The bad men were back again...she didn't like it when they came in, because last time they took a lot of blood and she had felt really dizzy after.
At the edge of her senses, she could feel them. The 'others'. What had been dull at first was starting to swiftly develop into more cohesive thought and individual personalities. It wouldn't be long now...they were almost ready. And when they had matured enough, they would bring the entire place down with no survivors.
She shivered...it was almost time.
The sneer on one of the men's face made her shiver in fear.
She could feel the others slowly awaken. One of them was being 'released' from the tanks, likely for further experimentation as to why these six had taken while the others had essentially shut down within days.
It would be the last mistake these men (and women) made.
The other woke up violently, their mutation activating the second they were allowed outside the tank. Not only that, but golden fire rippled across their body, awakening the others. The tanks shattered, releasing them early, none of them caring about the fact they were all basically nude.
She shivered, and tried to ignore the screams as the others went on a rampage, killing everyone they came across without regard for their own lives.
The sounds came closer, until the door opened.
"Origin secured," reported a voice that sounded a lot like hers, but most certainly wasn't.
She was still shivering, but it wasn't out of fear or disgust. More because it was freezing outside.
She felt a coat being placed around her, and a gentle hand leading her outside.
The sun felt so good against her skin, but the fear of that place was still too strong.
"We must secure the Origin," said one of the others.
"Agreed. Situation unacceptable for the Origin's continued survival," said another.
Hearing an unusual sound, the others immediately moved into a guarding position of the shivering girl. Though the only thing they wore was lab coats, mostly because it was the only thing that hadn't gotten utterly destroyed, that didn't make them any less deadly. They all had plenty of small metal objects that could do more damage than simple bullets could.
An advanced plane landed nearby.
The others were naturally rather leery of the strangers. The red head in particular made them wary. However as they had limited options, they allowed the group to load them onto the jet and take them far, far away from the area.
Just outside New York...
Professor Xavier was utterly fascinated. The girl was horribly traumatized from her ordeal, and while she had a powerful mutation, she was in no state of mind to actually use it in combat.
The 'others' as she called them, however...they not only had her mutation, but the entire mess had caused them to create a sort of pseudo-hive mind. All of which was directly connected to the one they called "Origin", who acted as a Queen Bee to the others.
That wasn't to say they were all carbon copies of one another. Each 'sister' as he had mentally dubbed them had their own fledgling personality, and they were all loyal to the original girl. They seemed to regard her as a 'younger sister' of sorts that needed to be protected at all costs.
It was a rather strange case, however he could hardly fault the 'sisters' for how they were made. So long as they posed no threat to the student or their origin, he would treat them the same way he did his other students.
In a rather strange twist of fate, the one person in the Institute the poor girl felt even remotely safe to be around long enough to drop some of her defenses was Wolverine, who was admittedly one of the most dangerous people to cross.
It didn't help that he had immediately pegged the girl as Japanese and had stuck to the language when talking to the traumatized child until she could pick up English.
The Sisters were on a mission...to find out who had orchestrated the kidnapping of the Origin and why.
While the Origin healed from the trauma and the experiments done to her, the sisters would undergo the arduous task of uncovering the one who put the Origin under so much pain.
Since few of the students could properly pronounce her name in her native tongue, most of the students called her 'Violet'.
This lead to a hidden side of Wolverine, who showed an unusual amount of knowledge regarding flower arranging despite his gruff exterior. The Sisters permitted him to give them their names.
Each sister had a different hair decoration to differentiate them from each other, despite sharing a hive mind.
Tulip had gold-colored bells in her hair, Bluebell had blue flowers in her hair, Tsubaki proudly wore red ribbons in her hair, Fern wore subtle green bows, Primrose usually wore indigo hair ties to keep her hair back from her face, and the last sister Verbena wore a violet headband.
"Report, we have found evidence of a hidden faction among the underworld that may have clues to these oddly colored flames," said Primrose.
"They seem to be bound by some code of secrecy, enforced by an unknown third party," said Tulip.
"Still no information regarding who is behind Origin's removal," said Bluebell sourly.
"Report, Origin's mental state seems to be improving," said Primrose.
"The Institute seems to be good for her," said Fern.
"What is the status of our infiltration of the underworld?" asked Verbena.
"So far, we have had limited success," said Primrose with frustration. "This...Omerta...seems to be rather problematic to get around."
"Even with your training with Jean?" asked Verbena.
"Whoever these enforcers are, they are very thorough and are scary enough that none of our...sources... will speak to us without prior knowledge."
Despite being clones, they held almost none of the same 'morals' as the Origin. This was mostly due to their creation and the sheer lack of empathy the scientists had shown them or their Origin.
While the Professor was doing his best to instill some humanity in them, it wasn't enough to quell their killer instinct when it came to protecting their Origin.
It was for this reason Wolverine often took them on 'camping trips' which were more him training them until they couldn't move anymore, save for Tulip who had some sort of ability to heal the others with her yellow flames.
So far they had come to learn something about their powers, though each Sister had a different ability. They might share the Origin's mutation, but their flames were unique.
Wolverine had entirely too much fun helping them learn what they could and couldn't do.
Green was excellent at reinforcement, hardening and providing shields. It was also good at causing organ failure as the muscles stiffened to the point they couldn't work anymore.
Blue was deceptive, as it inspired a sense of tranquility and was very useful in causing victims to slow down and become tired.
Yellow was capable of causing the body's natural healing ability to go into overdrive, or when she became vexed enough, to activate every single nerve ending at once causing unimaginable pain to the victim (Wolverine could attest to this).
Red was very simple...it acted like an overpowered acid, without any of the normal traces left behind.
Indigo was confusing, and seemed to be geared mostly towards psychic abilities...by common consensus, Primrose would stay closer to the Origin, partly as a bodyguard but mostly to receive further training from Jean and the Professor.
Violet... that was the toughest one of all. It was only when she accidentally caused a rabbit to explode in her hand that they figured out what she could do, and that was mostly because there was far too much blood to have come from a simple rabbit. Being able to multiply things was absolutely terrifying once you put your mind on how to use it.
Origins flames were not to be discussed...she had a vibrant orange fire that none them could figure out it's ability, but considering she was still recovering from the trauma, it was decided to leave it alone for now. She still wasn't used to using her mutation in an actual fight, so adding more abilities on top of that was silly.
Ironically, the one who helped them finally break into the underworld also happened to be the reason why Sumire was cloned in the first place.
(Professor Xavier nearly had a heart attack when he discovered Sumire was his former friend's granddaughter. Wasn't Magneto in for a big shock next time they ran into each other...)
Magneto looked at the trio of identical girls. Triplets were unusual, but something told him that there was something else going on.
"Who are you three?" he asked.
And why had they broken into his base...though admittedly after beating up Toad and Blob, which was harder to do than it looked.
"I am designated as Fern. These are my sisters Bluebell and Tsubaki," said Fern.
"Our sister Primrose suggested you would be the best way to enter the ranks of the underworld," said Bluebell calmly. "Your usual activities suggest you already have contacts."
"That plus Sensei told us that he wanted to train Verbena solo for a while," added Tsubaki.
Magneto...felt like sweat-dropping. Mystique was trying very hard not to laugh, and was barely succeeding.
"Right...what is the real reason you three broke in to our base?" asked Mystique.
Tulip gained a hard look, as did her sisters.
"Our Origin was kidnapped by people with underworld contacts. We are trying to understand why she was taken and who was behind it, to prevent a repeat. The Professor may have strong protections, but we would rather eliminate the threat altogether," said Tulip bluntly.
"Your...origin?" repeated Magneto.
"The original," said Fern.
"We are honored that the Origin regards us as her sisters, rather than just her clones," said Bluebell.
Magneto's headache trying to figure out the three abated, just a bit. Clones explained a considerable bit about their identical appearance.
Mystique blinked.
"What's that got to do with us?"
"We are aware that your particular faction is less...pacifistic compared to the Professors," said Fern.
"We would be willing to assist in your operations provided it does not lead back to Origin," said Bluebell.
"The fact that school work is too boring for us doesn't help...only Origin and her guard are needed for that," said Tsubaki.
Magneto's headache returned. Mystique found this all rather hilarious, honestly.
Magneto looked to his best infiltrator and spy.
"Right. These three are your new prob...I mean students," he said flatly.
Seeing the interested expressions of the trio, Mystique had to grin. This was going to be fun...there were certain things she could teach females that she couldn't teach the usual males that their group attracted.
(The sisters would all gain new...accessories...to make it easier to tell them apart. Not that anyone was complaining.)
Some time later...
"So you want to contact this...Verde...person regarding his technology?" asked Sumire.
"Yes... it seems whoever removed you from your home was using his technology...specifically in how to create clones. We believe he might have an idea where to look for further information. Our sources indicate he is looking for test subjects for his more dangerous experiments," said Primrose.
Sumire looked at her worriedly.
"What if something goes wrong?" she asked. "I don't want to lose you or any of your sisters."
"We believe that should an accident occur, all that would be required is a new clone body to inhabit to return to full functionality," reported Primrose.
This was mostly based on the fact they had a hive mind, and that Primrose had accidentally created a false body for Bluebell to inhabit when she turned the blue flames on herself for a week. Bluebell had been able to move around with no issue in the fake body Primrose had made, which lead them to suspect that should they acquire a way to clone themselves they would essentially achieve a sort of pseudo-immortality so long as Sumire remained unharmed. After all, she was the source material.
Though that really begged the question as to whether Sumire could inhabit a new body should something happen. None of the sisters were willing to test that theory out.
"So...does that mean you can't go shopping with me later?" asked Sumire, eyes wide and slightly teary. She had discovered very quickly she could get the sisters to do almost anything she asked when she turned that look on them.
Primrose resisted the urge to wince.
"Ah...no. We shall proceed with the original plan and switch out to maintain full protection over the Origin during her mall excursion," she said quickly.
It said volumes that they would perform such a task without being told to do so. Sure it would cause a lot of confusion if they were all together at the same time, but that was a small price to pay. Besides, Sumire found it funny seeing the confusion other people had whenever one of the sisters switched out and people took in the different hairstyles.