Attention: Generation X and their villians, as well as any other mutant
mentioned in this story, is property of Marvel Comics. The character
Richard Cale is named after family relations. Any other reference to
anything copyrighted is a chance happening.
Attention: Generation X and their villians, as well as any other mutant
mentioned in this story, is property of Marvel Comics. The character
Richard Cale is named after family relations. Any other reference to
anything copyrighted is a chance happening.
====================================================
Power Of Mind, Power Of Fury
Adrienne Frost sat in the room with her fellow colleges. She was
the new White Queen of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle. On the
outside, the club looked like a social place for the elite, but it was
privy only to mutants. A secret that not many people knew. Although
alot was on her mind right now, Shaw had said that it was important that
they met right now. As she sat there, she heard the current White King
say, "Now Adrienne, we have golden oppertunity that has presented itself,
and you might be able to help secure it."
Adrienne looked at the paper that he just threw down. The
headline read, `Corperate change leads to possible cure.' She looked at
the article and saw something that caught her eye. "It appears this
company has found a way to cure AIDS, as well as Legacy." She then saw
the name of the company. "Paladin Technologies. I've been trying to
negotiate a deal with them for months. I've tried to reach the
president, but he is always out."
Her colleague, the Black Queen, just said, "That is because he is
at a school. One that is run by your predecessor, but I doubt that she
has anything to say in his choices. In fact, Paladin Technologies and
your sister's company are now working together, and from what our
sources can determine, it was the current owners idea."
The Black King then said, "We want you to try and convince the new
president, Richard Cale Jr, to join the Hellfire Club. With him in our
Inner Circle, we would be unstoppable."
Adrienne shook her head and said, "I don't know. I argued for
months with his father about an area with tons of power waiting
underneath ocean, but he won't sell. The son is just the same."
The Black King smiled and said, "Then, if he won't join, have this
man end the problem. He has no heirs, and this mutant will gladly kill
young Mr. Cale. Just mentioned one of the students. Besides, I think
it might hurt Emma to loose another set of students." Adrienne smiled
at that thought. It reminded her of when she had her husband killed.
*********************************
The ringing of the phone brought Rich out of his slumber. It was
odd for the phone to be ringing this early in the morning. He sat up,
careful not to wake Yvette. He walked over to the phone and sat down.
He looked over at Yvette's sleeping form. Only a month ago, Rich became
a business owner, a Lord, a Paladin, and most of all, a husband. It was
odd, but it was nice. Rich also knew of how awkward it was for the
other students, especially with the contruction that was done to make
this place for them to live. Rich finally picked up the phone, and in
his best composed just awake voice, said "Hello, Richard Cale speaking."
He was startled to hear a female voice say, "Hello, Mr. Cale.
I've been trying to reach you for a while. My name is Adrienne Frost."
Rich couldn't believe the audasity of the woman. He had made
strict instructions when he visited the company branch in New York about
the possible cures, that she was not to know his number. He just said,
"How did you get this number, Ms. Frost?"
He heard her say, "I did some deduction after seeing you on that
Millionaire show. I must say, your company does donate to a few mutant
related charities. However, I am a mutant and I want to talk business
with you."
Rich didn't know about what she was after, but he had been trying
to dodge her until he found out why. "I don't know exactly what you
want from my company, but I'm not about to give you anything until I
know what your asking for."
He heard her say quite calmly, "Alright, I will be by later today
to talk to you in person." This took him in shock. He didn't know how
to react to that.
Rich had to grasp for his word as he said, "What do you mean by
that?"
She just said, "I'll be stopping by to see you, as well as my
sister. I know she runs that school you're in. I'll see you later
today." He heard the phone disconnect. This wasn't good. He was
hoping to prevent this. There was something about what she was looking
for. His father didn't want to sell it, and neither did he, unless he
knew what exactly it was. He went over to his computer and accessed the
company records. Soon he found the land she was after. It was located
in the ocean.
He looked up and saw Grimore had awaken and jumped up on to the
table. "Something wrong, Paladin?" Grimore called him that alot now.
He watched as the cat looked at the computer screen and said, "Oh,
R'lyth. Did Marsh finally call?"
Rich looked at his cat and said, "No, he didn't, but I am dreading
that call. Emma's sister called. She's trying to buy this land. But
what is about it that they want?"
He listened as his cat, which was as old as his family, said,
"Well, she probably sees the power the place radiates, but she must not
understand what it is. Marsh knows what is down there."
Rich looked at the cat and said, "What is down there? And how bad
is it?" Grimore just looked at him, and Rich felt he could answer that
question. "Humanity wouldn't survive. It's that dangerous. I can't
sell it to anyone." Grimore nodded. "Grimore, is there anything else
you can tell me?"
The cat just jumped down and said, "Not that you might want to
know, however, you might want to get some rest. That phone call came
very early. I think Emma's sister is not in the right circles." Rich
nodded. It was way too early for any phone calls. He went back and
climbed into the bed.
Yvette felt her husband climb back into bed. She had heard the
phone ring, and his talk with Grimore that followed. She figured that
he thought he hadn't woken her. She put her arms around him and said,
"Rich, what's wrong?"
She felt him turn to face her and said, "Is it that obvious?
Emma's sister is coming here to try and convince me to give her the land
she's after. However..."
She completed the sentence. "It's too dangerous. There is
something deadly down there." He nodded and she said, "Then you know
you can't sell it to her, but is there something more?"
She felt the nervousness in her husband as he said, "She called at
a very awkward time. I think she was in some sort of secret meeting,
but what?"
Yvette held her husband and said, "What if she's linked to some
society, like Hellfire. We should ask Emma in the morning. Now let's
get some rest before the sun rises." She kissed him on the cheek to
relax him.
He returned the kiss and said, "Yvette, I don't know what I'd do
with out you." She held him tighter when he said that. She loved him
and was glad that they were now husband and wife. She just held him and
kissed him again as they both drifted back into dreamland. Hopefully,
they would spend the remaining hours within a very nice dream.
*********************************
Emma looked over her students as they entered the main hall. They
had planned a training session for in the "Danger Grotto", but not all
the students had arrived, and Sean was missing as well. Emma sighed and
said, "Alright, everyone knew about this training session, so where are
the missing students?"
Emma didn't want to mention names, but there were only two
missing. She then heard Paige say, "Emma, I heard a phone ringing about
4:00 this morning. I think it was theirs." Emma realized what Paige
was saying, someone called Rich or Yvette at 4:00 and they were probably
getting the sleep they missed at that time. Emma also realized what an
inconvience the living arrangement had been. The whole attic of the
girls dorm was transformed into an apartment for Richard and Yvette
since their marriage.
Emma sighed and said, "Alright, we'll have to wake them up. I
think this training session will be to their advantage." Having their
place in the girls dorm had openned up some problems. One was the fact
that Paige was on the floor below them. Second was the fact that Rich
was living in the dorm. Third was the fact that Rich and Yvette were
now married. Some of the school rules didn't apply as they would to the
two if they were still dating.
She was about to continue when she saw Sean enter and say, "The
training session just got postponed. We have company." She was a
little upset at this, and then she saw who followed Sean in the
door.
She looked at their guests and said, "Jean, Hank, Ororo. How are
you all?" It had been a while since they last saw the X-Men, and she
wondered what brought them up.
Emma could also tell Jubilee was thrilled to see her old friends
as well when she saw Wolverine enter. "Wolvie, how are you?"
Ororo was the one who spoke. The African X-Men just said, "We had
to stop by for a visit, Emma. After Scott and Jean were here, and your
past visit to the mansion, someone had insisted that they meet Richard."
Emma felt abit startled, but could understand why. Rich had a
profound effect on Penance when he joined. She smiled and said, "Who
would like to meet Richard?"
She was almost started when a voice said, "I would." She looked
at the door and saw a hovering wheelchair, with a familiar figure in it.
It was Professor Charles Xavier. She was so overjoyed to see her friend
that she ran over and gave Professor X a hug. "I've missed you as well,
Emma. You must tell me about everyone here now, including Richard
Cale."
Emma wanted to sigh, but she held it in and said, "We were just
about to go fetch the rest of the students." She didn't know what
Professor Xavier and the others would say about this. She turned and
said, "If you'll all follow us, we go find them." Emma actually knew
where to find them, but she didn't want to say a word about that.
As they all started out the door of the hall, she heard Jean say,
"Emma, what are you hiding? There is something you're not telling us."
Emma didn't know how to say it, and just said, "I can only say
you'll have to see for yourselves." With that, she led everyone in the
direction of the girl's dorm, and to the attic where Richard and Yvette
Cale now took up residence.
Grimore had climbed out through the make shift door they set for
him to get in and out of the attic. He figured that his masters could
use some more sleep. Although he didn't know much about Emma's sister,
he didn't trust the woman. He trusted Emma, but something told him not
to trust the sister. As he walked the hall, he heard a gentle hum. He
peered in the direction to see everyone coming his way, with some
unfamiliar faces to him. He quietly said to himself, "Now who are these
people?"
He was startled when one man, very gruff looking, said, "When did
you get a cat?" Grimore had hardly made a sound, but that man heard his
meow.
He heard Sean say, "That would be Rich's cat, Grimore." Well,
these people where friends of Gen X, but did Rich know them?
He was stunned when a blue fur covered man seemed to make his way
to directly infront of him and said, "Then this must be the feline
familiar that is mentioned in Britainia lore." Grimore felt a little
distrubed by the speed and agility this being moved with. He must have
been a mutant, but his appearence made him feel uneasy.
Grimore turned and ran for the attic door. He heard Emma say,
"Hank, I think you spooked Grimore." Grimore didn't know who Hank was,
but it had to be that beast.
He heard Jubilee say, "Grimore seems to look out for him. He's
also great for around here." He had a feeling what Jubilee meant by
that. He tended to know things before anyone else knew something was
wrong. He was an early warning system.
That was the last thing he heard as he bounded in the attic door.
As he ran up the steps, he shouted, "Paladin." That was sure to wake
Rich, if nothing else did. He watched as both Richard and Yvette
started to sit up. When the two were sitting up, Grimore yelled, "Sir,
you better get dressed, and fast. There are others on their way here,
one being a big blue furry person."
He noticed that Rich's eyes opened wide as he said, "You mean Dr.
McCoy is here?" Apparently Rich knew about these people.
He heard Yvette say, "Grimore, you mean to say the X-Men are
here." He watched as Yvette jumped out of bed and ran for some
clothing. He heard her say to Rich, "Do you think they were part of the
training session that we are late for?"
He noticed that Rich was half dressed as he said, "I don't know."
His master looked straight him and said, "Grimore, who else was with
them?"
Grimore thought about some of the people he had seen, and then
remembered the hum that drew his attention. It had been from a chair.
He just said, "There was a man with them in a floating chair. He was a
bit bald."
Grimore saw the look that had crossed their faces, and they moved
faster to get dressed. He didn't understand what had got them so
excited, until Richard said, "Grimore, that man you saw is Professor
Xavier. It's his dream of peace that this school was founded on."
Grimore now understood why the two were excited. He figured that he'd
just watch what would happen and curled up in a corner of the room.
Charles Xavier waited with the others in front of the door as Sean
pushed a button on an intercom. "Listen up, up there, we have company,
if ye haven't figured it out yet." He was still puzzled why the two
missing student were up in the girls dorm attic. In fact, he didn't
like what it emplied.
Charles turned to Emma and said, "You are allowing them to be
spending nights together. You are in charge of teenages." The idea of
two students spending this much time together didn't set well with him.
He was surprised to hear Emma say, "A few months ago, we would
have right to be worried, but we have no say in the matter now."
He then heard Hank say, "Sean, you of all people, have a say in
the matter. Yvette is now your legal daugther. She is now legally
Yvette Cassidy."
Charles looked at Sean and said, "I take it that you adopted the
girl that you codenamed Penance, and she is up there with Richard Cale.
I must admit I am puzzled by this, if not distressed."
Sean sighed and said, "Hank is half right. Yes, I did adopt
Yvette, but I don't have much say in what those two do." Charles was
startled by this, and was more started when Sean said, "But ye weren't
told about Yvette's name. It is now Yvette Cassidy Cale."
He heard Jean gasp as she said, "You mean the two eloped."
Right then, the door openned and two people emerged. One had been
Penance, only her skin was much more normal. The other was the boy he
had wanted to meet. It was the boy who said, "No, we were not aware of
our marriage until about six days after my parents' death, Jean. If we
had our choice in the matter, we would have had a nice ceremony."
Charles watched as the boy approached him and said, "Professor Xavier.
It is an honor to meet you. My home town lives your dream. We wish
that one day the world would live it."
It did Charles Xavier's heart well to hear what the boy had said.
He faced the boy and said, "I am glad to know that some small part of
the world has managed to look past the genetic differences. I take that
you are Richard Cale Jr. I have heard much about you from the X-Men. I
only wish that all of them could join us during this visit. I also owe
you my freedom." He noticed the shocked look on everyones faces, most
of all on Richard's face.
Rich couldn't believe what he heard. He was being thanked by
Charles Xavier, but why? He finally recovered from the statement and
said, "Pardon me, Professor Xavier, but what did you mean by that. How
did I earn you your freedom?"
Professor Xavier looked at him and said, "The FBI had made a
request into the release of mutant prisoners that where held by Zero
Tolerance." Rich realized what that meant. It had been his request of
the FBI. Since he started running the family company, he had asked the
FBI for bodyguards. They had been happy to obilge and would fill any
other request Rich had.
Rich didn't know what to say at that. He slowly drew his breath
and said, "Professor, I'm sorry for what my uncle had put you through.
If I had known, I would have done something earlier." He felt Yvette
hold him. She could sense how distressed he was at that time.
Sean then said, "Rich, we all know that Bastion was ye uncle, and
ye don't have to answer for what he did. It's not ye fault lad."
He then heard Jean say, "Besides, Richard, if it weren't for you,
what would have happened to Daria? Would she even be part of Generation
X?"
Jean was right and he realized it. He then heard Yvette say in
their mind {My love, you know that you're not responsable for the sins
of Bastion. Don't let that affect you in this way.}
Rich turned and kissed Yvette. {Thank you for the reminder, my
love. You are my strength.}
She looked at him and said, {You are my strength as well.}
He turned to face the rest as Xavier said, "Were the two of you
just comunicating psyonicly?"
Emma just said, "They do that from time to time. Under Jean's
advice, I've been trying to teach them to communicate differently than
they do when they communicate psyonically."
Rich understood what they meant. "When we usually want to speak
amonst ourselves, or even if one of us is asleep, Yvette and I use our
psyonic link."
Yvette then said, "Even in our dreams, we stay together."
Rich heard the African woman in the X-men say, "Then fate chose
well for you two to meet." Rich didn't recognize the African woman. He
had recognized Dr. Hank McCoy, Professor Xavier, Jean Grey and
Wolverine, but this other woman he didn't recognize. She saw his
confusion and said, "I am Ororo Munroe."
Jean then said, "That's right, you didn't get to meet everyone
when you were last to the mansion. The others are out on a mission
right now."
Rich nodded and heard a soft voice say, "Sir, I've just seen
something disturbing." Rich recognized the voice of his cat, but it
would be very difficult to talk to Grimore now.
Rich smiled and said, "I feel I'm going to have a very busy day
today." He then turned to Emma and said, "Emma, are you expecting
company other than the X-Men?" He knew that she hated surprises,
especially ones that were not the best surprises.
Emma looked at him and said, "I wasn't expecting them. I am
unaware of any company." That made Rich worry more about the phone
call. He didn't want to ask the next question in front of the X-Men.
He was about to ask her the question when he heard Grimore hiss in
disgust. He also heard Wolverine say, "Something doesn't seem right.
Something smells foul." He turned and looked in the direction everyone
was looking. There was a figure coming up the steps. It wasn't a
woman, so it wasn't Emma's sister, but Rich recognized it right away.
He was even more sure of it when he heard Professor Xavier say,
"Is this a new student, he appears to be a mutant."
He then heard Monet say, "Mon Deui." She knew what it was. She
must have seen that memory of his during the delirium.
Rich moved to the front of the group as the figure left the
shadows. He understood Grimore statement earlier. He glared at the
figure as the figure just said, "Mr. Cale Jr, if I'm right. My name
is.."
Rich cut him off before he could say another word, "I know who you
are. I also know you're not a mutant."
He heard Jean say, "How can you be sure of that?"
He just ignored her for now. He looked straight at the man and
said, "I know what you are, have know for a long time. You don't mean
any well for this planet. I know what you're after and I know you're
not getting it."
The being just frowned and said, "I take it I came too late to try
and trick you. I figure your father told you all about me. If he
weren't dead, I'd kill him myself. I'll get the book, and R'ylth as
well."
Rich watched as the man turned to leave. When he reached the
steps, Rich said, "If you feel like killing the person that ruined your
plans, Mr. Marsh, I suggest you slit your throat when you return to
Innsmouth. I saw you leave when I was a kid. I learned it from your
own mouth." He saw the man turn to face him. There was rage in the
man's eyes. He then turned and walked away. When Rich saw Grimore calm
down, Rich just fell to the floor.
Sean watched as Yvette ran to Rich's side. The front that the lad
had put up had drained him. As the others helped Rich regain himself,
he heard Hank say, "That was most perplexing. The man looked like a
mutant, but Rich was insistant that he wasn't."
Sean just looked at his friend and said, "True, but you remember
when we called you when Rich was having his bout with that family
ailment." He watched as Hank nodded. "Rich relived some memories and
that was one of them. Apparently our mysterious visitor was something
Rich's family knew about."
He saw Xavier turned to face him and say, "What exactly is he?"
Sean was almost startled when Rich said, "He's a hybrid of humans
and an other species. Not many people know how real they are. I just
wish I didn't have the two things he wanted in my possesion."
Sean notice that Emma looked at Rich and said, "Is the place you
named the place I think it is? The place from that story?" He noticed
that Rich nodded and Emma went pale.
Jean just said, "That is not good. Could that be much worse than
it is?"
Sean walked over and huddled them all together. "Rich, what is
that place he mentioned? What is it?"
He then heard Yvette say, "It's something that was writen about,
long thought to be a myth. The myth, however, is very real." Sean was
really hating how that sounded.
Sean looked up and said to his students, "How about ye all start
practicing your skills. We'll be with you in a moment." As the rest
left, he said, "Rich, I think ye should tell us more about this." Sean
was surprised when Rich nodded and headed for the door to his and
Yvette's apartment. This confrontation made him worry. He wondered how
much trouble this Marsh fellow might cause.
As they all followed Rich into the attic, he heard Xavier say, "My
goodness. There are countless books in here." Sean remembered when
Rich had them sent over from England. He was surprised by how much they
had sent over.
He heard Jean say, "Now this is odd. This picture looks like it's
alive." He noticed that Jean was looking at one of the books Rich had
brought back the day he came back from England. He had stressed that no
one touch the book, especially the picture.
He watched as Yvette grabbed Jean's hand. "Please. You don't
want to do that." Sean didn't truely understand why they had a book
like this, but Rich's family held the items for a long time. He then
saw that Rich was setting at his computer, and Grimore, Rich's cat, was
perched next to him.
As they headed over to Rich, Sean wondered what the newly married
couple did when they were up here. He figured they spent quality time
together, but also there were distinct traces of eachs personality. He
was startled when Rich said, "Here is the land Marsh wants." He looked
at the computer screen and was amazed. It looked like a small city.
Hank said, "Most interesting, but Rich, how big is this in actual
size." Sean saw Rich point to a small number on the screen. He could
tell that Hank was startled by the number when he said, "Is that
correct?"
Rich just sighed and said, "Very much so, and in those doors are a
power source no one can control, but Marsh is a servent of it."
Emma then said, "You're not telling us everything, are you,
Richard?"
Sean was a bit unnerve when Rich said, "Remember when I asked
about company? You're sister called me early this morning. I feels
shes after this land as well, but I feel something deeply wrong."
Sean could tell that Emma was turning things through her mind, but
was surprised when Charles said, "Emma, I do believe that he thinks your
sister is with the Hellfire Club."
He noticed that Rich nodded. He didn't like the sound of that any
better. Emma then said, "Adrienne might just do such a thing. I'm
sorry that I didn't think of that sooner. I'm glad that you decided to
help the school." Sean had to agree with Emma on that. The last thing
he wanted was the school getting tied into the Hellfire Club's Inner
Circle.
********************************************
The way the training had been going, it was like a different type
of practice. Monet had a feeling that today was not going to be the
best of days. Normal, she was on her toes, but that surprise visitor
scared her, if not shook her up a bit. For the past half hour, Sean and
Emma were with the X-Men and Rich and Yvette. The incident had shook
everyone up, but she had seen the image in Rich's mind. After a while,
she had decided to take a break. She was startled when Jubilee decided
to join her. "What's wrong, Monet?"
She had never been on good terms with Jubilee, but she was jealous
of Jubilee, mainly over the fact that Jubilee had Everett. "Just what
happened has me a bit unnerved."
Jubilee just said, "Monet, you're not the only one who has seen
unnerving sights. I once saw a version of myself that helped a being
called Mojo. Sort of sold her soul to him. Have you ever faced
yourself on a physical plane." Monet couldn't say that she had. She
never even thought about that.
Monet looked at Jubilee and calmly said, "I'll give you that, but
you don't have to keep a evil part of you locked away, that is a whole
seperate entity. Emma helped me stop Claudette, but I don't think I can
control her for long. If she breaks free, everyone here will be at
risk."
Jubilee sat down and said, "That doesn't scare me. What is the
worse that Claudette can do? Lead us into your brothers clutches. She
couldn't even fool all of us. We could tell the difference between you
and Claudette."
Monet just sighed. "You don't understand. She'll try to get
Darrett, many because she find him attractive. She'll try to get Emma
because she helped stop Claudette. Worst of all, she'll try to deliver
Rich and Yvette to Emplate. And God forbid if she tried to merge us
together again." She saw Jubilee give her a curious eye. "Years ago,
when we were younger, Claudette managed to merge us with Marius. The
resulting merger caused a superbeing to be born. It took my father, and
two of his friends, to split us apart. From what I can remember of it,
one of them wore a gold medallion, and the other held a flaming sword."
She noticed that Jubilee gasped. "Like the one that Rich was
holding when he returned from England." Monet nodded and then gasped.
She figured that Jubilee came to the same conclusion that she had just
come to. That Rich's father was the same man who was her father's one
friend.
Jubilee couldn't believe what she had heard, but she was more
stunned at what it meant. She could tell that by Emplate's reaction
back when Rich and Penny returned from England, that the Emplate didn't
know about the friendship, but knew about the sword. She just said,
"You mean that Rich's family knew about Emplate, and you and Claudette."
She watched as Monet nodded.
Monet then said, "And now that I pieced it together, I don't doubt
that Claudette has figured it out as well." That was a scary thought.
Jubilee looked over at the entrance to the Biosphere and saw Rich,
Penny and the rest enter. She said to Monet, "Monet, I think you need
to talk to Professor Xavier. If any one can help you control Claudette,
it's him."
She watched as Monet stood up and said, "I'm not sure. I don't
know if I should." She watched as Monet just ran off. She started
wondering about how often she had been mean to Monet, and now wished
that she hadn't.
She was started when she heard Penny say, "What was that about,
sis?" Jubilee knew that Penny had always considered her like a sister.
She really couldn't lie to them about Monet's fears, and maybe Professor
Xavier could help her.
Jubilee just said, "Monet's been upset about the possibility of
Claudette breaking free."
She heard Professor Xavier ask, "If I remember right, Claudette
was Cartier's other daughter. He never said what happened to her."
Jubilee had learned that Monet's father was part of Xavier's Mutant
Underground Railroad, but she didn't know that Professer X never knew
about all of Monet's family.
She then heard Sean say, "We'll inform ye a bit later. Right now,
I think if the X-men might be willing to help, we could give these kids
a good training." Jubilee then noticed that all of Generation X had
gathered round, including Monet, who seemed to be hiding in the back.
She heard Rich say, "Sean, what did you actually have in mind?"
She could tell that Rich was both confused and concerned by what Sean
had said.
Sean looked at everyone and said, "Simple. We will do something
like that one show some of you kids have been watching." She knew which
one Sean meant the second Rich hung his head in disgust. Both Penny and
Rich didn't care for the show, but their reasons were different. Penny
had learned to survive by wits before Rich came to the school, but Rich
felt that it was too ridiculous. Sean then said, "The rules are simple.
Ye have to survive. You're out if you're tug out by anyone. Also, ye
can't play favorites in this training session. Everyone is fair game.
I hope ye understand that, Rich and Yvette." She saw the two frown.
She could tell that the two didn't like fighting against each other.
"Anyplace is a valid strike area, which means under ground and in the
air are part of the play area. Last and most important rule, we will
let you know who is out and who eliminated them from the training. We
will be watching on all the monitors. The training will run until one
person is left. Emma, Charles and I will be watching from the control
room. When you're eliminated, ye are to head there."
When Sean finally stopped, Jubilee said, "Sean, why are the X-Men
going to be part of this?"
She heard Professor Xavier say, "It's simple. One, the X-Men
could use this to help you develop your abilities. Two, Hank can help
give you an idea on how to fight the Dark Beast, who leads Gene Nation.
Three, Wolverine can best give you an idea on how to fight Sabertooth."
The last one made her shiver. She never wanted to see Sabertooth's face
again.
Emma then said, "Alright everyone, you are to head out in
different direction. In 2 minutes, we will tell you to start.
Remember, do your best not to be the first one eliminated." With that,
Jubilee watched as everyone headed off in different directions. She
figured who the toughest target would be, Wolverine, since it would be
very difficult to sneak up on Wolverine. She figured that of everyone
in the group, Wolverine would be the last to remain standing.
********************************************
Logan looked around, and sniffed the air. No one was near him.
This training session had gone on for nearly an hour, and in that time,
half of each group were taken out. For the X-Men, only he and Ororo had
remained in. Of Generation X, Monet, Paige, Angelo, Daria, and Mondo
were out. This left Jubilee, Everett, Jono, Rich, Yvette, and Darrett.
Of all of them, he wasn't sure which to worry about. He had caught
Paige entirely off guard. He then heard the intercom come to life. He
heard Sean say, "Alright, Jono is out. Everett caught him off guard."
That left six others to worry about.
As he moved forward slowly, he heard a snap. He spun around,
trying hard to not extend his claws. He doubted that any of the
students had his healing factor. He looked around. He couldn't see a
soul. He stopped and said, "Alright, whoever you are, I know you're
here. Where are you?" He'd rather tag them out before they tag him
out. He heard something move in the dirt, and was startled when a hand
thrust out of the dirt behind him. He saw the red claw and figured it
must be Yvette under the dirt. He knew her skin was sharp when she used
her ability, and figured that even his claws couldn't cut her. He
quickly extended them to tag her out, but when he went to move his hand,
he heard a clack. He looked at it quickly to see another hand out of
the dirt, with three claws like his. It hit him who it was as the other
hand grabbed his leg and pushed, causing him to topple. He was
completely unprepared for that turn of events. He retracted his claws
as fell.
He watched as the figure burst out of the dirt and said, "Gotcha."
Logan knew who it was. "How'd did you do it, Rich, and how long
were you tracking me."
He watched as Rich chucked and said, "Since the beginning of the
session. I just stayed downwind and hid while you moved." Logan was
impressed. He then watched as as the boy jumped into the trees and
said, "Now, if you don't mind, I think I'll try and tag my wife out."
Logan then knew what the boy meant, "You're going after the two
toughest targets to you. Why did you take me out first?"
He watched as Rich stopped and smiled. "Well, you are the hardest
to sneak up on, and I know little about you, while Yvette knows how I
think, and I know how she thinks. I know what to expect from her, but
not from you." He watched as the boy then quickly disappeared from
site. Logan never figured that now that the boy permenantly had
Yvette's ability that he could also hold his ability.
As he headed for the control room, he heard the intercom go on
again, "Looks like Logan is out. Rich managed to stop him." As he
continued walking, he saw Hank waiting at the door.
As he neared he heard Hank say, "Looks like the boy has learned
alot being here."
Logan just said, "He's lucky that I wasn't Sabertooth. I don't
think Sabertooth would have been content with falling over. By the way,
how did you get tagged out."
He watched as Hank shrugged and said, "I had just pluck Monet from
the air when Daria gave me a flying tackle. It was almost like an
ambush, but Daria told me she was trying to tag Monet out."
Logan walked through the control center and said to Sean, "You
have a talented son-in-law. I don't think Sabertooth could have pulled
off what he did."
He heard Sean laugh as he said, "Well, ye'd be surprised what he
can do."
Logan had worked up a thirst while out there. He decided that
he'd step out to fetch a drink. As he opened the door, he watched as a
car pulled up. He turned and said, "Hey Sean, I think Emma's sister
just pulled up." He watched as both Emma and Sean raced over. He
started to have a feeling that the training would be cut short.
Yvette listened careful after Logan was eliminated from the
training session. She knew she was near Jubilee, but she need a
direction. Soon she heard Jubilee say, "Man, I thought Wolvie would
last longer than that." She started in the direction the voice came
from. Just as she almost reached the location of the voice, she saw
some fireworks hit the trees. She stood motionless and then heard
Jubilee say, "Ev, you scared me."
She listened more as Everett just said, "Well, I got you." She
heard both laugh. She wondered if Rich would be hunting her down now
that he got Logan out of the exercise. This was a session in survival.
If she knew her husband, he would find his two main targets and try to
get them first.
As she watched, she knew that Everett was now her target, but she
had to be warry. With Jubilee nearby, he could use her ability on her.
She wondered why anyone hadn't announced Jubilee's removal from the
session. She moved along the branch she was on, and untensed all but
her right hand. If anything, she tried to focus on her acrobatic skills
whenever she could. This would be a good test. She then heard Jubilee
say, "I think you should be careful, Ev. I could have sworn I heard
movement in that direction in the trees."
She watched as Everett's mutant aura started to glow. She
listened as he said, "It's either Rich or Yvette. You'd better head
out. I'll shoot some fireworks in that direction to stun whoever it
is." She watched as Everett started shooting fireworks in the direction
she had been. She cut the branch she was on and timed her jump off it.
She saw Everett look straight at her. He was surprised. As she was
hitting the ground, she tapped him and smiled. "I don't know how you
can do that, but you always pull some sort of acrobatic surprise."
She smiled and said, "Well, you're out of the practice now. You
better head to the control room." As he walked away, she just giggled.
She was thinking of how she would tag her husband out of this training
session. She would probably just give him a long kiss, which they would
continue when they were back at their apartment.
She was in the middle of this thought when a voice came over the
intercom. It was her `father's' voice. "Attention everyone. We need
to put training on hold." Before she could even hear the rest of the
announcement, she heard a twig snap. She turned and was tackled by her
husband.
They went rolling down the ground until they stopped. She looked
at him and said, {Looks like I was saved by the bell. We're both still
in this.}
Rich just kissed her and said, {Well, I can still kiss you.
Besides, wasn't this what you were going to do to me.} When he stopped
kissing her, she giggled again. She didn't know if he had read her mind
or not, but she didn't mind it either.
She quickly rolled, and with that, she had him pinned to the
ground. {Well, maybe when we continue this training session, I might
have you pinned down instead of you having me pinned down.}
He gave her a smile and said, {True, True. With Logan out, my
only worry is you, but I don't think I have to worry too much.}
She give him a devilish smile and said, {What makes you think that
you don't have too much to worry about?}
She saw the devilish grin he gave her as he said his next words,
{Because, whichever of us tags the other out, I think we'll both like
it. How about a little bet. When we continue this training, if I tag
you out, you have to do something for me, but if you tag me out, then I
do something for you.}
She stopped smiling and asked, {What if someone else tags us out?}
She didn't know what to think about that.
Rich responded, {The one of us that lasts the longest then. Is
that a deal?}
She had a grin cross her face as she said, {Alright. I already
know what I'd like you to do for me. There was that one item I saw at
the mall last week.} She watched her husband go bright red. {Yep, if I
win, you have to buy it for me.}
Before Rich could even respond to it, she heard Ororo Munroe, the
X-Men known as Storm, say, "I take it both of you didn't hear the
announcement." She watched as Ororo land right besides them. "There is
someone here for you, Rich."
As they both got up, Rich just said, "Is it Emma's sister?" When
Ororo nodded, Rich just said, "I guess I better meet with her in an
office setting." She could understand what Rich meant by that. It was
a business meeting. He took Yvette's hand and said, "Yvette, could you
tell them to meet me in the office Emma helped me set up. I think I
need to clean up before this." She watched as he ran off to get cleaned
up.
As she and Ororo made their way to the control room, Ororo said to
her. "What were you doing that he was blushing?"
Yvette didn't see the harm in telling Ororo. "We made a bet on
which of the two of us would last the longest. If he losses, he has to
pick up something I saw at the mall." She giggled and then said, "It
was in a store he feels abit uncomfortable in. He was reluctant to go
in one time with me."
Ororo just looked at her and said, "I see. Do you have any idea
what you might have to do?"
Yvette giggled and said, "No, but I know he wouldn't make me do
anything he knows I wouldn't do. He is a gentleman, first and foremost,
and that's what I love most about him." She giggled again as she
thought about Rich going for the item she wanted him to get. She
wondered how nervous he'd be.
Emma watched as her sister headed straight for the Biosphere.
Even though she couldn't read her sister's mind, she felt like that they
was some ill wind in the air. This visit was not something they were
looking forward to. Emma even knew that it made Rich uncomforable as
well, especially with the occurance earlier that morning. As Adrienne
approached the door, she noticed that Professor Xavier had left. She
wondered why he had left, but stopped thinking about it when Adrienne
opened the door to the Biosphere and said, "Emma, how nice to see you
again?"
Emma didn't want to let her sister know that they were all
suspicious, so she just said, "Adrienne, what brings you to my school?"
She didn't trust her sister, especially with what Rich had mentioned
what his suspicions were.
She noticed that her had held the same smile on her face. Emma
could swear it was almost predatory. "Well, I did want to visit my
little sister, but I found out that the head of a company i'm trying to
arrange a deal with is at your school."
Emma looked at her sister and said, "I take it that your refering
to Paladin Technologies." She was aware of Rich's company, especially
since it prevented her from asking Adrienne for financial help. She had
feelings that Adrienne might try something very underhanded.
Adrienne just said, "Besides, I surprised you didn't ask me for
help. I happened to look into young Mr. Cale's company, and saw of
their pro-mutant chararities. I figured it was due to him being a
mutant."
Emma was now sure of part of the business that her sister wanted
to discuss, but she wouldn't let on. She just said, "Well, you have to
discuss that with him then. I'm sure that one of my students can show
you to his office." She turned and motioned Yvette forward. "Yvette,
could you take my sister to Rich's office?"
She watched as Yvette
nodded and said, "Of course, Emma." Emma noticed that Yvette wasn't
going to let on that she was Rich's wife. Rich must have told her
something that nobody else knew about.
When Yvette had taken Adrienne out of the building, Sean said,
"Rich must have something planned, because the second Logan mentioned
she was here, Charles left."
She smiled and said, "I hope that Rich is videotaping this
meeting. I think he has a little surprise planned for my sister." She
then frowned and said, "And I think he's right."
She heard Ororo say, "He right about what, Emma?"
Emma said her next words in her most serious tone. "We've all
just seen the new White Queen, and I wouldn't doubt if she has something
planned that won't be good for Generation X." She turned and saw the
worried look in everyones eyes. She also noticed that Darrett and Daria
looked abit puzzled. She wondered for a moment about that as she
noticed a similarity in the expressions. She then dismissed it.
Darrett may have been from the future, but the similiarities were
probably just related to the fact that he had been at the school for a
long time.
Adrienne followed the young redheaded girl named Yvette. She
wondered what the girl's ability was. She also wondered if there was
any relationship between Richard Cale and this girl. As they walked
towards the office, she said, "If you don't mind me asking, are you
dating Richard Cale that my sister had you show me to his office?"
The girl didn't look her in the eyes, but just said, "No. I'm not
dating him." She said nothing more. She wondered if Emma was coaching
the girl from afar. She was about to use her ability when they stopped
at a door that was open. She looked in as the girl said, "This is his
office."
Adrienne nodded and said, "Thank you. We'll have to talk abit
later." As she entered, she noticed that the chair behind the desk was
facing the window, but she couldn't see who was in it. As she stepped
to a chair in front of the desk, she heard the door close. All she saw
as a man in a black fedora and long black overcoat.
She heard a voice come from the chair behind the desk. "Don't
concern yourself with him. He is a hired security guard." It sounded
exactly like the voice that was on the television. She sat down in the
chair as the voice said, "Now, Ms. Frost, I take it you want to do
business with Paladin Technologies."
She was impressed at how businesslike he was. She figured he'd
still be a kid in these matters. "Yes, Mr. Cale. About the land I wish
to purchase from you."
She was surprised at the speed of the responce. "The answer is
no. I'm aware of the power and it's nature. While it is a vast power
source, it would do more harm to the planet if we even tried to harness
it. It is completely foolhardy to try any deal for that."
She was about to argue when she noticed that the figure in black
was behind her chair. She didn't trust the figure, but if they
suspected anything of her true intentions, they might have acted before
now. She then said, "Then allow me to get down to the second matter.
Mr. Cale, I am part of a society that would like to make you a member of
their club. It could earn you many business partners."
She waited until he said, "I'm listening, but I save my choice
until after I hear your offer."
She thought this was a good sign. "I am a member of a club called
the Hellfire Club. I figured that you'd be interested since it is
mutant club."
She was shocked when he said, "I've heard of Hellfire, and my
answer is no."
Adrienne was also getting upset. Since she had entered this
office, she was facing the back of a chair, she stood up and reached
past the desk. "Now Mr. Cale, I insist you tell me face to face why..."
She stopped as she swung the chair around. Richard Cale Jr. wasn't
sitting in the chair, however she knew the face of who was in there. It
was Charles Xavier. She was stunned as she said, "You're not Richard
Cale."
She was even more shocked when the figure in the black fedora
removed his hat and said, "But I am." He was right. She recognized the
features of the man. He then said, "I have been monitoring you since
you entered, and I don't like you one bit. There is no way that I would
join Hellfire." He started to walk toward her, and she backed away.
"Plus, I don't like what your thinking about this school, but I will
tell you this. If I suspect any foul play from your hands on this
school, or Paladin Technologies, I will have the law shut your company
down, and if I have to, have them take out Hellfire."
She was right at the door and ran out. She didn't like being
tricked. She didn't like being played for a fool. He had known the
whole time why she was there. Plan A didn't work. Adrienne got into
her car and left the grounds. When she felt she was a good distance
away, she picked up her cellphone and dialed the number she was given.
When she heard the person on the othe end pick up, she said, "Victor, my
name is Adrienne Frost, and I have a job for you." She smiled as she
thought about how this hitman would do his job.
Darrett watched as Emma's sister pulled out of the driveway.
Something was bothering him about all this. He had a very strange sense
of forbodding. He then heard Emma say, "I don't think that will be the
last we hear of her."
Darrett didn't want to ask why, but he figured that they might be
in a bad situation. He heard Daria say, "How so, Emma?" He knew she
was wise, but nobody knew how he knew that. It was a secret he kept to
himself.
He turned to face her as she said to all of them, "If Hellfire
wanted him, there is only one way they will accept no for an answer."
He didn't like the sound of that.
He then watched as Rich, Yvette and Professor Xavier came in. He
was surprised when Rich said, "Do you mean to say that she might try to
have me killed? I already told her that if I suspected foul play that
the law would be on her hide."
Darrett was surprised when he heard what Rich said. He looked at
him and said, "You mean you threatened her." He didn't know what had
happened in the office, but it was obvious that something made Rich
threaten her.
He then heard Emma say, "Rich what did you have planned that had
my sister run out of here so fast?" He had to admit that he wanted to
know that as well.
He heard Professor Xavier say, "I must admit that the boy is
clever. He had me pose to be him, and pretended to be a bodyguard. It
appears that Hellfire is interested in him."
Yvette then said, "And from what Rich suspects, he thinks that
they want to ruin you, Emma."
Darret watched as Sean said, "Do you think we should be prepared
for the worst?" It was obvious what was meant by that.
Rich just shook his head and said, "She can't do anything legally.
The FBI won't allow it, also I don't think she's going to risk going to
the Friends Of Humanity, but when I latched onto her ability, I did see
some connection."
He then heard Logan say, "Then everyone's gonna have to be in top
form. There is only one connection you have to worry about." Darrett
wondered what Logan meant and saw Jubilee start to shiver.
He then heard the fear in her voice as she said one word.
"Sabertooth." He noticed a few of the Gen X members went pale at the
mention of the name. However, all he knew about Sabertooth was the
rumors from his own time. Some stated that Sabertooth was a vicious
monster, while others said he was owned by the version of Rich and
Yvette from his own timeline.
He decided to say part of what he knew. "I don't want to seem
stupid, but from what I remember from my timeline, Sabertooth was a
vicious monster. Is that true?"
He noticed the Ororo said, "That is putting it in very simple
words. Sabertooth is a psychopath, and he wouldn't think twice about
killing everyone just to kill one person."
Darrett felt like he shouldn't ask the next question, but he had
to. "What link does he have to the Friends of Humanity?"
He heard Sean say, "His son was a member. That's the link."
Emma then said, "Then we better finish this training and run a
second training session." He had to agree with that. It might be best
for them to be prepared.
He heard Everett say, "Emma, how many of us are still in this
training session? Jubilee and I never got anounnced out."
He just said, "I think I'm still in."
Sean then said, "You're right, Darrett. You are still in, as well
as Rich and Yvette. Ororo you're still in the training session.
Everett, you and Jubilee got tagged out before the break, so ye are both
out. Alright, let's get back to this, big time." He followed as they
all headed for the "Danger Grotto".
As they all headed for the Grotto, Jono looked at Paige. They had
been dating after the first attack Aura had made, and he was worried
sick about her during attacks. Jono walked alongside her and said,
He heard her say, "What is it, Jono?" He could see the concern in
her eyes. He wondered if the same thought had crossed her mind that had
crossed his.
He noticed as Paige shivered at the mention of demented mutant.
He felt her get close to him as she said, "Jono, I feel the same way
about you. It's just Ah wonder if something is out to to get me. First
it was Aura almost crushing me to death, and then Soundwave and what he
did. At least he didn't do to me what he did to Jubilee."
Jono then heard the gruff voice of Logan say, "What did Soundwave
do to her? If I ever get the chance to get my claws on him, I'll teach
him a thing or two about what he did." Jono could tell that Logan was
not to thrilled. From what they had heard, Soundwave had changed Logan
into a non-stop macarena.
He didn't know if he should tell Logan, but then he realized that
Logan should know. He didn't want to say it, but Logan had overheard
their talk. If he could sigh, he would have as he said,
He saw that Logan was starting to get upset. "What did he do to
her?"
Jono now realized that he had made a mistake by mentioning what
had happened to Logan. Now he didn't want to mention what had happened
to Jubilee to him, mainly because he was afraid that Logan might go on a
rampage. He was scared that he would when Paige said, "He made her
believe that she was being attacked by all of her worse enemies attack
her at once." He noticed that Paige was leaving out the other facts
about what Soundwave did to her. However, he could tell that Logan
could guess what had happened to her as he let loose a howl of anger.
Jubilee spun around when she heard Wolvie's howl of anger. She
wondered what made Wolvie so angry. She just heard him say to Sean,
"When were you going to tell me about what happen to her?" It then hit
her what he must have found out. Soundwave's first attack.
She watched as Sean just said, "This is why we didnae want to tell
ye, Logan. We all knew how ye would react."
She then watched as Rich stepped in between the two. "Simmer
down, Logan. It's not like she was the main target."
She was almost scared that Logan would impale Rich on his claws.
"Oh yea, he had me doing that stupid dance cause he was after you. You
could have warned us about him."
She was stunned as Rich never faulted in his stance. "Like I was
going to know that the bastard was going to escape from prison. Did you
ever let Jubilee know of all your enemies?" Then she saw Wolverine stop
his ranting. She heard Rich continue, "You never did, but then when one
has enemies, they tend to come after you, and no force anywhere can
prevent you from avoiding it. If I had my way, Soundwave would have
never found me here." She watched then as Rich started to run off. She
saw Penny take off after him.
Over the time Rich had been at the school, she had seen that a few
times before. Before she could say anything, she heard Professor Xavier
say, "Why did he run off?"
She was about to answer when she heard Jean say, "It's just like
when he almost committed suicide, isn't it Sean?"
Jubilee had to say something. "He was that close to losing it.
Rich doesn't like do things that might hurt his friends, or even
mortally hurt an enemy. I once came close to that once." She
remembered that day all to well.
She heard Ororo say, "What happened, Jubilee?"
She heard Everett say as he took her arm, "It wasn't too long ago.
Rich had found a record at the local store and brought it back. He was
planning to transfer it to a tape, but Jubilee knocked him over. The
record shattered."
Hank McCoy looked at her and said, "He got that upset over a
record. Sounds very petty."
Monet then said, "I've seen him get excited over music. He said
that that particular album was off one of his favorite films, and the
fact that he had found the soundtrack made it a huge find for him. Just
like the opera he received just the other day from Germany."
Emma then said, "He said it was a recently found opera by Wagner.
He also said it was from the debut preformance."
Hank then said, "How did he get such a find?" Jubilee just said,
"His family friend in Germany got it for him. I think Rich also said it
was found by them. I haven't heard it yet, but he says it is
beautiful." She had also heard Penny rave about it, but the two had yet
to let them hear it, not like she was totally into it.
Professor Xavier then said, "Still, to get upset over a record is
nothing, and ridiculous."
Emma then said, "True, but it is usually the tip of the iceberg.
Rich keeps all his anger inside him, and tries to release it any way he
can. Sometimes he can't and all it takes is one trigger to let it all
come out."
Jubilee finally said, "I think he's going to be calm when we get
back to the `Grotto'." She then headed down to the Grotto. As she
walked, she noticed Everett was still at her side. She looked at
Everett and said, "I hope Rich is going to be Ok."
Her boyfriend just said, "Let's face it, Jubes, Rich is a trooper.
I didn't think anyone would have the nerve to stand up to Logan like
that." She had to agree. She didn't know if Logan would hurt Rich or
not, but she was glad he didn't.
Yvette ran after her husband. She had seen him like this a few
times before, and she knew what was coming. When she finally caught up
with him, she saw him sitting in the control room of the `Grotto'. She
knew he had started crying, she could sense it. She walked over to him
and said, "Are you alright?"
She saw the tears in her husband's eyes as he said, "I was about
to hurt Logan. How could I be alright?"
Yvette put her arms around Rich and said, "I know you wouldn't do
that. You have alot of will power."
As she held him, she heard him say in their mind link {I have done
it. You remember what I did to Black Tom. I was also close to Logan, I
had his rage, his fury.} She remembered how close he was to Wolverine.
She kissed him and said, {But remember, the power of the mind is
stronger than the power of fury. You showed that by not striking.}
She felt him return the kiss. {I hope that that will always be
true, Yvette. I just hope that I don't get worked up anymore today.}
She hoped so as well. She knew that he never got that upset in less
than a day's time.
Yvette stopped the kiss and said, "You know, maybe some music
might help you right now. Want me to get the opera that Gabe sent us?"
She saw how leary he was about that.
He looked at her and said, "I don't know about that. We need to
focus on this training session, plus I don't think it would be wise for
anyone else to hear it until we get a recording from a different
preformance." She had to agree with that. The opera ended abruptly,
and she knew why. She then saw a devilish smile cross his face.
She knew the smile and returned it. {I think I know what you've
picked for you end of our bet.} She heard him laugh. He was feeling
better, and that was a good sign. She then said, {Why do I think we
will both enjoy it?}
He smiled and said, {Would you say the same thing about what you
had planned?} She giggled after he said that.
She held him close and said softly, "You know me too well."
He smiled and softly said, "I am your husband. It comes with the
title." They both giggled at those last words. Sometime Yvette
wondered how fortune allowed her all this. When she was first left at
the school, she never figured that she would find someone that would
love her, let alone help her learn to control her dangerous ability.
Then, fate made Rich join the school. True, they had a few little
disagreements, but the always found a way to work them out. She felt
him kiss her as he said, "I'm glad we met as well."
She broke the kiss off when she heard someone say, "I take it that
Rich is feeling better." She turned to face Hank McCoy. She could also
tell that the others were not far behind.
She watched as her husband smiled and said, "I am, Dr. McCoy. I
thank you for your concern."
She was startled by Dr. McCoy's next word. "We were told about
what you go through. We also found out about the opera you received.
I'm a bit of fan of Wagner's works. I was wondering if I could hear the
opera later."
She noticed how her husband reacted to the request. She saw the
discomfort that he had at the request. "If it's all the same, Dr.
McCoy, I'd rather wait until I get a better copy of it. The debut
preformance, which I have, has a rather odd occurance in it."
She noticed that Dr. McCoy just said, "Richard, such things might
have been planned."
She then heard in their mind, {He's right, it was planned, but not
in front of such an audience.} She nodded in agreement. She then
watched as her husband said, "No doubt it might have been planned, but
the event is rather unusual."
She was startled when Jean said, "Rich, we have all seen out part
of unusual. Besides, it may do you some good to relax after the
session. Besides, you also seem to have all of your teammates wanting
to hear it."
Yvette heard Rich's heavy sigh as he finally said, "Alright, but
it's not your typical opera."
Yvette then turned and said, "'Father', who is left for the
training session?" She wanted to finish this, and soon. She wanted to
try and best her husband. She then headed into the grotto with everyone
else.
Charles Xavier watched as the the remaining students of Generation
X began their survival session with Ororo. He did wonder one thing
about the students, and that was the young boy Darrett. Like Bishop,
the boy was from the future, but only Generation X knew the boy's
ability. He turned to Emma and said, "Emma, the new boy, Darrett, what
is his ability?"
Emma looked at him and said, "He can summon villianous characters
to fight for him. However, the more powerful ones are hard for him to
control." Xavier wondered how safe that ability could be.
He then heard Sean say, "Looks like the lad has grabbed a big
thing this time." Xavier looked out into the grotto to see a figure
floating above the tops of the trees in there. As he looked at it, he
could tell it was humanoid, and wearing some sort of regal robes.
Xavier heard Logan say, "Definatly a fat man, but what's keeping
the fat floating." He too, was wondering that.
As they watched, he was startled to hear a strange voice say,
"Supsensor belts is what I think they are called." He, as well, as the
others, spun around to see a man standing there, almost in aristocratic
attire, like the man stepped out of a time machine. "Darrett said you
might not recognized me. My name is Henry Stauf."
Xavier had heard the name before. Hank had as well as he said,
"You mean the character from those puzzle games." Then he remembered
the face. One of the other X-Men had a copy of the game. Even Hank
enjoyied it from time to time.
He watched as the figure just said, "One in the same. As for
Vladimir out there, the suspensor belts are all that keeps him mobile.
If he had to walk, he'd crush his legs."
He soon realized that Henry was no strange occurance at the school
as Emma said, "Henry, who exactly did Darrett bring forth?"
He watched as Henry shook his head, "He didn't bring anyone forth.
He brought Vladimir back." Charles realized what the figure was saying.
Charles moved closer to the figure and said, "You mean that
Darrett brought this Vladimir fellow back from the future." As the
figure nodded, Xavier then asked, "What year?"
He was surprised by the answer. "I believe the year he's from is
10191." He heard everyone gasp. "I think he also said his homeworld
was Geidi Prime, or something like that? I must head back now. Darrett
only wanted me to tell you who he summoned this time."
He watched as Sean nodded and said, "Thank ye, Henry. At least
Darrett is controlling this one."
He heard Jean say, "Has Darrett summoned some he couldn't
control?"
Sean nodded and said, "Only one, but we monitor incase he summons
something new." Xavier had to agree that that was a good idea.
However, he wondered how much of a problem Generation X could handle if
one of the creatures the boy summoned did rebel. He then heard Sean
say, "Looks like the lad is trying to tag out Ororo." Xavier watched as
Ororo started to fly near the figure.
When Ororo saw the figure rise above the trees, she wondered two
things. The first was if it was a robot in the biosphere, and the
second was if it wasn't, who was behind it. She approached it with
caution. She honestly wasn't sure who was behind it. As she flew
closer, she noticed that the being faced her. The smile it had scared
her abit. She was started when it said, "Who dares near me, the great
Baron Vladmir Harkonen."
Ororo stopped. Something about his voice made her fear him. She
then realized that the man appeared to be very real, but couldn't really
be there. She kept her distanse as she said, "Who brought you here?"
The figure just laughed as he came towards her. She started to
fly back to maintain a distance. "You want to know who brought me here?
I can answer that one for you." She half expected the figure to attack,
but he didn't.
She then realized her folly when the figure spun. As if launched
by the spin, she saw Darrett flying straight at her. He just yelled, "I
brought him here," as he flew through the air. She started to fly
upwards only to have Darrett grab her legs and pull her down to the
ground.
As she fell, she said, "Very good trick Darrett, but what if I
attacked that figure?"
He looked at her and said, "Was hoping you wouldn't? Might have
been messy." She then noticed as the figure faded out of sight. She
then heard him say, "He's like a big water balloon that floats."
When they finally hit the ground, she head Sean say over the
intercome, "Well, the last of the X-Men is out, which leaves Darrett,
Yvette and Rich still in." She noticed an uncomfortable look on the
boys face.
Ororo looked at the boy and said, "What's wrong?" She noticed
that he was troubled by the situation he was now in. She then said, "Is
this like the time you came from?" As he nodded, she realized that he
was of mixed feelings about the training session now. She looked him in
the eye and said, "Don't worry, child. Remember, you took care of the
evils you had to deal with."
She noticed as he sighed and said, "But they were the evils in my
time. Did I actually stop them, or only post pone it." It was obvious
that the boy was deeply troubled by the fact.
Ororo put her hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "Bishop had to
adjust in the same way. It will take time, but you will get over this
problem." She saw that the boy took a little comfort and then went to
continue the session.
She flew off back to the control room and landed right at the
door. As she entered, she heard Sean say, "Darrett is at his own trail
by fire. I just hope the lad does the right thing." She understood
what Sean meant. She hoped that the boy wouldn't act to harshly.
Yvette carefully moved from tree to tree. She knew that she was
being hunted, but now she was a bit worried. Other than herself and her
husband, the only other person left in the session was Darrett, and she
wondered if the boy could forget his past. She was afraid that Darrett
would take this chance to hunt them down and end the possibility of his
frightful timeline. She was almost lost in thought when she heard the
movement. She looked down to see the dirt move. It had to be Rich.
She watched as he brought his head out of the ground. She could tell he
was looking for her. Now she could get the drop on him. She smiled and
said, "I've got you now, love."
Just as she was about to jump, she felt something jar the tree.
She started to fall. She then felt herself get tackled by something.
When she finally saw it, she was startled. It was a bull, but there was
something weird about it. It seemed somewhat human. She watched as
Rich came out of the ground. "Yvette!" was all he said. She watched as
he approached the creature. She figured he knew who was behind it,
mainly because she figured out who it was. While he approached, he
tensed up a claw to attack the creature. She was a bit winded. As he
approached, he said, "Darrett, if Mumbo here has rebelled and hurts
Yvette, I won't forgive you." She wondered if Mumbo was the name of the
bull. She was suprise at what happened next.
She saw Rich stop dead in his tracks as he was surrounded by a red
aura. She then saw a scary sight as Darrett emmerged from hiding with a
red armored man next to him. He walked over to Rich and said, "Nope, he
and Monstar are safely under control." She watched as he tapped Rich's
heel and Rich then fell to the ground. He then walked over to her and
said, "Was the only way I could think of to get you two." He tagged her
shoulder and said, "It's done." She watched as the man and the bull
disappeared.
Soon the intercom came to life, "Looks like Darrett won that one,
and lad, we'd like a word with you." She saw the calm look on his face.
He expected it. She walked over to her husband and helped him up.
As they made their way back to the control room, she heard Rich
say, "You summoned the Mob. Are you crazy, Darrett?"
The boy looked at them and said, "I know I took a chance, third
new one I tried today."
Yvette noticed how stunned Rich was. She looked at him and said,
"And what if they rebelled, how would we have handled those two. And
who was the third."
She noticed as Henry McCoy said, "Baron Harkonnen, if you
recognized the name?"
She watched as Rich just said, "The floating fat man from Dune. I
reconginize the name."
Yvette then heard Emma say, "Darrett, you took a chance with one.
Did you think that those two you had just summoned wouldn't rebel
against you?"
She watched as Darrett just lowered his head. "Never really
thought about it. I was thinking that Rich and Yvette might both come
after me."
Yvette then heard Rich say in their mindlink, {He gambled the life
of this planet on making sure he could win this training session. The
Baron is one thing, but Monstar could take the planet over, due to the
time and place he's from.}
Yvette just shouted then. "Darrett, do you know what that
`Monstar' character is capable of?" Before he could respond, she said,
"He was from the future and is very powerful. Who ever fights him has
to be well equip for the job."
She watched as Jubilee walked over to her side to help carry Rich.
"Geez, what happen to Rich?" She didn't know what exactly happened, but
the red aura that had surrounded Rich had really knocked the wind out of
him.
She then heard Sean say, "Rich, ye knew the other things he
brought forth. What are they?"
She heard Rich say, "Monstar is the villian from a cartoon called
`Silverhawks'."
She then heard a gasp, but it was from Daria. "I use to watch
that when I was little. You mean he brought Monstar forward. That is
risky. Monstar could take on almost anybody in a fair fight."
She listened as her husband said, "Well Daria, if you ever
wondered what it feels like to be hit by the Lightstar, I can tell you,
it hurts alot. Maybe a little rest, and I'll be right as rain again."
Yvette looked at Jubilee and said, "'Sis', help me get him to our
apartment. I think some music might help him as well." She felt
Jubilee help support him as they headed back to the apartment.
Yvette was almost surprised when Rich said, "I have a strange
feeling that something is going to happen. Something feels wrong."
Yvette wondered if it was an after effect of what had happened, and then
wondered if it was something else.
********************************************
Grimore walked around the building for the third time that day.
He wasn't sure why, but he felt like he had to stay near the apartment.
He felt nervous, just like he felt whenever the Cale's had an encounter
with Marsh, or any of his kind. As he moved towards the door to the
apartment, he heard a noise behind him. He turned to see Yvette and the
girl named Jubilee helping Richard up to the apartment. He was
startled, if not scared. He ran over to their side and said, "What's
wrong with the Paladin?"
He figured that no one would answer due to the company, but Yvette
just said, "He had a rough session, but he'll be alright after a little
rest."
Grimore was more worried now. He had never seen Rich look so
drained. He didn't want to say more, but he was wondering about
Richard. "What exactly happened?"
He then noticed that Jubilee looked at Yvette puzzled and said,
"Penny, are you talking to Rich's cat?"
He watched as Yvette just said, "I'll explain later, `Sis'. Right
now, it might be better to get Rich upstairs and laying down." He had
to agree with that. Rich did need to recover, since it appeared that
whatever hit him took a great toll.
He lead the way to the door and stopped. Something was wrong. He
sniffed the air and hissed. "Something's up there." It was a warning,
and he saw Yvette's eyes go wide. He then saw the door was ajar.
Something was up there, and it wasn't good.
Yvette was first to open the door and he followed her. That was
when he saw it. If looked like Marsh, but more hideous. He knew what
it was, and what it was after. It was going after the one book, the
more dangerous of the two that were in the care of the Cale family. He
watched as Yvette ran over to the creature and swung at it. Grimore
watched as Yvette struck a blow to the creature. He then heard Rich say
to Jubilee, "Jubilee, get my sword over there."
He watched as Jubilee did what he asked. He noticed that Rich
just leaned against the wall. Grimore was afraid that Rich wouldn't be
able to do much. He then saw Jubilee launch some sparks at the
creature. "Hey ugly. Take that," was all the girl could say. As both
he and the creature adjusted to the sudden sparks, he heard a crash. When
he finally saw something, he saw the book flying into Rich's left hand.
He also heard movement downstairs, and hoped it was someone from
the X-Men or Generation X. He watched as the creature slowly advanced
on Rich. Rich just said, "You want the book, you have to pry it from my
dead hands."
He heard a growl and half expected the creature to lunge at the
Paladin, but was surprised as the X-Man know as Wolverine came bounding
up the steps, followed by a few of the X-Men and Gen-X. He was started
at the speed that Wolverine took the creature down. He then heard the
X-Man known as Beast say, "You seemed to be right, Logan. Something was
fishy. I'm guessing that Rich's visitor from earlier had expected
complications."
Grimore walked over to his master and said softly, "I don't think
it was trying for the book, my Lord." He was concerned as Rich slowly
slid to the floor. He watched as Mondo ran over and held Rich up.
Mondo just looked at the creature and said, "Definately not a very
happy creature. Looks like it is part fish."
He heard Rich faintly say, "With the time it spends underwater, it
should look like that. Mondo, help me get to the stand this book was
one."
As Mondo helped Rich, he heard Sean say, "I take it you were the
target instead of the book." He could tell the Irishman was concerned.
Yvette just said, "I think he believes that. Marsh wouldn't have
known if the book was here. If it was here, it was waiting to ambush
us." He then saw her look at them and say, "Why did you think something
was wrong?"
He heard Logan again say, "Something didn't smell right, and I
didn't think Rich could have handled it."
He then heard Sean say, "Besides, we want ye to come down to the
med center. After that thing hit you, we wanted to check for any
injuries."
He watched as she nodded and said, "Jubilee, could you stay with
Rich for a bit. I'm a bit worried about him." He knew that Yvette was
concerned, and maybe it would be best for a friend to be here. He saw
Jubilee nod and Yvette left with the others. He just stayed there,
hoping all would be alright.
Jubilee watched as everyone left, and then turned to see Rich as
he almost fell. She ran over and said, "Rich, are you alright?" She
knew that Rich was not in the best of states since what Darrett had
summoned had stunned him.
Rich just started to stand up and said, "I just need to rest for a
bit. Could you help me to my bed?" She helped Rich over to the bed,
wondering how much that thing took out of him. When she finally got him
to his bed, she watched as Rich just laid down. As he did, she heard
Rich say, "Jubilee, could you turn the stereo on?"
Jubilee walked over to the stereo and turned it on. All of a
sudden, her ears were assulted by an opera. Deep down, she never liked
opera, but something about it made her listen to it. She then looked at
Rich and said, "Is this the one sent from your friend in Germany?"
She noticed that Rich nodded and said, "Yep. Gabe sent us this.
This is the lost Wagner opera."
As it started to go into full swing, she just said, "Rich, what is
it about?" It did sound a bit interesting.
Rich just smiled and said, "Well, from what I could get out of
what Gabe told me about the first preformance, the hero has been cursed
to be a werewolf. You should hear the end of the preformance."
She looked over at him and he just closed his eyes and smiled. He
and Penny both knew something about this music. She wondered what was
so special about the opera, and then said, "Rich, do you know why Wagner
did this opera?"
Rich just said to her, "King Ludwig, the mad king of Bavaria, had
requested it." She noticed that Rich wasn't telling her everything.
She figured he liked to keep some things secret. At least the intercom
was still there, so if any of those creepy things came back, she could
call for help. She was almost startled when Rich said, "Jubilee, what
do you know about Logan's past with Sabertooth?"
She shivered as he asked the question. "I don't know much. I
just know that they hate each other. Sabertooth hates Wolvie so much
that he'd kill me just to hurt Wolvie." She knew Rich was worried about
that happening since the meeting with Emma's sister.
She noticed the uneasiness in Rich's form as he said, "I wouldn't
be surprised if he would be around. I just hope I'm back up to par by
then." She wondered more what that thing had done to Rich, but there
was no way to know until she heard from the others. She just sat back,
listened to the music, and waited.
********************************************
Jean could not believe how much of a lecture Emma could give, but
she couldn't blame Emma for her reactions. She just stood back and
hoped Emma wouldn't step out of line. She listened as Emma just said,
"After your little incident with that Ghen fellow, I'm surprised you
would even try something like those two. We'll be lucky if Yvette
doesn't have any broken bones. The purpose of these training sessions
is to avoid that."
She watched as Darrett started to speak. "Emma, I didn't think
that they would rebel, let alone cause alot of damage."
Jean was almost surprised when Emma almost shouted. "Were you
thinking? I mean look at the state you put Rich into with what you
called up. I just hope nothing happens that his life is in danger"
Jean was a bit surprised when Sean came in and said, "A bit late
for that one. Apparently, Rich's one guest decided to try and ambush
Rich. Good thing Logan was here."
Jean could see Emma was about to yell at the boy when Jean said,
"Emma, you can't blame Darrett for his mistake. At least things didn't
get out of hand." She noticed that Emma calmed down a bit.
She then saw Emma face Darrett and say, "I'm sorry, Darrett. I
think my sister's visit here has had me a bit shook up. It's just that
with your ability, we get a bit worried when you try something new."
Jean saw the boy nod and then leave the room. After he had left,
Jean heard Emma sigh and she asked, "Emma, what's wrong?"
She heard Emma sigh even louder as she said, "We know so little
about that boy, yet the less I know, the better I sometimes like it."
Jean then heard Professor Xavier say, "You mean you never tried to
even use your powers on him. I guess you have learn some self control."
Jean felt abit impressed by that as well.
She was surprised when Emma said, "I'm afraid I'll find all of
Generation X's deaths in his mind. I don't think anyone here wants to
know how they died in that horrible world he came from." Jean now
understood why Emma wouldn't want to use her abilities on the boy.
She was almost startled when Hank walked into the room and said,
"Well, maybe Darrett's stunt might have been a blessing. Sean, Emma, I
think you'll find this most interesting." She watched as Sean and Emma
looked at the document Hank was carring. She could tell they were both
shocked. She wondered if it meant something good or bad.
Hank noticed the surprised looks on Emma and Sean's faces. He had
been surprised when he saw the results of his examination. He then
heard Emma say, "Hank, are you positive about this?"
Hank nodded and said, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I
wouldn't have believed it. It appears that when Yvette got her mutant
ability, she also got abilities to help her with it. She knows about
the psyonic ability to help her communicate, but she also has a healing
factor."
He was surprised to hear Everett say, "So what you are getting at
is that Penny has recovered from Darrett's stunt. What about Rich?"
Hank just held his hand up. "As I was about to say, this healing
factor in Yvette has had a chance to really get a workout. Her
imprisonment at the hands of Emplate helped her develop it. I wouldn't
be surprised if she's immune to most diseases. As for Rich, I don't
think the healing factor is as powerful as Yvette's, but I also doubt it
will help. What ever Darrett's creature did, it doesn't appear to be
something normal. If Rich is resting, it might be best." After he got
done saying what he said, he motioned Sean and Emma over and said, "She
did appear to get a broken rib from that bull-like thing, but it's
completely healed. I must admit, with her ability, she can vary her
size by a bit. She can make herself a smaller target, but she seemed a
bit ashamed about that?"
He listened as Emma said, "She's a bit self conscious. Most
times, we judged her size when she had used her mutant ability. It's
abit harder to judge her now since she isn't tensed up."
He then heard Sean say, "Besides, she feels like the other girls
envy her since something happened at one of the slumber parties. One of
the reasons we've been trying to get clothing she can't cut through with
her skin."
Hank nodded and said, "I guess that would explain some of the self
consciousness. I think I can understand her embaressment when it
happened at that party." He couldn't totally imagine the situation, but
he understood the reason for embaressment. He then looked at Sean and
Emma and said, "Do you think she is totally aware of her quick healing?"
He watched as Emma shook her head and said, "No, but no doubt that
Emplate is totally aware of her quick healing. It would explain all the
attempts he's made to get Yvette back into his clutches."
He then said, "Well, maybe if she is not aware of it, she should
be made aware of it. I think she should know about this ability,
especially if Rich has this ability as well." He watched as both Sean
and Emma nodded. He then led them to the med center.
Monet had walked over to the med center when she saw Hank enter
the room earlier. Now she wanted to check on Yvette. She wondered how
Yvette was doing after the session. She entered the med center, only to
see an empty room. She was puzzled and said, "Yvette, are you still in
here?"
She was startled when she heard Yvette say, "I'm back here,
getting dressed. This was just like a medical check up." She could
hear the irritation in Yvette's voice. She knew Yvette was very shy,
especially since the incident at the slumber party.
Monet stepped over to the screen and said, "Yvette, did Dr. McCoy
find something wrong?" She noticed from the shadow Yvette case that she
was just finishing getting dressed. She then started to wonder what
Rich and Yvette did when they were alone, but she quickly got her mind
off of that. She realized that when she thought about stuff like that,
she was usually putting herself and Everett into the images. She still
had a crush on Everett.
She snapped out of her thoughts when Yvette came out from behind
the curtain. She saw the nervous look on Yvette's face. Yvette just
said to her, "This was weird. He ran tests, and he even cut me. I
don't know why he did it, but the cut is gone now."
Monet could tell that their was concern in Yvette's voice when she
had said what she said. Monet then said, "Yvette, I think he found
something interesting. He was talking to Sean and Emma about it. He
mentioned that what he found was a reason why my brother is after you."
Monet could tell the Yvette didn't like the sound of that as she
tensed up. "What do you mean by that?"
Monet just said, "Calm down. I don't know what Dr. McCoy found,
but you must have a healing factor like Logan's. Your body must heal
all your wounds quickly. Think about it, Yvette. It's like a counter
to your ability if you injured yourself."
She was startled when Hank McCoy said, "That's exactly what I
discovered. I just told Sean and Emma about your healing factor. Monet
is correct in her assumption."
She watched as Yvette said, "Is that why you had to cut me?"
She watched as Hank nodded. "Not the best of tests, but for a
small cut like that to be healed in a second is extrodinary. Not even
Logan has that fast of a healing factor."
Monet thought it might be best to leave at the moment. She felt a
small pain in her head, a psychic pain. She hoped it wasn't Claudette.
Last thing they needed right now was for Claudette to break free. As
she left the med center, she was startled when Professer Xavier said,
"Monet, what is wrong?"
She didn't know if the Professer had been informed about
Claudette, but she didn't want to say a word about it. She was scared
about what it could do if she mentioned it to him. She just shook her
head and said, "I think I have a headache. I'm going to head to my dorm
room to lay down." She then left the area. She hoped that it was a
headache. The last thing she wanted was for Claudette to break free.
She wondered if the pain she had felt in her head was from Claudette
breaking one of the psyonic locks on her psyonic cell. If that were the
case, it wouldn't be long until Claudette would get to the lock Emma put
on. Monet entered her dorm room and laid down on her bed, and started
to focus on that barrier.
He looked around and tried to figure out where his quarry would be
hiding. Victor Creed loved the mayhem he caused. Killing for him was a
rush, and this little job would be a big rush, and it would be bigger if
he took out the `runt' as well. Creed never liked Logan, and he
definatly woundn't mind killing everyone that Logan cared about. This
included the little pipsqueak that stopped his rampage at the X-Mansion.
He knew Logan was there, and he also knew that Jubilee was there.
However, his main target this time was some twerp called Richard Cale.
Only problem was, he didn't know where this Richard Cale would be. He
also stayed up in the trees. Then he thought about what he was looking
for. The pipsqueak would know. He made his way through the trees until
he was close to the girls dorm. He knew that she would be somewhere in
the dorm, or that she would return to the dorm. He then noticed
movement at one of the attic windows. He looked over only to see a cat.
He just muttered, "False alarm, but I can wait." He could wait.
Sabertooth had been waiting for a moment like this for a long time, and
he was definately going to enjoy it.
Rich sat up and looked over at Grimore. His cat had been purched
at the window, and now he could tell Grimore had seen something. Rich
got off the bed and said to Jubilee, "I think something is up. Grimore
looks nervous."
Jubilee, who had stayed with him when Yvette left for an
examination, said, "Maybe it's the music. It is getting a bit creepy."
Rich just shook his head. "No, something is wrong. I can feel it
now." He walked over to Grimore's perch and said softly, "What's
wrong?"
His cat didn't look at him, but said softly in return. "There is
something, or someone, in the tree out there. It's big and seems very
hostile."
Rich felt the fear building in him. He instictivly grabbed the
sword. He swallowed and said, "Grimore, can you tell me anything else?"
Grimore just said, "It's mostly orange, and it looks like it has a
mane. It just looked in the other direction."
Before Grimore could say another word, Rich saw Jubilee come over
to him and she said, "Sounds like there are three wolves in that piece.
I heard the guy say something like wolf." He looked at her and she
could see it in his eyes. "What's wrong? What's going on?"
Rich just said, "There were only two wolves at that debut. That
last growl wasn't a wolf. We have to go." He saw she had run to the
steps in a panic. He quickly followed, but was startled by the crash of
a window.
He heard the voice with a inhuman growl in it. "Alright
pipsqueak, I know you're in here." He saw the figure and his sword
instantly was ablaze. The figure saw him and said, "I don't know you
are, but I have a feeling you're Cale." Rich ran down the steps quick
and slammed the door shut. It locked but it wouldn't hold. He heard
Sabertooth slamming on it hard.
He ran after Jubilee and she said, "He's not gonna stop." He
heard the fear in her voice. As they ran down the steps, she said, "How
did you know he was near?"
Rich heard the door break and said, "Grimore saw him." He noticed
that the cat was at his side. As they continueed down the steps, Rich
just said, "We need help. I don't know if we can handle Sabertooth
alone." He saw her nod and Rich said in his mindlink with Yvette,
{Yvette, Jubilee and I are in trouble. Sabertooth is here.}
He could sense the fear in Yvette when she said, {Oh God. Are you
both alright?}
{For now, but he's hot on our heels. Get everyone over here,
especially Logan and the other X-Men.} He heard the stairwell door
shatter and looked up to see Sabertooth enter the stairwell.
As both he and Jubilee exited it on the main floor, he heard
Yvette say, {Monet is at the dorm. She might be able to help.} He knew
what she meant. Monet's strength might be an asset He ran to Monet's
door and pounded on it.
She openned the door rather quickly and said, "What is with all
the noise?"
Rich just said to her, "Don't ask me, ask Creed. He's here and
after Jubilee and myself." He was surprised at how fast she moved. She
just grabbed him and Jubilee and flew out the main door.
He saw that they were heading towards the main building as the X
Men were coming out with the rest of Generation X. When Monet landed,
she just said, "It might be easier to fight Sabertooth out here." Rich
noticed that Logan had his claws out. This was going to be messy.
Logan stood in front of everyone once Monet had landed. When
Yvette had said what was happening, he was ready. They all knew why
Sabertooth was here, but he was gonna give Creed a hard time getting to
Rich. The only trick now was not letting Sabertooth get an edge. He
then saw Sabertooth come out of the dorm building. He wasn't surprised
when Sabertooth slowed down and growled. "Well `runt', you think you
can stop me this time?"
Logan ran forward and shouted, "No doubt on that one, Sabertooth.
I ain't gonna let you harm anyone here." He was surprise then
Sabertooth jumped to the side. He quickly stopped himself and spun to
face Sabertooth again.
Sabertooth just growled and said, "I'd love to dance with you
Logan, but I've got more important things to do." He watched as Creed
turned and headed towards the students. He had to detain Creed even
longer.
Logan ran over with claws extended. What he needed to do was
injure Creed. He needed to buy them some time. He still didn't think
that the kids were ready to handle Creed. As he neared Creed, Logan was
surprised to hear Darrett yell out, "Stop him." He then saw the bull
from earlier come charging at Creed. He wasn't surprised when Creed
grabbed it by the horns.
As he looked on and moved forward, he heard Sabertooth shout, "Hey
`runt', catch." Sabertooth threw the bull right at him, and the bull
sent him flying. When the both landed, her heard the bull mutter
something, but he felt the muttering too in his shoulder where the one
horn had impaled him. This was not good.
Everett knew that Sabertooth wouldn't stop. Sabertooth was
hellbound on killing Rich, and even Jubilee. Ev looked over at Yvette
and said, "Yvette, we got to stop him." He saw her nodded and he said,
"I'm gonna synch up with you, it might be enough." He wasn't sure if it
would work, but they didn't have much time.
She nodded and said, "I don't want my husband dead. Let's do it."
He knew how much she cared for Rich, and really relized how much he
cared for Jubilee.
Just as Sabertooth approached the rest of them, he and Yvette
moved infront of Rich and Jubilee. He just said, "That's as far as you
go Sabertooth." He focused on trying to tense up, but only got it to a
certain point.
He saw Yvette had tensed up her hands to the point they were
claws. He also noticed that her hair was also tensed up, but nothing
else. She just said "Any closer and you'll wish you were dealing with
Wolverine." He had a feeling that the teachers were holding back, but
the others were getting ready.
He heard Creed laugh as he swung his arm. Everett then felt the
pain. Sabertooth had slashed his chest, and Yvette's as well. He
collapsed to the ground, holding the cut. He heard Sabertooth say,
"Nothing but a bunch of wimps." Everett knew about Yvette's healing
power, but did he get it.
He felt faint when he heard a voice say, "Jean, shield Everett and
Yvette." He didn't know who said it, but the next thing he saw before
he lost consciousness was a bright flash.
Jubilee was miffed now. Not just miffed, she was pissed off.
Creed might have killed the one guy who meant the most to her. Then she
saw the dark shadow next to her. Rich was totally upset. She knew what
was coming, and she had to agree. She felt the plasma explosion coming.
She just shouted, "It ends here Sabertooth."
She pointed her hands right and Sabertooth as did Rich. She heard
Xavier yell, "Jean, shield Everett and Yvette." That was when the
fireworks began. The explosion would have leveled any of the buildings
if they were inside. The force of it send Sabertooth flying. She
didn't know which direction Sabertooth was flying, but he was flying to
someplace far away.
After the blast ended, she looked over and ran to Everett. "Ev,
are you alright? Please be alright."
She saw Rich run over to Yvette and pick her up, "We have to get
them to the med center." He was right. She did the same with Everett
and they all ran inside, all except Monet. She had collapsed right
there, and Darrett helped get her in. She also saw the look in
Darrett's eyes. He was upset. She wondered why he was upset, but right
now, all that mattered was making sure Everett didn't die.
********************************************
It had taken some time, but Everett had stablized. Rich sat at
Yvette's side as he looked over at Everett. He looked at her and said,
"Do you think you'll be alright, my love?"
He felt her squeeze his hand and say, "In a day or so. I don't
think Everett will be moving for a few days though. At least the cuts
weren't deadly."
She had smiled as she said that and Rich said, "You took a big
risk. If you didn't have that healing ability, you might be out of
luck. I would have been lost without you." He didn't know how he
would have felt if she had died. She was very important to him.
Yvette said to him in their mind link, {Just make Adrienne pay for
this. We know she was the cause of this.} He nodded an kissed her. It
was the least he could do. He stood and left the med center.
When he got to a nearby phone, he heard Sean say, "How's she
doing?"
Rich looked over and saw Sean, Emma, and Professor Xavier standing
there. "She's doing fine. She'll be fine in a day or so, thanks to her
fast healing. She just asked me to do one thing."
Emma just said, "Make my sister pay for the attack." He nodded.
He listened as she said, "You understand that if she is in Hellfire, you
have to deal with the whole Inner Circle."
Rich nodded and said, "I understand. I'm just going to have the
FBI go in and look for evidence of the attempt. I doubt they will find
it, but afterwords, I'll let Adrienne know that she messed with the
wrong person."
Sean then said, "Rich, did ye mean what ye said about moving?"
Rich nodded again, "Two attacks in one day. I hate to say it, but
their is more risk in us staying there then if we move into one of the
rooms in the underground part of the school." He noticed that everyone
nodded in agreement.
Xavier then said, "Well, the X-Men will help get everything down
there. I must say it has been an interesting experience in meeting you.
I just wish it would have been more quiet." Rich understood what Xavier
meant.
Rich smiled and said, "Thank you for the help, Professor. Now, I
should make that phone call. And Sean, Emma, thanks for allowing the
move."
He noticed that Emma smiled as he picked up the phone, and she
said, "Rich, you'll make a good leader someday. You already show signs
of being a crafty businessman." He didn't want to be a leader, but he
had to do his best. He then dialed the number for the FBI.
********************************************
Monet opened her eyes when she felt someone holding her hand. She
saw it was Everett doing so. He looked at her and smiled and said,
"Feeling better."
She sat up and hugged him. She knew she might get in trouble with
Jubilee, but she could deal with that. "I was so worried about you.
I'm glad your alright."
He returned the hug and said, "I glad for that. I had some time
to think about what happened. I realized how much I cared for you."
She was surprised. She never knew that.
Before she could say another word, Monet heard a loud echo in the
room. "Monet, are you alright?" This worried her abit.
She looked at Everett and said, "Did you hear that?"
He looked at her like she was crazy. "Hear what? Calm down
Monet." She felt him hug her again, but something wasn't right.
Soon another echo passed through the room, and she got very
scared. "I'm fine, Dr. McCoy. I don't know what happened though."
Monet jumped up and ran for the door. It was locked. She ran for
another door, finding it too was locked. She ran to a window and tried
to break it, but it stayed solid. She realized what had happened. She
feel to her knees and started to cry. Soon, she curled up into a ball,
and kept sobbing. She felt `Everett's' prescense, but it was no
comfort. She knew what it was. She wasn't alright. Nobody was
alright. She had just lost the battle of mind over fury.
Finis.
