out their lives or become supa' heroes or somethin'."
X nodded and made a sound of acknowledgment, bouncing her ball against the wall two and a half more times before speaking once more.
"Do you think I—we'll ever see Amara again?" she asked hopefully.
Rogue paused. What?
"Why d' ya ask?" Rogue questioned.
"Just…curious I guess." X replied.
"Well…" Rogue started, paused, thought, opened her mouth to say something again, closed it once more and thought some more before finally replying.
"Yeah, I think we'll see 'er again. I think we'll see quite a few of 'em again."
"Why do you say that?" X asked.
"Just a feelin'" Rogue replied.
X smiled and resumed bouncing her ball.
I
I
I
I
i
*Mutant Gene Detector