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Danger Dome
Rachel's POV
"Is there something you want to tell me?" she asked before firing a salvo of psi-spikes at the newest member of the Grey family.
"Like what?" Alexia asked as she erected a TK force field to block the spikes before firing a TK concussive blast at her.
"Like why you've been so focused on training the last two weeks." She replied as she used her TK to fly clear of the blast.
"What? I've finally found something I'm good at and can have fun learning." Alexia said with a half shrug before taking to the air as well, "Besides it's not like I have much else to do. I passed this reality's GED, I've got a home, money and food. Not much else I need except skill and experience with my powers since it's pretty much a given I'll be doing the superheroine thing in the future."
"You're not going to even consider college or just getting an ordinary job?" she asked as she threw out some telepathic psionic blasts.
"Not a good idea. As long as I have the proto-Phoenix inside of me I'll always be a target for baddies with a taste for power." Alexia replied before sending out her own blasts to intercept the incoming attacks, "The fact that I look like a teenage Jean Grey is probably going to bring trouble to my door no matter what I do. Better to be ready for trouble then to ignore it when it's trotting up to your front door."
"You make it sound like there'll be a fight every other day, a crisis every other week and an end of the world situation every other month." She said before trying to use her telepathy to induce mental paralysis in her student.
It seemed to work for about five seconds before Alexia managed to free herself and keep moving.
Not bad but in a fight all an enemy usually needed to kill you was one second.
Two seconds at the most and only if there was some obstruction in their way.
Firing off a telekinetic concussion blast that succeeded in hitting Alexia and was only kept from doing serious harm because the TK shield her student had wrapped around her body as well as the fact that she'd pulled her 'punch'.
"FOCUS! Your psionic powers can give you an awareness of your surroundings that few others have." She ordered as she flew forward to press her advantage, "It won't matter if its matter or energy because with enough focus you'll be able to sense both. Use that to your advantage! Don't just use your eyes or ears to figure out where the next attack is coming from."
"And tell me have YOU ever managed this enlightened state of fighting teach'?" Alexia asked sounding a little annoyed as well as a bit sarcastic.
"Well…no…BUT I know Psylocke managed it!" she replied with some humility before counterattacking, "Besides it'd be a handy thing to be able to do right?"
"Yeah but doesn't that level of awareness normally take years of training to pull off?" Alexia asked sound agreeable but doubtful.
"Normally yeah but keep in mind you've got some of my mothers skills in your subconscious letting you learn how to use your telepathy and telekinesis at an accelerated rate." She replied pointing out the advantage the young woman had, "So while normally it'd take years what you got from my mother might just cut that time in half."
"Something to look forward to then." Alexia said before she reached down with both hands and made a lifting motion.
The first time this'd happened she'd been a bit puzzled but that'd resulted in her getting knocked on her butt and then realizing that Alexia had utilized her telekinesis in an inventive way. In most cases someone with TK applied the power directly to a target but some beings due to past experience developed tech or possessed abilities that make it useless. By using dirt and other matter as a buffer of sorts Alexia can attack those that thought themselves protected by not allowing their telekinetic energy to come into direct contact with the defenses protecting the enemy. With luck such an attack would damage if not destroy whatever tech was protecting the enemy from direct telekinetic contact or perhaps daze someone with the special power to neutralize TK enough to make them vulnerable.
"Nice try grasshopper but an X-Man doesn't fall for the same move twice." She said as she flew clear of the immediate area where she'd been.
"Who said it was the same move?" Alexia said as she uprooted dirt and rocks began to follow her like a thick swarm of insects.
What followed was a game of follow the leader with the soil projectiles gaining on her bit by bit even as she tried to outrun them. A few minutes later she decided to go for the tried and true move of charging Alexia and then veering away at the last second so that the teenager's own attack would hit her. Unfortunately this was a move her student was familiar with and so with a blink the mass of dirt and rock she was controlling went around her before locking back onto its primary target. It only went on for a minute before Alexia showed she knew when to revise her strategy by splitting the single mass into two so that she could try to come at her from two different directions.
Not too shabby! She thought genuinely pleasantly surprised by her student, I might've taught her how to manipulate more than one object at a time with her TK but to manipulate that many in two different ways while remaining on the move isn't easy.
Not that the two masses were pulling off complex aerial maneuvers or following an intricate strategy when they came at her but still it showed a respectable level of TK multitasking. She was confident that given enough time her student would be able to pull off some rather impressive attack patterns with telekinetically propelled projectiles but for now this was it. Deciding to see how easy it'd be for her to break the concentration needed to manipulate the two masses she sent a psi-spike at Alexia that'd be enough to daze her if she'd been on the receiving end of it. As expected the level of focus needed to manipulate the two masses made it impossible to muster a strong enough mental shield to whether the spike and instead of daze it knocked her student on her teenage butt. At the same time the two masses of dirt and rock flew out of control to either impact one of the Danger Dome's trees or eventually lose momentum and fall back to the ground.
"I think it'd probably be best if you didn't try to multitask like that until you can keep up a strong telepathic shield at the same time." She said as she watched her student shake the cobwebs loose.
"Ya think!" Alexia growled as she got back to her feet.
"Now howsabout we break for lunch and then we'll do a few hours of pure telepathic combat." She said as she began to walk towards the entrance/exit of the Danger Dome.
This just caused her student to groan in dread but that was understandable since the teenager tended to have better odds defeating her in the real world than mind to mind. Still there existed any number of beings both human and otherwise whose main weapon focused on attacking the mind in a variety of different ways. If Alexia was to be protected from the likes of the Shadow King or Lady Mastermind it was imperative that she be capable of defending herself telepathically against their assaults.
She might not be able to take down Frost in a telepathic battle yet but she was still good enough to give Alexia the training she needed to protect her mind.
The Massachusetts Academy
The Next Day
Alexia's POV
KNOCK!KNOCK!
"Mmmmm…go 'way!" she mumbled as she turned away from the offensive noise, "'leepin'!"
KNOCK!KNOCK!KNOCK!
"I SAID 'GO AWAY! SLEEPING!" she growled before she made one last bid to return to the bliss of REM sleep.
KNOCK!KNOCK!KNOCK!KNOCK!
THAT did it!
With a grumble she threw off her covers, got to her feet and stomped over to the door before yanking it open with the intent of giving the person on the other side an earful. Her irritation was dimmed a bit when she saw that instead of one person on the other side of her door there were three. More specifically the Cuckoos with each of them dressed as if heading out for a few hours but to her still sleep fogged mind she wondered why they were bothering her. She'd have found out on her own that they'd gone out when she'd gotten down to the kitchen, at her own pace, and seen that they weren't there like they usually were.
"So you've forgotten what today is." Celeste said before sighing in mild exasperation, "I told you two days ago what we'd be doing today."
Two days ago?
Thinking back she tried to remember what if anything she'd agreed to do with the three triplets and at first she got nothing but after using a trick Rachel had taught her about improving memory recall she got a glimmer of the truth. Something about a debt owed…shit. She remembered now. Two days ago Celeste had told her that in two days time they'd all be taking a trip into New York City for a shopping trip in accordance with the price the blonde had stipulated for her help with Spidey's kid. She had forgotten about it. In her defense though Rachel's training session yesterday had dragged on for quite a bit and had left her completely exhausted. As a result it was no wonder that she'd slept longer than she usually did and temporarily forgotten about any arrangements that'd been made. As much as she didn't like being turned into the trio's pack mule and being Celeste's own little 'Barbie Doll' a deal was a deal and she didn't want to be known as the sort of person who welched.
"Give me half an hour and I'll be ready to go." She said before turning away from the door and heading to her room's personal bathroom.
"Half an hour? You can really get ready that quick?" Irma asked sounding a bit surprised.
"What's to do? Shower, use the dryer to get it halfway dry and then find something to put on for the day." She really didn't see the difficulty.
To this the three Cuckoos merely exchanged looks of disbelief and confusion.
"I think it's best if we help you get ready." Celeste said before taking her by the arm and pulling her toward the bathroom, "Irma? Look through her clothes and try to find something halfway decent for her to wear. I'll make sure she looks like she actually CARES about her appearance."
"HEY! I've been getting up the same way ever since we arrived at the Academy and you've never had a problem with it before." She said as she was pulled into the bathroom and the door shut.
"You haven't set foot off the Academy or the Institute property before." Celeste pointed out as she went about grabbing various bottles before putting them on the shelf inside of the shower booth, "My sisters and I also weren't being seen with you before as well."
"Soooo…what? It's a whole 'you need to be presentable to be seen with the almighty Cuckoos' thing?" she asked not liking all the extra add-ons that were getting connected to her side of the bargain.
"More like you can dress up homeless people in designer clothes but people will still be able to tell they're homeless. It clashes." Celeste replied stepping out of the shower stall, "In order to pick out just the right clothes for you I need you looking your best. NOT like you just walked through the shower and ran a comb through your hair a few times."
As much as she hated to admit it Celeste had a point.
Not that she considered her usual post bathroom appearance to be equivalent to a homeless person's standard level of hygiene but usually when you put on something nice you went the extra mile. When she'd been a guy that'd meant full body scrub using the GOOD soap, shaving away all the unneeded whiskers and putting some effort to making his hair look good. Now that she'd been turned into a girl she'd done the bare basics for keeping clean and that meant shampooing her hair every other day, scrubbing herself with soap whenever she got sweaty or stinky and shaving the parts of the female body that needed to be shaved on a regular basis.
Apparently though this wasn't enough for Celeste.
"Fine. Just so you know though it's not that I necessarily like sticking to hygiene standards you'd find in a lower middle class home." She said as she began to strip out of the lady's boxer shorts and bra that she'd worn to bed, "It's because up until getting dumped in this reality I never had the budget for anything else. Everything my parents earned either went towards paying the bills or feeding their alcoholism. If I wanted money I either 'borrowed' an amount of money that wouldn't be missed or I took the empty bottles to the local recycling depot. Let me tell you: all that was barely enough for me to buy a new shirt every other month from the local thrift store and keep me in snacks. I didn't have the money for all the shampoos, conditioners, body lotions and whatever else you think a young lady needs to make herself presentable."
Finished with the stripping and ignoring the nagging feeling her almost fully conscious mind was hitting her with she stepped into the shower stall, closed the door and turned the water on.
"So basically you might as well tack on beauty tips and bathroom stuff of choice to the wardrobe you plan on getting me with Frosty's credit card." She said as the hot water slammed into her body.
Taking a moment to enjoy the soothing qualities of a hot shower she waited for Celeste to start rattling off how she got ready in the morning or list the sort of bathroom products that were mandatory for any self-respecting teenage girl. After about a minute though with no response she felt a bit puzzled so she turned her head to see why he hadn't gotten the lecture from the 'professor of pretty' only to find Celeste looking shocked.
Probably can't understand what it's like to be lower middle class much less have to survive off the budget of one. She thought turning back to the shower before grabbing the soap, Don't know what kind of life she had growing up but once she became one of Emma's girls she probably had the best of everything.
Deciding that Celeste would probably talk eventually she just put a decent amount of effort into cleaning herself using everything that the Cuckoo had lined up for her on the shelf inside the shower stall. Most of the stuff had names on the bottles that made their uses fairly self-explanatory so he didn't need to ask questions about what to do with this or that. The few things that she didn't have any clues about thankfully had instructions written on the back that were written in a fairly straightforward manner. Personally she still thought it was overkill but if Celeste and her sisters were going to be a pain about it it'd be less hassle just to give in and do it.
"I…I'll go and see how the others are doing with your clothes." Celeste said finally finding her voice before the sound of a door opening and closing reached her ears a few seconds later.
Whatever. She telepathically thought at the departing blonde.
She wasn't too worried about what they'd wind up choosing for her since she pretty much had a dresser and closet full of hand-me-downs from either Rachel or Kitty plus a small number of things that the X-Men buy in bulk at least once a month.
Considering the number of times the mansion got wrecked or they wound up getting attacked while in their street clothes it only made sense to have a large supply of T-shirts, sweat pants and plain undergarments for both genders in a wide assortment of sizes.
Shoe Section of Bloomingdales
Celeste's POV
Just don't think about it. She thought while making sure her psi-shields were up and that nothing drifted over her link with her sisters, It was nothing. NOTHING! Just a bit of shock that's all.
Fortunately her sisters Phoebe and Irma were too busy trying to cultivate a little fashion common sense into Alexia by teaching her why some shoes would be good for her while others would be quietly and bluntly an idiot's choice of footwear. She could tell without looking that the girl who looked identical to Professor Grey-Summers was struggling to understand the complexities of choosing items with the right color combinations, right material composition and how they'd go with her outfits. Alexia was definitely one of those girls that had never opened a single teen girl magazine in her life or had friends she could discuss clothes with. It was certainly supported by the half-asleep admission the redhead had made in her bathroom hours ago and if her friends were numb fashion-wise like she was it'd take awhile before the Phoenix host could shop skillfully on her own.
"Look, look, LOOK! I'm trying to work with you two but I've always been a function over form kinda gal." Alexia declared once her patience wore thin enough, "I'm going to pick the last pair of shoes and that's it for this department. PERIOD!"
With a glare Alexia walked over to the display of footwear and after a few seconds grabbed a pair of Frye 'Veronica' slouch tall boots made of a brown leathery material with a buckled strap at the ankle as well as the top. It wasn't ugly and it was a designer boot so at least those criteria were met. All of them hard learned early on that trying to put Alexia in high heels or anything similar was a mistake despite how good the redhead looked in them. So all the shoes so far had been flat heels of one sort or another but all of them conformed to what they knew of what a good shoe should look like. The boots she'd chosen did indicate that the taste they were trying to pound into the girl was having an effect if only gradually.
"Okay so we've got shirts, pants, and shoes covered." She said deciding to let Alexia have this last win with the shoes and move on, "Time to move onto the next item on the list."
"That would be either lingerie or swimwear." Phoebe said looking a little unhappy with the boots but not enough to force everyone to stay with shoes awhile longer.
"So which do you want to go for first Alexia?" Irma asked honestly willing to let their 'Barbie doll' choose where they'd go next.
"Can't we just…skip both?" Alexia asked in response looking uncomfortable, "I mean I have plenty of underwear back at the Academy and it's not like we're anywhere near a decent beach."
"The Danger Dome is more than just a training room." She replied pointing out the flaw in his statement, "It has a decent sized pond in it that can be heated if we need it to be. As for your underwear…let's just say that I think I know now why Rachel hasn't had a date in a few years. It's just SO…nineties!"
True there wasn't that big a difference in swimwear or lingerie fashion between the nineties and the present but she wasn't about to let her side of their little bargain be cut short. Besides if Alexia was this uncomfortable just talking about swimsuits and lingerie then it'd almost certainly be quite the show once they actually got one or the other on her.
As she and her sisters stared down the redhead she could tell that Alexia was trying to come up with some sort of argument to avoid what was coming at her. She didn't even need to peek with her telepathy because it was all too clear from the body language alone that she was uncomfortable. When neither she nor Phoebe or Irma gave in after a full three minutes Alexia caved in.
"Swimwear then." Alexia said sounding like she believed it to be the lesser of two evils.
With that decided they went to the nearest cashier, paid for the boots and then made their way to the swimwear section of Bloomindales. Looking about she tried to think of what'd look good on Alexia but at the same time would make the young woman squirm a bit if made to wear it. She wouldn't go too far of course or the girl would walk right out of the place and leave her sisters to carry everything back to the Academy bargain be damned. Eventually her eyes fell upon a two-piece swimsuit with a tie halter bikini top and a skirted bottom and on instinct she grabbed it before passing it to the redhead. There was hesitance on Alexia's face so she pushed the girl into the dressing room before taking a couple of steps back and waiting to see how it'd turn out.
"Aren't you enjoying this a little TOO much Celeste?" Phoebe asked sounding a little suspicious with her tone.
"Oh come on! You can't tell me you're not enjoying her putting on stuff that's everything from ridiculous to pretty along with what's in between." She replied dismissing her sister's tone, "It's the closest we'll ever get to see Jean Grey-Summers doing the same! Besides just thinking about what Miss Frost is going to do when she sees her next credit card bill and we tell her who it was all for…heheheheheheheh…I'm laughing already."
"True." Phoebe said with a smile of her own, "She was almost projecting her distaste for Alexia because of how she kept reminding Mister Summers about his ex-wife. Finding out that we used her credit card to pay for a complete wardrobe for Alexia will DEFINITELY put her in a bad mood."
It was only a few minutes later that she heard the sound of the dressing room curtain being pushed aside and she beheld Alexia wearing the swimsuit she'd chosen. She couldn't help but stare at the sight but if anyone asked she'd say it was because she thought that she'd chosen a suit that was a size or two too small for the teenager rather than the truth. The truth…the truth was she felt something looking at Alexia now that she'd thought she'd imagined when she'd first felt it in the girl's bathroom hours ago. It was an…appreciation…but of what she hadn't been able to put a label to in the bathroom but now with a second taste she knew.
She was feeling LUST.
Almost as soon as she came to that conclusion though she mentally shook herself, checked her psi-shields and her connection to her sisters to make sure no one had picked up on it and put an innocent look on her face.
"I think you might need a bigger size but aside from that you look good in it." She said as she walked around the redhead who looked uncomfortable outside of the dressing room.
She could tell both with her eyes and her telepathy that some of the other people in the store, both employees and customers, were indeed giving Alexia a full once over. The men along with one or two of the women were giving off lust and letting their minds visit the gutter a bit while the others only appraised then looked away. Deciding to take Alexia's mind off of the watching eyes she decided to do the one thing guaranteed to knock her out of her 'I want to cover up real quick' mindset.
SMACK!
"AAHHH! What'd you do that for!?" Alexia exclaimed as she leapt away from her before turning to lightly glare at her as she reflexively rubbed the butt cheek that'd gotten smacked.
"Because you gotta relax that's why." She replied unable to remove the amused smile from her face, "You're wearing a swimsuit and that means you're going to be using it either at the beach or a pool and unless you have enough money to buy a private one of either there's going to be people there. Better to get used to being looked at sooner rather than later."
"Bet you wouldn't be so causal about it if you were in my position." Alexia said still looking uncomfortable but having it more under control on the outside at least, "In fact why don't you let me pick out a swimsuit for you. This is supposed to be a joint shopping trip after all and if you're all really looking to stick it to Frosty then tossing any white clothes, underwear or swimsuits is the first step. After all scuttlebutt around the Institute was that she was trying to turn all of you into her little cookie cutter copies and since plastic surgery's a bit drastic ditching the snow colored clothes is the next best thing."
For a moment she was going to refuse but then she had to consider what Alexia had said about how she along with her sisters wanted to forge identities separate from the 'Emma's girls' label they'd been stuck with. Indeed almost from the moment she and her sisters had first set foot in the Institute they'd been under Miss Frost's 'guidance'. They'd been made to look identical to one another under the justification that their five-in-one hive mind needed that reinforcement in order to reach its full potential. Considering what had happened to Sophie and Esme though she along with her sisters had come to the decision that maybe it was time for them to start thinking for themselves rather than listening to Miss Frost.
"Fine. What would you suggest?" she asked deciding to see where things went.
With that bait on the hook she was pleased to see that with something else on her mind Alexia was willing to walk about the swimsuit section of Bloomingdales without looking like she wanted to dart back into the changing room as soon as possible. She wasn't too afraid of what the redhead would choose for her since in her experience people who weren't comfortable in bikinis tended to be a bit prudish with whatever they chose for others.
"A-HA! I think this one would be perfect on you!" Alexia said before taking a swimsuit off the rack and holding it up so she and her sisters could see it, "According to the label it's a red high cut scrunchie Brazilian bikini."
Okay…maybe not quite as prudish as I'd thought. She thought to herself as she took the selected swimsuit, This is probably the wrong size but it'll give me an idea of what I'll look like wearing the right size.
"I'll be dressed in three." She said as she went into the changing room Alexia had vacated.
Three…two…one…zero!
"HEY! At least let me get changed first!" Alexia exclaimed before the sounds of approaching feet reached her ears.
"Sorry! OCCUPIED!" she said with a bit of humor before sending telepathically, Unless of course you'd like to join me in here. I'm game if you are.
THIS brought the footsteps to a stop instantly.
"Fine. Take your time." Alexia said sounding a little floored and uncertain.
With a giggle she began to strip out of her clothes so she could try on the swimsuit but amidst all that movement she had to admit that this day was proving to be well worth sifting through the minds of some rather unpleasant people to get Alexia the information she wanted.
They'd have to do it again sometime.
Just the two of them.
The Academy
Later That Day
Alexia's POV
RING!RING!
Picking up the phone telekinetically she brought it over to where she was in the living room before dropping it into her outreached hand.
"Lifestyles of the Pretty Powerful! How may I direct your call?" she asked with her usual bit of humor.
"Likin' Frost's hand-me-down digs then petite?" Gambit asked over the phone with a bit of a chuckle.
THIS caused her to sit upright and lose the humor for the time being just in case it turned out to be the good news she'd been waiting for.
"It's got its pluses Cajun." She replied looking about both visually and telepathically, "So how are things over in Europe. You get a line on our girl yet?"
"I'm hurt Alexia! No small talk, no how you doin' Remy?" LeBeau asked with mock hurt even as there was humor in the background.
"Fine! How you doing Remy? Clubbing much?" she asked before feeling a little wicked, "Should I be tellin' Rogue that you miss her terribly or have ya found some fine femme over there to keep yourself company at night?"
"Oui to the clubbin' during my free time but aucun to the women petite." Remy replied sounding like he understood the humor that was intended, "With the team you paid for…ain't exactly healthy, hein?"
"No kidding. So…you got a line yet on the target?" she asked deciding that was enough chit-chat for now.
"I gotta tell you petite I was a l'il doubtful that we'd be able to get very far what with the trail bein' over three years old but it looks like Lady Luck be smilin' on ya." Gambit replied as the sound of moving paper, "Bit of P.I cliché, some palms greased and some heads busted and we managed to follow le Jade Gargouille from its first stop in Europe all de way to the island of Euboea near Greece. Unfortunately it looks like de Mongrain woman had a near miss with a boat bomb after some locals remember seeing some pale faced guys in black cloaks visit her."
"The Scriers. The only reason Osborn would order Mongrain bumped off would be to tie up loose ends. That means that the target likely got transferred into their custody after that." She said immediately being able to identify the mystery men.
"Dat be our call too. Managed to follow their trail a bit further but looks like they got ambushed by a man named Kaine. They got messed up pretty bad with only two surviving." Gambit said sounding like he wanted something, "De name Kaine mean anythin' to you?"
"He's a failed clone of Spider-Man. Dangerous. Picture the web head with a more Wolverine/Punisher way of doing things and you pretty much have Kaine." She replied after a moment's recollection.
"Matches up with what we found." Remy said sounding unsurprised, "We interrogated de two survivors but dey were pretty tight lipped petite. Osborn got them scared bad."
"Dead end?" she asked hoping that wasn't the case.
"Non. Dey mighta been tight lipped but dat woman Misty be DAMN scary when she wants to be." Remy replied sounding both impressed as well as wary, "With a little help from the rest of us we managed to get a couple leads from each of them. It's why I called…I think we mighta found her."
"Where?" she asked already making mental plans for the plane ride she'd be taking.
"Rome of all places. A Multivex research facility specializing in gene therapy, medical applications for nanotechnology and neurological disorders." Gambit replied promptly amidst the sound of shuffling papers.
"Tell the team to start gathering the info and tech needed to do a little covert B&E." she ordered getting up from her chair and turning off the TV, "I'll grab the first available flight over."
"You sure you want to do dis chere?" Remy asked sounding a little cautious, "Could be a dead end."
"No. I trust you guys." She said with confidence, "You wouldn't be saying 'we mighta found her' unless you had some pretty solid info to back up those words. Besides I told you guys I wanted to be there for the final charge and I meant it. I've been having Rachel push extra hard during training so I could make sure I'd be able to keep up."
"Suit yourself petite." Gambit said obviously realizing that he wouldn't be getting anywhere with her, "Give me a call when you know which flight your on and we'll be there to pick you up."
"Sure thing Remy and…be sure to tell the team I appreciate you guys taking a job from a teenager." She said genuinely conveying her thanks, "I'm pretty sure most thieves and give teen customers the brush off especially if the job's three years old and definitely if they're not seriously compensated for their time."
"Hey, the little girl of a hero was in trouble and the proof ya had was sound." Gambit said reassuringly over the phone, "Add that to what we found out on our own and it became solid. So we do what heroes do and save the day."
"Thanks just the same." She said before hearing footsteps, "Gotta go. What's the number?"
After hearing the number she TKed a pen and a piece of paper from the nearby table and immediately wrote it down and ended the call with Gambit. Just in time too since it turned out to be Rachel that'd been making the footsteps and she still wasn't sure she wanted Marvel Girl to find out about her little 'overseas business venture'. Not only would her housemate not be happy that she was kept out of it from the beginning but there was a decent chance that her fellow redhead would try to block her involvement. Not only was she a one of a kind commodity but like most teachers Rachel would be wary of sending her into a dangerous situation without her being present. Thus she would make a small amount of chitchat, escape to her room to pack and while there come up with a perfectly 'safe' reason to explain her wanting to go on 'vacation' to Rome. She already had the DNA stuff from Logan, it arrived about a week after the group meeting, so if little May really was there like she believed they'd be able to positively ID her.
Should probably call the Institute and see if Logan wants to go with me. She thought while keeping her telepathic shields were in place, He did me a solid acquiring DNA samples from Pete and MJ not to mention getting some combo possibilities mapped out by a pro along with a device that can fit in my pocket. Besides it'll probably be useful having a near indestructible killing machine on the mission.
"What's up?" Rachel asked sounding mildly curious.
"Not much. The usual stuff on the idiot box." She replied casually while keeping her features schooled in neutrality, "Figure I might head into Snow Valley and see if anything fun's going on there. Anything you want me to bring back?"
"Nah I'm good." Rachel replied with a slight negative shake of her head.
"'Kay. See ya!" she said before heading for the stairs at a casual walking pace.
As soon as she was sure that she was out of Rachel's direct line of sight she picked up the pace and once inside her room she grabbed the suitcase she'd found in the closet her first day at the Academy and began to fill it. She wouldn't put much in, two or three days worth of clothes at most plus toiletries, since she didn't imagine they'd be sticking around Rome much longer than that. She wouldn't have to worry about packing a costume since Bennu could change whatever clothes she wore into her Dark Phoenix uniform and unless things went pear shaped it wouldn't be needed anyway.
Once she was sure she hadn't forgotten anything she went over to the window, opened it and then telekinetically sent her suitcase over to where the garage was. She'd already been given a driver's license due to being taken out for a test drive not long after arriving at the Institute so she'd have no trouble 'borrowing' Rachel's vehicle. The fact that by leaving the car in the airport parking lot the daughter of Jean Grey wouldn't be able to catch up very easily was only the icing on the cake.
Setting the suitcase down on the ground she closed her window and quickly changed out of her 'casual around the house' clothes to her 'going out and want to look good' clothes. Tucking her passport, wallet and the DNA scanner into pockets she left her room making for the front doors of the central Academy building. Keeping her mental shields strong so as to let nothing out that Rachel might pick up on she exited the building before walking over to the front entrance of the garage. For all the wasted room that existed on the Academy grounds seeing as how there were only five of them there it was a rather nice place.
Who knows…maybe someday I'll go the Xavier route and open up a school of my own. She thought off hand not at all serious since she figured she'd be a lousy teacher.
So why was the thought lingering in her mind longer than any other whim she'd ever had?
Shaking her head she opened the door to the garage but when she looked in the direction of Rachel's car she found that her sneaking skills needed work.
"So where are we going?" Rachel said suitcase at her feet leaning against the car.
"How-?" she asked unable to figure out where she made her mistake.
"Your telekinesis. Even when things are peaceful I keep a mental ear out for anything out of the ordinary. Comes in handy when it comes to seeing an attack coming." Rachel replied ever as she used her TK to pop the trunk and put the suitcase inside, "I sensed when you used TK to put your suitcase outside of the garage. Once I knew that the rest was easy. So where're we going?"
For a moment she considered bullshitting or ever taking the offensive and trying to surprise her sensei with a telepathic attack meant to render her unconscious for a few hours. In the end though she decided that it would be more trouble than it was worth.
"Rome. Gotta make a call first though." She replied taking out her cellphone and dialing the Institute.
It was looking more and more like no matter what defenses Osborn might have in his Rome facility her group would have the skill as well as the power to steamroll right through.
She didn't have a problem with that.
Leonardo da Vinci Airport
Rome, Italy
The Next Day
Rachel's POV
Here's hoping that nothing happens forcing us to raid the place immediately. Alexia thought at her telepathically, I need time to recover from the jet lag.
Not to worry darlin'. Logan thought as they walked from the plane to baggage claim area, Gumbo didn't have anything worryin' to say when you called him to tell'em what flight we were on so we should be good for a day or so.
She couldn't disagree with that plus it'd also give her a chance to find out more about what they'd be up against in Rome. During the car ride from the Academy to New York City Alexia had told her everything about what she'd been up to from the fake email that'd gotten her away for a few hours to the morning they left. Honestly she was a little angry that her student hadn't brought her in on her plan to recuse Spider-Man's kid. She'd fought beside the wall-crawler and considered him a friend as well as a true hero despite what the Daily Bugle would have the public believe. If that bastard Osborn really had kidnapped a baby right out of the delivery room then she had no problem being part of the effort to get the little girl back. Apparently Alexia had been concerned that she'd tell Frost and her father about the plan and that all the commotion might spook Osborn's cronies into doing something…drastic. She'd pointedly told the girl that she did not go running to daddy like that but she understood why it was necessary to not draw attention to the effort.
After all her adventures with Excalibur and the X-Men she'd become familiar with madmen like Osborn as well as the sort of resources they had at their disposal.
Once they'd arrived at the airport they'd waited for Logan to show up and once he did they immediately booked the fastest flight they could to Rome in order to hook up with the others. Alexia updated Wolverine on the situation telepathically during the flight and surprisingly enough the ex-Canadian didn't gripe about it like he usually did when it came to telepathy. Not that she didn't understand why he'd have a problem with it considering the sheer number of times his mind had been fluffed, rinsed and dry cleaned but it was just odd not to hear him grumble about it. The rest of the flight was pretty normal: bad food, mediocre movie and at least one whiny baby that wouldn't stop crying until she telepathically figured out what was bothering the little one and resolved the issue. As a result all three of them were glad when they finally arrived in Rome so they could get someplace a little more comfortable.
I hope you're right Logan. Alexia thought telepathically sounding a little skeptical, Still I guess so long as I get hopped up on enough caffeine and sugar I should be able to make it through the mission if we have to charge in ASAP.
That stuff might work in the short term but it ain't more than wire an chewing gum. Logan thought back sounding against putting Alexia in the field if she was suffering jet lag, If we do have to jump the gun you'll stay back at the hotel and be the psi-communications agent. If the shit really does hit the fan then you'll be the ace up our sleeve.
Here's hoping Osborn doesn't have telepaths of his own on the payroll then. Alexia said as they got their luggage and moved to where Remy should be waiting for them, Otherwise we'll be finding out the hard way if I'm good enough to kick psionic ass with the best of them.
You'll do fine. She thought telepathically reassuringly.
Walking out into the open air it didn't take long for them to spot Remy and the Cajun spotted them a second later.
"Welcome to Rome mes amis!" Remy said casting his arms wide as an invitation to take in their surroundings, "Have a nice flight?"
"I think we both know the answer to that Remy." Alexia replied taking the lead, "Any new developments since I called you from New York?"
"Non, nothing, Misty and Danny running stakeout on the place to keep tabs on anything suspicious happening but they haven't called in so everything should be cool there." Gambit replied as he led them all to his rental car, "She-Hulk is using her legalese and contacts to try an get us more info on interior security and personnel but even at her best you can only push things so far before people start smellin' de stink."
"Hopefully they won't tip off the 'in the know' people working there." Alexia said as they reached the car, "Corporate warfare being what it is they've got to know what to look for when unknowns start sniffing around."
"Don' worry. If they ask they'll find info makin' them think we be workin' for Roxxon." Gambit said as they all began to pile into the car, "Everyone knows those people're crap when it comes to subtle and cannon fodder makes up ninety-five percent of their employee pool. While they're waitin' for mech suits and a small army of mercs we'll slip in, find Spidey's kid and be gone before they get a chance to reorganize themselves."
"Let's hope it goes that smoothly." Alexia said definitely sinking into a leadership position, "Logan as soon as we get to the hotel room look over what they've managed to get on the building. When you're done I'd appreciate it if you could do some quick hyper-senses recon on the facility. See if there're any scents you recognize. People, weapons, chemicals and anything else that could be helpful. But top priority is not to get spotted or make their security people think something might be up."
"You expecting more than the usual security?" Logan asked as Gambit pulled out of the parking space.
"Osborn's hired technologically augmented people before and with there being super powered mercs by the dozen available on the open market I doubt he'd be satisfied with rent-a-cops." Alexia replied as the car pulled out into traffic, "I think it'd be best if we knew in advance what we'd be facing if the stealth portion of the plan goes FUBAR and becomes running and gunning."
"You know he's not going to have anyone suspicious topside right?" Remy asked sounding skeptical about what Wolverine would find.
"True but unless Osborn's got apartments built into the place the people're still going to need to come and go." Alexia replied after letting out a good yawn, "Same thing with weapons. They have to wear out and they have to need fresh ammo or power packs sooner or later. That means trucks coming and going."
"It's better than getting blindsided entirely." She said putting in her support for Alexia's position.
"Give me an hour after I've looked over the info Gambit's group has managed to dig up." Logan said deciding things for the car riding group.
"Fine. Once we have your recon info we'll pool everything we've got and try to come up with a plan for getting to where they're keeping Spidey's kid and exiting the building with her." Alexia said as the scenery passed them by, "If we've all done our jobs right Osborn has no clue who's been scoping out the place and the same goes for any minions minding his operations while he's otherwise occupied. Unless he's got someone completely psycho paranoid as head of security here they won't have something tailor made to take down each of us. Still…keep the pace high, your senses sharp and watch each others backs."
Damn. She thought looking at the girl in the teenage body of her mother, I don't know if it's what she went through back in her native reality or what she's learned since coming here but she's got leadership potential.
She made a mental note to mention this to her dad when they got back.
Sure Alexia hadn't said specifically that she planned on joining the X-Men, just that she'd be a superhero, but she thought it'd be nice to see a Grey girl become the leader of the X-Men one day. Thinking about Alexia being a Grey another thought came to her and while it was beyond complex, almost enough to make her shelve it indefinitely, it also didn't feel right to ignore. People she knew, people she loved, deserved to know about Alexia just as her student deserved to meet them face to face.
There was only one problem: how the hell was she going to explain to the rest of the Grey family that a girl who looked every bit like Jean Grey…wasn't?
The 'Rescue Little May Parker' HQ Hotel Room
Two Days Later, Nighttime
Alexia's POV
GOD I hope I don't screw this up. She thought as she looked across the street at the Oscorp building they were about to infiltrate.
It'd been two days since she'd arrived with Logan and Rachel in Rome but it felt like only yesterday seeing as how the team had suited up less than five minutes ago. It was night and correspondingly the team she'd assembled had clad themselves in darker versions of their usual fighting outfits in order to blend into the shadows more. In She-Hulk's case she'd be staying back with him to be the cavalry in case things took a turn for the worse. As Jen Walters she didn't have the physical abilities or the training to sneak in with the others and as her alter ego would have trouble staying inconspicuous. Like it had been originally suggested she'd be providing the telepathic uplink between the various team members while Rachel with her superior skill would use her telepathy to give the infiltration team as much advance warning as possible of trouble.
"Relax 'Xia." Rachel said as she walked up next to her, "You've got the training to do this and you'll have me for backup. Just stay focused on your job and don't let the details distract you."
"Enough with the pep talk." Misty said checking each of her various weapons before putting them back in their respective sheathes, "Our window's opening up soon and it ain't gonna stay that way for very long."
"Right…right." She said as she went over to the nearest chair and sat down on it, "Prepare yourselves for psi-linking. Remember this won't do anything more than let you 'talk' to each other mind-to-mind instead of out loud. I won't be going any deeper than what's necessary to make that possible. Good?"
Nods all around showed that they trusted her to stick to her word and so she closed her eyes a moment to center herself before setting about establishing the psi-links with herself as the nexus point. It was an odd feeling and despite having practiced with Rachel she doubted that she'd be getting used to it very easily. The buzzing of five people's surface thoughts in the background of her mind was not something she found comfortable so hopefully he wouldn't have to do it for very long. Once she was sure the links had been established and were stable she opened her eyes.
"Okay each of you give it a test drive to make sure I got it right." She said hoping that she hadn't screwed up.
A few quick exchanges and a pick up line from Gambit directed at She-Hulk confirmed that they could hear each other's thoughts.
"Let's do this." Wolverine said looking up at the skylight their room had come with, "Open'er up."
In response to this Rachel reached out with her telekinesis to open the skylight and once done the team began filing out onto the roof. Once they were all out the skylight was closed allowing her to focus less on keeping track of the team visually and more on managing the communications of all of them mentally. She could still sense where they were thanks to the psi-links so she knew they were making their way across rooftops to the best crossover point Logan had found on his recon mission. The Canucklehead's once over had confirmed the presence of your traditional corporate security guards armed with the most potent firearms that a business could legally possess in Italy. He'd also sniffed out several hidden weapons emplacements and invisible tripwires along with the usual security system components. Logan hadn't picked up anything that suggested super villain presence but she felt in her gut that there had to be more than your standard security precautions present.
Even if Osborn was completely unaware of their presence little May Parker was a valuable asset and whatever the monster was doing to her was probably illegal as far as Italy was concerned. He'd definitely take steps to make sure that no one could get on the same level as the child much less enter the same room as the girl without the necessary authorization. There'd likely be retina scanners, DNA scanners, palm scanners, x-gene scanners and anything else that'd make it near impossible for intruders to go where they weren't permitted. Still the team he'd assembled, directly and indirectly, had the skills needed to overcome these hurdles and only something completely impossible to anticipate stood a chance of tripping them up.
That was why she, She-Hulk and Rachel were staying back as the cavalry.
If the unexpected got in the way of the infiltration team then there'd be a surprise waiting for that unexpected element.
We're inside the wall. Logan thought through the psi-link, Moving to established entry point.
The first hurdle was overcome.
The next would be to bypass the security measures inside the wall as well as the ones meant to keep their entry door from being opened by intruders. That meant invisible tripwires, concealed security cameras and likely a combination of key card plus scanner on the door the team would be going through. Those with superhuman senses would be able to detect these things well enough to avoid them while the rest had specialized goggles that'd let them keep up. Given how visible the grounds of the corporate building were she doubted that there'd be anything too troublesome on the surface.
It'd be once they got away from the prying eyes of the public that the more exotic and potentially overkillingly lethal would come into play.
STOP! Wolverine thought loudly to the other members of the insertion team, Perimeter guards.
Want I should give them a time out? Gambit thought inquiringly sounding like he was confident in his ability to do it without letting the alarm be sounded.
Forget it Cajun. Wolverine thought in opposition, A set up like this probably requires they check in regularly. If we knock them out they won't check in and the rest'll know somethin's up.
He's right. Iron Fist thought providing his support for restraint, Besides Alexia made it clear she didn't want Osborn being alerted any sooner than absolutely necessary.
This seemed to settle matters and a few moments later she felt the team once more advance in what could be considered a haphazard manner towards the entry point into the main building. She knew that they were specifically moving to avoid showing up on camera or tripping any alarms and so when they once more came to a stop she knew they'd arrived at the door.
Step back and let Le Maîtriser work mes ami! Gambit thought with no little bit of arrogance in his mental tone.
He could feel several bits of mental eye rolling from the rest of the infiltration team but true to the Cajun's words he managed to get them past the obstacles associated with the door quickly. After that came the measures just inside the door but apparently Misty Knight was no stranger to getting into secure facilities since she could sense the woman doing something after which the team resumed moving. It was a bit nerve racking to just hear what was going on the few times the team members needed to 'speak' to one another and have a basic idea of where they were through telepathy. She'd like it a lot better if she could see through a team member's eyes but this would be deeper than they'd agreed to so she contented herself with what she had.
She was only peripherally aware of the passage of time with the focus of her efforts being to maintain the psi-links but it was when she felt the tension in the team rise she knew they were about to leave for the next level beneath the surface. Up until then there'd been a limit to what security Osborn could put into place without raising eyebrows but without ground penetrating sensors he'd be free to put forth whatever security tech he deemed fit.
Whether it was legal or illegal in nature.
How're things looking so far guys? She asked through the psi-link, Anything got you worried?
Nah! Wolverine thought dismissively as the group came to a stop, So far everything's going smooth as ice.
So of course you're gonna be twice as paranoid as before from here on out. She thought knowing that when things started going too smoothly something FUBAR was on its way, Right?
Smart girl. Logan thought back with a grin no doubt physically on his face.
She mirrored his grin without realizing it but that grin took a nosedive when all of a sudden the psi-links with the team cut out without any warning. Thinking that she'd somehow messed up she reached out telepathically to re-establish them but when her mind reached the last point they'd been connected as well as the area around it for a dozen or so feet.
Nothing.
She reached out further in the hopes that she'd just misjudged the descent rate of the elevator they were probably on but still got nothing.
Deciding to go for lucky number three she stretched her telepathy as far as it'd go but unfortunately some of the old Harris luck must've still been around because she got nothing again.
"Um…Rachel…I think we've got a problem." She said as her consciousness fully came back to her body as well as the environment surrounding it, "I can't find them. You?"
It took a minute before Marvel Girl replied but she could tell from the look on her face the answer wasn't a good one.
"No. Osborn must've installed some sort of tech that blocks psionic energy from making it into the lower levels." Rachel replied as she got up off the bed she'd been sitting on.
"It wasn't in any of the files I got through my sources." She-Hulk said sounding like she was wondering if she'd made a mistake somewhere.
"Which means it's something Osborn had installed himself behind closed doors and under the table." She said moving over to a suitcase that she'd brought along with her usual clothes, "We've got get in there."
"No. We give them ten more minutes." Rachel said with a shake of her head, "If I know Wolvie he'll send one of the team to find whatever's blocking us and take it out. Even if he doesn't do that they're a solid team. They'll adapt."
"And how'll we know when they need the cavalry?" she asked not liking the possibility of arriving too late to make a difference.
"Trust me." Rachel replied with a nostalgic smile, "If Wolverine and the others need out help we'll know it."
She had a point considering the fact that Wolverine and Gambit's abilities were far from subtle and if they came up against something they couldn't handle the fireworks that'd result would be signal enough to charge in.
She just hoped that by the time they knew to charge in that the mission hadn't conclusively become a failure.
Wolverine's POV
"We got trouble." He growled as they hit the floor their intel figured Parker's baby would be.
"Yeah. I think we figured that out for ourselves mon ami." Gambit said sardonically as the elevator doors opened, "What now?"
"Now Gumbo you see if you can track down whatever cut us off from Marvel Girl and Alexia. Find it and scrap it." He replied even as he took an experimental sniff of the floor they now had to look through, "The rest of us'll look for the girl. Hook up with us as soon as you clear the airwaves."
"Consider it done." Remy said before he took off down a hallway to the right.
"Let's move!" he said after picking up that his mind identified as suspension fluid used in tubes commonly employed in biological experiments, "'Cause it's gonna be a lot harder from here on out."
While he'd like to think that whatever was keeping Rachel and Alexia out wouldn't set off the alarms when it detected someone trying to mind peep into the sub-levels he wasn't going to bet on it. If the jig was up then they needed to find Spidey's kid quickly but not recklessly since there was still room enough for the possibility that they were still unnoticed. They needed to pump that possibility for all it was worth because every second they avoided detection was another second ahead of pursuit they'd wound up being.
With stealth and skill born of past experience he along with the two team members still with him navigated through the maze of hallways concealing themselves as needed from corporate employees, cameras and sensors along the way. Sadly when they reached the wing of the sublevel where they believed the child to be they discovered a decided leap up in security. There was a security checkpoint at the only entrance to the wing with four guards present clad in gear he normally didn't see outside of a S.H.I.E.L.D strike team. He also spotted signs of a blast door just behind that he'd bet a box of Cubans would drop down the second the alarm triggered. Was it made of a material his claws wouldn't be able to cut through? He didn't know since the value of Spidey's kid where Osborn was concerned was still unknown.
"How's it look?" Misty Knight whispered from her crouched position behind him.
"Bad. Guards are blocking the only way into the wing and we've got a blast door just waitin' to come down when the alarm goes off." He replied trying to think of a way to overcome their present problem.
"Rushing them an option?" Misty asked sounding like he favored that possibility.
"…One of us might be able to slide under before the door finishes comin' down but not all of us." He replied weighing what he'd seen against what he knew was possible, "With no way of knowing what's in that wing whoever goes in might just be tossing themselves out of the frying pan and into the fire. Probably best if I go."
"I'll hold off the guards then while Iron Fist punches you an exit." Misty said deftly avoiding the role of the sole person to move on.
"It might take awhile." Danny said no doubt concerned about the metal the door was made of and how durable it was.
"Hopefully by then Gambit'll have the psi-blocker offline and we can call in the cavalry." He said as he prepared to push off the floor to get to top speed, "With them as backup we'll manage."
"Sounds like a plan." Misty said as she took out her forty caliber Glock S&W.
"Yeah. Let's hope it turns out to be a good one." He said before bolting around the corner popping his claws as he did so.
He could tell exactly when the guards at the wing entrance spotted him just as he could see one of them reaching out to a panel of buttons on the wall presumably to sound the intruder alarm. Pouring on the extra speed he knew he'd arrive to late to stop it so he focused his efforts on getting past the blast door before he got locked out of the wing. Bullets and energy blasts began to come at him from the weapons of the remaining guards but it wasn't anything he hadn't soldiered through before. The kinetic energy behind some of the shots that hit him did come close to knocking him off his stride but with everything that was at stake he managed to keep his speed steady. As the blast door began to fall and the alarms began to sound he waited as long as he dared before dropping into a baseball slide letting the momentum of his heavy body carry him the rest of the way.
It was still a close call as he could feel the displaced air as the door slammed down probably not more than an inch behind him.
Not wasting time remarking about how close it was he immediately got back to his feet before sprinting for the main area of the wing looking for any sign of Spidey's kid. He knew Parker and MJ's scent well enough that if the baby had spent any time recently outside of a tank or airtight chamber his nose would pick up on it. When he reached an intersection of hallways that looked like they led to four separate sets of four labs something wafted by his nose that immediately caught his attention. He wasn't given time to consider it though since out of nowhere another scent flooded his nose instinctively causing him to dive forward.
CCLLAAANNGG!
A good thing he did because once he regained his footing he turned around to see a sizeable dent in the floor as well as the cause of it.
A green, cybernetic, spiked tail slowly slinking back down the one hallway he hadn't scoped out before the attack happened. Following it back to its source he spotted his new sparring partner and it definitely supported the idea that one of Spidey's foes was connected to the corporation.
"Scorpion." He growled as he prepared himself for a serious fight.
"Don't know what you an your friends are doing here Wolverine but you ain't getting out of here alive!" Scorpion said trying to look intimidating and scary.
"Bub if you knew the number of times I've heard that line!" he growled before going on the offensive since it was always his preference.
Predictably the overgrown bug tried to swat him with the tail but since he saw it coming this time he knew he'd be able to evade it and give it a trim at the same time.
At least he thought he could but just as the claws on his left hand were about to cut through the metal tail something happened that he hadn't seen coming.
The segments of the tail that he thought were irrevocably connected out of nowhere separated leaving nothing but air to be sliced and diced. The only clue he was given as to why was the odd and painful sensation that arced up his left hand to the elbow before fading away. Then as quickly as the segments separated they snapped back together apparently allowing Scorpion to lash out again resulting in a partially connecting hit that knocked him into a wall.
"Nice try Avenger but the boss figured someone might try and chop my tail off." Scorpion said sounding like he suddenly thought he was a contender for 'the best', "As fast as you can try to cut it I can make sure you hit nothing but air."
"Then I guess I'll just go straight to the source!" he said shelving the idea of de-tailing the villain in favor of just kicking the crap out of him.
With limited space for evasion advancing on the creep wasn't easy but a point in his favor was that Gargan had all the skill of a barroom brawler making his moves predictable. Add to that the limited amount of ways a tail could be used in combat, basically sweeping motions or thrusts, and he soon closed the gap between him and his foe swiftly. As soon as he got close enough he lashed out with a feint and an upswing that almost proved to be enough to cause Scorpion to stumble backwards and fall right on his ass. However to the man's credit he recovered his balance a few seconds later and like a bully that didn't like to look weak Gargan recklessly charged forward swinging wildly with both fists and tail. While this did make the goon more predictable the added adrenaline boosted the villain's speed and as he found out much to his chagrin the man's strength as well.
If he didn't have his Adamantium bones the blow that sent him flying then tumbling back the way he'd come would've broken him in two.
Nothing he couldn't have healed from but it'd have left him vulnerable to follow up attacks that'd take him outta play longer than he could allow.
Gotta figure out a way to take this jerk down quick. He thought angrily as he moved to once more close the gap.
Just as he reached the halfway point flashes of light from either side as well as behind him blinded him temporarily but that wasn't the worst part.
That happened next when a trio of attacks that slammed into him causing his body to drop to his hands and knees.
Sniff, sniff, smells like energy blasts. He thought as his body healed and resumed working the way it was supposed to.
Turning to see what'd hit him he found himself hoping that the Cajun got that telepath blocker offline soon.
Three Scriers and the Scorpion were a little above what he could handle without completely trashing the joint.
Gambit's POV
Tsk, tsk! He thought as he stopped trying to pick the electronic lock where he figured the source of the team's psi-problems was located, Sounds like Wolverine gone found himself some trouble.
Not like it ever had any trouble finding him most times anyway.
Still they were all going to have heaps of trouble soon enough when the rest of the security forces came down from above and whoever was in charge called in any of the other surprises Osborn might've had hidden away down here. So with the covert part of the mission out the window he decided not to waste anymore time trying to get into the room quietly.
"First we charge the card." He said as he pulled an ace of spades out of his card holster, "Then we blow it up."
With a toss that he could do in his sleep he threw the charged playing card at the location of the lock and watched as it detonated 'unlocking' things for him. Still took a little lever work with his bo staff to pry the door the rest of the way open but he managed it just the same admitting him to a room with enough sophisticated hardware that he was glad McCoy wasn't with him. If that had been the case he'd probably wind up getting an unwanted lecture on the scientific principles behind the telepath dampening device. Looking the place over with his expert thief's eye he looked for the right set of buttons, dials and switches that'd bring the blocker down.
Then he realized that he was overthinking things so instead he merely placed his left hand on the array of hardware before applying his kinetic charge to it. Walking casually from one side to another he didn't stop until it all had a decent amount of power in it but once that was done he hastened out the door before taking cover a good dozen feet from the room. Seconds after he finished crouching the charged array of tech detonated completely obliterating anything in the room and leaving little of the wall separating it from the hallway. Taking a moment to admire his handiwork he then decided to see if he'd had any success in removing the obstruction keeping the two redheads out of his head.
Yo 'Xia! Rachel! You two femmes listening? He thought as loudly as he could just in case there was still some white noise getting in the way.
REMY! You okay? What's going on? Xia thought at him a little louder than he'd have preferred.
Quiet girl! Qui-et! He thought even as his head still rung a bit with the girl's telepathic message, I be fine chere and what happened is Wolverine's havin' some words with the local bouncers. LOUD words.
Then we're coming in. Xia thought at him as if her mind was already made up, If our secrets out there's no sense staying out here when the rest of you are about to get hip deep in baddies.
I'll make sure the dance floor is all warmed up for you petit soeur. He thought as he heard the sound of boots pounding floor approaching.
Bringing up his next unused card he waited until his sense of hearing told him that the guards were less than five steps from turning the corner before charging it and gently tossing it in their path. He didn't put much oomph into it, just enough to knock them on their butts and put some ringing in their heads, and a second later he was around the corner laying into them with his staff. It was a little tough seeing as how the guards were decked out in protective tactical gear but everything had its weak spots if you knew where to look. Being a master thief it was his job to be able to spot such weaknesses quickly and exploit them just as fast so while the guards weren't amateurs they weren't quite up to his level.
Too bad they had quantity to make up for their lack of quality.
Still he'd faced worse odds before and the fact that the hallway was narrow enough that they couldn't come at him in groups larger than four without tripping over each other. That made his job easier especially since with them being in such close quarters all it took was a single playing card to take out four of them at once.
Of course when he heard another batch of armed men coming at him from the other direction he remembered one of the cardinal truths of battle. Fighting a foe on multiple fronts was never a good idea and getting penned in with your back to the wall was even worse. So he veered off back the way he'd come in order to hook up with the others so he could improve his odds until the cavalry came riding in with the heavy firepower. Scattered guard teams and personnel that hadn't been evacuated yet popped up from time to time but it wasn't hard to deal with them either by dodging past them or showing them how well he could fight. It didn't take him long to hear the sounds of martial arts mastery and bangs too big to be natural meaning he'd found Misty, Danny and probably Logan though he didn't hear any screaming or growling.
Just as he was about to turn the corner his instincts told him to come to a screeching halt and it was a good thing he did since a minute later a familiar form shot through the air past him like it'd been thrown. A quick look identified the flying fellow as Iron Fist and that did not bode well because given the expertise in hand-to-hand combat the man had the number of people capable of throwing him were reduced to a mere handful. Looking back the way his ally had come he spotted the culprit trying to pin down Misty and while he didn't recognize her the fist or foot sized holes implied much. While he wouldn't quite put her in She-Hulk's weight class she was definitely powerful enough that she could kill a person with one blow if they weren't careful.
Better give the lady a hand. He thought as he charged a trio of cards and threw them at the purple clad powerhouse.
BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!
The detonations were good enough to distract the woman, maybe even daze her, thus allowing Misty to get around her opponent and next to him.
"So what's goin' on Misty?" he asked even as the obviously superpowered femme turned to face the two of them, "Didn't think there'd be anyone dat Fist or you couldn' handle."
"Neither did I but this bitch is proving harder to put down than we thought." Misty replied even as she began to open fire on the purple clad woman's joints and eyes, "Iron Fist managed to hold his own for awhile but I think while he was playing for a tournament win she was playing for keeps. You do the math."
Point.
While he didn't always follow them there were certain unofficial rules that every white hat in spandex or a cape followed unless they wanted to be taken down by their own. One of them was excessive force was a big no-no as was using lethal force in any situation where it wasn't the only way to stay alive. As a result most heroes had conditioned themselves to never go that far when fighting their evil counterparts and this led to pulled punches as well as measured punches. If your opponent wasn't doing the same though then even if you technically were superior to your foe in fighting skills it was still possible to lose substantial ground.
"Then its about time we all get serious 'cause here she come!" he said just as the angry looking lady pulled out something that was shaped like a gun so it probably was a gun.
RATATAT! RATATAT! RATATAT!
Yep! Definitely a gun! He thought as he spun his staff was fast as he could to deflect what shots it could while at the same time tossing a random charged card when he could to hopefully disarm the woman.
Fortunately Misty was of the same mind as she adjusted her aim to go for the hands as well as the weapons.
Too bad said guns were decidedly durable.
"You're going to have to try a lot harder than that!" the woman yelled just as she was reaching close quarters combat range.
CCCRRRAAAASSSHH!
THAT was the sound of the ceiling crashing down between the good guys and the bad girl like someone had dumped a steel pillar from high altitude. However instead of a pillar appearing once the debris settled he found himself smiling as the forms of She-Hulk and Alexia both of whom looked ready to lend a helping hand.
"Happy to oblige!" Shulkie declared before delivering a right hook to Miss Purple's jaw succeeding in flooring the woman.
I love women with excellent timing. He thought as a confident grin blossomed on his face.