Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Xmen Revolution. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Core of Strength to Survive the Hurt; (All New X-Men)
Topic Started: Feb 18 2015, 07:18 AM (863 Views)
Young Cyclops
Member Avatar
Optic Blasts and Teenage Awkwardness
March 12th
Just past midnight


There should have been some kind of explosion of lightning, some swirl of sensation, something that announced their arrival, but there was only a disconcerting vagueness, and then they were in another place. Scott Summers, aged eighteen, immediately dropped his hand from his visor. "There's no one around," he said, looking to the rest of his team... team... that seemed so weird to him. They were kids, barely trained in not blowing themselves up. How could they possibly be what the Professor told them they were going to be?

"You ok, Jean? Hank?" Scott asked, "I mean, Marvel Girl, Beast? Codenames from this point on," he reminded them of the mission perimeters as the Professor had told them, "As little contact with our future selves... current selves, I guess."

They were in Salem Center, that looked... well, if looked pretty much the same as Scott remembered. A few of the stores weren't named what they used to be named but other than that, things hadn't changed much. "How far ahead did he send us?" Scott asked quietly, "See if you can find a newspaper or something. Something with a date. It won't help us much but we should know everything that we can."

There in the dark and the quiet of the chilly night, the three of them stuck out like sore thumbs in their black and yellow uniforms, but there wasn't much to be done about it. There was a reason for the uniforms, the Professor said, not just his visor, which was necessary to control his powers, but the whole look. It was important that they presented a specific appearance, if they were going to do the work they were supposed to do. Scott, tall, slim and awkward, felt like a clown in this costume, and he hunched his shoulders to try and make himself look less so. It didn't work, and he knew it.

"Let's get to the school," Scott said, "quickly as possible. It's about twelve miles from where we are, so unless you guys want to walk, we need to find some kind of transportation. Ideas? Either of you?"

He had his own ideas of what they needed to do, but he wasn't sure that Jean and Hank were going to listen to his orders.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Young Jean
Member Avatar

“I don’t want to have any contact with them,” Jean added as the three of them looked around the vacant street. “Well, not much,” she reluctantly admitted. “Just to know that everything turns out well between Warren and me, I mean,” she said, fussing with the yellow gloves that never seemed to fit right. “It was a mistake to wear these,” she said about the yellow and black uniforms. “There’s no way we’re going to go unnoticed looking like three big bees.” Jean looked nervously around the darkened downtown businesses; her thoughts circling in her mind, What if we’re too late? What if we can’t find War here?

Jean spared Scott a look over her shoulder when he asked for anything that could tell them the date. She peered around the corner and saw a wall of screens showing the same news broadcast. The soaked in the news stories offered up by the talkinghead anchors. War in the Middle East…. Dems and GOP bickering at each other…. Demonstration in Mutant Town for…

“Mutant Town?” Jean’s eyes widened. “Mutant Town? We have our own town in the City? Like out and proud? No more hiding at the mansion.” She turned and questioned Scott and Hank, “If there’s a whole section of the city for us, I wonder how many more students Xavier took in, in 2015.” The date had been mentioned in one of the stories.

"Let's get to the school," Scott said, "quickly as possible. It's about twelve miles from where we are, so unless you guys want to walk, we need to find some kind of transportation. Ideas? Either of you?"

“Hank… uh, Beast,” she corrected herself, “could you hot wire a car?” Turning to Scott she went on, “we can ditch it a few miles from the mansion without anyone connecting it to there. Time is important,” Jean reminded them. “The sooner we find War, the sooner we’re gone, back to our own time. I think it’s a risk we need to take.”
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Young Cyclops
Member Avatar
Optic Blasts and Teenage Awkwardness
“I don’t want to have any contact with them. Well, not much,” Jean said, “Just to know that everything turns out well between Warren and me, I mean.”

Scott's shoulders hitched forward when Jean talked about that. He didn't recognize that he was doing it, because he didn't understand that when he was in his uniform his shoulders lacked that awkward embarrassed hunch. There would be a time in the future when Scott Summers and Cyclops would be the same person, both of them strong and confident men. But now was not that time. He was a boy, barely stepping into manhood. Beaten, and scarred from his childhood, awkward and angry from his youth, not yet grown into the determination of adulthood. But when he wore this uniform, the words of his mentor in his head, he felt like he could be what he was supposed to be, something to make his parents' sacrifice mean something, something that his brother (when he found him) could be proud of it.

Yet, one comment from a seventeen year old girl, and he was just a gawky teenager again. Not a hero. Not even a leader. Just a lovesick kid stuck in the friendzone.

"I'm sure everything's going to be ok," Scott muttered, jealous of his best friend, but unable to really hate him, because he was he was his best friend. If Warren made Jean happy, how could he hate him? Scott wanted her to be happy. She deserved it, and she sure wasn't going to get it from some poor orphaned kid who couldn't even look her in the eyes.

2015, Jean confirmed and Scott was back to work, focusing on the mission to keep his mind off his misery.

"Twenty years," he said, "twenty years in the future." Out there, at the school, maybe still, he was almost forty years old. Was he even alive? Had this X-Men idea killed him? Made him better? "In twenty years, we'll have our own town, which is either a really good thing, like that acceptance the Professor is always talking about... or it's a really really bad thing, like a ghetto or a... segregation. Makes me wonder why they'd come back and kidnap Angel."

He didn't want to voice his concerns that it was because of his blood. The Professor believed that he was going to develop blood with a healing property. If he was right, that seemed to be a pretty good reason to kidnap him.

Jean asked Hank if he could hotwire a car, and Scott automatically spoke up first, "I can ," he said, "Jack taught me." He hadn't done anything like that since the Professor rescued him from his abusive guardian who was turning him into a criminal, but he hadn't forgotten it.

"Oh, did he now?" came a voice from behind them.

Spinning around, his hand coming up to his visor, Scott immediately dropped his hand again when he saw who it was. A policeman, the uniform slightly different than the one he was used to, but definitely a cop. The part of him that was not long out of robbing banks with Jack bristled with fear and defiance, but the greater part of him, the part that the Professor had been working to get out of him, realised they were supposed to be the good guys here.

"Officer, we're on a mission here, and we don't have time to explain..." Scott began.

"Mission, huh?" the policeman rolled his eyes, "I recognize them uniform, kids." He brought his radio to his mouth and said, "Salem Center calling the Xavier School. I got three of your students out after curfew. You wanna send a car to come pick them up, or am I taking them for a ride. Advise."

Eyes wide behind his glasses, Scott shot a look at the other two and thought at Jean, ::Well, I suppose it's easier than hotwiring a car, right?::
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Sarah Vale
Member Avatar
Technopathy
Despite the fact that it was past midnight, there were still a few people still awake in the mansion. And while she didn’t usually make it a habit to stay up quite so late, Sarah was one of the few left still clinging to the world of wakefulness. She’d actually been in the Danger Room for the past few hours, alternating between programming and working on a few different new scenarios, and absently chatting with Danger, to the occasion power test for herself. While it would have been easier, Sarah didn’t bother using her powers to create the programs, although since that accidental power swap a few weeks ago, she was far more aware of the fact that she would naturally use her powers to slightly tweak or alter bits and pieces as she went along. But since she was still kicking her heels at the control panel for the Danger Room at midnight, she was awake to hear the radio buzz at her.

A bit confused, Sarah slid her rolling chair sideways, mentally pausing her conversation with Danger as she picked up the radio, eyebrows inching up her forehead at the message. Students in Salem? Huh. They must’ve been out earlier and just not come back, she reasoned, and she answered with a frown.

“Salem Center, this is the Xavier School, thanks for the call. I’ll come pick them up ASAP.” Giving Danger a puzzled shrug as she slipped her tablet into her backpack, along with her usual toolkit and other odds and ends, taking the elevator to stop in the dorms to get her winter coat. She didn’t need to check with a weather channel to know it was freezing outside, and she wound a dark purple scarf around her neck, moving quickly to the garage and snagging the keys to one of the school vehicles, a simple black SUV. With the roads to herself, it took less than ten minutes to get to Salem Center, pulling up and easily pinpointing the officer that had called by his radio, which politely introduced itself.

“Hi officer, I’m from Xavier’s, just spoke to you. I really appreciate you giving us a call, sorry about this. C’mon guys, get in.” The first thing she noticed, looking at the students standing there, clearly dressed in the black and yellow uniforms, was that…She had no idea who they were. They weren’t any students she recognized from the school, which was weird. But other than a slight frown, she didn’t let on that anything was amiss, smiling brightly at the officer as the strangers climbed into the car. A few minutes later and they were off, Sarah easily navigating the side and back streets until they were far enough away from the center of the city that pulling onto the side of the road wouldn’t raise any red flags. Without needing to press any buttons, the lights in the car turned on, and Sarah twisted in her seat to give the three riders a look.

“So. Normally, I’d ask what you were doing in the city. But I think a more important question is who are you, and why are you dressed like that?” The technopath’s eyes hardened slightly, although her tone was perfectly friendly, even as the power locks kept the doors from opening. “Because I know pretty much every student at the school, and you guys aren’t any of them.” There was a nagging sense of familiarity though as she looked between each of them, a frown tugging at her lips as she regarded Scott’s visor. Because that particular piece of hardware was something she definitely recognized, but as far as she knew, there were no other mutants in the area of Salem that needed that kind of eyewear, except Scott.

“…Also, what on Earth were you doing in Salem in the middle of the night?” The brunette tossed out there, almost as an afterthought, flashing the three of them a puzzled smile, fingers tapping thoughtfully on the steering wheel. Something told her this was going to be a bit more interesting of a night than it had started out as. But that didn’t change the fact that, until they explained who they were, she wasn’t taking them any closer to the school.
Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Young Jean
Member Avatar

Jean turned in surprise when Scott said he could hotwire a car. Taking a moment to think about it, it shouldn’t have been a surprise, Scott was amazing mechanical stuff. Even with the visor covering his eyes, Jean saw the sag of his shoulders when Scott spoke of Jack, that horrible man, and Jean was sorry her comment brought him up.

She gasped at the sudden voice of a stranger, nearly jumping out of her skin; she didn’t have the steady nerves of a sneak.

::Well, I suppose it's easier than hotwiring a car, right?::
:: But… but… What about avoiding people? Especially our future selves. What if it’s one of us who comes to get the curfew-breakers?:: Jean panicked, looking between the two boys. She was ready to bolt, there were three of them and only one cop, two of them would get away and then they’d spring the third. The voice that answered the officer wasn’t one she knew, it wasn’t one of them, the future them. This was so confusing.

They still hadn’t reached a plan when Network pulled up. Going with the flow seemed to be working so far, and with a nervous shared glance, the three piled in. It was a good thing it was dark and there were lots of shadows, they might actually be able to pull this off.

No such luck; the van pulled over to the side of the road and Sarah’s pleasant chattiness became less so. “So. Normally, I’d ask what you were doing in the city. But I think a more important question is who are you, and why are you dressed like that?”

:: Uh huh. Busted. ::

Sarah stared at them with hard eyes that demanded answers, answers that the three teenagers weren’t going to cough-up just like that.

“Sure you know us,” Jean began, bringing her hands up to the sides of her head and reaching into Sarah’s mind. The technopath’s mind shifted and started putting up mental barriers, trying to shunt her away from where Jean wanted to be. “We’re new students.”

Working underneath young Jean’s meager telepathic skills, something else flashed like lightning through Network’s defenses, opening her mind to suggestions. Something older than a young girl, and wicked.

“These aren’t the droids you’re looking for,” young Jean waved her hand before Network’s eyes. “Go about your business. Move along.” The words were nonsense, but they were a nonsense that would’ve appealed to a techie, and the underlying meaning would be crystal clear.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Beast
Unregistered

So much seemed to happen in so few minutes that it was almost as if Hank's lights were on but nobody was home. He stood, somewhat dumbstruck, as they were one moment and then suddenly, another moment. His toes gripped at the ground where they'd landed, looking around between Scott, Jean, and well, North Salem, which seemed the same, but different. The cars looked different. And he couldn't see the old payphone bank that he was ninety percent sure had once stood across the street from this very spot.

Scott, their 'leader' for this operation (Hank had his doubts but he'd never voice them - Scott was a friend and while he was sometimes very irritating, Henry knew what it was like to have one's abilities questioned). He'd never desired to be a leader, in fact, he'd never really wanted to join in on this little brigade, but he felt so indebted to the Professor for his help, that he felt as if he was paying a debt. It had just turned out that the company was fairly pleasurable, even if the goals made him grumble all the same.

"Hank can you hotwire a car?" Jeannie asked, and, pulled three steps too late out of his reflective stupor, he opened his mouth to speak before Scott interjected, and he cocked a half grin.

That was Scott. Hotwiring was illegal, after all, and if Scott could spare his team any shame, he'd take it on his own shoulders. Hank could, of course, hotwire a car - it was simple electronics - but as his big-footed frame took a few steps forward to interject that it might not be prudent to go car thieving when they could walk and maintain the element of surprise, they were interrupted by a police officer, which he tried to motion to, but again, shut himself up as it seemed just a step too late.

He tried to shake the cobwebs out of his brain.

A mental conversation followed, something Henry wasn't entirely used to yet. The idea of hearing without hearing was hard for his brain to compute.

::Just stay calm, Jeannie. Too late to argue now.::

He cast a look at Scott, as if to say wordlessly 'I told you this was a terrible idea.'

They waited, quietly, and Hank was working out the mechanics of a daring escape. They'd lost their anonymity already - even if they weren't recognized, the X's on their belts told local people anything they'd need to know, and if the X-Men were more than just the few of them now, he didn't think the prospects for stealth were increasing. Who knew how the team's ability pool had grown in, what, two decades almost?

And then someone else arrived. Hank tried not to stare. The girl wasn't one of them, and was too old to potentially be one of their children, considering the dates, so that was worth a sigh of relief, and as he watched stores pass by on the street, his eyes shot wide as they passed one storefront and he slapped Scott on the shoulder, pointing "Man, they're closing the Radio Shack!" He hissed.

Eventually, the car came to a stop, and Hank, wedged between Jean and Scott, looked at the girl staring at the three of them, demanding answers.

Jean interjected with a likely, relatively believable story, but he saw her hands move to the side of her head, and winced at the thought of the brain mojo being applied behind the scenes. He wondered if this girl driving them was a mutant. What if she had powers like Jeannie's? This could get ugly fast.

Deductive reasoning started blooming in his brain and he looked about, wondering about how to brace and reinforce Jean's lie as she tried to pull the right strings, but then Jean quoted Obi Wan, and he shot an unbelieving look at Scott.

"We're so done." He whispered, turning back, adding matter-of-factly.

"We lost a friend of ours, he panicked and ran off. We were trying to find him."

Immediately unsure if that had been prudent or not, he raised his eyebrows. "We were trying to find a payphone to call... someone."

Internally, he slapped himself. He'd never been good at lying.
Quote Post Goto Top
 
Young Cyclops
Member Avatar
Optic Blasts and Teenage Awkwardness
Scott wasn't exactly terrified that the person who showed up might be... well him or one of them... because the only thing that really scared him was the thought of telling Jean how he felt about her... but he was definitely nervous about it. This wasn't what was supposed to happen, how they were supposed to get to the school. It was supposed to be covert, secret, stealthy... but Jean was right. How could they be sneaky with when they looked like a bunch of giant 'bumblebees.'

Surprisingly, their escort back to the school was a girl, not much older than they were. Dark hair, pretty. She seemed surprised and confused when she saw them, obviously not recognizing them... or maybe recognizing them but not believing it... but she didn't rat them out to the cop.

“Hi officer, I’m from Xavier’s, just spoke to you. I really appreciate you giving us a call, sorry about this. C’mon guys, get in.”

He frowned when she spoke to the cop. The School? It was known? Just out in the open like that? The girl told them to get in the car and he nodded to the others. "C'mon, guys," he echoed, and he slipped into the car, hoping that Jean would sit next to him, but instead the large form of Hank McCoy slid in instead. Then, they were off, heading to the school.'

But only until they got to the edge of the township.

The car suddenly screeched to a halt and then the girl asked, “So. Normally, I’d ask what you were doing in the city. But I think a more important question is who are you, and why are you dressed like that?”

Before Scott could answer, Jean was doing a jedi mind trick and Hank was attempting to explain without explaining.

He held up his hand and he said, "We don't want any trouble, Ma'am. We're just trying to find our friend."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Sarah Vale
Member Avatar
Technopathy
Getting a call to pick up students was unusual enough that Sarah was a bit surprised, especially when the uniforms clearly marked them as X-Students. Or really good knock offs. But she wouldn’t peg these students as that much younger than her, which was part of the reason she didn’t say anything to the cop. For all that she wasn’t entirely willing to take them directly to the school without an answer first, she wasn’t going to just leave them to the mercy of the cops. And…There was something familiar about them. As Jean answered her question, Sarah’s lips parted to deny what she was saying, but the words were cut off by the feeling of telepathic fingers fiddling in her mind. The movement of Jean’s hands caused Sarah to scowl, and her dark eyes flattened as her mind instinctively began sectioning itself, firewalls raising and locking into place.

“You’re not…Droids.” The words were a bit difficult to get out, her gaze focusing and darkening, emotion filtering out of her expression as her mind shifted into a more technological point of view. For a few moments, Sarah’s defenses seemed to be helping, but something else flashed through, and she winced, pausing to shake her head, rubbing her temple. Then Hank spoke, and Sarah’s eyes cleared a bit, blinking at the older boy with a slightly confused look.

“Payphone? Man, I haven’t seen one of those in years. Why didn’t you just ask to use a cell, you can use mine.” The technopath shifted, tugging her touch screen phone out of her pocket and handing it to Henry. Turning to look at Scott, the brunette snorted, shaking her head slightly. “Ma’am? Uh, my name’s Sarah. Vale. Just call me Sarah.” She gave a small smile, shifting a bit in the seat to look at them all slowly, frowning a bit.

“Your friend’s missing? Why didn’t you just say that?” There was clear concern in her voice, now, and she gave them a thoughtful look, glancing between the three of them, before looking at Scott. “You…Do I…You look so familiar. Who are you?” She asked again, before she paused and rubbed her forehead, running a hand through her hair. Something didn’t feel right in her head, and some fraction of her mind was telling her something was off. Some small corner was arguing with the idea of bringing these three students to the mansion, when she couldn’t figure out how she knew them. But she slowly shifted the car back into gear, pulling back onto the road.

As she drove, her frown deepened a bit, and that same part of her mind, influenced by aware, kept working busily away, firewalls strengthening until that small part was sectioned off. And then her mind stretched out, reaching out to the mansion. To the people she knew were there. A split second of focus and that fraction of her mind was inside Jean and Scott’s room, finding their radio and turning it on with a sharp squeal of speakers. Without speaking in the car, eyes locked on the road without any signs of movement, her voice popped out of the speakers of the radio in the Summers’ room.

“Uh, Mr. Summers, sorry to bother you but…I’m incoming to the school with teenagers and there’s a telepath with them. I can feel her in my head. Intentions unclear, but I can feel the manipulation. Please come outside, we’ll be there in a few minutes.” Then her mind split the section off, and Sarah went back to driving, brown eyes flashing.
Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Young Jean
Member Avatar

Along with older Jean and Scott

Marvel Girl narrowed her eyes at Sarah in concentration. Taking control of technopath’s mind was like playing whack-a-mole, as soon as one section was under control another popped up and started resisting. “It might be simpler just to put her to sleep,” Jean grumbled under her breath, she was never very good at whack-a-mole. “I know, I know, that’s not an option.”

She took no notice of the extra assistance she was getting from somewhere; It was taking all of her focus to keep puppetting Sarah, driving and answering questions.

Waiting in the mansion
Jean and Scott hadn’t raised the alarm at the possible attack coming; there’s nothing like the energy of frantic students to trigger a crisis. Jean sent her thoughts out to the on-coming SUV.

:: Four minds, including Network, whose vitals seem to be calm and stable.:: She didn’t touching Sarah’s mind or the minds of the others, and tipping their advantage. Jean turned her attention to the X-Men currently in residence and could be ready within a few minutes. :: We may trouble coming up the driveway, they have Sarah with them. Get ready, but hang back until Cyclops gives the signal; we don’t want this turning into a hostage situation.::

Scott, standing beside his wife looking every inch the picture of calm despite the sudden emergency call from Miss Vale, folded his arms over his chest and said to those who were waiting, "Network is reporting that they are kids, but they're still unknown vectors masquerading as X-Men. We might just have wannabes on our hands, but we might also have something that puts our students in jeopardy. Either way, protocol as normal. We don't throw the first punch. We just make sure ours is the last."


back in the SUV
“That’s the mansion?” Marvel Girl said as she peered out the window in disbelief. “But it’s changed. And it’s so big.” The SUV slowed to a stop and Jean climbed out, her eyes still glued on the familiar but unfamiliar building.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Beast
Unregistered

"Maybe they had a remodel." Henry said as he joined Jeannie in ogling the approaching building. The driveway hadn't changed at least, save for maybe the landscaping the lined it's long stretch. He looked briefly to Scott, and then to the back of the driver's head. Too late now to try and incapacitate; besides, he felt weird, contemplating how to knock out a girl his age. But still, getting here in what was essentially limousine style was the exact opposite of what they wanted, and he winced, big feet fidgeting, as he thought of the Professor's potential wrath. Something churned in his stomach as the building further approached, and her turned to Scott, whispering so low that it was almost just breath put to words.

"Even statistically speaking something should have gone right by now, even on accident."

Meanwhile
Beast didn't know who he felt more sorry for, the questionables in question if they tried to make a move on Sarah in the middle of a car he was sure she was already fast friends with, or the pavement that she'd wipe with their collective behinds if they tried any funny stuff. Still, there was a pang of concern; McCoy had grown quite fond of Vale, in the mentor/student sort of way, even if he was convinced that she was able to teach him just as many new outlooks as he could her.

He came up, bleary eyed and hastily thrown into something that would cover his dignity but also allow freedom of movement should things get froggy. He swiped blue chunks of hair out of his strange animal eyes and regarded Scott and Jean with confusion. "Who would masquerade as X-Men..." he hazzarded. "We don't have action figures like Iron Man and we don't give out college grants like Reed's bunch. I don't like this."

He shifted on his feet, eyeing the approaching beams, expecting, well, he didn't know what.

Hank felt suddenly like he'd gone soft. The last year and change he'd gotten a wonderfully long and drawn out break from being in the infirmary day in and out, or taking out Situation Teams, or anticipating deaths, attacks, and other war-time activities.

He missed his warm bed already, which he hadn't even made it to tonight to begin with - Trish had him hooked on House of Cards, and he'd fallen quite asleep mid binge on the empty love-seat in his apartment.

And again
Pushing up the bridge of his glasses as the car seemed to slow or stop, McCoy seemed to shake his head back and forth, looking between his two friends. It was clear he didn't want to get out of the car. Scott had destructive, potent powers of offense. Jean was the synergist and saboteur, running the build and bleed game between both sides. Hank? Hank was quick on his feet, and he had no delusions that he had plenty of things to offer the X-Men, but so often it was in such a behind-the-scenes manner that, in a field team, he felt superfluous, and wondered why he'd been sent instead of Jonny.

Ah well, he thought, at least he didn't get outstriped for Mina. That would have been enough to make him quit the X-Men, period.
Quote Post Goto Top
 
Warren Worthington
Unregistered

Warren was still awake and sitting at his desk when Jean’s thoughts broke into his head. They were fainter, a little more disjointed, than they used to be. Whatever Apocalypse had left behind in his mind had give him some barriers against telepaths, but Jean has well tracked routes into his head. She, Betsy and Charles were the only ones he could really accept having that kind of control. Even then he still felt a little uneasy sometimes.

::On my way.:: The thought was succinct and calm as Warren got up from his desk, closing the lid of his laptop and switching off the desk lamp - automatic movements.

Stepping out of his office, Warren walked through the mostly quiet mansion. At this time all of the students would be, or should be, in bed and most of the staff would have followed them a few hours previously. Warren himself should probably be asleep as well, but there was a lot to do these days and not a whole lot of time to do it in.

The quiet mansion seemed to take on a slight edge - a drawn breath before the plunge - as he stepped outside, joining Scott, Jean and Hank to await the approaching car. Would this be a one off or the start of a new threat? In their increasingly unstable world none of them knew from one moment to the next whether a mission, a news story, a chance encounter would lead to the next crisis.

Folding his arms across his chest, Warren watched warily as the car drew to a halt and three figures clambered out. The driveway was well lit and it was easy to pick out the black and yellow uniform, without the aid of his enhanced eyesight. It was easy enough to pick out the characteristics that set each of them apart from the uniform too; the red hair of the girl, the visor of one of the boys, the broad build of the other. Familiarity tugged at his mind, calling on him to recognise the apparent students.

Warren felt the world shift a little around him, shock jolting through him as he realised exactly who the three people getting out of the car reminded him of. Turning his head, he looked over at Jean, Scott and Hank as he stood next to him. “Call me crazy, but they look a hell of a lot like you three did back in the day.”
Quote Post Goto Top
 
Cyclops
Member Avatar
Punches from the Punch Dimension
They were in bed, where they should be this time at night, Scott having only just gotten off a video call with the Professor who was currently in Washington DC, called upon to speak on matters of mutant affairs. Scott had not liked the idea of his going, as, after all, his disappearance nearly ten years ago had been while heading to a speaking engagement. But the Professor was an adult man who felt it important that he reestablish his position as an authority on such things. He had insisted and so Scott had only asked him to keep in touch while he was gone.

The nightly duty done, Scott had retired to his bed, where Jean had been reading a book, waiting for him to finish so that they could go to sleep together. She liked to drape herself over him to sleep and he liked that she did. He slept better with her beside him, and though he wasn't a man who lay about in bed for very long, they tried to make the most of it.

They had just lay down, Jean in her oversized shirt , he in his t-shirt and shorts, her long bare legs entwining with his, his sleep visor locked into place, her head on his chest, red hair spread like a halo, when the radio call came, intercepted by Sarah Vale. Certain now that they were not going to be sleeping right away, Scott got up and slipped on a pair of sweatpants, and socks so that if a new student was arriving, he could greet him, and though Jean had stayed in bed, she had been ready to dress and join him at a moment's notice.

They had not expected the alert that sounded from the speakers in their radio.
“Uh, Mr. Summers, sorry to bother you but…I’m incoming to the school with teenagers and there’s a telepath with them. I can feel her in my head. Intentions unclear, but I can feel the manipulation. Please come outside, we’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Jean had dressed quickly and sent out a mental call to the staff, and they had gone out to await their new guests. Hank and Warren had joined them on the front porch and soon the car's headlights came into view on the their long tree shielded driveway.

:: Four minds, including Network, whose vitals seem to be calm and stable.:: Jean reported what she saw. :: We may have trouble coming up the driveway, they have Sarah with them. Get ready, but hang back until Cyclops gives the signal; we don’t want this turning into a hostage situation.::

Surprised by what Jean was showing him, Scott folded his arms across his chest, "Network is reporting that they are kids, but they're still unknown vectors masquerading as X-Men. We might just have wannabes on our hands, but we might also have something that puts our students in jeopardy. Either way, protocol as normal. We don't throw the first punch. We just make sure ours is the last."

The car came to a stop as Hank muttered, "Who would masquerade as X-Men...We don't have action figures like Iron Man and we don't give out college grants like Reed's bunch. I don't like this."

The doors opened and the troublesome trio emerged from it, and Scott registered their appearance and choice of wardrobe with a shock that he was not entirely sure he was believing. Warren, however, was not at a loss for words, speaking what they were all thinking, “Call me crazy, but they look a hell of a lot like you three did back in the day.”

And, there was no denying it.

The girl was the spitting image of Jean Grey at sixteen, a year Scott recalled fondly, her form and figure engraved in his memory. The larger of the two boys was clearly Hank, as he had once been before the accident that turned him into a literal beast.

Which meant that the tall, gawky boy who climbed out last, a tangle of limbs and awkwardness, was none other than himself, baby faced, floppy haired, with his deadly eyes covered in that clunky visor that had been the first iteration of his necessary equipment. He stepped forward, in that way that Scott remembered, not yet the leader that he would become, but the one he was capable to be at the moment, and he said, "My name is Cyclops, and my team and I are here to negotiate the release of our teammate."

Scott allowed one side of his mouth to quirk up and he said, "My name is Scott Summers, and I'm willing to talk with you and your people, but we don't have your teammate as far as I'm aware."

The boy blanched at the name and cast a look at the other two, but Scott was amused to see him recover quickly. Whoever this boy was, he was playing his role to a tee. "I'm sorry, Sir, but I don't believe you, and I want my man back." He took a step closer. "Your school has grown since the last time we saw it, and there's students in there that we don't want to hurt or scare. We just want our friend home. Give him to us and we'll be on our way."

Scott took a step towards the boy, coming down off the porch, "We don't have him and we don't take threats lightly. Whatever game you're playing in those uniforms, using those codenames, it ends here and now. Who is it we are supposed to have taken from you?"

"His name is Angel," the young man who called himself Cyclops said, approaching, slowly, cautiously. "He's sixteen years old..."

"And, his real name is Warren Worthington, the Third," Scott interrupted, and he hooked a thumb back at the winged man on the porch, "Only he's standing right there and he's certainly a little older than sixteen. So, I'm going to ask you again. Who are you and what..." His voice suddenly cut off as he came within arm's distance of the boy and the world suddenly swam in his vision, his stomach clenching in a strange sick pain that brought back the horrifying memories of his death on the back porch of his home. He gasped with the strange attack, and he looked up in shock to see that the boy who called himself Cyclops was doubling over as well. "What are you doing to me..." he spat.

"What are you doing to me..." the boy countered, his voice pained but struggling to control his fear. "Marvel Girl, Beast... we're under attack!"

[continued in Fight a Hundred Battles Without Disaster]
Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Free Forums. Reliable service with over 8 years of experience.
« Previous Topic · United States Archives · Next Topic »
Add Reply