X-Men: New Class

by Ambaryerno

Set in the Earth-10005 Universe, a new class of students arrives at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. Inspired by Agents of SHIELD, X-Men: New Class loosely adapts Kyle and Yost's New X-Men as a hypothetical live-action television series. (Note: This story only accounts for up to X-Men: Days of Future Past, and will not be updated for Apocalypse)

21. 2x05 - Command Decision

2x05

Command Decision

###

Act I

###

Westchester, New York, three months earlier...

"That's quite enough!" Stryker barked, and the slip of a girl he just watched tear trained and hardened soldiers to shreds ripped her claws from the belly of one of his Purifiers, and spun around to face him. In one hand he held his pistol, her pale face framed in its iron sights. In the other he gripped the belt full of charges primed to blow the entire school apart.

The girl's gymnast's figure quivered like a coiled spring straining to be released, and Stryker smiled at her in sudden recognition.

"Well, now, isn't this a surprise? Tell me, my dear: How is the old man? And Laura Kinney, was it?" he said, emphasizing the surname the Guthrie boy gave him before he died. "I thought I remembered that name from somewhere." Stryker chuckled mirthlessly, and fixed her with a significant look. "I know what you are. I wonder if the rest of your friends do. And in fact, I know someone who would very, very much like to know what's become of you."

There was an infinitesimal change to her complexion, just enough to tell him she hadn't missed his meaning, but she did not make a move and only eyed the string of explosives in his hand. "Reverend Stryker," she said instead, "You are ordered to stand down. Drop your weapon now and surrender."

He chuckled softly, and raised his explosives for emphasis. "I think not. You know what this is, yes?"

The girl gave him a short nod, and swept her eyes across the room before she lowered her hands and retracted her claws.

"Very good. Very smart. This is on a five-second timer on a dead-man's switch. And you know it's enough of a charge to level this building." Stryker smiled smugly. "Now I was hoping to bring my benefactor a prize or two from this exercise, but you, my dear, are more than I had dreamed of! We're going to take a little ride together, and maybe I won't leave this behind."

The girl sniffed the air, likely ascertaining whether or not he was bluffing. He wasn't, of course; better to die in the blazing glory of a righteous fire burning down this den of evil. She quickly looked around the room and took in the faces of her classmates watching the standoff.

"Quentin, shut him down," she said.

"I can't," one of the abominations said. "I can't see him at all."

Stryker's smile only broadened, and she glanced over her shoulder at another boy, a tall and striking fellow whom he recalled from his files went by the name Julian Keller. Telekinetic. They trained you well; he could easily hold the switch down no matter what happens to me.

"Julian—"

Stryker interrupted her before she could even think of telling him to seize the explosives with his power. "Clever girl. But we can't have that, can we?"

He quickly readjusted his aim and fired twice, and the Keller boy went down hard as chaos erupted in the hallway.

It was, in the end, a foolish tactical decision.

One of the girls let out a scream of anguish and rushed to his side, and the dark figure in front of him snatched a pistol hidden behind her back and opened fire. Stryker shot back, and cursed inwardly he didn't have the foresight of swapping mags for his carbonadium rounds when a shot ripped through her chest, only for her healing factor to immediately expel the bullet again. She emptied her magazine and walked her shots into him, and a round passed through his left arm and shoulder. He cried out in pain as his hand went numb, and the string of charges fell from his grip.

Stryker took advantage of the bedlam to turn and run, and forced a path out of the school while everyone was distracted by the explosives ticking down in the hallway. He silently murmured a final prayer for absolution, keenly aware that there was no time for him to escape before the explosives went up and took the entire nest of vipers — and him with it — to oblivion. Yet five seconds passed and he was clear of the building. He stumbled out into the cold of the New York winter, and though he heard and felt the whump of the blast behind him, he was astonished to find himself still of this earth, and the Xavier School standing as strong and resolute as ever.

He wasn't left with much time to process what happened, however. No sooner was he bursting out into the grounds than he met a small knot of his men holding a line of retreat through the back door of the mansion.

"Medic!" someone cried, "The Reverend's been hit! Get him evac'ed, now!"

And then he was safe in the waiting arms of his faithful as they led him as fast as his bad leg allowed towards the van housing the command post, now idling in the grass behind the mansion. Stryker was half-lifted, half dragged inside, and he collapsed on the floor gasping for breath and grimacing in pain while Jack loomed over him. The van lurched beneath him as the driver stepped on the gas, tearing up the lawn in a bid to accelerate away while the denizens of the school were still occupied.

"Hang on, Bill," Jack said. His voice slipped into the carefully practiced calm and measured tones that saw many a wounded soldier through just these sorts of surgeries.

"How many did we lose?" Stryker said, and hissed in an agonized breath while Jack tore open his sleeve to have a look at his wound. Blood ran down his arm and dripped on the floor of the van as it bounced and jostled its passengers, and did no favors to his old and battered body. "Where is Matthew?"

"I don't know, we loaded up as many as we could in the vehicles parked around back, but some fled on foot. It was a rout."

"God in heaven, I can't imagine what has gone wrong," he said, and felt his heart sink. Or perhaps it was the loss of blood making him dizzy; the roof of the van wheeled overhead and it was becoming hard to concentrate. "It was all so perfect!"

"Easy, Bill," Jack said, and went to work tying a tourniquet around his bicep to stem the bleeding.

Stryker let his head roll to the side, and to his amazement he saw a woman lying still on the floor of the van not far from him. Wisps of golden hair peaked out from the bloody bandages tied to her face, and he tried to sit up in horror.

"Dear God, Mary!" he said, and in his current state he couldn't have fought off one of the pairs of hands pushing him back down, much less the three that restrained him now. "Is she all right?"

"She's alive," Jack said. "Severe lacerations to her face. The rest of the CP crew was killed, and she was down before she could get a look at their attacker. We still don't know what happened, but all the patrols were taken out, as well."

"It's all my fault. I have failed you all." Darkness encroached on the edges of his vision, and he was aware of the sensation of slowly falling into warm and inviting shadow. He watched the parade of dead faces marching past him, destined for the glory of heaven, and all he could do in his last moments of consciousness was weep that their sacrifice had been in vain.

"I have failed you, Lord."

###

Abandoned Weapon Plus bunker, the Canadian wilderness, present day...

It was a far cry from his church and New York City office, but for the time being it was sanctuary.

Stryker stood in the doorway of the bunker leading back into the hillside, and swept his eyes across the approach up the snow-swept slope spanning the distance between their shelter and the dense pine forests surrounding it. There was little of the installation left, picked clean over the years by scavengers and trespassers after his project was closed down in the years following the loss of his project's prized creation. Alkali Lake was the heart of Weapon Plus, but now it lay under hundreds of feet of water that might take years more to drain. This installation was just one of many satellite facilities conducting research in support of the main developments there.

It would suit his purposes just fine.

He sighed, and shifted his weight off his bad leg. One hand gripped his cane, and the other hung in a sling and was tucked beneath his jacket. Jack had done his best, but the muscles were stiff and shriveled, and he doubted he would ever have full use of it again. His breath misted in the air in front of him, but he ignored the bite of winter with practiced ease. He was an old soldier, and had lived through far worse conditions with no promise of a warm cot or hot food. No, what he felt now was not from discomfort or lack of supply. It was loss and defeat. God had not answered him when he called out to Him in the aftermath of the assault, everything so carefully planned undone in horrifying and savage alacrity by the one thing he could never have imagined, yet ought to have been prepared for.

Somehow, without having been there himself, the Wolverine had thwarted him again.

Stryker turned and hobbled back inside, leaving the mournful howl of the winter wind — and the swirling snow piled in high drifts around the entrance to the bunker — behind him. He made his way along the tunnel and deep underground, passing the handful of men on watch or milling about in the barracks on his way to the command post. Once, thirty-odd years ago, the installation was filled with the hum of equipment, and the animated chatter of the scientists and soldiers making it their home. Now it was still and silent, stripped bare of all but the most basic of necessities. Even the slightest noise echoed deafeningly in the confines of the concrete and steel corridors.

His destination was a spacious and heavily-reinforced chamber off the main hallway, which continued deeper and deeper into the mountainside to the empty armories and laboratories. Most of what remained of his senior staff were already present, all looking a bit worse for wear after three months of running and hiding while the National Guard pursued them across the breadth of New York. Jack looked the best of all of them; a little careworn and exhausted, and his neat mustache was slowly being filled in to a full beard by several weeks' worth of stubble, but otherwise he escaped the battle unscathed.

Stryker winced in sympathy when he saw Matthew and Mary.

The left side of Matthew's face was now a mass of scar tissue; one of the younger students trapped in the classroom where many of the abominations sought shelter was a pyrokinetic, and when they made their breakout Matthew was caught in his path and caught a face full of supernatural flame. Mary's beautiful face was slashed open by the claws of the Kinney girl; her nose was gone, as was her left eye, and one corner of her mouth was permanently curled into a sneer. Jack had done all he could for her, but with their present circumstances she would remain marked by the two ragged, parallel scars across her features. It was a distressing defacement of such a masterpiece of female beauty.

Stryker's heart ached to see them in such a state, but for whatever reason God had deemed their attack was to fail, and that they should be so disfigured.

Adversity makes us stronger. He desired for us to lose for some purpose He has yet to reveal. No matter how difficult it is to bear this failure when victory seemed so certain, it is not for us to lose faith.

"Reverend," Matthew said in greeting, and he, Mary, and Jack all inclined their heads.

"Good morning," he said, and sighed. "Well, I suppose there is no use stepping around it, so we might as well begin with the morning's round of bad news. Matthew?"

Matthew folded his arms across his chest and glowered at the table dominating the center of the command post. "I have little to report this morning, though another cell went dark overnight and hasn't checked in as scheduled."

Stryker twisted his lip into a scowl of frustration. "Was it the authorities?" he asked, though he suspected he knew the answer before Matthew said it.

"We're not sure yet, but I don't think so. It's not showing up in any of the local papers or online media. If I were to guess, I think it's the same group that tracked and destroyed one of the Sentinels before we could get it across the border."

Stryker leaned over the table and mopped his face. "Damn. Matthew, I'm beginning to tire of our shadowy pursuers. We need every man if we're to reverse our fortunes, and having this church taken apart piece by piece is going to make reorganizing and rebuilding rather problematic, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, sir," Matthew said. "The problem is we still don't have a means of coordinating the cells that have managed to withdraw from the States, much less the ones that were left behind."

"I think I can help there," Mary said, and raised her hand. Her disfigurement made her slur the words together, and Stryker had to concentrate to understand her. Poor child, if only we weren't being hunted like animals we might be able to get her the proper surgery to repair the damage.

"Go on," Stryker said.

Mary folded her arms beneath her breast and shifted her weight. "We should have communications back online in the bunker pretty soon. We've got a working hotspot, but the connection has been spotty. I have a crew trying to get it stable."

Matthew nodded. "Any connection is better than none at all. At the very least we won't have to risk sending people into town to act as relays."

"How long before you can get a phone line up and running in the CP?" Stryker asked.

Mary considered that for a moment. "Most of the technicians we have on maintenance are still trying to get the bunker's own generators up and running so we don't have to worry about the portable units giving out, and the barracks are still relying on space heaters until we can solve the power issues."

Stryker glanced at Matthew. "Getting the phones online is a priority; we need to be able to communicate with our people outside of this installation, and I'm sure our benefactor is wondering what has become of us."

"I'll divert the crews working on the water pumps," Matthew said with a nod. "We have enough bottled water to get by for now, and if that runs low we can always just melt snow from outside. Some of the men have been dying for a shower." He quirked the healthy corner of his mouth into a grin. "And I'm sure we could all use one, but they've made it this long with sponges so they can probably keep a little longer."

Stryker nodded. "Very good, see to it." He leaned on the table and took them all in. "Let me be clear; we may have been driven out of Eden, but this is not a defeat. We will return to bring God's wrath down on these abominations, and their supporters who have infiltrated the government and branded us as terrorists and fanatics. That alone is a treason I can't abide.

"This war, my children, has only begun. And when next we clash it's Xavier who will bleed."

###

Act II

###

"Hellion, Now!" David shouted.

They were gathered together in the training room. The metal barriers and obstacles from their sessions in the Maze had been removed, leaving them with a wide and open floor to work with, where they could use their powers without fear of damaging the school. The lights were up at normal intensities to reveal the dark grey color of the impact flooring. The monotonous uniformity of the brightly-polished metal walls was broken up only by the one-way glass of the observation gallery (they saw only a mirror from their side) and the doors leading out again.

Fortunately, they had something else on which to focus their attention. A big something that was currently kicking all their asses.

Santo grunted and strained with his arms locked against Colossus, his body encased in organic steel as he strove against the big rocky mutant. When Cyclops gave them their assignment for today — taking on Colossus — Santo was insistent on the opportunity to wrestle with the towering mountain of muscle; something he had apparently been dying to try almost from the day he arrived at school. So David decided to make use of that as he formulated a plan of attack. To the astonishment of all of them, despite Santo's impressive strength and mass Colossus actually seemed to be winning the match.

"Hellion!"

"What?" Julian said, apparently content to stand back and watch.

"Stay with the plan!"

"Dude, I got this!" Santo growled back.

"You're strong, Rockslide," Colossus said, "but a team is only as strong as its weakest member!" And with that, the crack of splintering stone split the air and Colossus twisted Santo's arms around and drove him towards the floor. He strained and pulled, and David could only stand dumbstruck when Colossus ripped his arm clean off. "And yours was too slow!"

"God damn it, Keller!" Nori said, and she rushed at Colossus from behind in a blur of electric blue. Cessily pressed him from the other side, and whipped her metal arms around his legs seeking to take him off balance. He ducked around them both with practiced ease. Nori slammed full-force into Cessily, and they both tumbled wildly across the floor in a tangle of limbs.

"Uncoordinated!" he growled. "You should have—"

A sharp snikt echoed through the room, and Laura made her move. She vaultrf onto Colossus's back while he was distracted, and whipped one arm around his neck from behind while the other brought her claws to bear against his neck. "Anole, get in there and help her!" David shouted.

"Aw, crap," the smaller mutant grumbled, and sprung in to do what he could while Nori and Cessily untangled themselves. David spared a glare at Julian, who stood off to the side smirking and watching everything fall apart.

It should have been simple enough; there were nine of them against Colossus, and while David might not be able to mimic their powers, he certainly could absorb their knowledge on how they knew best to apply them. He played the fight out over and over in his mind: Santo engaged Colossus at close range to hold him down, while Julian used his TK to throw another tether around him. Then Josh moved in and used his power over organics to force Colossus out of his armored state, at which point he was vulnerable to Laura's claws.

And because Julian decided to be contrary it was all going to hell.

Colossus spun to intercept Victor, and effortlessly swatted him aside. He yelped and tumbled across the floor. David quickly waved Josh down. "Elixir! Check on him! God damn it, Julian, get in there!"

"I don't know, I think you're doing a great job as it is," he said, and the smug grin never left his features.

"There are nine of you!" Colossus said, his metal features twisting slightly in annoyance while Laura clung for dear life to his back. He spun and flailed his arms for a hold on her, and finally by chance managed to catch a handful of her hair. Laura snarled in a mix of pain and anger when he ripped her from his back and flung her aside. She managed to control her fall, however, and deftly rolled back to her feet and dropped into a defensive crouch.

"But you're acting like nine, you need to work as one," he said, and took up a fighting stance of his own.

A crack like thunder split the air, and a blue-white arc of electricity flashed across the room accompanied by the distinct whiff of ozone. Colossus grunted in pain at the arcs of energy racing across his body. "Oh come on!" Nori bit out from the effort of maintaining the barrage. "I've got enough of a charge to power Tokyo! Shouldn't you be screaming in pain?"

Colossus stormed forward with his face shielded from the worst of the onslaught by his massive arms. Rooted as she was to focus her attention on her powers, Nori wasn't able to move clear before he reached her and seized hold of her arms.

"Hey! What are you—" she began.

"You have a lot of power, Surge, but you don't have control of it!"

Colossus forced her arms away from him, and Nori's knees buckled beneath her. "Well yeah, that's why I've got the gauntlets!" she said.

"That's not what I mean!" And with that, he redirected one of her hands right at Cessily, who also regained her feet and was in the process of moving back in while Colossus dealt with Nori. She cried out as the energy enveloping him arced to her instead, and her body almost instantly collapsed into a writhing and shapeless silver blob.

"Josh—" David began, but was cut off by Nori's body slamming into him and knocking them both to the floor when Colossus tossed her aside.

"Dude, this is so not cool!" Santo said, and David managed to lift himself up enough to see him level a wild and off-balance swing that Colossus effortlessly caught in one metal hand. One arm-bar later Santo's other arm had been wrenched off. "Medic!"

Colossus spun around again just as Laura was making another move in behind him. Her claws flashed, and she struck a blow at the back of his knee. The ring of metal clashing against metal echoed in the training room, and Colossus stumbled as Laura's claws found some weak point in the armored muscle and sinew, but not enough to collapse his leg. She dodged a counter-blow and attacked his other leg, darting in and out with surgical precision to deliver quick blows and retreat again before the giant mutant could respond. David absorbed flashes of her strategic processes; she was without question a more skilled fighter, and against any ordinary opponent her strikes would have been crippling. Her size also worked against her, and she knew she couldn't take him down in a sustained grappling contest, so her best opportunity was to wear him down with her speed and find a weak point her claws could penetrate.

David ran the calculations in his head, however, and even if adamantium could cut through any known material, there was still the matter of leverage, force, and whether her bones and connective tissue could with stand the strain.

It was a moot point, anyway. By pure chance Colossus wheeled around to evade a further move around to his rear, and managed to catch her across the jaw with one hand. The impact lifted her roughly her own height off the ground and threw her a good dozen or so feet back. This time when she struck the ground it was with a solid thwack, and rather than a graceful roll back to her feet she lay still and unmoving.

"Laura!" Julian called out as she struck the ground, and David caught the tell-tale green glow of his power flashing angrily in his eyes. "All right, Tin Man, time to go down. Dust! Blind him!"

"Right!" she said, and Sooraya, who held back for much of the exercise, discorporated into a swirling cloud of sand and enveloped Colossus. He staggered and shielded his eyes from the onslaught, but Sooraya was all around him and, if David understood her powers, in him, invading his lungs with every breath. It was a particularly vicious attack, and it took little imagination to wonder why Sooraya objected to such a drill.

Before Colossus could take action against her, Julian stepped forward and a blast of coherent telekinetic energy lanced across the room and struck the towering mutant in the chest. He grunted and stumbled back, and ducked his head away as Sooraya howled around him like a hot desert wind. They didn't give him a chance to recover, and Julian blasted him again and again, driving him out of the center of the chamber and towards one of the walls.

"Go down!" Julian shouted over the roar of Sooraya's sandstorm, but though between them they managed to force Colossus back, and his uniform was slowly shredded like he was struck by a sandblaster, he still refused to fall. The big mutant braced himself against the onslaught, and a powerful blow rattled the training chamber when he drove his fist through the floor. He jerked and twisted his hand, and ripped out the end of one of the water pipes servicing the subbasement. Frigid water blasted across the chamber, and he took aim at the swirling cloud of sand harassing him. Sooraya yelped as the powerful stream scattered the particulate making up her being, and she was forced to reconstitute herself before she was washed away. She struck the floor hard on her backside and didn't get up, her abaya soaked through and dripping on the floor.

"Aw hell," Julian muttered. No longer distracted by Sooraya, Colossus discarded the water pipe — the flow of water slowed to a trickle and stopped when the mansion computers detected the leak and redirected the flow of water to auxiliary pipes — and turned his attention on him. Julian threw up a barrier of energy between them, but Colossus let out a roar and brought both hands down on his shield with all his strength. The force of the blow was so powerful Julian's shield collapsed with a blinding flash. It forced David to duck away and shield his eyes, and when he could see again Julian lay at Colossus's feet and scrambled desperately away from him on his hands.

"All right, that's enough," a voice over the intercom said, and Colossus stood down. To David's consternation he wasn't so much as panting. The big mutant deactivated his armor, and with a distinct metallic clacking organic steel became flesh once more. Though his uniform was in tatters, baring much of the absurd musculature of his chest and shoulders, Colossus didn't have a scratch.

David and Nori stood together, each helping the other back to their feet. Sooraya wrung her abaya out as best she could and joined them, Victor and Josh busied themselves helping Santo reassemble his arms, and Cessily slowly regained control of her body and shifted back into her humanoid form, though her hair was sticking out in all directions from static, and she was still having problems keeping solid. He sighed in frustration and mopped his face before glaring hellfire at Julian. He knelt over Laura while she reoriented herself from the blow she received, and offered her a hand up.

"You ok?" he asked, and David regarded his concern with no small amount of surprise.

"Ow," she murmured, and though she at first flinched back from Julian's touch, she let him pull her back to her feet. She swayed a little unsteadily, and David caught a distinct crack as what was probably a dislocated jaw popped itself back into its socket. An ugly purple bruise marred the side of her face as well, but soon faded away after her healing factor finished taking care of her injuries.

David rubbed the back of his neck, and grimaced at the full-body throbbing from the blow he received when Colossus flung his girlfriend into him. Some people have all the luck.

One of the doors leading out to the briefing area opened, and Cyclops stormed in. Though it was often difficult to make out what Mr. Summers was thinking behind his ruby-quartz glasses, the scowl on his features pretty much told the whole story, and the nine of them shuffled uneasily while they awaited the dressing down.

"All right, so can anyone tell me what happened?" he asked, and folded his arms across his chest and glowered at them. Colossus stepped up beside them and planted his hands on his hips, making himself look even bigger than he normally did.

"We would have been fine if Julian had just followed the plan!" David blurted out, his frustration over being ignored getting the better of him.

Julian rolled his eye. "Oh, please!"

"I had it all worked out!"

"It was a stupid plan."

David glared and bunched his fists. "I didn't hear you coming up with any ideas."

Julian didn't back down, and his own body tensed for a fight. David reflexively drew on his power, and in a moment had all of his moves, most of which relied on whaling blindly at his opponent until they went down. "When would anyone have been able to do that?" he said. "Especially after you said, 'Alright this is what we do,' the second we walked into the room? Who asked you?"

Nori stepped up beside him. She stared Julian down, and the lights began to flicker. "David's the smartest one in this room, Keller, you don't think it'd be a good idea to listen to him?"

"Big flipping deal! Just because he's so damned smart doesn't make him right!"

"If you'd just done what he said—" she took a step towards him with her fists clenched at her sides, and jumped back with a startled gasp when Laura put herself between them and extended her claws.

"That's enough!" Cyclops snapped, and they all nearly leapt out of their boots at the fire in his tone. "You kids are a team, and the entire purpose of this exercise is to teach you to act like it. If you can't do that in this room, what chance do you think you'd stand if Stryker parked a Sentinel on the school?"

"I didn't have a problem!" David said in protest. "It's Keller and his ego; if he doesn't get to give the orders he just doesn't care!"

"Now listen here, Poindexter—"

"I said that's enough!" Cyclops said again. "All of you hit the showers, we'll be calling class early so you can cool down. I'd like you all to think really hard about how you failed today, and keep in mind that I and the rest of the staff will be discussing this matter as well. David, Julian, I don't want you two to say another word to each other, or we'll be adding that to the discussion, do you understand me?"

David's face heated, and Julian averted his eyes to the floor. "Yes, sir," they both said together.

"Good," Cyclops said, fixing them both with a glare. "Class dismissed."

###

Scott watched them go as they filed out of the training room. Fortunately, David and Julian chose to exit out different doors, so for the moment their argument showed no sign of continuing. He sighed and mopped his face.

"Julian really has a chip on his shoulder," Peter said. He folded his massive arms across his broad chest and watched the kids leave the room.

"I know," Scott said with a nodded. "The shame is he'd have a great deal of potential without the arrogance."

Peter nodded. "He and Sooraya didn't do too badly together, and for a minute I thought they might have actually gotten me down."

Scott glanced sidelong at him, and took note at the ragged state of his uniform. "You know any other of us but Logan would have probably been torn to shreds by Sooraya."

He looked down at his chest and smirked. "My armor needed a good cleaning, anyway."

"Just keep in mind that you'll be helping Hank repair the plumbing," Scott said with an amused smile.

###

Julian stepped out of the men's locker room and into the subbasement hallway. Santo and Victor trailed out behind him, and he leaned against the wall with his hands thrust deep into his jeans pockets. The polished metal that dominated everything down here was cold against his back, but then again almost everything in the subbasement was a couple degrees cooler than the living areas upstairs.

"I still don't think my arms are on right," Santo whined, and looked his hands over.

Julian rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Jesus Christ, Santo, you've been complaining about it since class ended. I'm tired of hearing about it."

"You got off easy," Victor said, and nursed his side. "You guys do realize that Colossus was holding back, right? He'd have probably killed me with a hit like that if he was really trying." He folded his arms across his chest and glared at him. "Seriously, Julian, what the hell was up with you in there?"

"What?" he said, and shrugged defensively.

"Cyclops is right; we're supposed to be a team. David had a plan and it wouldn't have killed you to give it a shot."

Julian glared. "Look, first of all, who put Alleyne in charge? And it was a stupid plan!"

"Oh come on, Julian, you're just butt-hurt because someone else tried to take control and didn't give you a chance to be the hero. And Nori's right: He's a lot smarter than the rest of us."

"And that automatically makes him the leader? It doesn't make him anything."

"Well, I thought I was pretty bad-ass," Santo said, and planted his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest.

"Oh yeah," Julian said, with another roll of his eyes. "Right up to the part where he tore your arms off."

"Hey, how many of the other guys can say they went a round with Colossus? That's like, Miesha Tate getting past the first round against Rhonda Rousey."

Julian groaned and buried his face in one hand.

The door to the girl's locker room further down the hall opened, and Cessily, Sooraya, and Ashida filed out. Ashida took one look at him and glared, but didn't make a move towards him. Instead she stood against the wall and waited for Alleyne. He emerged from the men's room behind them, and brushed past the three of them without a word. Julian glared at his back, but Cyclops's warning echoed in his head, so he didn't say a word.

"Hey, Cess," he said when the girls joined them. "Your hair is still frizzing out."

Cessily self-consciously flattened the hairs that were still sticking up after Ashida zapped her. "At least I'm not going all gooey anymore. I can't tell you how much that hurt."

"You ok?" Victor asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. How about you?"

"Bruised, but Josh took care of the worst of it. Julian's ego needs intensive care, though."

"Hey!" he snapped, and glared.

Cessily sighed and shook her head. "He's not wrong, you know. It wouldn't have hurt to give David's plan a shot."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Cess, you too?"

"I believe what Cessily is saying is that it wouldn't have killed you to give David's plan a fair chance," Sooraya said.

"Especially since not doing it pretty much did," Victor said, and rubbed his side for emphasis.

Julian pinched the bridge of his nose. "I get it! I get it! 'Julian and his ego got everyone killed.' God forbid anyone call out Alleyne for thinking just being smart automatically makes him Sun Tzu or something."

Cessily groaned in exasperation. "Oh forget it, you're impossible. Let's just go get something to eat, all right? I may not get hungry but I'm seriously in need of something sweet and/or fattening after getting my butt kicked like that."

"Well, I am hungry, so I'm with Cess," Victor said. "Salem?"

"I could go for a slice," Julian said, the talk of food making his stomach rumble.

"I think the pizza parlor in town was adding some halal options to their menu," Cessily said, with a look at Sooraya.

She shrugged. "I have no plans for the evening."

"Cool," Cessily said, and started off down the hall for the elevators leading back to the living areas above. "I think the next shuttle leaves in twenty minutes. Maybe I can even get my hair to lay flat before we go."

Julian was just stepping away from the wall to follow when he caught a flicker of motion out of the corner of his eye back the way Cessily and Sooraya had come. Laura stepped out of the girl's locker room with her hands stuffed in her jacket pockets, before turning the other way.

"Hey, hold up a sec," he said to the rest of the group, and started back down the hall. "Laura!"

She stopped and turned at the sound of her name, but didn't respond.

Julian closed half the distance between them and jerked his thumb towards the others. "We're heading into town to grab dinner, you coming?"

Laura shifted her eyes between him and the others for a moment, and she screwed up her features into what Julian could only describe as confusion at the invitation. She blinked at him and hesitated a moment, before ducking her head shyly and nodding. "Ok," she said.

"Cool, come on, we're heading up for the shuttle," he said, and Laura fell into step with him as he started back up the hall to rejoin the others. Victor stared at him with his eyes wide in surprise, and Sooraya smiled into her niqab at Laura, the only sign of her expression the slight wrinkling of the corner of her eyes. Santo snickered but said nothing after a warning glare, and Cessily just quirked one corner of her mouth into an amused smile.

Julian frowned at her. "What?"

"Nothing," she said, and looked away from him as they made their way up the hall together, with the smile still etched on her silver features.

###

Act III

###

"You mean you've never played?" Julian asked, his eyes wide with surprise in a way that made Laura try to shrink into her jacket out of embarrassment.

The two of them stood at one of the arcade's pool tables. Cessily, Sooraya, Santo, and Victor sat around a table nearby working their way through several whole pizzas. Kids from Salem crowded the floor, and the establishment was alive with the overlapping din of voices, music, and arcade machines, and filled with the aroma of pizza, burgers, and other junk food. Laura winced a little at the cacophony, which he guessed was likely hard on her enhanced hearing, but she weathered the assault on her senses without complaint.

"I have not," she said, and a small hint of color spread across her cheeks to further emphasize her awkward shifting.

"I haven't in a while, but we need to find a game that Victor doesn't have a stupidly unfair advantage at," he said, and shot him a faux-irritated glare.

Laura blinked. "Victor's enhanced agility and reflexes naturally benefit games of physical skill, but it would not by a strict definition be considered 'cheating.'"

He grunted a laugh. "Yeah, well, see how you like it when he creams you at the dart boards every single game."

"That would be unlikely. I have superb reflexes, and extensive training in ranged accuracy."

Julian studied her a moment at a loss for words, and unsure whether that was serious or if she was actually making a joke. "That would actually be worth seeing. You hear that, Vic? When the dart boards are free it's you vs. Laura."

"Bringing in a ringer because you can't take me yourself?" Victor said around a mouthful of pizza.

"I'll be happy just to see you lose for a change." He returned his attention to Laura, who watched the exchange with some bemusement. "Anyway, you at least know how to play, right?"

Laura shrugged and tried to shrink even further into her jacket, her features twisted once again with embarrassment. "My knowledge of billiards is limited. I am aware there are multiple variations and have read the basic rules, but am otherwise unclear on the minutiae of the game."

He blinked. "All right, so you speak god knows how many languages, are a black belt, and even give Alleyne and Foley a run for their money in school. Didn't you ever get to have fun as a kid?"

"I was only ever permitted diversions of intellectual value."

Julian frowned, not least at the hint of pain in her features as she spoke. "What, like, educational games?"

"I play chess," she said. "I have never been beaten."

"I think that's a bit over Julian's head," Cessily quipped from the table, and he spit her with an indignant glare. "Though maybe you could try checkers."

"Ha ha," he said, and Cessily flashed him her most funny-at-his-expense sisterly sort of grin. "Well, we're not going to be playing chess."

"Ok," she said, and scrunched up her features in that awkward manner she did whenever she wasn't entirely certain of what she was feeling. Now that he started actually paying attention to her mannerisms, he actually found it kind of adorable, as at odds as it was with her usual stoicism. "I would like to learn this game."

Julian smiled and grabbed a pair of cues off a rack near the table, and checked them for straightness before handing one to her. "Ok, it's pretty straight-forward, and since you do know the basics we can probably jump right to the rules of the game. Nine-ball?"

She shrugged again, and let him take the lead. Julian was aware of the others watching from the table as he went about racking for the game. None of them said anything, but he caught Cessily's amused smirk from the corner of his eye.

"All right, you've got nine object balls, and the cue ball," he said, and made a show of flipping the dingy white ball in the air and catching it again. If Laura was in any way impressed by the display she didn't show it. "The goal is to sink the nine ball into one of the pockets. The catch is that the cue ball has to strike the lowest-numbered ball still on the table before it can strike any others. Also, either the cue ball or any other ball has to hit the rails or else it's a foul, as is hitting any other ball with the cue ball before the lowest-numbered one. If you fail to sink a ball or foul, the other player gets to shoot. After a foul the new shooter can place the ball wherever they want."

Laura digested this and nodded. "Very well."

"Since you haven't played before I'll break, if that's ok."

She gave him a small nod, so Julian chalked the tip of his cue and placed the cue ball for his shot. "Keep an eye on him," Victor said from the table, "I've seen him nudge the balls with TK before."

Julian glared over his shoulder. Santo and Cesily were snickering, and Sooraya needlessly hid a smile behind her hand. Laura regarded him with a raised eyebrow. "Would that not be cheating?"

"It was just the one time! And that guy had it coming after he hustled Santo." He looked back at Laura and gave her his most innocent pout. "Really!"

He saw, or thought he saw, a subtle twitch of her lips pulling the corners of her mouth into a smile. Julian smiled back, then leaned over the table and prepared to shoot. He felt Laura's green eyes watching him intently and carefully studying his form, and Julian was just a little self-conscious of the scrutiny. He ignored it as best he could, and made his break. The sharp clack of the cue ball striking the rack joined the general cacophony of the arcade, and the balls scattered in all directions. The break was legal, but Julian frowned when he didn't manage to pocket a ball.

"You're up," he said, and stepped clear so Laura could approach the table. She chewed her lower lip a bit and studied the positioning of the balls; the break didn't leave her with a particularly good shot. The one ball was wedged between the four and the six, and fairly close to one of the side rails.

Laura considered this for a moment, then readied for her shot. To Julian's amusement she mimicked his posture almost perfectly. She struck the cue ball, and he watched open-mouthed as it threaded between the scattered balls, bounced off two rails, and neatly struck the one ball. The one ball then split the four and the six, driving the latter into the side pocket.

Cessily and Sooraya vigorously applauded the shot, and Santo and Victor hid their laughter behind their hands. Julian gawked at Laura, who just focused her attention on making her next shot. "You totally hustled me!"

"Hustling implies deception; I made none," she said. "The game is at its core simple physics and geometry; gyroscopic spin on the cue ball can alter its trajectory, and the pattern of the diamonds on the table indicate a grid system for calculating angles."

"I guess Julian is going to need to find another game," Victor said. "This one needs too much brain power."

His face heated at the laughter exploding from the table behind them as Laura made another improbably awesome shot.

###

Julian stifled a yawn and unzipped his coat as they made their way along the entrance hall. He and Laura trailed a bit behind the rest of the group, her with her hands stuffed in her jacket pockets and a thoughtful expression on her features. Victor and Santo argued over who owed who for how much pizza, with Cessily and Sooraya interjecting the occasional correction. The lights were turned down at this late hour and the lower levels were largely deserted; most of the student body had long ago retired to their rooms for the night, and they only just made it in before the curfew themselves.

He glanced sidelong at Laura. She hardly spoke a word since she totally drubbed him at the pool table, and spent much of the rest of the night lost in thought. It came as no small frustration that here he was trying to do right and make her feel like part of the group, only for her to pull back into herself again. She didn't even so much as say whether she was actually having a good time or not. Cessily and Sooraya took it all in stride as just one of her peculiar idiosyncrasies, but Julian just found it bewildering.

A flash of green made him hastily look away from her again when she flicked her eyes in his direction. Julian wasn't sure if she just felt his eyes on her, or if she was looking at him on her own — something he had caught her doing a couple times as well since she tried to run away from the school. Regardless, his face heated at being caught looking. Laura, of course, said nothing, and they all continued up the hall for the stairs leading to the dormitories.

They didn't make it. Foley poked his head out of the library door, and flagged them down before Sooraya and Cessily even set foot on the bottom step.

"Hey, where have you guys been?" he said.

"We all went to grab dinner in Salem," Cessily said. "We'd have asked you along, too, but you took off before we made plans."

"The Professor and Mr. Summers want to see all of us in his office. We've been waiting for you guys to get back."

Julian sighed and rolled his eyes. "What, now? It's past midnight!"

Josh shrugged. "I know, but they want all of us."

"Perhaps we should see what the Professor wants," Laura said, the first she had spoken since they boarded the late shuttle back from Salem. Julian mopped his face in irritation.

"Can't it wait until morning?"

"If it cannot, then it must be important."

"She's right," Victor said. "It's not like any of us were actually going to be turning in right away, anyway."

"I thought we were done with classes for the night!" Santo said, and his shoulders slumped.

Cessily shrugged. "Being an X-Man means always on-duty, I guess."

Julian folded his arms across his chest and pouted. "We're just trainees and not even full X-Men yet!"

Sooraya rolled her eyes, though most of her expression was lost behind her niqab. "Oh, you can be such a child sometimes. Come on, let us see what the Professor wants."

"Man ..."

Nonetheless, Julian fell into step behind the rest of them as Foley led them into the library, and they all filed into Xavier's office. Alleyne and Ashida were there already, both dressed down and bleary-eyed, having apparently just been awakened, and Julian took some satisfaction in the knowledge that the rest of his night wasn't the only one that was ruined.

The Professor was seated behind his desk — What the hell, does he sleep in that suit? — with Summers standing behind him, his expression set in his usual commanding stoicness, with stick lodged securely up his butt. Xavier smiled warmly and gestured for them to take whatever seats were available. Santo just leaned against one of the bookshelves since none of the chairs comfortably accommodated his massive frame. Cessily and Sooraya shared one of the couches in the conversation circle, and Victor found a seat on the opposite side of the room from Santo. Julian took one of the other chairs in the conversation circle with Cess and Soo, and Laura squeezed between them on the couch.

"I'm sorry to summon you so late, and I hope you all had a good time in town," the Professor said. "I promise you we'll keep this brief, as I want you all to get a good night's sleep for tomorrow."

Santo raised one of the stony projections that served him for eyebrows. "What's tomorrow?"

Cessily sighed and looked Julian's way. "Do you want to tell him?"

"I'm just going to hear him whine about it all night, anyway," he said with a shrug, then glared at the big rocky mutant. "Did you even bother paying attention to the training schedule? We've got a class in the morning."

His jaw dropped, and his glowing blue eyes went wide. "Wait, what? Weekend classes?! I'n't that like, a crime, or something?"

Ashida yawned and mopped her face in annoyance at his incredulity. "Oh my god, Vaccaro, how did you even survive kindergarten without choking on a glue stick?"

"God I can't believe I'm agreeing with her, but seriously, Santo, stop talking," Julian said.

"Aw," he said, folded his arms across his broad, rocky chest, and sulked in the corner.

Mr. Summers shifted in a manner that suggested a roll of his eyes at the exchange, though Julian couldn't tell through the ruby-quartz lenses obscuring his features. The Professor just allowed a small, tight smile to tug at the corners of his mouth. "As I was saying," he said now that the interruption had been dealt with, "we won't keep you long. Scott?"

Summers nodded stiffly and swept his gaze across them to take them all in. Julian just slumped in his chair and leaned his head on his fist. "The staff and I have had a long discussion after this afternoon's session. Individually you're all performing well within our expectations, but we're still seeing a resistance on the part of many of you to work together. Simply put, there's just too many egos at play."

"Most of that you can put on Julian," David said, and tossed a glare over his shoulder. "His ego makes up half the team's."

Julian twisted his lip into a scowl and glared back. "You want to start something, I'll be happy to TK those glasses up your—"

"That's enough!" Summers said, and Julian flinched at the sharpness of his tone. "This isn't about one person, this is about the entire team. And, Mr. Alleyne, if Julian's ego accounts for half of the team, yours is likely not far behind. Being the smartest man in the room doesn't mean you're the only one with a grasp of a situation."

Julian flashed Alleyne a victorious smirk, and he in turn clenched his jaw at the rebuke.

"The staff and I have therefore decided to appoint a team leader to address the situation. They will report directly to me, and will be responsible for coordinating the team during training and, of course, directing it in the field."

Julian folded his arms across his chest and smirked. "Don't worry, I promise to be firm but fair. Gifts and your adulations are encouraged and accepted."

Santo snickered under his breath, and Victor just buried his face in his hands and shook his head. Cessily rolled her eyes, Sooraya's reaction was lost behind her niqab, though he guessed her sentiments mirrored Cessily's, and Laura didn't seem to react at all. Neither Foley, Ashida, nor Alleyne seemed particularly amused.

"Not so fast, Mr. Keller," Summers said. "Being a team leader is not about being able to give orders. It requires you to be able to manage multiple, often clashing, personalities. It means you're the hardest worker; the first to start and the last to finish, and the lives of every one of your teammates are on your shoulders. You're the one they'll be looking to for direction and encouragement. Leadership is a responsibility, not a privilege."

"This is all awesomely after-school-special, but I'm the obvious choice."

"Which is why we've decided to appoint Nori as the squad leader."

"What?!" he and Ashida both said at once, both equally stunned. From the looks on the others' faces they were no less surprised.

"Ashida? Are you kidding me?"

"Me? That's crazy!"

Alleyne offered her a smile and a hug. "Congratulations!"

Julian rolled his eyes. "Guess we know who's going to be Number Two."

"Oh shut up, Julian," he said, and glared.

"This is so unfair!"

Summers scowled at him. "Who said being an X-Man is a matter of fair? What matters is the team and saving lives, and that means making decisions that benefit everyone, not just one or two bruised egos. The staff and I have concluded that Nori is the best choice to lead the squad. Your objection has been noted, but now you need to make it work."

"Man, this is bullshit."

Xavier gave him a hard look. "If the situation is that intolerable, Mr. Keller, you can always resign. You would not be the first in the history of the school to do so, though I would hope it is not for such petty reasons as pride."

Julian folded his arms across his chest and slumped in his chair. A part of him wanted to tear the place apart, and he had no doubt Xavier felt it the moment the thought came to mind, but he said nothing more and just fumed silently at being made second-fiddle to Ashida of all people. The others didn't say anything in his defense, and they all just sat there looking thoroughly uncomfortable in the silence that followed. He caught Laura looking in his direction with, as usual, a thoughtful but otherwise unreadable expression on her features.

The Professor eyed him closely a moment, then turned his attention back to the rest of the group. "If no one else has anything to add, you're dismissed. It's been a long day for all of you, and I suggest you be well-rested for tomorrow."

###

Nori watched them all leave. Keller stormed off in a huff, and Santo followed him without a word. Most of the others offered her a few congratulations on their way out before heading off to their rooms. Laura just looked between her and Julian's back with a thoughtful expression, before slipping quietly out of the room. David alone remained behind, putting his arm around her shoulders and giving her a squeeze.

"I know you'll do great," he said, but Nori just sat numbly in her chair, her brain still not entirely processing what just happened. "Come on, let's go celebrate!"

"I'll catch up with you in a minute," she said, as he stood up and Nori slowly got to her feet.

David studied her closely, but she turned her head away to avoid meeting his eyes and hugged herself tightly. The metal of her gauntleted hands was cold against the skin of her arms bared by her tank top. She felt the Professor and Mr. Summers staring as well, and if Xavier read why she was planning to loiter in his office he didn't say.

David nodded. "Ok. Meet in the lounge?"

"Ok."

He gave her another quick hug and a peck on the cheek — the Professor and Mr. Summers watching the exchange discouraging him from anything more intimate — and followed the others out. Nori mopped her face as the full weight of what just transpired hit her.

"Why me?" she asked, the words coming out much more petulantly than she intended, but for the moment she was so overwhelmed she just didn't care.

"I know it's a lot to take in," Summers said, "but we really do think you're the best choice."

"But why me! Ugh! As much as I hate to say it Keller would be way better! Half the team are his friends and always listen to him, anyway. And he actually wants it!"

"And that is part of why we chose you," Xavier said. Nori peeked at him from behind her hands. His expression was calm and serene, with that slight smile pulling at his lips that always seemed to promise everything was ok even when the recipient of it felt otherwise. "Neither I nor Cyclops will dispute that Julian does have the potential to be a good leader, but until he learns to master his ego it would be a poor choice for the team.

"As Scott said, leading them is more than just about giving orders. That is also why we didn't choose David."

Mr. Summers nodded his agreement. "Julian did make a very good point after the session today: David came up with his plan and expected it to be followed with no input at all from the others. He automatically assumed he knew better."

"But he does!" Nori said, and tugged at her hair in frustration. "He's smarter than all of us!"

He sighed, stepped around Xavier's desk, and laid his hands on Nori's shoulders. Although the ruby-quartz lenses of his glasses obscured his eyes, Nori felt them bore straight into hers. "One of the most important things I said earlier was that a leader needs to be able to balance drastically differing personalities. David wouldn't be able to do that; he and Julian would be at odds with whatever David had planned, and that could get a lot of people hurt or killed. And right now, Julian would be no more inclined to accepting advice or criticism from the others.

"I'd like you to think about that before tomorrow's session: How can you get all of those individual parts to work as one? What went wrong when David tried to take control? How do you manage Julian in light of that? How can you work with Julian's influence on the others?"

Nori sighed and bowed her head. "I don't think I can do this."

"I think you're wrong. Like all of the things you and your team are learning, it will take time to piece it all together. Just give them and yourself a chance."

###

Laura stood at his door, and shifted from foot to foot with uncertainty. The dormitory hallway was empty and the lights were dimmed, though her enhanced vision had no difficulties picking out every detail in the darkness. Likewise, she could easily hear the voices, music, snoring, and other nocturnal sounds of the student body through closed doors. Most were asleep, but here and there were a few still up long past curfew talking and laughing, and a deep stab of emptiness worked through her belly at the sound. She did not quite understand what it meant, but she desired it to be gone.

She bunched her hands into fists and chewed her lower lip, uncertain why she found herself hesitating now. Julian and Santo were still awake. She heard voices from within their room, but frowned when she found some of them unfamiliar. Though the slightly tinny quality suggested they originated from an electronic speaker. Did their being occupied with their television explain her reluctance to announce her presence? Laura's belly churned, a sensation becoming more and more frequent, and she puzzled over it now that she was beginning to recognize it as anxiety. Perhaps that was it; Julian was clearly angry when he stormed from Xavier's office, and she did not want him to turn his anger on her again.

Laura reached out to the doorknob and stopped herself. Social protocol dictates announcing my presence, and waiting to be acknowledged and invited before entry. She considered that for a moment; did she need to follow social convention in this situation? When the nightmares came and were at their worst Julian allowed her in uninvited. But Santo was awake, now, and they were engaged in some activity of their own. Therefore her entry would be an intrusion.

She bit her lip as her hand hovered over the door. The churning continued as well, but why would something as simple as knocking on a door make her so anxious?

Finally she took a steadying breath and knocked quietly. Perhaps Julian and Santo would ignore her.

"It's open," Julian said from within, his voice muffled by the door but his frustration clearly evident in his voice. Unable to retreat now that she had been invited, Laura opened the door and stepped into his room.

Julian and Santo sat on the floor with their backs against his bed, and controllers for his video game system in hand. She craned her neck as she entered for a view of the television, and watched the action on-screen on her way across the room. two figures were locked in an exaggerated martial arts competition, and Laura immediately picked out every failure by the game to account for actual fighting technique, to say nothing of human body mechanics and biology. The fighters gushed what she estimated to amount to a gallon of blood with every hit, with the artificial mechanic of a bar across the top of the screen to denote the severity of injury. One of the figures took a blow and started to sway dizzied on his feet, and an angry voice screamed "Finish Him!" This was followed by a particularly gruesome — and unrealistic — attack in which one of the fighters ripped open the torso of the loser and shouted, "Here's Johnny!" while staring through his opponent's shredded chest cavity and into the camera.

Santo tossed the controller to the ground in annoyance. "Geeze, dude, you could at least give me a chance!"

"Right now I want to hit something and this is the best I have, so just suck it up! If I squint a little Kano actually even looks a little like Cyclops." Julian glanced away from the screen long enough to acknowledge her presence. "Hey, Laura."

Laura shifted uncomfortably and looked between the two of them. "Santo, I would like to speak with Julian," she said.

The big rocky mutant levered himself to his feet. "Sure, fine, I could use a break from getting my ass kicked, anyway."

"She means out of the room, too," Julian said.

"Hey, I'm not stupid! Besides, I'm sure you two want some cuddle time, anyway."

Santo grinned at Julian, and Laura frowned in confusion at the meaning of that remark. Julian just buried his face in his hands and groaned in exasperation. "God I hate you, Santo! Go bug Victor or something!"

"I'm going! I'm going!" he said, and lumbered out of the room, leaving them alone.

Laura hesitated a moment, then crossed the floor and lowered herself next to Julian while he started a new game by himself. "You are upset," she said, and pulled her knees tight against her chest. She ignored the action on the television set and watched him instead; his mouth was pulled down into a scowl, and the muscles of his jaw were tense as he ground his teeth together.

"No-freakin'-duh," he said, and Laura flinched at the ire in his voice. Julian sighed. He paused his game, threw his controller down on the floor, and mopped his face. "Look, I'm sorry, I'm just really not in a good mood right now."

She looked away from him and chewed her lower lip. "You are angry with Mr. Summers." She made it a statement of fact.

"You heard that part about Kano, huh?"

"I am unfamiliar with the game you are playing, but I believe I understand the context."

"It's just not fair! Why does Ashida get to be the team leader? Me and Santo? From like, the minute we showed up here we thought it would be the greatest thing to be X-Men. My parents weren't exactly leaving me with much to look forward to even before they cut me off, and if Santo can't wrestle any more he's got this stupid idea being a superhero is like the next best thing. And now Cyclops goes and screws that up by making us Ashida's lackeys."

She frowned at that. "I do not think that is what he intended; I find his explanation reasonable in that he is only concerned for the well-being of the entire team. Nor do I believe that Noriko would abuse her authority."

Julian gave her an annoyed glare. "Gee, thanks for the support. Maybe you don't see it that way, but this is going to be a disaster!"

"You do not believe Noriko will make a good leader?"

"Yes! No!" Julian sighed in exasperation in his effort to put his thoughts in order, but his indecision only confused her further. "I don't know. I mean, you saw what happened today, right? Well it's gonna be all Ashida and Alleyne from now on. Do you really think she's going to listen to anyone else?"

"You believe that she will show favoritism towards David?"

"I know she will."

"How do you know this?"

Julian hesitated and sputtered a bit as he tried to think of an answer. Laura just watched him in confusion over his reaction, and waited patiently for what evidence he found to confirm his accusation.

"I just know," he finally said, and she blinked in surprise at the certainty in his voice.

"That is an irrational conclusion to make," she said, and rested her chin on her knees. "We have yet to actually witness Noriko's approach to leadership, and I find it difficult to make such a judgment without an opportunity to observe it for myself."

Julian stiffened, and his voice turned defensive. "I'm not being irrational!"

Laura flinched back from him again, and puzzled over why the sharpness of his response made her belly churn even worse. "I am sorry, I did not mean to offend you. I just do not understand how you could make such an assumption without allowing her the opportunity to prove herself."

"I ..." He trailed off and his face colored. Julian leaned his head back against the side of his bed. "We've just never gotten along, ok? And it's a mutual thing. Santo, Soo, Cess, Victor, and I? We've all been friends almost from the start. Foley's all right, I guess. But not Ashida, and Alleyne is just too damn smart for his own good. I mean come on, what did you actually think of his plan for taking out Colossus earlier?"

Laura considered a moment. "I believe his strategy was inherently flawed, and relied too heavily on assumption and not enough on observable fact. Nor did it take full advantage of our numbers."

He smiled. "Thank you! At least someone gets it."

"However while your strategy yielded more observable results, you failed to coordinate with the entire team. A joint effort may have succeeded where your individual plan of attack failed, yet you refused to join the engagement until I was injured."

Julian's face heated at that remark, and he shifted self-consciously. Laura was unsure whether his reaction now or to her injury in the training room was more perplexing.

"Yeah, well, Alleyne had a stupid plan."

"That does not justify refusing to assist him at all. And if not David, then the other members of the team."

Laura shuddered a little bit as memories buried in the recesses of her mind threatened to break loose from the depths to which she had banished them, and with a great effort she forced them all back down again. "I am accustomed to working alone. It is what I was trained to do, but I see the purpose of what Cyclops is attempting to teach us; that together we are more formidable than we are as individuals."

"Says the one-girl army."

"I am not an army. I could not have stopped Stryker's attack alone. Had you not contained his explosives everyone would have died despite my efforts. You say that the others are your friends, but you do not believe refusing them aid because it was David's plan let them down?"

Julian sighed and mirrored her posture, his knees drawn up against his chest and his chin atop them. "No. I did let them down."

"I know I am not good with people. I often find the nuances of interpersonal relationships incomprehensible."

He frowned at her in sympathy. "Why is that?"

"I do not wish to talk about it," she said, for a moment her voice softening to a pained whisper as she fought back against the buried past. "I am learning that people often rely on others. Cessily, Sooraya, and Mark ..." Laura trailed off for a moment, and a hollow feeling spread through her gut at the thought of Mark lying dead in her arms. "They have all helped me, but there is so much I do not understand. And I do not understand why you would allow your animosity towards Noriko and David to interfere with your willingness to assist the others."

Julian sighed. "Look, you're getting into some deep stuff that's way over my head. Maybe it's something the Professor can answer, but I just don't know."

"I am unaccustomed to giving advice, but if you wish for mine, it would be to give Mr. Summers's decision a chance."

"You sure don't hold back with the honesty, do you?"

She frowned at him. "Why would I not be honest?"

He shrugged. "I guess a lot of people would rather just tell a small lie to make someone feel better than to be up front and hurt them."

"I do not mean to hurt you ..."

"I know, Laura, I know. I probably needed to get smacked in the face with a bit of honesty. Thanks."

Laura screwed up her features in confusion at that. "You are welcome," she said, uncertain that there were any words more appropriate.

Julian casually reached out with his power and called his controller to his hand again. "Look, you, uh, you want to play for a bit? Santo's probably going to harass Victor for a while, and I'm not really in the mood to turn in, yet."

She considered the game's pause screen and hugged herself to suppress a shudder. "I am not certain I would enjoy this game. The content is too familiar."

"Oh, right," Julian said, and his face colored a bit. "I can dust off my Wii U if you want to give Mario or something a go. I don't play it much because we're usually doing Team Fortress or something like that, but Nintendo's still got some great games."

"Ok." Admittedly, Laura did not understand much of what he was saying, but the thought of him including her felt...good. The subtle flutter in her belly she could not explain returned, and she squirmed a bit in an effort to get comfortable while Julian shut down and disconnected the game system he was playing to set up the other. Laura chewed her lower lip for a moment as she considered the strange feeling in her gut, before speaking again. "Julian, may I ask you a question?"

"'Sup?" he said, without looking up from what he was doing.

"Are we friends?"

Julian paused and sat back on his heels for a moment, his features taken aback as he considered her inquiry. "Huh. That's funny, I, uh, I haven't really stopped to think about it, but I guess we are, now."

He flashed her a lopsided smile, and a blossoming of warmth joined the flutter in her belly. Laura gave him a small smile back as he returned to work. She considered what she felt in that moment, though its meaning remained a mystery, and decided it was a good sensation.

###

Act IV

###

She wanted to throw up.

They all gathered in the training room, dressed out and ready for the day's session, and Nori felt all of their eyes on her. All of them waiting and expectant for her to give them their orders, each of them betraying what they felt of her in command by their posture and body language. David, of course, supported her fully, and focused his attention on analyzing the situation confronting them. Cessily bobbed anxiously on the balls of her feet, eager to get started, and though Sooraya's niqab masked her expression, she all but radiated that irritatingly omnipresent serenity of hers. Victor stood quietly with Keller, Santo, and Laura, and waited patiently to begin. Josh was thoughtful, but kept whatever it was he was actually thinking to himself, and Laura's intense green eyes swept the room and took in every detail.

Keller watched her with an impatient scowl and his arms folded across his chest. Santo mirrored his posture, no less unhappy that Cyclops placed her in command of the team. Neither said a word, but she knew Keller was just looking for her to screw this up.

Nori clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. If for no other reason than to shut him up, she needed to succeed now.

"David?" she asked, and glanced sidelong at him. He stared at their objective through his glasses and studied it intently for a few moments, then gave a small shake of his head.

"I've got nothing," he said, his voice colored by his frustration. "There's no data in the computer at all."

Dammit.

"Any ideas?"

He considered for a moment. "Send Talon in for a closer look to see if there's a way inside."

Nori glanced up at the large, featureless metal container occupying the middle of the room and frowned. "Or she could just cut her way in."

"That could work, too."

"Hey, Pikachu!" Julian called from the back, "Care to include the rest of us in your planning session? Or do you and Alleyne have this and the rest of us can hit the showers?"

Nori twisted her lip and glared daggers at him. "I swear to god, Keller, one of these days I'm going to show you what a mosquito feels when it hits a bug-zapper! But if you have any bright ideas why don't you share with the rest of the class?"

He tilted his head so he could glare down his nose at her, and a smug grin spread across he features. "There's a door right in front of you."

She looked back at the giant block of metal and frowned. "How do you know that?"

"Because I've been checking it out with TK ever since Cyclops turned on the lights," he said, and unfolded his arms. For the first time Nori noticed the pale green aura flickering around his hands.

"Why didn't you say so?"

"You were too busy playing favorites with your boy toy to actually ask."

Nori's face heated, and David's body tensed at the accusation. Damn you, Keller. "Can you open it?"

He regarded the container, and the aura around his hands grew brighter as he focused his power more directly on it. Another aura formed around the box, but Julian's smug grin faded, and he shook his head. "I can feel the seams and hinges but can't get a grip on them. And whatever the lock is it's not mechanical; there's nothing for me to work with."

She chewed her lower lip for a moment, and looked at David. "Ok, that's something, at least. Do you have any other modes on the Super View-Master that might be able to pick up what he's feeling?"

David took hold of the frame of his glasses and stared at the target. "Yeah, I've got it. Whoever built it did a great job hiding the hatch. Or not so much a hatch, but the entire side facing us opens." He squinted and craned his body this way and that to scan the surface facing them. "Looks like there's some kind of magnetic lock."

"Anything inside?"

He adjusted his glasses and shook his head. "I'm not sure; whatever this thing is made of is interfering with the other scanning modes. I can't get past the outer skin."

"So how do we open it?" Victor asked.

"Nori should be able to do it," Josh said. "If the lock is magnetic, she should be able to scramble it."

"Are we sure that's a good idea?" Cessily said. "I mean we don't know what's in there."

"We're supposed to open it."

"Yeah, but, this is supposed to be some big challenge, right? What's so challenging about opening a box?"

"Come on, Cess, you've seen Santo try to get into a box of donuts," Julian said.

"Hey, it's not my fault they make the boxes so squishy!" the big rocky mutant said.

"Yeah, well, I don't like donut-flavored paste, so ..."

"All right, that's enough!" Nori said, and cut him off before the banter drove her batty. "Cyclops said we need to open it, so we'll open it. Just stand back, and be ready just in case Mercury is right and this is an incredibly bad idea."

Nori gathered her stored energy, took aim at her target, and with a sharp crack an arc of blue-white energy lanced across the chamber and splashed against the container. Sparks danced and popped across its metal surface, and Nori caught the distinctive whiff of ozone as she unleashed her power.

"I think that's got it!" David shouted over the electric squeal of her barrage, and Nori discharged the rest of her stored energy into her gauntlets. The din faded away with a dying echo, leaving only a hazy cloud of smoke where the discharge ionized the air around her.

Sure enough, Nori's barrage scrambled and shorted out the magnetic locks holding the box closed, and the door swung open with a groan...

...and as the eye lights of the Sentinel inside flickered to life and the towering robot forced its way out of its prison, Nori felt her heart sink out of her chest and down into her bowels.

"I hate being right," Cessily said, her voice blending astonishment and sheer terror into something just barely more than a squeak.

For a moment they could only stand dumbstruck, and every ghost story and urban legend she ever heard danced in front of her at the sight of the mutant-hunting machine. Its purple armor gleamed in the lights of the training room, and it spun up its massive arm cannon with an unholy whine that echoed off the walls of the chamber and promised death to anyone unfortunate enough to be standing in its line of sight.

Just like they were at that very moment.

"Everybody cover!" Nori screamed, and the Sentinel opened fire.

She ducked away from the hail of bullets streaking towards her, the Sentinel so close she had no time to scatter with the rest of the group, but rather than sawing her in two its fire splattered uselessly on a glowing green barrier that sprung up in front of her. Nori looked over her shoulder and watched Keller grit his teeth against the strain of maintaining the shield between them under the hail of fire.

"Hellion ...?" she said, astonished, but he cut her off.

"Win now, worship me later! The others are under cover, fall back! This way!"

Nori scrambled in the direction he indicated, towards the barriers and walls that made up the outer sections of the Maze, and which had risen up from the floor behind them the moment the Sentinel activated. Keller followed and maintained his shield, but it quickly became apparent the strain of the bombardment was wearing him down, and with a flash of light the wall of telekinetic energy between him and their attacker collapsed when he was still a good fifteen feet from cover. A burst of fire walked into his hip, and Julian went down in a heap with a cry of pain.

"Julian!" Cessily screamed.

"No!" Laura snarled, and her claws extended with a sharp metallic snikt. Before Nori could even think of restraining her she used her claws to clamber up the wall behind which they sheltered, and with catlike balance charged along the top of the barrier and vaulted into the air.

The Sentinel's sensors detected her approach, but it couldn't react in time to shift its bulk to meet her attack, and she jammed her claws into its face. A shower of sparks exploded from one ruined eye, and the machine staggered backwards. Its servos whined and strained to maintain its balance, and it swiped at her with its free arm in a vain attempt to dislodge her.

"Hellion's down!" Nori said. "Rockslide, Anole, get him back here while that thing's distracted. Dust help Talon; she won't be able to hold on to it long, so try to keep its attention!"

They all started moving, and Nori felt the bile rising up in her throat at the sight of Keller lying stricken and groaning on the ground. Awesome, my first day as leader and I get one of my team killed. Even if it is Keller.

Victor and Santo broke from cover, and with a howl like the wind Sooraya discorporated and blasted across the chamber in her sand form. "I've got him," Victor said, and grabbed Julian beneath the armpits and dragged him back to cover with strength belying his diminutive stature. "Cover us!"

"Right!" Santo said. He took up a wrestling posture and glared the bucking and flailing Sentinel down with murder in his glowing blue eyes. "Imma tear that thing apart!"

"Don't be stupid!" Nori said. "Cover Anole and Hellion, and fall back!"

"But—"

"No buts! Just do it!"

Santo's response wasn't in words, but Nori didn't need them to understand just what he thought of the order. Nonetheless he complied, and followed Victor as he dragged Julian under cover.

"Christ! I'm gonna put Cyclops on the roof and leave him there!" Julian said. "What the hell is he thinking putting us up against a freakin' Sentinel!"

"Elixir, see to him," she said, and risked a peak around the corner. Laura clung tightly to the Sentinel's back, and Sooraya darted around it to help keep it off-balance. The heavy thud of its feet echoed through the chamber as it staggered against the assault, though Laura focused mainly on holding on, and Sooraya's attacks did little more than scratch its paint.

"He's ok," Josh said behind her. "Rubber bullets and reduced muzzle velocity, and it wouldn't have been fatal if they were live, anyway."

"Gee, thanks, Foley," Keller said around a grimace. "It still hurts like hell!"

"Duck next time."

"With the way he's carrying on you'd think it would have killed him," David said.

"Let's see how you like—"

"Shut up, all of you!" Nori snapped. "Let's just figure out how to stop this thing. David?"

"It's a Mark I Sentinel. I don't know where they dug it up, but it looks pretty new, so it's not one of the original Trask prototypes. Polymer chassis and plating, no metal, and its critical components would be shielded."

"So I can't just fry it."

"Afraid not."

Keller grimaced as Josh helped him back to his feet, and rubbed his hip. He leaned against the wall behind Nori and watched Laura and Sooraya wrestle with the giant killing machine. "Whatever we do it needs to be quick," he said. "Laura and Soo can't hold that thing by themselves."

"I'm thinking!" she said, and beat her gauntleted fists against the sides of her head in a useless attempt to force a plan out her brain. "Can you grab it?"

"It took most of what I had just keeping my shield up, I'll need a minute before I can even think of trying it."

"Wait," Cessily said, "Prodigy said its vitals would be shielded. I'm not an engineer, but would that be, like, armor? Something we can cut open?"

Nori glanced at David, who nodded. "Yeah, though you wouldn't want to try stabbing it unless you want to be electrocuted."

"No, but if we can get rid of the shielding I can zap the stupid thing," Nori said, and a plan took shape in her mind. She glanced back out from around their hiding place and watched the Sentinel finally manage to get hold of Laura and fling her aside. She tumbled through the air but managed to right herself with catlike grace before she struck the ground, and rolled back upright in a fighting stance. Sooraya warped around the machine to keep its attention while she recovered.

"All right, here's what we do: Rockslide, you wanted to go a round with it? Get in there and help Dust keep it distracted. Try to take out that gun if you can."

He pounded one rocky fist into his palm, and an eager grin filled his features. "Got it. This is gonna rock."

"And no stupid one-liners! Mercury, can you cut through it?"

"I think so," Cessily said. She held her hands up in front of her, and watched her arms elongate and flatten into blades. "Even if I can't Laura should be able to."

"Hellion, while Rockslide pins it down I want you to get Mercury in there."

"If it's built to the original specs, the main power source is going to be beneath the chest armor," David said.

"You got enough left?"

Keller gave her an indignant sneer. "I've got more than enough power left, Sparky. Do you?"

Nori released the latches securing her gauntlets and freed her hands. No time to hold back, now. She would need everything she had for this. The lights overhead flickered, and she felt a rush like euphoria flood through her when she allowed the power to flow into her unrestrained and uninhibited. "I just don't want to blow our chance because you have performance issues."

"You just worry about your own part. Don't miss."

"Rockslide, go!"

The words were only barely out of her mouth when Santo rushed out from behind the wall with speed belying his bulk. "Hey tin can!" he shouted in challenge at the Sentinel turning in awkward circles in a vain effort to track Laura and Sooraya darting about its feet. The overgrown battledroid spun to face the new threat in response. "Let's you and me wrassle!"

Keller mopped his face. "I vote we let it knock his head off."

"Don't tempt me," she said. "Let's go!"

She, Julian, and Cessily followed Santo out and took up their positions. The Sentinel uselessly sprayed Santo's rocky hide with a burst of fire from its cannon, and the big rocky mutant just laughed. "Stop, that tickles!" he said, and sure enough the Sentinel changed its plan of attack and leveled a blow that he easily deflected. Santo managed to get hold of the gun in his rocky fists, and he crumpled it with a crunch and a squeal of plastic.

"Mercury, Hellion, get ready!" Nori said. Cessily tensed her body and waited for Keller to launch her, while the green aura of his power formed around her body. Santo gathered the Sentinel into a wrestling clinch, and the pounding of their feet as they pushed one another across the floor echoed loudly through the chamber.

"Holy crap this thing is strong!" Santo said, and the strain of wrestling with the killer robot made his voice break. "If you guys are gonna do it now would be good!"

"Hellion!"

"Santo! Incoming!" Keller said. He raised Cessily off the floor, and she let out a surprised yelp when he blasted her across the room in a streak of silver. Cessily struck the Sentinel dead-center in its chest, and her arm-blade-things speared through the armored chassis. The heavy plastic squealed and groaned, and Cessily reformed her arms into hooks and ripped it open. The power supply glowed faintly in the shadow beneath the rended plating, and Nori felt her power dance across her skin.

"Everybody clear!" she said, and raised her hands.

Santo grabbed hold of Cessily and ducked out of the way, and Laura and Sooraya both fell back. The Sentinel turned towards them. Nori took aim and cut loose with everything she had.

The chamber was lit to blinding by the blue-white column of twisting and writhing plasma exploding with a deafening crack from her fingers. The Sentinel convulsed and staggered. Arcs of energy raced through its limbs, accompanied by a long, drawn-out electric squeal as its processors were overloaded and shorted out. It started towards her in a dying attempt to close the distance between them. But with its gun disabled it had only its own bulk as a weapon, and it didn't make it more than a step before it sunk to one knee, its remaining eye went dark, and it collapsed onto its face with a deafening thud.

Nori swayed a bit on her feet at the amount of power she just discharged, but kept her hands raised to the Sentinel and watched it for any sign it might just be playing possum. Smoke rose in thick, acrid curls from its chassis, and the chamber was filled with the stench of cooked electronics. Laura's gymnast's figure was tense and quivering and ready to spring, Santo stood ready in a wrestling posture, and the tension in the air was as thick as the smoke pouring from beneath the Sentinel's armored shell.

They waited and watched for a few more moments, then Santo stomped forward, placed one foot on its back, and raised his hands over his head. "The winner, and still champion!" he said. His voice boomed across the chamber, and Sooraya laughed and clapped at his posturing.

Cessily managed a giddy laugh at the sight. "Oh my god, we did it! We took out a Sentinel!" She turned to Keller and gave him a high-five, but when they both tried to do the same with Laura she just looked between them with bemusement and retracted her claws. David, Victor, and Josh joined them, and David handed Nori her gauntlets. She quickly slipped them back on, then gathered him into a ferocious bear hug before planting a celebratory kiss on his lips right in front of the rest of the team.

The doors leading out of the chamber hissed open, and Nori reluctantly pulled herself away from David to face Cyclops and Dr. McCoy when they entered. The Beast's expression was crestfallen, but she saw, or at least thought she saw, a small smile of pride cross Cyclops's features.

"Well done, all of you," he said when he reached them. "Very well done. Hank?"

"I'd say it's a definite kill," he said, and sounded like someone had just killed his puppy.

Keller folded his arms across his chest and glared. "Does anybody but me wonder why the hell a school for mutants keeps a mutant-killing robot in its basement? I don't care if those are rubber bullets or not; one good stomp makes you dead just as well, and I almost got squashed."

"My boy, that robot has been specially programmed as a training aid," Dr. McCoy said, and his voice turned indignant. "It's designed to challenge you, not obliterate you."

"I don't know, I have to agree with Julian," Cessily said, and hugged herself tightly. Nori regarded her, and for all the exhilaration of winning couldn't help but notice she was practically shaking. "I mean, a Sentinel? Isn't that kind of advanced for us?"

"Come on, Cess, you should be feeling pretty good right now," Santo said. "We kicked its ass!"

"Yeah, but remember Julian was hit. Josh said he'd have been ok, but still."

"I can't believe I'm agreeing with him, but I kind of have to side with Julian on this one," David said, and raised his hand for Cyclops's attention. "I mean, there's still people our age who think these things were just a myth or a bedtime story."

"I'm sorry to spring something like this on you without warning," Cyclops said. "And if you're a little overwhelmed I can understand, but I won't sugarcoat things for you. We did this for a reason: We recently discovered that Stryker has a number of Sentinels in his possession, and we still don't know how many, or the full extent of the technology he has access to. The reality of the situation is that it might very well be possible that you could encounter them — or something even worse — for real. And I'd rather your first experience with one be in a controlled situation rather than in the field.

"More importantly, we needed a scenario in which you had no choice but to work together to succeed. There are very few mutants who could take down a Sentinel single-handed, and for the first time you guys acted like a team and not a collection of individuals."

"So this was a test?" Nori said, and watched Dr. McCoy puttering around in the wreckage of his pet and mutter quietly to himself over the repairs it would take to get it up and running again.

He nodded. "Yes. If you hadn't gotten together to work as a team, you would have failed. I was also testing you particularly with this exercise; you nearly failed with the box when you tried to rely too heavily on David and didn't seek input from the rest of the team." Nori's face heated at that. "The other purpose of the Sentinel was to see how you would handle under pressure, and you performed wonderfully."

David flashed her a smile, and put his arm around her shoulder. Nori's stomach, which had been turning somersaults throughout the exercise, slowly righted itself and the bile frothing inside it was replaced with pride at Cyclops's praise.

"All of you performed wonderfully today," he said, taking them all in with a look. "Class dismissed."

###

Act V

###

Stryker sat at a console in the deserted command post. The computer hastily put together by the techs tottered unsteadily on a battered and dented metal table that didn't quite want to sit level. It was a far cry from his office in New York, but it would have to do. He adjusted the webcam fixed to the display with a hefty amount of duct tape, launched a few encryption programs, and placed the long-overdue call.

At first nothing happened, and he just stared at the "Connecting..." flashing at the bottom of the display window. But then slowly a choppy video feed blinked to life, and Stryker found himself face-to-face with his benefactor.

Adam Harkins was just entering middle age, with neatly-groomed red hair, clean-shaven features, and thoughtful green eyes behind a pair a wire-framed glasses. He leaned back in a chair with his feet casually propped up on his desk, and threaded his fingers behind his head. An amused smirk spread across his lips when he saw just who it was on the other end of the call.

"Well, well, Bill! I was beginning to think I'd never hear from you again," Harkins said. His voice was just on the polite side of patronizing, and in his current mood Stryker wished for nothing more than to be able to reach through the connection and throttle him.

"The past few months have been rather hard," he said instead. "We only just now got a stable network connection."

"So I've heard. You've got a lot of people looking for you, and seems you've lost quite a few of yours to the authorities."

"I'm pleased to hear you've been keeping up on me."

Harkins dropped his feet on the floor in front of him, and glared over his glasses into the camera. "I'm also disappointed. I've been giving you a lot of tech at a discount rate, seeing as we're old friends, but you haven't held up your end and given me much of value to work with."

Stryker rolled his eyes. "Oh please, Adam, don't you even start with me. I'm sure times are tough safe and secure in your government-funded lab, but you have no idea what my people are going through right now."

"I'm just giving you a little friendly reminder that you're overdue on your tab. And it's not like I'm not having my own problems. I just had an entire research division up and vanish overnight a couple weeks ago."

He raised an eyebrow, and a smile tugged at his lips. The thought of an inconvenience putting a dent in the man's arrogance appealed to Stryker immensely. "Oh, really?"

"One of our clandestine labs beneath an observatory in Upstate New York reported a quite fascinating discovery, but before they could analyze it the entire installation collapsed on top of them."

Stryker frowned. "Collapsed?"

"Collapsed," Harkins said, and made a "poof" gesture with his hands. "The official story is a sinkhole opened up and swallowed the whole thing."

"And you don't believe the official story."

"Of course not, because I knew every inch of that installation, and it was solid bedrock all the way down. But I can't get anyone close enough to check it out."

"I truly am sorry for your loss, Adam, but you and I have business to discuss. I'm in need of resupply. We've lost a couple Sentinels during our operations and retreat, and we're low on ammunition, and other materiel."

Harkins heaved an exaggerated sigh, and leaned his head on his fist. "I'd love to help you, Bill, but there's two big problems: The first, you're officially on the terror watch list."

Stryker glared. "That is merely a maneuver by the government to placate the mutant rights activists. And do I really need to bring up your other illicit dealings? I'm sure the CIA would be quite interested in the identities of some of your clientele."

"Point Two," Harkins said, ignoring him, "as I said before, I still haven't been paid. You promised me specimens, Bill."

"I've given you specimens."

"Useful specimens. There's hardly any usable material at all with the ones you've provided."

"So that's the way it will be, then?" Stryker said, and fished inside his coat for a flash drive.

"That's the way it's going to be. You give me something to work with, I'll see what I can do."

This time when Stryker smiled it lit his entire face. He plugged the drive into his computer and started a file transfer. "It's funny you should say that, because I seem to have found something you've lost."

Harkins shifted in his chair to bring up the file, and when he opened it his jaw dropped and his green eyes went wide. "When was this taken?"

"One of my men had a body camera during our assault on the school, so about three months ago."

He turned his eyes back on the camera, and despite the poor reception, Harkins's delight was clearly readable. "Where is it now?"

"The subject is being sheltered by Xavier's school at the moment. I attempted to make the grab myself, but unfortunately circumstances were out of my control and we were forced to retreat. And of course, right now another attempt is impossible given my current condition. However should you find it possible to ship some of your surplus my way ..."

"No. No, I have someone special in mind for this job."

"So is this information worth something to you?"

Harkins smirked. "I'll see if I can put a care package together for you. Oh, and Bill?"

"Yes, Adam?"

"I've got a little something new on the books. Something which may just help turn the tide of your private little war."

Stryker chuckled softly. "I knew I could count on you, Adam. And of course, that was only a down payment, shall we say? Once we're back in order I'll see about those other subjects you were interested in."

Harkins nodded. "I look forward to it. It's good to see you, Bill. Take care."

"You too, Adam. Contact me at this IP address when you have everything together and we'll arrange a pickup."

Harkins nodded and shut down the connection. Stryker stared at the blank window for a few moments. He then leaned back in his chair, and folded his hands in front of him as he considered just what it was Harkins and his band of mad scientists were cooking up now. Whatever it was, Stryker felt it in his bones that a reckoning for those abominations was at hand.

God always provides.

---

A Note from the Author

Happy November, everybody! It's the first of the month, so that means it's time for another episode of X-Men: New Class!

I deliberately wanted to leave the fate of Stryker and the Purifiers ambiguous to start the season, but now it's time to start getting into the season's A-plot. This is also where I kind of hint at the idea of this series as part of a larger, shared universe. The concept would be that while New Class covers events for the kids, the other properties would weave in and out of it. So I'm not going to actually SHOW the shadowy group tailing the Purifiers, because that's an adventure from another movie or series, but it still all ties in together.

The fight between the kids and Colossus was, of course, taken from KYost's New X-Men, and it's a scene I really wanted to include both to showcase just how bad-ass Pete can be, and to set up the dominant theme of the episode. Simply put, the strength of the X-Men is the sum of its parts.

This is one of those episodes that would probably have been more effective with a full, 22-episode order rather than a 13-episode half-season, as it would allow me to stretch out Julian and Laura becoming friends a bit more organically. But since I have so few episodes to work with, things do have to be sort of rushed a bit. And honestly, I LOVE writing those moments of them together, even when Julian was still in turbo-douche mode. The main conflict of the episode — Julian vs. Nori for command of the team — is also one that would have benefited from being able to stretch out longer, but again, being crunched for time means compressing things.

In other news, I've fallen a bit behind on writing. 2x06 is drafted, but that episode was exhausting to write, and made me want to slam my head in a filing cabinet. It will still post on time, but I haven't even started 2x07 yet. I've also been focusing almost all my writing time on finishing the draft of my second novel, so the priority goes to the one that I can actually make money with. Maybe if things take off and I can retire from my day job to write full-time I'll be able to juggle the fic and the books more efficiently.

Until next time!