Epic X-Men #2-10: More From You
"She's back!"
"Storm is back?!"
"Our true leader has returned?!"
"Will it be permanent this time?"
"Who cares? Healer was better leader than any we have had in the past."
"Mark my words, Callisto will retake her original place and prove to you all she was right."
Different conversations filled the tunnels since before Ororo had arrived. Nothing seemingly changing from last time. Same questions about what would be the fate of the Morlock leadership this time around. It had not changed in the past. The same answers to the same questions........and that was what racked Ororo with guilt every time she left.
"Please, Ororo, you must understand that....I can't keep doing this. You can't keep doing this. This arrangement is not working", Healer said in a tired tone. "You need to stay and lead our people. You can't keep leaving me to do your work for you."
"Healer, I understa-"
"No, Ororo", he interrupted her. He didn't even raise a single pitch, yet the severity in his tone stopped Ororo from speaking. "You do not. Not in the slightest."
He was such a calm, gentle man when she first met him. Yet, looking at him now, the position she put him in has truly taken its toll on the poor elderly man.
"When I took this position of leadership, it was under the assumption that you would eventually comeback and fulfill the role you took from Callisto a year ago. One year has past. Yet, nothing has changed. Has it?", he asks rhetorically. She looks away from his judgemental gaze.
"......It's true. I initially took the position to have the authority to stop Callisto's plan and free my friends. I had hoped that.....when I came back, you would perhaps have taken the role quite nicely with Callisto by your side. I could have left, knowing that the Morlocks were under safe leadership......then Callisto left for Genosha, dividing the Morlocks and taking them with her. After that, you kept asking every time I would visit, or imply, if I would stay", Storm finally admits.
The old man sighed, finally hearing exactly what he feared for some time.
"Ororo....I never wanted to lead. This was never gonna happen, regardless of whether Callisto stayed or not", Healer said firmly.
"I realize that now and I am terribly sorry for putting this all on you for so long", Storm said.
"It's....", the man trails off with a sigh before continuing. "I understand, Ororo. I have been updated exactly what it is you do on the surface, not just for our people, but for our species as a whole. Though the stigma has not gone away, we do here rumblings of improvement on the perspective from the general human public......it's not quite easy abandoning your duties as an X-Man. Is it?"
"I wish I could disagree. Truly, I do. If I didn't really believe in what I was doing was right, that it was path for me, I would be here in a heartbeat", Storm said earnestly.
"I believe it, but we can't continue like this. I won't maintain leadership further, not after-"
This caught Ororo's attention. So, there was a reason for this change in attitude from a normally patient man.
"What is it, Healer? What has you so distraught?"
".......A Morlock has gone missing. A dear friend of mine who I tried to help. There was no apparent sign of her in any of the tunnels or any sign of a struggle.....but there was a witness of her leaving with an individual. They were unsure if she was willing to go with them by choice or forced to do so. Whatever the case, I......I am not fit for any of this, Ororo. I am more positive of it than ever before", Healer said as he tried to reign his emotions.
"Healer....I'm so sorry to here that", Storm said sympathetically.
"You can make it up to me, by staying. Taking your place here among us as you were supposed to a year ago", Healer said.
"I.....I can only promise you that I will think about it and have an answer", Storm said. "In the meantime, perhaps I can use what resources I have to search for them? What exactly happened that night?"
The man took a deep breath to center himself.
"Alright. You have by the end of this week to give me an answer", Healer said before turning to a Morlock behind him. "Call Sarah for me, please."
With a nod, the Morlock walks out of Healers tent and shortly comes back with a pink haired young woman with spikes protruding from her body all over.
"Ororo, I'd like you to formerly meet one of our newest members of the Morlocks, Sarah", Healer gestures to the young woman.
"I go by Marrow in these parts", the woman greets with a nod towards Ororo.
"I am pleased to meet you, Marrow. Please, tell me what exactly you saw that night", Ororo says as she invites her to sit and discuss further.
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*Xavier School*
"Greetings to you, Ororo. I was surprised to hear that you called. Is there something wrong?", T'Challa asked worriedly.
"I am fine, T'Challa. I apologize for not calling more regularly, but I could use some.....perspective", Ororo says cryptically.
"Perspective? On what per se?"
"I......how would you have decided if the Avengers ever gave you an ultimatum on whether to lead your people or be an Avenger?", Ororo asked finally.
"I would have chosen my people, no questions asked", T'Challa said without hesitation.
"What if you felt that your work on the Avengers was more important at the time?", Ororo asked.
"I cannot imagine there would ever be a case where I would prioritize the Avengers over the needs of my own people", T'Challa answered.
"Even if the fate of the world hanged in the balance?"
"That would be a mutual goal between my people and the Avengers, where my saving the world saves my people. In the end, I would return to my people after seeing the work finished. It is my duty as King", he answers her.
"........What if you felt that you weren't fit to rule?"
The man stays silent as he watched his love on the monitor, looking vulnerable and scared for the first time since that day he last saw her when Magneto attacked. This fear was different from then though. This time, it was an internal struggle, rather than a fear for another person. As if the weight of the world were on her shoulders.
"I would find someone else to rule in my place", T'Challa said to her. She nodded in understanding, expecting that answer. There was still something else on her mind about the issue.
"What if you couldn't find anyone you trusted....except for one person, who did not want your position?", Ororo asked.
".......I would keep looking then. The conditions of my people is important to me and I would want to ensure the ruler is capable of being fair and just in their rulings. Once I was sure that I chosen wisely, then I could follow what I wished to do for myself", T'Challa said.
"You make it sound so easy", Ororo chuckled bitterly.
"Then I apologize for being misleading. Leading, whether its a team of heroes, or an entire nation, is never a simple matter. We have more than ourselves to worry for. It takes a support structure capable of checking on each other as they help one another. It takes passion for what is right and loving what you do, or else the job will drag you through the dirt and trample you mercilessly. People are never simple, always changing their minds and tunes as the winds do on the planet", T'Challa said. That comparison made Ororo smile. Who knew better about the workings of nature than the Goddess who guided it with her gentle hand.
"So, you can never be sure in a person?"
"You can, but that doesn't make it any less of a gamble. You are still relying on the person, for all their strengths and weakness, to be capable of doing not just a good gob, but a better job than you could ever do. At the end of the day though, you gotta trust in your own judgement before your negligence starts to hurt the people who were under your care", T'Challa says in warning to her. This drew Ororo's attention back to the lost Morlock, Plague they called her........
"Thank you, T'Challa. Hopefully, soon, I will find time to visit you again", Ororo said to him with nothing but love in her eyes.
"I await eagerly for that day, my goddess", T'Challa bid farewell, before they ended the call.
As Ororo took the moment to bask in the feelings he induced in her, she is startled by a sudden explosive 'BAMF' sound with brimstone smoke filling the air. As it dissipated, Nightcrawler, one of the newer members of the team, hands out a certain file held by his three fingers.
"Here is ze file you requested, schöne Ororo", he said.
"Thank you, Kurt. Let us call the team together. We are going to find this Morlock", Ororo said confidently.
*****************************************************************************
*Morlock Tunnels*
”What have you found?“, Orroro asked as Logan sniffed the area with Nightcrawler close by.
”A lot of sh**. These bums are crazy”, Wolverine grumbles.
”Have some empathy, Logan. Surely you can understand the plight of someone looking the way I do?”, Kurt implores to him.
“Yeah. And I wouldn’t care less. If they wanna make somethin’, they’d have to deal with these”, he answered as he popped his claws in demonstration.
“Wolverine, not everyone is blessed with your combat experience and pain tolerance”, a female voice said.
Turning to the voice, they see Jean floating to them.
“Jeannie, ya didn’t need ta come. I could handle things from here”, Wolverine said to her, not with fire, but with concern. Even without her telling them, they all knew the experience in Limbo a week ago had messed with her state of mind.
“I know you could, but I was tired of sitting at the mansion all day. Needed something more distracting. I was briefed by the Professor of you mission after he gave me the okay on my mental stability”, Jean said happily as she approached the area Logan was. “Also, I brought a friend.”
As Jean stepped aside, their guest and former Brotherhood member, Rogue stepped from the shadows with a brave face on her.
“Nuh-uh! I ain’t trustin’ her”, Wolverine said.
“Wolverine, Rogue is hardly the only person who had joined the Brotherhood. In fact, nearly half this team here has been a member at one point in their life”, Jean argued with her hands on her hips.
“Yeah, and we got an all-clear after willingly volunteering to come join the team. You and the Professor said yerselves it‘s difficult to read what’s up in her head because of the dual personalities she is keeping inside”, Wolverine said.
“Ya’ll can trust that ah ain’t gon’ cause trouble. Mah momma has not reached out since ah left. And Jean- ah, Marvel Girl- and the Professah have helped me good since that time. Ah wanna return the favor”, Rogue says.
“It ain’t just about you, Rogue. It’s about Mystique”, Wolverine said.
“Our mother?”, Nightcrawler asked.
“Don’t act like ya don’t know exactly what the woman is capable of elf. She is by far the most dangerous member of the Brotherhood outside Magneto and his kin. A mind locked down tight and a drive to get what she wants at whatever the cost. She is her favorite child and pupil and I ain’t buying she is willin’ switch sides after seeing how attached at the hip they used to be”, Wolverine ranted to the group.
“Enough!”, Storm shouted as thunder crashed loudly to quiet the group.
”Marvel Girl, Rogue is welcome to join us if she pulls her weight, but Wolverine is right. She cannot be trusted quite yet until she has proven herself. You and Charles may know what she is thinking. You may have not caught the hidden secrets she is hiding. Whatever the case, she is here under a probationary term until I or Cyclops deem her to be trustworthy enough to know everything”, Storm says in finality to the group.
”I understand, Storm”, Jean nods while giving an apologetic look to Rogue. Rogue gave her a smile of reassurance before walking past Jean, making sure to try to hide her embarrassment about the trouble she caused.
“What have you found, Wolverine”, Storm asked returning to the mission.
“Like I said, a lot of sh**. The smells her are far too pungent for me to gain a scent beyond what’s here. In a place like this, I would have needed to be here when it happened. At it stands, it should be covered up by this point”, Wolverine said.
“Well, all is not lost quite yet, Wolverine. I might be able to do something about this. I can sense the psionic energy surrounding this place. There have not been many imprints left behind. Based on the story healer told you and what I can sense, this part of the tunnel is not regularly explored. I just need a moment to try something I’ve been practicing with the Professor for some time”, Jean said as she put her hand to the ground. She began to glow with psychic energy as she suddenly conjures a projection of a raggedy woman crying and the Healer giving a demeanor of sympathy and care.
”Is that her?”, Rogue asked, investing herself in this case.
“It is. It appears as the Healer said. He came to comfort her and invite her to rejoin them after an incident where she gave an illness to her fellow Morlocks. a couple minutes after he left is around the time Marrow came at the behest of the Healer to keep an eye on the woman” Ororo explains to the group as the Healer turns around and makes a move to leave before dissipating. It was then that after he leaves that the woman turns startled. “Marrow reported to hearing another voice speaking to the woman in the shadows. Him stepping out, she described him as nothing she’d ever witnessed before.”
“Iz it not lost on anyone ze irony of a Morlocks judging someone off their look”, Kurt said.
”No, but it wasn’t merely his appearance. It was what he was wearing. The Morlocks here can’t obtain anything from the outside world from here. Everything is hand-me-down or stolen goods. This man had a high-tech suit with metallic spikes sticking from his back. It concealed some kind of weapon because she heard metallic scraping before the man spoke”, Storm explained further as the woman’s face went back hiding in her hands before she startled by something and she looks back at the unknown individual.
“Marvel Girl, can’t ya show who it is”, Wolverine asked.
“I’m trying, but they left very little psionic imprinting in this area. I can’t make out a proper form.....did she have any belongings she left behind, Storm?”, Jean asked as the projection disappeared.
“We will have to ask the Healer, I’m afraid“, Storm asked.
”Allow me, mien freunde”, he said as he ported the team from this area back to the camp, just as he remembered.
“Did you find anything?”, Healer asked hopefully.
“Maybe. We would like to ask if she perhaps had any belongings she left behind, Healer”, Ororo asked the man.
”Uh, yes. What do you intend to do with it?”, Healer asked as he led them to his tent where he was keeping his friend‘s belongings safely in case of her return.
“I plan on using the psychic imprinting to lead me to her”, Jean said as she took in the psychic signature left on a bracelet the Healer handed to her. She got a clearer image of who the woman used to be. Her life before she came to the sewers. The places she had been, until she ended up in the area she was last seen. That was when Jean came up to a void as the Morlock passed through, just as she saw before. “Unnh, nothing!”
”Perhaps, a different trinket of Plague’s”, Healer said as he started digging.
“No, I probably will come to the same problem. There is a barrier blocking my view. Someone is intentionally hiding her whereabouts......”, Jean says.
“So, that’s it then? Thats all ya’ll can do?! A woman is missing and ya’ll are just gon‘ give up?!”, Rogue asked. These two women were part of the team that entered Genosha and invaded Asteroid M. How could finding a single woman be so difficult?
“I...can possibly try to look for a similar psionic trail elsewhere, but that is only if she ever traveled outside after leaving this place. The world is filled with so many psychic energies emanating from different individuals. I can be searching for years and not find a single thing. I need a lead of some sort....”, Jean explained.
“Perhaps....you can use your precognition?”, Storm asked.
“Her vhat?”, Kurt asked wide-eyed.
“I still haven’t gotten a handle on it, Storm. Even if I did, there is no telling what this woman even looks like now”, Jean says.
“What happens when you do use it, Marvel Girl?”, Rogue asks.
“I don’t notice it until I am actually already seeing the vision, which is usually through my own eyes. The one time I had a wider perspective was when I coupled my power to Destiny, who was far more advanced in understanding her abilities”, Jean explained.
“Yet, even she couldn’t fully control her powahs”, Rogue said.
“Perhaps you can combine abilities Jean? Look through her eyes in the future?”, Storm asked.
“I....don’t know if the barrier will still be around in the future to allow me to see....but I am at my most powerful when tapping into this ability....maybe it can help me break past it”, Jean said as she begun to float in place and concentrate on the psychic energy merging with her own. Amping it’s influence. A voice was then heard by Jean. A familiar one and she gasped as she opened her eyes.
The setting changed. She was at a procession of sorts where a different people of sort’s were chanting.....at the top of a pedestal stood an imposing figure with four others. One of them, she recognized immediately from his large wings, even as metallic as they were. Another glowed with the resonance she recognized. A woman whose skin looked more youthful than before. Yellow with dark brown hair and a red outfit.
“Hail En Sabbah Nur!”, Warren shouted to the crowd as the figure suddenly looked directly at Jean.
“We sen to have an intruder from the past. Good. Let them witness the night of Apocalypse!!!”, the being showed an loud, deep voice before shooting a blast of energy at Jean.
“AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”, Jean screamed as she clutched her head before passing out.
“Jeannie!!!”, Logan tan to her. “......she seems to still be alive, but we gotta take her back to the Professor.”
”What about Plague? You said you would find her”, Healer said.
“And we shall, Healer. We must take our friend home”, Storm said to him.
”But I have to know if she is at least alive”, Healer said.
“Maybe, ah I can help”, Rogue said as she pulled off her glove. Logan growled low before turning the other way to avoid instinctively gutting her as Rogue touched Jean briefly to see what she saw. “AH!”
“Rogue!”, Kurt caught her as she wobbled, though stood her ground.
“Ahm, fine. It just rushed at me a bit. Ah saw her. She is ahlive, but she’s changed. She seems to have no intention of coming back”, Rogue says to the man.
The man closed his eyes and took a breath of relief.
“As long as she is safe, I am happy. Thank you, X-Men. Storm, I have been thinking also about your position”, Healer said.
”I know. I still cannot take my place here. I do not fell right. We must find a new leader to take Callisto’s place”, Storm said.
”Just what I was thinking. As it so happens, I have a candidate in mind, but I would like you to at least help me train her for the role before you step down”, Healer said as he looked to Marrow, who was helping some elderly Morlocks get some food.
”It would be my pleasure, Healer”, Storm agreed as she left with Wolverine carrying Jean out of the tunnels.
************************************************************************************************
*Xavier School*
“How is Jean doing?”, Ororo asked Xavier as he exits the infirmary.
”She is fine, though if she were anyone other than herself, or Psylocke, she probably would have been in a much worse condition“, Xavier says as he puts his hand to his chin.
“Who did this to her, Chuck?”, Logan asked with interest.
”I’ve personally never heard of them, but they seem to call themselves Apocalypse. A alternate alias I surmise. She witnessed a ceremony of sorts honoring a powerful entity capable of sensing psychic energy and dispelling it with ease. Only psychics as powerful as Jean and I are capable of such sensitivity to psionic energy, which means whoever they are, they are a force to be reckoned with. Enough to be treated as a god among his peers”, Xavier explains, looking more like he is thinking aloud rather than to the group waiting to here what happened to Jean.
“So, Jean saw a cult? What does zis have to do with zis missing Morlock?” Kurt asked as he hung upside down from the roof of the sub-basement.
“From what ah gathered from the little contact ah got from Jean, one of the four individuals behind this Apocalypse was Plague, the missing Morlock in question. Ah also saw your old friend, Warren Worthington, in the vision as well....he looked mighty different. Almost unrecognizable compared to how he used to“, Rogue said as she recalled the information Jean knew.
”So we have found him?”, Iceman asks suddenly alert to this news that would otherwise lose him in interest.
”Not completely, be at least don’t have to speculate any longer whether Wolverine was right about Warren being a potential threat”, Xavier answered the young man.
”But this “Apocalypse“-guy knew Jean was there and managed to attack her. That’s gotta mean he’s a psychic right? Warren could be doing all this against his will and no one is helping him”, Bobby argued with his mentor.
”That may be true, but even with that as a likely scenario, that still makes Warren a danger to us and the public. Like it or not, we may have to do what is necessary to stop him if he decides to go out an actually hurt people”, Storm says more to herself as a leader in argument against the part that wants to take Bobby’s side.
”But he hasn’t hurt anyone yet!”, Bobby said.
”We don’t know that. Besides, he helped the psycho broad, who killed Emma’s chauffeur, escape. I am positive he ain’t have any care about the safety of the general public if he is letting a murderer get away with their crimes, Bob’”, Logan says bluntly, finally quieting Iceman’s protests regarding the possibility of fighting his friend.
“So, what now?”, Kurt asks.
”We-“
Before Ororo could answer, Xavier suddenly senses a call for help.
”They’ll be on their way, Kitty”, Xavier replies psychically before returning his attention to the physical present. ”X-Men, head to the downtown district of Manhattan. It appears their is a mutant causing destruction in that area. Katherine alerted me that she is in that vicinity with some of the other students and decided to do what they could in helping civilians escape. Head over quickly to detain the situation and save the students while I try to see if this a potential mutant we are dealing with.”
"Just the four of ya'll?", Rogue asks.
"We cannot afford to wait for Scott and the others, Rogue and, if this really is a mutant problem, we need to get to it right away before more damage is done", Storm says as she, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler start heading to copter.
"Then try me on for size. I have the experience drawn from Captain Marvel to work with the rest of ya'll and the invulnerability to stand the danger", Rogue says.
"You want to join the X-Men?", Xavier asks with a raised eyebrow. "Ah....guess ah do. At least for now. Ah have stayed for a short time, but ya'll have been pretty transparent about ya'll's motives. Ah care about what happens to our fellow mutants. If ya really want to help mutants, ah want to help", Rogue says with as much earnesty as she can convey.
"What about the Brotherhood? Don't ya believe in what Magneto has to say?", Logan interjects.
"Ah....ah will be honest. Ah joined because ah trusted mama's judgement. But ah have mostly known there to be no other support coming from other than mama. Magneto created a safe haven. Ah believe he does want what's best for mutant's, but.....his followers are slimy as hell. And Magneto allows them for what they are useful for. Murderers and all-around dangerous individuals who want to watch it all burn. Ah didn't like it one bit", Rogue describes.
"Ya oughta look around pal. None of us here are exactly pacifists", Logan argues back.
"Ah know, but the reason ya'll are doing all that.....ah guess, maybe mah faith has been dwindling for a while and ah....ah didn't even see it comin'......ah guess ah needed a newer environment with a fresher perspective ta see that. My mental problems were just the straw that broke the camels back, so.....yeah, ah want to join ya'll. If you will have me", Rogue said, finally having that realization.
Storm looked to the Professor for confirmation. What he said was not spoken with words from his mouth.
"I sense no deception in her, Ororo, but this decision shall ultimately be left to you and Cyclops. You know my stance regarding Rogue's trustworthiness".
"Rogue. I am still not personally convinced that you truly are turning a new leaf, but you have so far not given me any reason to doubt your motive. I remain in the decision to keep you on a probationary circumstance, but I will need to speak with Scott further about you being more than a simple guest at the mansion. If you truly prove yourself.....we will see about a more permanent place for you", Storm declares to the woman. "Alright, with that settled for the time being, we must move! To the X-copter, X-Men!"
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*Downtown Manhattan*
"Kitty! Get out of here!", Colossus yells as he is thrown back by an explosion appearing from seemingly nowhere.
"Where?! This guy summons explosion everywhere!", Kitty shouts, not concerned with Colossus, who has taking multiple of those explosions ever since he saw the guy riding on his horse.
"Better listen to your girlfriend. Or better yet, don't let her get hurt!", the man shouts as he claps his hands above his head with his eyes directly on Kitty. No effect took place beyond the damage in the area surrounding her.
"Seriously?", she says looking up at him unimpressed.
"Impossible", the man exclaims as a portal opens from behind him.
"You wouldn't be saying that if you had met me prior", Magik says as she appears from the portal hits him with her soul sword, not going for a killing blow, but still enough to slice through his armor.
"Gah, back", he says as he claps. Before he could fully do so, Magik once more disappears in her disc, safe from harm.
While his attention away from her, Kitty runs to a turned over car to pull a woman out of it with her phasing ability.
"Freeze!"
She turns to find a police officer and his partner pointing their taser's towards her.
"Hey, this woman needs help?! Do ya mind giving any?", Kitty says with annoyance.
"How do we know you didn't do that to her to begin with, mutie?", the officer said keeping his taser firmly on Kitty.
"Does it matter?! I am telling you she needs help. Oh forget it!", she finally says as she picks up the woman and starts walking towards the police car.
"Put the civilian down!", the police officer says before firing the taser, which flies right through her body and the woman's harmlessly. Thank god for her mutant abilities and training, or else this would have gotten much uglier. She quickly walks past the officer as his partner swings straight through her body. She then phases the woman into the car and walks past the dumbfounded police.
"Well, don't just stand there! Get her to safety away from that creep!", Kitty says while pointing towards the mutant on his flying mechanical horse.
"So, you're one of them superhero mutants, then?", the the partner asks as they put two and two together.
"I don't know quite yet, but I am not standing by being an idiot when people need my help", she says with irritation laced in her statement. She runs over to Danielle and Xi'an who were hiding in nearby alley. "Any luck?"
"No. His mind is completely closed to the both of us. Maybe if the Professor, Jean, or Psylocke were hear....", Xi'an said as she and Dani guided people further out mentally through light mind-control and illusions here and there to steer away from the chaos.
"The Professor told me he was sending a team out to us. Hopefully they can deal with this psycho while we manage to get everyone away", Kitty says.
"Oh no", Xi'an says, causing Kitty to look out just in time to see Sam and Roberto bull-rushing at the guy from down the street.
"Ya got lucky last time, but we don't go down easy!", Sam says as he rockets at the man while Roberto grabs ahold of the mechanical horse.
"Whoa, silver!", Roberto shouted as the horse started to wildly try to get him off of its back. The metal plating was tougher than it looked and the horse was getting wilder by the second. "Should have had Dani do this!"
No longer capable of holding on, Roberto is tossed off the back of the robot horse, only for his momentum to be caught by something firm, holding tightly to him.
"Honey, ya'll shoulda had a trainah teach ya the basics of ridin' before getting on a wild steed. Leave it to the professionals!", Rogue says as she takes him to safety and flies to catch the horse in the sky. Like Roberto before, when she reaches the horse, its defenses kick in and it starts to thrash about in attempt to get Rogue off. "I got this one, Storm!"
"Nightcrawler, get the students away", Storm instructs as the wind carries her to the area.
"I can do that myself, thank you", Magik said as a disc forms around herself and the New Mutants.
"We are gonna need Colossus", Storm said before Illyana could leave.
"Well, if you think I am going anywhere with him, you are sorely mistaken", Illyana crosses her arms.
"It is fine, Illyana. I can handle-"
Before Colossus could properly finish, another boom signifying a bigger explosion than usual took place. As they turn around, Cannonball hits the street rolling to a stop on his side. Were it not for his energy field acting as a personal force field, he'd have died a hundred times over.
"You fools don't understand your plight", the angry man said as he stared at the group. "Allow me to show you exactly what you are facing!"
With that warning said, the man opened his arms wide readying for another attack, only to be hit with a beam that covered him in head-to-toe ice.
"Yo, Storm! Just got a heads up from Spidey! He says SHIELD are about to come and take the perp in! If we are gonna give the shpiel, we oughta do it now!", Iceman says as he slides on his ice trail over their heads.
"Karma, Mirage, what have the two of you gleened from this man?", Storm asks turning to the girls.
"Nothing. It's as if his mind is a blank slate, Oro- Storm", Dani says, correcting herself to ensure not to use real names in public.
"Professor", Storm thinks in her head as she turns back to the man, whom was surprisingly not only still aware, but slowly breaking the ice prison Iceman had encased him in.
"......I already am briefed on the situation, Storm....Strangely, it is not just the girls running into this problem. Were I not looking through your mind's eyes, I would have been incapable of seeing exactly the person we ar espeaking of now. It is as if his mind was a void of nothing", Xavier describes in the head of the mutant leader.
With not a single moment wasted, the man breaks free from the ice with a yell, now having a maniacal look on his face as he catches a glance at Iceman circling back for another pass. Without hesitation, he claps his hands to explode a piece of the ice trail, causing it to collapse under Iceman's feet and have him barely react quick enough to create a patch of snow to break his fall, though not enough to save him from falling unconscious from the impact.
Before the man could manage to clap his hands to destory Iceman once and for all, a disc of light appears beneath Iceman to allow his limp body to fall through and then disappear from view. Angered that his prey got away, the man screams and claps towards the sky above, this time creating a large booming sound.
"I swear to En Sabbah Nur, I will show him that I AM THE MOST FIT TO EXIST IN HIS NEW WORLD!!!", the man yells to the group as he readys another attack.
Before he could, a blur of green takes him from the street and throws him into a nearby wall. Before he can regain his bearings, the mechanical head of his horse is tossed at him to signify its destruction. Looking up, the man sees the Southern Belle with her hands on her hips floating in mid-air.
"Now, honey, ah think ah've proven mah point as to where ya stand on the food chain because it clearly ain't anywhere near the top. Now, are ya gonna be a doll and stay where I put ya, or am I gonna show ya how we throw down south", Rogue says with a punch to her palm in emphasis.
"You think I am done? This was but a taste of things to come and to show how worthy I am", the man gloats.
"And frankly, our master is not impressed Abraham", a feminine voice said with a mechanical whine.
"What in tarn-"
It was then that Rogue is hit a beam of energy making her feel ill.
"Ah....don't feel too good....", Rogue said as the X-Men ran to check her. With all eyes on Rogue, no one had bothered to notice on the roof, watching the fight go down and hoping to catch more of the goons involved, was Wolverine, claws out and a scowl on his face.
"Found ya!", he says before jumping from the roof above toward her. Before he could reach her, the man called Abraham claps his hands to intercept Wolverine's ambush.
"Come. You may still redeem yourself after the poor showing you've made here", the woman said as she helped him upon her steed.
"'Ro, that is her", Rogue said weakly. Storm looked to Rogue in mild shock before remembering that remanants of Jean's memory may still have lingered to influence and make Rogue aware of the tender nickname bestowed on Storm by her closest friends.
"Who, Rogue?", Storm asked.
"That woman is.....Plague", Rogue pointed shakily. Storm turns to the woman galloping away with the man in tow. Rogue and Logan had been telling the truth after all back in the sewers......and if that was true, then.......
"Warren", Ororo said quietly in sorrow for her friend. Gathering herself before she could break, the mutant leader said this. "Magik, Nightcrawler, it is time to take us all home and let the authorities handle this. Come!"
With no further room for argument, Karma alerts the team who were not with the group as it is and they all teleported away before anyone else could arrive.
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*Magneto's Chambers*
"As you requested, Magneto, I have brought Mystique", Kwannon said as the blue skinned woman followed with an annoyed disposition.
"Alright, Erik, what secret mission are you having me go on this time?", she asked after Kwannon closed the door.
"Oh dear. Perhaps you were right about giving the woman a vacation. Something tells me you make a habit of using her more often than your ninjapath here", a british voice said to Mystique's side. The woman turns her head to see the form of Emma Frost lounging on Magneto's couch leisurely.
"Mystique is every bit as good at espionage as Revanche is, but I find better use for telepaths near mine and my leader's sides. I more than anyone knows the capabilities of your kind", Magneto says to Emma as he returns his attention to both women. "I aplologize for the cryptic urgency of my summoning, Raven, but I have explicit need of both of your capabilities. We will be taking an impromptu journey back to America where you will be explained in fervent detail, but you must trust me when I say you will be an intrical piece of our plans", Magneto says with earnest.
"You needn't worry about packing clothing or food supplies. You will be given the finest access to whatever your desired needs will be, dears. Just think of me and your wish will be", Emma says with a smirk.
"So, we just gotta blindly trust you?", Mystique poses to the man.
"Have you lost faith in our cause already Mystique?", Magneto asks with a raised eye brow.
"I might. I did lose my daughter to the incompentency of your psychics and now I have to do your dirty work once more in blind faith that it will magically work out like you promised before?", Mystique asks rhetorically.
"...........I am sorry, Raven about what happened with Rogue. I promise, after you do this, we can work about doing something about Rogue", Magneto says.
"And this mission you have for us?", Mystique asks, not budging from her stance.
The Genoshan leader sighs before answering the question.
"You are gonna infiltrate the Xavier School for me."
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