The Xavier Institute of Higher Learning: Part IV

[Xanamiar]

New thread guy's.. let's keep it going

Old thread here.

[Pryde]

Keiko had been wandering the school for the better part of an hour searching for Matt. I wish I'd asked him for his room number, she grumbled quietly to herself. She turned down the hallway and headed back towards the front of the mansion. When she reached the area with the dual-descending stair cases the sudden sound of breaking glass startled her. She cried out in surprise then turned to look for the source. Two cylindrical canisters had landed near her feet and almost immediately began puffing out some kind of gas. She started coughing and her eyes began to water and hurt. She tried to flee but ended up stumbling over a chair and falling onto the ground.

Suddenly the door was burst inward and the sudden rush of air dispersed the gas somewhat as men dressed in black rushed in. One of them spotted Keiko and waved to several of his fellows. They all turned towards her and raised their weapons and with a startled cry Keiko scrambled to her feet and fled down the nearest hallway. Yune chirped something then followed her as well as several of the black clad men. The others broke off down another hallway and fanned out to catch any mutants still on this side of the house.

I never should have left home, she thought, forcing her legs to run even faster. She hit the end of the hallway and was about to turn the corner when she felt something strike her back. Before she could even think about what it might be she felt a sharp electrical shock that jolted her entire body and caused it to go numb. Without any feeling in her legs she crumbled into a heap on the floor as the black clad men surrounded her...

[Notorious]

Damien remained perfectly still for a moment, clinging to a slim strand of hope that Shaina and Sariah had not noticed his cartoonishly embarrassing fall. The boy turned over onto his stomach and touched the ground with one bare hand. The moment physical contact happened there was an automatic reaction - Damien could feel the molecular make-up of the floor. Except this time it was different. He did not see the colorful array of atoms swirling about, he simply saw the exact same one duplicated trillions of times. The floor reminded him of looking upon a giant group of people, all of them identical in everyway, except for each one was wearing a mask to feign individuality. The floor was not made of natural atoms... it was made of... of... fake atoms.

"Wait a second..." Damien whispered. The boy touched the metal pipe - normal. The boy touched the floor - not normal. "This... this isn't real."

Damien scampered to the pool side and dipped his hand in, waiting for the feeling of hydrogen, oxygen, and chlorine... but it wasn't there. The water was the same as the floor. Jackson forgot all about his embarrassment and turned to the girls, his hood still staying up even as he moved frantically.

"This isn't real!" He exclaimed. Damien got to his feet and starting looking left and right, expecting a sentinel to burst in through the door at any second. The door to the pool area opened up with a bang, and in came a commando dressed in all black with a weapon raised. Damien didn't even have a chance to surrender before a pair of darts blasted off from the man's weapon, still attached to the gun by a conductive wire. The darts hit Damien square in the chest, but instead of remaining in his skin as they normally would, they simply bounced off the metal.

"Attention students, and teachers. There is a raid on the facility, however we want to warn you that we are all still in the danger room. These men are not real, do whatever you need to do to get away safely from them. Do not hold back, they are not real."

The commando reacted immediately to the fact that the taser was unable to penetrate Damien's altered skin. He dropped the taser pistol and lifted a rifle from his side which was loaded with God know's what. Damien stared wide-eyed at him.

"What do I do?" he thought. Damien couldn't think of a way to use his powers offensively, especially when his opponent was so far away.

[Xanamiar]

Shaina and Sariah had noticed the large clunk onto the floor but didnt really pay much attention to it. Suddenly the door busted open and a man dressed in black walked in. Shaina grabbed Sariah and pulled her underwater. She swam to the edge of the pool where Damien was standing. She released Sariah and walked into the wall of the pool. Once she got to where she figured the man dressed in black was she reached up and grabbed a pair of legs, pulling them half way into the ground, and pulled herself out. The man in black felt something grab him and aimed his rifle down at the ground. Shaina popped up behind him and grabbed his rifle.

"Here, use this." Shaina tossed the rifle to Damien and ran over to the pool and pulled Sariah up out of the water. "Guess relaxation time is over."

[Starlight]

In Drake's mind, the horrible sound of glass shattering from impact came from the car accident that had claimed his parents’ lives. He could see with impossible clarity the way their vehicle was crushed that night. Impossible because he hadn't been anywhere near the accident when it happened. It was a vision his mind had created, and it was a recurring nightmare he didn't enjoy having at all.

Yet when he snapped awake, his eyes adjusted and found themselves staring at the actual source of the noise. A highly armed and armored soldier of sorts stood beside the bed, Arms raised high above his head with a long knife gripped between them, ready to bring down the blade in a strike against Drake.

He didn't have time to think about why the man was there or why he was trying to stab him. Drake just reacted, half turning, half rolling, he grabbed hold of Sophie's still sleeping form and the pair fell off of the bed and crashed down to the floor, Drakes shoulder and back taking the brunt of the impact. As he'd fallen he pictured the MRD agents knife becoming lodged in the bed, and true to his luck, it did.

"Sophie?" He called at her, hardly noticing the fact that she was sprawled out atop of him and that her breath was tickling his neck gently.

"I'm awake," she replied and was already rolling off of Drake. Her mind was still fuzzed and her vision blurry but the screaming of Sophie's instincts were more than enough to have her moving despite the drug-fog. She'd no more than lifted her body clear when another special-op came diving into the shattered window. Sophie squealed in surprise and threw out her hands, summing a gale-force wind that shoved the MRD tumbling backwards. The window-sill caught him across the back of the legs and he disappeared in a back summersault.

Drake watched Sophie send the MRD agent back out of the window and shot her a quick smirk before he scrambled up into a crouch. He clenched his hands into fists and in the next instant was launching himself up over the bed and slamming bodily into the agent. He grappled with the man for what felt like a lifetime, desperately trying to get the knife away from him. As the announcement came over the speakers that they were still in the danger room, the MRD Agent caught him with a well-placed hook and in a blur Drake was on bottom, fighting to keep the blade away from his throat.

"Now you tell us." He grumbled at the speakers.

Sophie watched the window for a moment but no other agents came through. When her eyes flicked back to Drake, they widened. "Get away from him!" she screamed. Instead of summoning another wind, the teenager ran at the MRD with her right fist cocked back. By the time she threw the first punch, a coil of lightning was snaking up her arm. It discharged against the op's un-protected neck with a crackle of thunder and a bright flash of blue-white light.

Drake wasted no time, as soon as the agent’s body started convulsing from the electric attack he achieved some leverage and tossed the man off of him, lodging the knife in the side of the man’s neck in the process. With the immediate threat disabled, he let out a long breath and laid his head back against the floor closing his eyes momentarily.

“Drake, you okay?” she’d backed out of the way when the older boy had delivered the fatal blow but now Sophie rushed back to him and kneeled on the floor as his eyes closed. There were no signs of injuries that she could see, though her hand sought out his and held tight.

Drake squeezed her hand back, slowly blinking his eyes back open and allowing a smile to cross his lips. "Never a dull moment at this school, eh?" He tried to joke, almost laughing but still out of breath enough that it didn't quite work. Sophie smiled a little and used her free hand to give his forearm a friendly rub.
“I guess not…Wonder if all first day’s are like this.” She spared a glance to look over at the fallen MRD that hadn’t yet dissipated. “Should we stay here or try to find the others?”

With a small grunt Drake pushed away his soreness enough to prop his back up against the side of Sophie's bed and glanced at the closed door of her Dorm room. "Be safer in here." He spoke softly, not that he was afraid of taking on any more of the fake agents... But he felt it was his responsibility to take care of Sophie... Like she needs taken care of... At least her mutation can be used offensively, he thought to himself with a mental frown that slowly seeped into his eyes.

Sophie didn’t notice the frown at first; she was thinking of the other students that were probably having skirmishes all campus. “Safer? I suppose so, but…” She finally saw the expression slowly moving across Drake’s face. “What’s the matter?”

Drake tried to force a smile but failed miserably and he knew it. "Just... Thinking." He spoke softly, suddenly taking great interest in the patterns of her floor. "About how much of a goner I'd be right now if it wasn't for your... powers." He sighed softly as he finished.

Sophie hummed under her breath, mulling over his words. Then she lightly took him by the chin, brought his gaze back to her own. “Says the one that woke up first and pulled me out of harm’s way before my eyes could even open.” She smiled a little, wished he could do the same. “Pretty fair trade, the way I see it.”

The older teen scoffed a bit but his lips did twitch upwards just slightly. He could see her point; he did react in time to save her when the attack began. Still... He felt more like a liability than anything else. "I don't want to detract from that... I'm just as glad to have saved you as I am that you saved me. It’s just... being here, seeing everyone flying and shooting plasma and doing all this stuff... Makes me feel sorta like a shmuck... Feel like a glorified genie or something. My 'gift'. Sophie... I'm lucky. That's it. That's it."

“That’s it?” Feeling ridiculously indignant, Sophia frowned and almost gave into the urge to give him a good shake. “How can you say such a thing? Drake, do you have any idea what an incredible power that is, the ability to manipulate probability?” Her blue eyes narrowed shrewdly. “How many times has your gift saved your hide… and the hides of everyone you choose to protect?” Letting go of his chin, Sophie leaned back but still kept their hands linked. “Of course this revelation completely eliminates us ever playing cards…”

Drake blinked his brown eyes once or twice as he processed her reaction. Frankly, he didn't feel like she understood. He wasn't trying to say that his gift was useless... Just that there were so many others here at the mansion who were so much more powerful than he was. Sophia being one of them. "It’s like being an offensive lineman at the end of the Superbowl, Sophie. The Quarterback’s the guy who gets carried off the field. He's the guy that threw the game winning touchdown. No one cares about the guy that was blocking for him. I'm not looking for fame or an ego boost... But, compared to most of the kids here, I'm about as weak as it comes."

He was right that she didn’t understand and not just because Sophie didn’t know the first thing about football and had never watched a Superbowl in her life. She watched as the emotions flickered behind Drake’s eyes and realized that she’d probably never understand. “I think you’re wrong on that, Drake. But I’ll concede the field for the time being.”

Rocking up onto her heels then boosting up, Sophie stood and crossed over to the door. She pressed her ear to the wooden surface, strained to hear any sort of give-away sound before she twisted the handle and peeked through after opening a stingy crack. “Pretty quiet out there,” she whispered.

[Halcyon508]

Ian Martelli sat in the cramped car and frowned a bit. It had taken far too long for him to convince the man that had traveled with him, ironically his bodyguard, to take leave. The man was dismissed from service and sent home with orders that once turned in would allow him an impressive stipend. The boy sat clenching his hand turning it solid in a fist and then slowly turning the metal back to soft skin as he opened his hand again. Exercise to both learn to control his ability and to determine the point in which his metal skin was malleable enough to move as normal.

The youth found it difficult to concentrate and by the time the vehicle stopped had nearly given up on his endeavor. Regardless if it was the distraction caused by the two beautiful women in the car, the effects of the one woman’s powers, or both he was left feeling self confident and agitated.

Alex Jr. as he was known muzzled up against his non metallic hand licking it and playfully wagging his tail. The little creature didn’t stop in his loving assault until Ian rubbed his ears and began to pat him. “That’s a good boy.” He said softly.

Alec Jr. made his way over to where Jolt was and whined. She looked down at the dog, since she had been content with studying the school for a while. She picked the dog up and absentmindedly scratched the top of the dog's head. He planted his paws on her chest and licked her face. She laughed and smiled down at him. Then she turned and looked at Ian. "Isn't he the cutest dog you've ever seen before?" She asked. "I mean, he's just the cutest ever." She added.

The boys cheeks and face shifted to the soft metal fabric that so often replaces his skin. “Yeah he is…” Ian said suddenly glad that the woman couldn’t see him blushing. “So this is the school?” he asked looking at the forested scenery. “It seems a nice enough place…” reaching out a hand he then said, “I’m Ian, Ian Martelli.”

"Melissa Ray." She replied, shaking his hand. "So, where are you from?" She asked. "Are you from Texas?"

“Not exactly,” Smiling Ian then said, “I’m from Isle Di’Lucciola.” He lifted up his hand and put a finger on his palm. “If this is south Africa….” He then moved his finger across and touched his thumb, “then that’s my home, the natives called it the lions thumb.” Awkwardly looking around he asked, “Where are you from?”

"Oh wow, you're not from the States?" She asked and he shook his head. "I'm from Chicago." She said. "Not the most exotic of places, but its home." She said. "So are you on vacation or something? Why are you over here?" She asked.

“I ah…” he stumbled over his response. “Well I’m basically allowed to go wherever I want…and its almost like I ran away…” Alex Jr. switched back to adoring him. Suddenly him and the dog were best friends. “He really is a cute little puppy.” He said changing the subject. “I used to have a dog like him but you have to keep them indoors almost all the time, what with the other wildlife.”

"Ran away?" She asked, thinking to herself that he had come a long way if he was running away. "What do you mean?" She asked. Melissa ignored the dog that Ian used to have, because she was much more interested in what he had said about running away. "What happened, why'd you run away?" She asked.

“Well my parents know where I am… in the states I mean. They are paying for it…” he said softly, “It’s just I donno… I didn’t want to be at home anymore so I came here.” Looking up at the sky he then said, “It’s not really what I expected. Freedom I mean.”

"Nothing is ever what you expect it to be. That's what I've learned over the years." Melissa said. "You're a lucky kid though." She added. "When my parents were alive, no way they would have paid for me to go to another country because I wanted to. Even if they could have afforded it." She said.

“I’m sorry.” He said looking at the dog at his feet. He ceased petting the small animal and motioned it over to Melissa with his eyes. “Did they accept you? You know for what we are?”

"They never really knew." Melissa said. "I didn't really know too much about my powers, unless I was around another mutant." She said. "They weren't mutants so I never really knew myself."

She took a few steps away to study part of the building before turning back to Ian and she gave him a small smile.

Staring at the woman he smiled back. They remained silent staring at one another for a few seconds Ian being lost in her eyes, “They were good people though. I can tell by your voice.” He finally said.

"Were is the operative word there." She added, her smile increasing a little. "They died when I was seventeen." She said. "Just a few years ago, really. I was with a relative of mine for a year, but now I'm just by myself. Never really was close to either side of the family." She said.

[SmokeMare]

Steinberg had everything set, the QT was sitting in the datastream, snooping on all the requests coming from the mystery router. As the requests were fed back he, sitting in the QT in his digital form started slowly feeding himself through, masking himself as requested data. Some data was too complex to mimic in time, occasionally the router picked up on discrepencies and pushed him out again...

It was going to be a slow process, it looked like he wasn't going to make it to work today.

~

Gray and Ralph had climbed the steps to the mansion. It seemed deserted, it looked lived in, but like everyone had gone out on a day trip or something. Ralph gently pushed the front door open - thankfully controlling his power so as not to destroy it. He stepped inside and looked up and down the empty corridors. Gray followed and peered around also, the building was almost silent. He could hear the voices of the other travellers in the car behind him, and the faint hum of machinery or electronics somewhere - almost inaudible...

Gray put his hands around his mouth and called down the corridor, "HELLOOOOOOOOO!"... Nothing, not even an echo... Ralph shook his head, had they been duped? Were they the first students to arrive at this school? Had they actually been captured by a secret government organisation and were about to have experiments done on them? Neither possibility sat right, he pushed the door again and strolled down the steps to Alec and Alessandra, "Hey, do you guys run massive field trips or something? It seems REAL empty in there... What's going on?"

[Notorious]

Damien caught the rifle, albeit clumsily. He stared at the commando who was halfway sunken into the ground and frantically waving his arms. According to the announcement, this man wasn't real, but Jackson still felt nervous about killing him.

"Just like a video game," he said, then pulled the trigger. A spray of gunfire hit the MRD, spanning from his left hip up to his right shoulder. The man slumped over, "dead," but couldn't fall completely since he was being propped up by the floor - thanks to Shaina. Damien examined the gun more closely now, marveling at how realistic it was. The feel, the noise, the kick, the heat... shooting that holographic man felt no different than killing a real man. Jackson felt a pounding in his chest as adrenalin rushed through his veins. The boy could feel his pulse everywhere... his arms, his legs, his neck, his head - blood was racing through every artery. Damien felt the strength for a fight or flight response that every human feels when their life is threatened, the same feeling that activated his powers back in Arizona. The boy felt energized and ready for anything.

"There's probably more out there," he said to Shaina as she helped her friend out of the pool. "With guns."

Damien crouched low and opened the door just a crack to peer into the hallway. He tried to use his ears first instead of his eyes, but the sound of his heart pumping feverishly was intense in his head. The fifteen year old looked straight down the hallway but didn't see anyone. He started to stick his head out when the butt of a gun slammed into his jaw. The commandos were smart enough to scout in teams, and once the first MRD was taken out the second one hid beside the door. The soldier, however, had not been expecting Damien's head to be made of metal. The sheer force of the blow knocked Damien back, but he didn't experience the typical symptoms of pain and unconsciousness associated with such a blow. Almost instinctively, Damien pulled the trigger again, riddling the doors and the commando with bullet holes.

The magazine went dry after a number of seconds and the boy was left on the floor holding a smoking gun. Two men. Damien dropped it on the ground, realizing that it was empty. His hood had fallen off after he'd been struck by the soldier, revealing the smooth metal skin on his neck and the odd appearance of his dark curly hair looking sculpted against his rounded skull. Damien stood up and slowly, meticulously, pulled the hood back over his face.

"I don't know about you two," Damien said softly, pulling the metal pipe out of his jacket pocket, "but if this isn't real... then I'm going to experiment."

The cylindrical metal pipe in Damien bare hand suddenly started to change. The dull, gray color of the steel shifted into a bright, metallic silver just like the malleable nature of his skin. The length of the object grew, the silver creeping downward to the ground as if it were melting. Damien was altering the metal's qualities, manipulating the carbon atoms through his touch and forcing them to shift from stiff to flexible. Damien lifted his hand, causing the pipe to lengthen faster in response to movement. Then, Damien thrust his arm outward at the door, forcing the flexible metal to respond with a crack, just like a whip. The metal slashed the thick pool doors, leaving a deep gash through the material. The flexible metal responded well, just like Damien's bull whip back home in Arizona, but a million times more durable... and dangerous.

Damien Jackson laughed at this discovery - how simple, and yet how ingenious! The boy burst into a full out sprint right out of the pool room, leaving Shaina and Sariah to hide, follow, or go on their own. Once in the hallways, Damien ceased his running and walked at a brisk pace about the mansion listening for more commandos. He quickly removed his other glove so that both his hands were bare and walked confidently with the metal whip coiled in one flexed fist. Damien turned a corner near the stair case and spotted two MRD's with their shock weapons armed. They immediately turned in his direction, one of them launching the electrified darts. Just as before, the darts promptly bounced off, and Damien retaliated. The boy cracked his whip, the slick metal surface striking one of the soldiers directly in the face with a hiss of air, just like the pouncing of a snake. The metal sliced the man's face, ripping apart his mask and knocking him onto his back. The second soldier quickly switched weapons but Damien was already on to him, the whip recoiling quickly for another strike. As Jackson sent the flexible metal out for another hit he devised a plan, and as soon as the metal reached its apex, the tip just barely stroking the commando's neck, Damien altered the carbon atoms back to their original stiffness. This action effectively put a 20 foot, tapered spear in the boy's hands. Instead of slashing his face, the tip of the hardened whip sunk into the MRD's neck, just like being thrust with a spear.

"Hah," Damien scoffed triumphantly and then recoiled the whip, altering the metal back to a flexible state. The wounded soldier who was still on his back reached for his rifle, leveling the gun in Damien's direction. Despite the blood gushing into his eyes, the man still knew the general direction that the mutant boy was in. A single bullet rang out and glanced off of Damien's left shoulder, prompting the boy to howl in pain. He was made of metal, but metal was not impenetrable. The skin dented in, causing the boy immense pain and rage. With this reaction he lost concentration and the metal quickly faded away. There was a brief shimmer from the silvery material, and then his skin returned to normal, leaving him completely vulnerable to another bullet. But Jackson didn't allow him to shoot a second time - the boy whipped the gun... his intention being to wrap around the barrel and yank it from the man's grasp. Unfortunately, Damien wasn't quite skilled enough to get a good wrap, but he did manage to hit the weapon right about where the soldier was grasping it. The rifle was knocked aside with the force and the soldier was left unarmed. Damien walked up to the downed commando, something oddly menacing around his steps. Damien wrapped the whip back up into a perfect coil, then squeezed the metal together back into the form of a pipe. From there, Damien pulled on the flexible material until it was about a meter in length. Once long, Damien twisted his fingers around the tip, creating a pointed edge.

"I feel like I should say something to you," Damien said as he stood over the soldier. Jackson raised the spear like a pole above the commando's head. "But you're not real..." With that, Jackson dove the sharp tip into the hologram's head with a meaty shink! As Damien yanked the pole out of the hologram's head, the boy's metallic eyes were like fire. There was a passion in his features that not even his hood could hide. He had never meant to kill anything before, and the fact that these men weren't real made it real easy to do... and it was fun.

Damien bent down and grabbed the dead soldier by his collar. The gore on his face looked real, but as Damien placed a single naked finger on the man's flesh he felt the same molecules as the water, the cement, the wood... it was all the same, it was all fake. Nothing mattered. All of the rooms were fake... the ground was fake... the furniture, the doors, the computers, the beds, the people - all a part of a holographic reality. Damien stood up, and he ran his hands over the pole once more, causing the sharp edge to dull and the length to increase slightly. Now he had what appeared to be a stiff, metal staff. Jackson turned to the nearest console and smashed it, causing sparks to fly out of the screen.

"It's not real!" Damien said, spinning on his heels and slamming the weapon into a ceramic sculpture. The sculpture crumbled to pieces, and before the shattered fragments could hit the ground Damien had already split a nearby table in half. The boy swung madly, crushing and shattering everything in range. Damien picked up the pace and started stalking the hallways now, searching for another commando and not realizing his skin was normal. On the way through the halls he stayed low and quiet, desiring a moment of surprise on the next MRD.

A commando was outside the theater, searching quietly for more students, but his mission abruptly took a turn for the worst when he felt a giant metal pipe bonk against his head. Damien didn't have the force to knock him unconscious, but he easily brought him to his knees. Damien swung again for the groin, then the face, then a shoulder, then his back. The soldier was flat on the floor now, holding up his arms to try and block or grab the pole, but Damien didn't allow that. The boy swung again, and again... and again. Jackson's hood fell off, revealing his human skin and a fiery look in his eyes. The boy continued to relentlessly beat the soldier into a bloody submission, and with each bone crushing whack the edges of his lips curved up a little higher. Damien was pumped, he was mad, he was enraged, call it whatever, but he was utterly out of control.

[Xanamiar]

After finishing with the students Velana had went to the cafeteria. She heard the announcement, and with the announcement she heard the windows behind her blow up. She turned in time to see several of the commando's comming into the room.

"I suppose telling you that I'm not a mutant, and you have the wrong house won't work?" Velana shrugged as they didn't speak. "Guess Mouse didn't have enough voices on file for all of you huh?" Velana instinctively grabbed one of the tables and tossed it towards the men who were now holding out their weapons at her. Breaking one of the legs off of another table, she quickly held it up as a dart shot toward her.

Seeing that the darts were to slow, two of the men switched weapons to their pistols.

"Heh, looks like you are going to take me dead or alive, huh?" The men looked at one another as she put the table leg down. "Okay, I give up." Velana started to take off her gloves, not sure if they would react to her powers or not, but was hoping that they might.

"Take her back to the van." One of the commandos finally spoke up. As the two men reached up she grabbed them both by the neck, half expecting them to fall to their knees, but the other half expected exactly what happened, nothing.

"Well, guess we have to do this the hard way." Velana flipped both men over and grabbed the dart gun from one of them, and quickly shot the others who were in the room, finishing off with a kick to knock both of the other men out.

Velana walked to the cafeteria doors, and heard a commotion, she opened the doors and watched as the boy struck the man with fierceness and blood rage.

She watched until she could take it anymore.

"Damien?" her voice came out very calming. "Killing is so easy, isn't it?" She smiled and walked over to him. "Especially knowing they aren't real, but with every hit, with every death, the next one is easier. Then some day, you may not care if they are real, or not."

[Pryde]

Keiko struggled against her captors to no avail. She kicked and screamed, shouting at the top of her lungs in Japanese while simultaneously trying to claw her way free. Eventually they had her hands bound and her ankles tied and as a finishing touch they gagged her even though neither one of them knew what the hell she'd been talking about. Then they hoisted her up onto their shoulders and went back out the way they had come. At the end of the driveway was a large armored van into which they tossed the still squirming Keiko.

The girl landed roughly in the van, her head bouncing of the wall on the other side. Slightly dazed the girl looked back at her captors and noticed the little sparrow flying towards her. She tried to scream at Yune and tell her to run but the gag in her mouth muffled her words. Instead she settled for shaking her head and when the little bird saw this she stopped and almost hesitantly flew away to a nearby tree. She perched herself on one of the branches and turned to watch the van intently. Keiko, meanwhile, continued to scream and struggle but none of her efforts managed to free herself from her bonds and her muffled cries went unheard by anyone who may have been in range to hear them...

[Notorious]

Damien heard his name and ceased the brutal beat down of the soldier who was likely already dead by this point. His arms were fatigued now, burning from the strain, and his lungs gasped for the air that he had neglected to breath. The voice he heard was soothing, and familiar - it was Velana, speaking in a tone that Jackson had yet to hear her use. The boy took a step back and looked down at the mangled mess of a human left huddled on the floor. Damien was breathing heavily now, his body not accustomed to so much strenuous excitement. He glanced up at Velana, his chest heaving, his dark hair a mess, and sweat glistening off his brow. The boy tried to calm himself, but the energy inside of him was still burning bright.

"I've never..." Damien glanced down at the body again. He had killed Dr. Wraxter back in Arizona on accident. But that was an accident. "I feel... "

The words were difficult to formulate. Damien didn't understand himself and why he had gotten so violent so quickly. Now, at this moment of introspection, he diagnosed himself.

"I've always felt helpless. Before my mutation and especially after. Right now..." Damien twisted the five foot staff in his hand and the metal glistened momentarily. "I feel... I feel special."

Damien realized how strange it sounded, and almost immediately he tried to clarify.

"I don't want to kill anyone," he blurted out. "I don't. I just... I just... Professor, why are we still in the Danger Room?"

[Xanamiar]

"You are special Damien, in fact we all are. But what truly makes us special is how we use our 'gifts'. Now, as far as why we are still in the danger room, I don't have the slightest idea, but I do know we need to find Mouse and the Professor. My guess is we start where we started this morning." Velana didn't bother to say much more as she looked around the room. "But before we do that, We'd better split up and see how many students we can help out." Velana looked around and noticed Shaina running along with Sariah.

"Girls!" Velana yelled out at them. "Sariah, follow me. Shaina, I need you to run around the halls and see everything you can, help any students you can. " Velana paused as she looked around the school. "Also, see if you can find a van outside, make sure that no one has been taken out there, if they have, see if you can help them, but don't get caught yourself. Be careful." Velana smiled at her. "And look for more than one, I'm sure there has to be more than one out there, if they are planning on capturing everyone they can."


Shaina nodded and started first with a search of the mansion, as fast as she could she ran from room to room.

Velana then turned to Damien. "Let's make our way downstairs, see if we can find some answers."

[Notorious]

The blood rage had subsided and Damien was level headed again. Jackson nodded an affirmative, then grabbed his staff with both hands and shortened it into a baton. Damien wasn't a martial artist, so he really wasn't proficient with it. He just found it exhilarating to smash everything around him with a giant metal stick. Now his arms were feeling heavy and he didn't want to mess with it anymore. With a little bit of thought and some physical manipulation, Damien transformed the baton into a whip once more and coiled it up to the neutral position. At least he knew how to use that.

Damien took off after Velana, following her to the library where a secret elevator would lead them to the lower levels. Commandos were still rummaging through the mansion, armed and dangerous, but instead of being scared of them Damien was eager to find more. Velana took the lead, and as they traversed the hallways she was the first to run into the next threat. Damien held his whip and tightened his grip with anticipation - he couldn't get a clear shot of the MRD with Velana in the way, beating the man into submission. Another soldier attempted to surprise attack her from behind, but he hadn't seen Damien several steps back. Damien released the silvery serpent of a weapon and aimed for the hologram's leg. The flexible metal wrapped around the MRD's ankle, a fairly decent snag - Jackson smiled in pride, it was his first time getting it right. Damien then grabbed the handle with both his hands and yanked hard, forcing the commando to lose his footing and fall flat on his face. Velana heard the crash to the floor, prompting her to whip around, kick the gun from the MRD's reach and render him incapacitated with some impressive martial arts moves.

The young man recoiled his whip and trotted up to Velana just as she took off again, heading for the secret elevator. The two mutants darted through the library unscathed and stopped at the secret entrance to wait for the way down.

"Did they disconnect the power? Does the elevator still work?" Damien asked, glancing around the library but seeing nothing in the darkness.

[Notorious]

Gabriel Matthew Bennett burst out of his dorm room, shirtless, and extremely pissed off. The announcement woke him up and he wasn't happy at all about it. The fit seventeen year old stormed down the boys' dormitory hallway as multiple rooms burst open and kids fled. One door didn't open, and Matt noticed this as he was making his way to the staircase. Feeling unusually heroic, Gabriel kicked the door in and walked inside.

The deaf boy was laying in bed looking particularly peaceful, despite the fact that he had some strange mask forcing his jaw shut. Matthew scoffed at this sight before grabbing the poor kid by the pajama collar and lifting him up out of the bed. Drew Reid, the sleeping boy, opened his eyes abruptly.

"Hey, Helen Keller, the school's sounded the damn alarm. We're still in the Danger Room. So put on some fricken' clothes and go beat up some bad guys. Do that thing where yah... where yah make the noise with the waves... and sh-- blows up and whatever... well you know, just go do it." Matthew dropped the fourteen back onto his bed then stormed out of his room. Drew rubbed his sleepy eyes and took off the constricting mask on his face. He hadn't understood a lot of what the angel guy had said, but he got the gist of it. Danger room and bad guys. They were still in the Danger Room.

Gabriel continued to walk down the hallways like he owned the place. There wasn't much room to spread his wings, especially since Matthew wasn't nearly skilled enough to fly in such close quarters. The original Archangel could have... but he had been trained extensively by Charles Xavier.

"So what the hell is raiding us anyway," Matthew muttered as he wandered the halls. Just then, a commando appeared at the other end of the hallway right on cue as if to answer the angel's question. Gabriel cursed loudly and turned to his left. The staircase was right there and it was his only option of escape, so the young man dove. Matt spread his wings, smacking a decorative table off the ground and down the hallway by sheer luck. His other wing hit the railing, knocking the wooden pieces aside and bending the metal nearly off its bolts. The table soared down the hallway and almost hit the MRD, causing him to duck and give up a good shot. Gabriel frantically tried to slow his fall from the second story, his wings slapping a chandelier right out of the ceiling.

"Thank God this isn't real!" he shouted, spiraling out of control and destroying half of the main entrance. After a few seconds of turbulence, the angel landed harshly on the floor, sliding across some wood panels on his stomach. Matthew gingerly stood up and surveyed the damage he'd caused. His wings were a lot stronger than he had originally thought... Putting aside this fairly embarrassing failure to fly, Matt started jogging around the rooms in search of some one who knew what to do. He spotted Shaina popping out from behind a door, doing her phasing thing.

"Hey, anime girl," Gabriel shouted at her as she ran towards him. "Where are the teachers?"

[Xanamiar]

Shaina saw him take a stance directly in her way. "Don't know where they all are. Saw Shayla O'Malley outside, and Velana Prova went downstairs. Excuse me." as she said excuse me, she phased through the boy who was standing in front of her. "I'd suggest heading downstairs, back into the danger room, that's where Velana went." Shaina didn't bother looking back, but instead continued her search, to tell everyone the same thing.

Many of the children were heading towards the elevator to get down to the underground already, from Shaina spreading the word.

Isaac took a step outside of his room, and noticed men with guns on both sides of the hall. He wasn't sure what to do. His mind thought and thought, but nothing was comming to him. They were to far away to punch, and he was cornered. He took a step back and as he did he felt a sting in his arm. He looked down and noticed a dart had stuck into his arm. He walked back into the room and closed the door, pulling the dart out and taking a seat on a chair. His head began to get foggy, his sight started to blur. Before he knew it, he blacked out.

[Notorious]

"Ugh!" The feeling of being phased through made Matthew's spine tingle. It was like he could feel her passing through his body, and that perturbed him. "Stop doing that!" Gabriel grunted at Shaina, but she was already out of sight. The older teenager made a sound like a growl, then headed for the library.

A part of Gabriel's mutation included enhanced senses - much like a bird. Through the corner of his eye he spotted the slightest bit of movement, prompting him to duck behind a pillar. A pair of commandos appeared out of the shadows with a limp body in their arms. Matthew couldn't figure out who it was since he hardly knew anyone at the school, but he observed in silence as they took the child right out the front doors.

"What the... hell?" Gabriel wondered where the kids were being taken and how many of them had been caught. He looked in every direction, then closed his eyes and listened carefully for movement. Once Matthew was satisfied that there weren't any MRD's near him, he crouched low and tip-toed up to the main entrance. The angel teenager fingered the door opened a crack and peered through to the outside. There were several vans parked haphazardly in the driveway where the two commandos tossed the unconscious body into one.

"Damnit," Gabriel cursed knowing that he should probably do something about this. He observed as the soldiers turned around and headed back to the entrance, then he moved to the side of the double doors and waited eagerly. The two men entered side by side, and the moment they stepped foot within the mansion Gabriel extended one of his massive wings. The giant, feathery appendage knocked both of the commandos off their feet, into the air, and straight through a wall on the second story. Matthew spit disrespectfully in their direction, picked up a rifle one of them had dropped, and walked outside.

"So ridiculous," he complained to himself as he walked the stone path to the vans. "I should be sleeping right now." With a skip and a hop, Gabriel flapped his wings and took flight. Gun still in hand, he made a short trip to the nearest van and landed backwards on the hood facing the windshield. There was a man at the steering wheel who looked surprised to see the form of an angel on his van. Matthew didn't waste time with his usual quirks and simply fired off three rounds into the holographic human. The man convulsed with each hit then slumped over dead.

"I need a cigarette," Matthew said as he watched a bit of smoke billow up from the barrel of the gun. The doors to each of the other vans burst open and soon each of the other drivers were preparing to gun down the teenager. Gabriel jumped off the hood of the van, causing it to rock under his weight, then spread his wings and gave them one big flap towards the ground. A great gust of wind was generated by the motion of his super strong wings, simultaneously sending him slightly higher into the air and a thick wave of energy out in front of him. The wind washed over the vans with great force, rocking each vehicle up on two wheels for a moment. The commandos reacted more dramatically, taking the wind like running into a brick wall. Each of the men toppled backwards, one of them even knocked himself unconscious with his own gun as his arms jerked upward. Matthew remained hovering a few meters above the vans and observing what he had done. Gabriel had no idea he could create gusts like that.

"Well hot damn," he said, then lowered himself to the ground. The young man walked up to the van he'd seen the men toss a student into, then whipped the doors open. Inside was the little deaf boy, Drew. Gabriel sighed, grabbed the unconscious boy, and threw him over his shoulder. He hoped the other vans were empty, because the commandos weren't likely to stay down for long. A rifle in one hand, a boy in the other, Matthew turned around and started to walk back to the school. As he passed by, a soldier was getting to his feet, resulting in Matthew promptly spraying him with bullets. Just as he figured he was home free, a little bird flew into his face.

"Hey! What the? Yune?" The sparrow flew circles around his head until he turned back around to face the armored vans. Yune flew up to a specific one and started chirping like mad. Matthew squinted his eyes angrily, then glanced around at several soldiers shaking off the pain from the gust and attempting to get their bearings back. The angel cursed loudly then jogged up to the van. Gabriel twisted the handle to open the door, and inside was a tied up, gagged, Japanese school girl. Even in his anger and haste, Matt smiled a little.

"This reminds me of a video I saw," he said. Gabriel set down both Drew and his rifle, then reached inside and grabbed Keiko by the ankle bindings. He dragged her closer to him, removed the gag, then examined the bindings. They were some sort of plastic, economy zip-ties. Matthew was strong, but the bindings were well designed and too much for him to break with his bare hands. "You wouldn't happen to have a knife, would you, sweet heart?"

Gabriel nervously glanced around the side of the van, spotting several more commandos back on their feet. He ducked back behind the cover of the reinforced door just as a hail of bullets came his way. The young man cursed, grabbed the rifle again, then blindly fired around the corner for a good couple of seconds until the magazine went dry.

"Hold still," Matt said as he grasped Keiko's ankles with one hand. With the other, he very carefully took the super heated barrel of the gun and tapped the plastic zip-tie. Keiko's skin was in extreme proximity with the plastic, so she would likely feel the intense heat from the metal, but Gabriel didn't have any other choice. Success! The plastic melted quickly and in a moment her feet were free. Without a second to spare, Gabriel turned Keiko around and started to melt the bindings on her hands. "We have to get back inside. I heard the teachers want us to meet in the danger room. Well, we are in the danger room, but they mean the danger room of this... place."

The situation was looking good, but through his enhanced senses Gabriel detected the presence of another flying object... helicopters. Saving Keiko may have doomed him.

*******************************************

Drew, the deaf mute, sat up and looked around in a daze. He had no idea how he ended up laying in the back of an armored van with Matt and Keiko. The last thing he could recall was stepping out of his dorm room and feeling a sharp prick in his neck. Matt looked directly at him and said, "Good, now you can walk on your own, small fry." Drew suspected that they were safe now, but without warning a tiny black dart seemed to suddenly appear on Matt's neck. The older man looked just as surprised to feel the prick, then crumbled to the ground without a second more of resistance. Drew glanced at the Japanese girl he didn't know and only then he realized he didn't have his notepad to communicate. He couldn't hear or talk! There could be commandos surrounding the van but he couldn't hear a damn thing...

Drew Reid scampered up to the edge of the van and glanced down at the unconscious form of Matthew all wrapped up in himself. The kids needed to leave the van to get inside, but obviously whoever shot Matt had a clear line of fire the moment they left the van. There had to be a way... there had to be something he could do!

Dr. Grant told him that his mutation was more than just a sonic scream - Drew's power came from his brain, not his voice. Drew's vocal cords were just a vehicle for the particles that his brain could create. But what did that mean, exactly? Grant mentioned Black Bolt, the king of the Inhumans. Drew's mother told him a few things about Black Bolt, and if Dr. Grant was right in saying that they had similarities then it was likely that Drew could do some of the things he did. Like... create a force field? The fourteen year old glanced down at his hands, looking at them as if they would know what to do. Keiko may have been speaking to him this whole time, but Drew couldn't hear her and wasn't reading her lips. The girl moved to get out of the van and check on Matthew, but Drew grabbed her by the shoulder and shook his head, "no." The mute grabbed the rifle and held it out. As soon as the barrel passed the protection of the armored door, a bullet hit the weapon and knocked it from Drew's grip. Drew suppressed a winced and brought his hand back close to his body.

Force field. He needed to make a Force field. Talking was easy - he couldn't do it without harnessing the particles. But how to do it consciously? Drew tried to guess. He held out one hand and stared at it. The mute boy thought about talking, imagined his voice, formed words and sentences in his mind. He visualized the words moving backwards down his throat, into his shoulder, down his arm, into the palm of his hand, and resting just inches above the skin. Drew concentrated deeply, probably looking like a fool in front of the Japanese girl who hadn't heard him say a word. The mute continued to visualize the words coming from his palm, and as he did so a soft glow started to emit from his skull. Drew's head began to mysteriously shine a light blue color, and in connection with this glow appear a shimmering, barely stable energy inches away from Drew's palm. The young boy could feel this happening - he could literally feel the particles in front of his palm. The electrons in the air were being manipulated by his thoughts, generating some kind of energy... was it a force field? Well, he certainly hoped so.

Mute opened his eyes and looked at Keiko. He held up one finger symbolizing, "Give me a minute."

Drew held up both his hands this time and restarted the process. He visualized the energy, imagined his words drifting through his arms and gathering before him like a giant shield. The boy opened his eyes and saw a shimmering blue sheet of energy inches from his hands quickly gaining in strength. Not knowing if this energy would protect him or not, Drew took a big leap of faith and stepped out of the van. Mute held his concentration as he walked out of the protective cover. A team of MRD's were standing at the ready with their weapons drawn, looking very much like a firing squad. Drew held his breath. The men lowered their weapons and one of them lifted a small pistol meant for rendering subjects unconscious. Another tiny dart was launched from the weapon and soared straight for Drew's throat. The boy braced himself, and as he did so his instincts kicked in. The shimmering wave of energy immediately solidified into a wall of radiant blue. The dart hit the force field and harmlessly bounced off. The inertia of the dart dissipated into Drew's palms, making the boy staggered slightly. The force field disappeared after Mute lost concentration, and now the commandos and the boy were just standing, staring at each other.

"Cool," Drew said quietly. From his mouth erupted an unstoppable, nearly invisible wave of power that hit all of the soldiers with great force. Their weapons bent and broke, their clothes shredded as if hit by knives, and their bodies tumbled backwards like bugs in a hurricane. The boy smiled at his handy work, but he only had a brief moment to rejoice. Bright spot lights appeared out of what seemed like no where when a squad of helicopters flew in from overhead. Naturally, the deaf boy didn't hear them coming. Drew turned back to Keiko and nodded towards the house. They needed to get inside now!

[Pryde]

As Drew was busy taking out the MPDs Keiko had knelt beside Matt and lifted his arm over her shoulder. Then she reached her other arm around his back and under his armpit and with all her might lifted him up almost an inch off the ground as she tried desperately to follow behind Drew. Much to her dismay the boy was heavy, far too heavy for a tiny Asian girl like her but that didn't stop her from trying. She struggled and struggled and struggled but she wasn't making very much progress.

The wind caused by the choppers whipped at her hair half blinding her. Drew had come over and tried to help but even with the two of them working together their progress was slow and arduous. A voice called out to them from somewhere up above warning them to freeze and when they refused gunfire ricocheted off the ground near Keiko's foot. She screamed in fright then ducked behind the nearest van, pulling Drew and Matt along behind her. More gunfire hit the pavement and ricocheted off the van as the three of them took cover. Keiko just stared at Drew with a panicked look on her face.

"Doushiyou," she asked him, wondering what she should do. When he didn't immediately answer she asked him again only louder. "Doushiyou!"

Again the boy didn't respond, hell he wasn't even looking at her. Was he deaf? Giving up she glanced under the van and stifled a startled yelp when she saw pair after pair of boots hitting the pavement. Men were dropping down from the helicopters and surrounding them. Frantically she looked around in every direction hoping to see someone that could help. When no one was there she resorted to shouting, hoping someone would hear her and come running.

"Dareka," she screamed, though her voice was partially muffled by the sound of the helicopters overhead. Nevertheless she kept trying, "Dareka!"

[Xanamiar]

Shaina had ran through most of the mansion, letting everyone she saw know that they need to get down to the danger room. After finishing with the mansion, she ran directly outside. After checking around she saw a pretty good way of getting to the vans without being seen. She phased through the ground and dropped into the garage. After making sure no one was in there, which there wasn't yet. She started running through the garage. She phased into the side and up back to the surface. With her head poking out she realized that she was now on a lower pathway, since the Mansion was on a hill. She looked up over the pathway and noticed two of the MRD's standing guard.

"We should have this wrapped up soon." a voice came over the radio. "Looks like they are all going to the same place."

Shaina smiled to herself, but felt a little worried that they saw them all going down, they would soon figure out how to get down, and figure out where they were. Shaina looked around and saw helipcopters and men surrounding one of the vans. Without hesitation she darted towards the van, staying as hidden as she could.

She got up to a point where she knew if she walked out, that they would see her. She thought for a moment, then phased through the hill, hoping that she was no longer over the garage. She walked carefully through the hill till she was under the van. With a jump up, she found herself in the van, with two boys and a oriental girl.

"Hi." She smiled at them all, and realized the angel guy was out cold. "Take my hand." She reached out her hand to Keiko and Drew.

[Notorious]

Keiko's lips were moving but Drew had absolutely no clue what she was going on about. The helicopters were circling outside like sharks around a raft. Drew didn't have the skill to attack and defend against multiple targets with guns - he didn't even know if his force fields could deflect a bullet!

Drew and Keiko took cover back inside the van and matters were looking futile. Then, quite abruptly, a familiar face popped up into the van. Drew looked confused at first, but then he remembered that Shaina could phase through any object. She reached out to him and said, "Take my hand." The mute boy glanced at the unconscious angel, turned back to Shaina, then grabbed her hand. What was her plan?

[Xanamiar]

After Drew grabbed her hand, she put the other behind the angel guy's neck, and took Keiko's hand.

She sighed, and looked at Drew. "Don't know if this will work, but here's to hoping!"

Shaina closed her eyes, concentrating on everyone she was touching, suddenly her, and everyone else dropped through the van floor, and into the ground. Shaina used all of her might to get them over to the garage. As they all entered the garage, the Angel boy fell to the ground, as Shaina passed out.


**Back at the Van**

"We have them surrounded, they have no where to go."

"Take them alive if you can." The order bellowed out of the helicopter above them.

The guards all drew their dart shooting pistols, jumped into the door of the van, and fired away. Hitting nothing but the inside of the van.

"They... They aren't here sir."

*******************

Isaac felt himself comming around. He opened his eyes slowly and felt the men carrying him. The dart had an effect on him, but it was wearing off. Then with a sudden thud, he felt a blow from behind from the butt of a weapon. It sent him sailing forward. Isaac hit the ground, and just layed there.

One of the men walked over and kicked him, shoving him face up, looking at the men.

"Get up Mutant, and get in the van." Isaac looked at the men as they pointed their weapons at him. He could help but feel somewhat ticked.

Isaac slowly got up to his feet, and as he did, the guard kicked him again, causing him to hit the ground again. With every kick, Isaac could feel hismself getting stronger. He had always chalked it up for adrenaline kicking in, but after he picked up some outstanding weight earlier that day, he was thinking more along the lines of the fact that he probably was a mutant. Isaac once again started to get up as the man kicked him again, but this time Isaac didn't fall, he just stumbled back a bit. "Get in the van." the other man pointed his weapon at him and motioned him towards the van.

Isaac walked towards the man with the gun, and then turned as if he was going to get into the van, but as he did so, he grabbed the mans gun with his right hand and yanked it out of the mans grip, nearly taking the guy's hand with it, then used the butt of the gun to slam into the man's neck, knocking him onto the ground.

The other man who had been kicking him whipped out his rifle and at close range pulled the trigger, causing Isaac to slam into the back doors of the van that was now behind him. His body leaving a dent in the van. Isaac nearly hit the ground, but caught the bumper of the van. Isaac grabbed the bumper and kicked the man who had just shot him. The man flew backward and rolled down the side of the hill.

"Freeze!" the voice bellowed from the helicopter above him. "Give up now, and we will let you live."

Isaac looked down at the bumper of the van that he had grabbed onto, and noticed the metal was twisted where has hands had grabbed. Without hesitation he grabbed the bumper, and in one huge heave he pulled it off of the van. The helicopter started to fire at him, Isaac could feel the sting of every bullet, but his body seemed to repel them, and with everyone he could feel a little stronger.

Isaac smiled as he took the bumper and hurled it at the helicopter. Missing the body of the helicopter, but not the blades. Isaac saw one of the blades fly off of the chopper, and soar out into the empty fields below, then the helicopter began to smoke, and started to come down. Seeing this he took off towards the mansion.

[Pryde]

Keiko was so relieved to finally be safe, she leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. "Aa, yokatta," she said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Then she remembered her manners and quickly shot up to her feet, bowing deeply to Shaina. "Doumo, sumimasen," she apologized, "Arigatou gozai--,"

She stopped suddenly and straightened up when she realized there was something wrong with the other girl. Keiko knelt down next to her and idly poked her with one finger. Shaina's head tilted slightly then her body crumpled to the side and she lay there unconscious.

"Yappari," she muttered under her breath...

[Notorious]

"Well, at least we're safe now," Drew thought. Both Shaina and the angel guy were out cold, and unfortunately Drew and Keiko didn't have the muscle power to move them on their own. The Japanese girl said something, and this time Drew tried really hard to read her lips, but all he could make out was gibberish. Was she even speaking English?

Drew knelt down next to Gabriel and shook the young man's head. Drew had experienced induced sleep by the darts and he had woken up after about twenty minutes. Perhaps if they waited long enough the angel would wake up as well.

Then, as if Drew had willed him awake, Matthew's eyes fluttered open. The young man squinted and rolled over, releasing a soft moan as he did so. Gabriel's mutation included a very quick metabolism, so the drugs didn't last very long at long. He was probably only out for a solid ten minutes.

"They shot me," he grumbled. "Where the hell are we?"

Drew used his hands to sign: "we are in the garage." It was a fruitless effort, of course, because Matt didn't know a word of sign language. The older boy gingerly sat up on his elbows and shook his head, feeling the world swirl as if under water. He spotted the unconscious form of Shaina and put two and two together. She must have knocked herself out while phasing the four of them through the ground.

- Can you walk? - Drew motioned his hands at Matt. Matt just stared at him bewildered. Drew pointed at the young man's legs, then held out his palm flat like a floor and used two fingers from his other hand to symbolize walking. Gabriel understood this rudimentary form of communication.

"I... I think..." Gabriel tried to stand but he immediately crumbled back to the floor. Keiko grasped him in concern but he waved her off. The angel boy tried a second time and moved much more carefully. Matt's legs extended and he managed to stay relatively balanced while hunching over. "I'll be all right. Just... you two carry her and I'll..." Matt put a hand on Drew's shoulder, nearly knocking him over. Even though he was weak in the knees and slouching, Gabriel still towered over the other children.

"...I'll lean on you when I feel woozy."

Drew nodded an affirmative then turned to Keiko, waiting to see if she understood the plan.

[Mir]

“I’m not sure.” Alec said. He reached out and grabbed the teleporting one by the back of his shirt and yanked. “Let’s try to keep things where I can see them, okay?” He asked, looking pointedly at the other one. Then he let the first one go and followed Alessandra into the place. There was a weird look on her face and he wondered what was going through the beautiful head of hers. He wasn’t sure he knew. One thing was for certain, the two brothers had a valid point.

There was something wrong. Either there had been a massive field trip and no one had decided to tell Alessandra that, which seemed rather odd, considering of how much importance she was to the school, or something else entirely. He wondered where that doctor was, Grant, he thought his name was. What the hell was going on here? He looked around the empty hallway that he was in before walking back to where Santiago was. “This is a little spooky, I’m going to admit.” He said.

“I know.” Alessandra said. She turned back to the two brothers. “For now, you two stay outside with Melissa and Ian. Melissa is in charge, because she’s the oldest.” She said, knowing that if she didn’t give a reason one of the brothers was bound to complain. Odds were one of them still would. She turned to Alec. “You, find Izzy and get her outside.” She said.

Alec nodded and started walking.

As he moved through the mansion, he couldn’t help but think about how quiet it was when no one was around. Almost made him wish he had a place like this, just to himself. Well, to himself and the really, really, ridiculously good looking Brazilian woman. He wasn’t sure what it was about Alessandra, but he honestly just liked spending time with her. He just liked being around her. He liked intentionally provoking her, and all of the other little things that he did to annoy her. As he found Izzy and told her what Alessandra had instructed him to do, he realized that if you wanted to, you could say that he enjoyed flirting with her.

Not that he was flirting with her. He was just musing that it was possible to say that he was flirting with her. He wasn’t though. She wasn’t his type, one of the reasons being that he didn’t know what his type was and human interaction was confusing sometimes for him. Certain actions and certain phrases just felt weird and wrong to him. He would do them and it would be like there was a voice in the back of his head telling him that what he was doing was wrong. The confusing thing was that he didn’t know why what he was doing was supposedly wrong.

One thing he did know was that despite not thinking that she was his type, Alec was fairly certain that he liked Alessandra. He knew for a fact that he had a healthy amount of lust for her. No straight or even bisexual man walking this earth would have been able to say that they didn’t find her attractive and wouldn’t want to sleep with her. Xander might have been the exception, because he had known Alessandra since she was much younger, what with that purported mentor/student relationship that the two had had going on. But it wasn’t just a n intense desire to get her alone, find her willing and help her strip her clothes off and do what came natural next. It wasn’t, well, it wasn’t just that.

It was something more.

It wasn’t just a desire to wake up next to the woman, it was a desire to do it more than once and as a matter of fact, make it a repeating event that happened every morning. He wanted to see her with her hair down, sleepy-eyed, looking at him with one eye open and her fist cocked back ready to punch him if he didn’t go and find her some bran muffins and orange juice. If he didn’t know any better, he would have said that he was falling in love with her. Of course he did know better and furthermore, he didn’t believe that he could fall in love, so he was okay.

There was also the fact that he was pretty sure that he had consistently annoyed Alessandra enough that she didn’t really like him and only tolerated him. When Jarlan had originally given her the task of going to Texas for Izzy and she had come to him, he had been able to tell that she hadn’t been happy about it at all. She had been fine with going to Texas, it had been when he had been added to the equation. He had a plan. He was going to steer far clear of her for as long as possible after this. Maybe he was just developing this stupid sickness in the head because he was around her so much. Maybe she’d be more inclined to not be so mean to him if he wasn’t around her so much either.

It was a theory, even if he had a good feeling it was going to fail. She just didn’t like him for some reason, and he didn’t know why.

Alec walked around a corner and then he was in the room where Alessandra was, the front foyer of the mansion. Izzy smiled at Alessandra and then walked out of the house to where the rest of the kids were, not that Melissa really counted as a kid. Alec considered her a kid. He looked at Alessandra. “Now what?” He asked.

OOC: Obviously I’m not done.

[SmokeMare]

Gray and Ralph were visibly annoyed at having their stewardship handed over to complete stranger who had endangered their flight... Still, there did feel like there was something wrong here. Somehow it didn't seem like complaining would achieve anything, so they folded their arms tightly and paced around, avoiding Melissa's gaze and wondering whether they had done the right thing coming with them...

[Pryde]

Keiko glanced between Drew and Matt then finally nodded. She lifted Shaina's arm over her shoulder and Drew did the same with the other and the two of them lifted the unconscious girl off the ground. Thankfully she was much lighter than the angel so carrying her wasn't too hard for two people. They started down the garage towards the entrance into the mansion. Keiko kept stealing glances at Matt to make sure he was okay. She wanted to talk to him and ask him but she didn't feel comfortable with Drew there. Though, it was pretty obvious by now the boy was deaf she still didn't feel very comfortable speaking in front of him.

The entered the hallway into the mansion and Keiko paused to look around. Just where were they going, anyway? She turned to Matt and Drew. "Watashitachi wa dochira made desu ka?"

Where are we going, she asked them...

[Notorious]

Matt struggled to walk as his metabolism fought off the effects of the drugs. He still felt light headed and woozy, which prompted him to use either a nearby car or Drew's shoulder as a cane when necessary. He hated the idea of being weak, especially when it meant needing help, but there wasn't much he could about that but be extra strong.

Keiko babbled on about something in Japanese again. Gabriel glared at her in annoyance, since he knew that she could speak English. The angel sighed and kept walking. They were at the exit of the garage now, and Matt decided to take a break for a moment and lean against the wall to catch his breath.

"The kid is deaf," Matt said, pointing at Drew. Drew was looking at Shaina as he helped hold up her unconscious body, so he didn't notice this comment about himself. "And he's a mute. Probably not the biggest gossip, sweet heart."

Matt rolled over on the wall until he faced the door. He pressed his ear against it, listening intently for any sign of danger, then once he was certain the next room was empty he pushed the door open slightly to get a peek. Sure enough, they were safe still. However, Matt hadn't been in the garage before and had no idea how to get to the Danger Room from there.

"Do you know how to get to the Danger Room from here?" Gabriel said, turning to Keiko.

[Xanamiar]

"Danger... here... " Shaina heard the voices though they weren't very clear. Her head felt fuzzy, the last tme she felt this bad was when she caused herself, Shy and the car they were in to phase through a building.

Shaina opened her eyes, and noticed Drew looking at her.

"We're safe?" Shaina finally spoke up as she took her arm off of Drew nearly falling to the ground. "Man, what a trip that was." She then took her arm off of Keiko and leaned up against a car that was sitting near the entrance into the mansion.

"Give me a minute..." Shaina said as she slumped into the vehicles hood. "My head is still.. well.. fuzzy..."

[Mir]

The Brazilian ran a hand through her hair and then she turned to look at Alec. "Look, I'm going to go figure out what's going on. You, stay outside and make sure the kids are okay." She said. Alessandra started to leave, but was stopped when five strong fingers gripped her upper arm. Had she been thinking about things normally, she would have thought about really how good it felt to have Alec do that to her. She was always to used to handling people and making them do what she wanted. It was kind of refreshing to have someone in her life, a man nonetheless, who when push came to shove, refused to take whatever she dished out. She turned and looked at him, and for a brief moment, she thought about how good it would be to feel those strong fingers run all over her. She nearly flushed, but she managed to keep a lid on things and just raised an eyebrow giving him a cool look. "You have a problem with my plan?" She asked.

"Maybe, yeah." Alec said in response. "I'm going with you." He said.

"What about the kids?"

"That one brother can hit them and the other can teleport and hold the bad guys in place. Izzabella will see everything coming, Melissa will boost all of their powers. The only weak link as far as I can tell is Ian, mainly because I don't know what he can do." Alec said. "They'll be fine." He added.

"So will I. I'm a big girl, Alec, I can take care of myself."

"Humor me." was his response and she didn't like it at all.

"No." Alessandra said, and he saw a little bit of that fire that she kept trapped down spark up into her eyes. He mentally smiled. "Anybody who would think to attack me is the stupidest person on this planet." She said. Her eyes narrowed. "And anyone who puts their hands on me is rather stupid too." She added.

"Sweetheart, I think we've gone over many times that I'm an idiot. I'm coming with you."

"No. Let go of me." She said and Alec shook his head in response. Alessandra sighed. It was just her luck that the only man in her life had to be as stubborn as she was. She closed her eyes. A few moments later, Alec found himself flying across the room, telekinetically thrown. He landed in a rather nice and expensive looking chair, which creaked under his weight. He tried to get up, but there was a wall of telekinetic energy holding him there in place.

"Oh come on, play nice." He said with a smirk.

Alessandra had her head cocked to the side, her eyes narrowed.

"I promise I'll be obedient if you just let me come along." He said, not wanting to confess that he was really worried about her and didn't want anything to happen to her.

It was then that Alessandra remembered what had happened in the courthouse. When the teleporting brother had randomly appeared, Alec had moved at superhuman speed to be right by her side in case something happened. She groaned. Why did he have to be so damn protective of her? He had been ready to kill if that was what it would have taken to keep her safe. She hated men who felt that they had to protect women. Women were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. At least, women who could read other people's minds, move things with their minds, and use another power that gave someone a predilection towards peeing in their pants every three minutes along with an overactive bladder to complement the deal. However, she knew that Alec wasn't going to take no for an answer and a part of her was ridiculously pleased that he felt that way about her.

Truth be told, she liked knowing that someone wanted to protect her and someone wanted to make sure she was safe. Unfortunately, it just reinforced the thought that she had been spending way too many of her nights cold and alone in her bed, something that needed to be changed. But that was what Benjamin Grant was for, not Alec Partridge.

Of course, she was slowly running out of reasons why it couldn't be Partridge, but that was a different topic altogether.

For right now, she knew that she would be unable to keep him pinned there for long. She dropped the telekinetic hold. He rose and made a mock show of dusting himself off.

"Fine. You can come along. But you had better be obedient." She said.

"I'll behave. I'll be just as obedient as Alec Jr." He said with a smile.

[SmokeMare]

Ralph and Grey were wandering around outside the entrance to the mansion. Their two companions silent, appeared to be deep in thought. There was the temptation to storm in after Alec and Alessandra, because they wanted to know what was going on. However the fear of reprisals prevented them.

Ralph turned to his brother, "Hey, let's have a look around outside - the grounds to this place look amazing." Nodding agreement Gray followed his brother as Ralph strolled away from the main doors to the garden area.

"Hey! Don't wander off too far guys!" It was the girl who had been put in charge, they just kept walking, "No, we're just going to have a quick look at the gardens!" It was a beautiful building, and the gardens did it full justice. It was serene in it's silence, but also slightly eerie. All thy could hear was the wind, and the distant low hum of traffic... But this place should have been bustling!

[VagueDurin]

Sophie was torn between the relative safety of her dorm room and the irrepressible need to make sure her friends were okay. Besides, the professors would be trying to get a head-count to see who were missing, who was present and accounted for.

When nothing immediately crossed her field of vision, she pushed the door open a little wider then glanced over her shoulder where Drake was still sprawled out on her floor.

“Think we should try to make a run for it?”

Drake didn't. Unless maybe the 'run for it' they were going to make was to his bike. He pushed himself up into more of a sitting position and tilted his head a bit as he regarded Sophie in the doorway.

"A run to where?" He asked, only trying to be pragmatic. If they were to go out there then they needed to have a plan, these agents certainly had one.

Sophie lifted her shoulder, stepped away from the door so that her voice wouldn’t carry. “To see if we can help the others…To check in with the professors…” She paused a moment, cleared her throat a little. “And if all else fails, we run somewhere to hide until they get this mess sorted out.”

The teen grunted a bit under his breath as he slowly brought his feet underneath of him. “Profs’r already working on shutting down the program.” He pointed out, running one hand back through his hair before letting it drop back down to his side. “Think it’d be safer if we just stayed in here till we get the all clear call, don’t you?” He asked her, though he felt deep down he already knew she probably didn’t agree.

Actually she wanted very much to agree, bolt the door and stay with Drake until the ‘all-clear’ signal. In fact, Sophie was just about to relent when the sound of advancing footsteps had her rushing back to the door. She clenched her fists, ready to do battle with whatever holo-soldier was coming. Then Sophia was sighing in relief when she caught sight Shaina. Sophie opened the door and stepped into the hall long enough to get the message: Everyone to the Danger Room.

“Suppose that makes things simpler,” Sophie commented. Simpler…But by no means easier. She swallowed back a surge of nerves, tentatively held out her hand toward Drake. "Time for that run."

Drake glanced around the darkened interior of the room one last time before slowly walking towards the door. The teen paused momentarily above the MRD agent to confiscate the intruder's firearms. He reached the door and slung the rifle around his shoulder, offering the pistol up into the air between he and Sophie silently.

The girl only raised an eyebrow and shook her head, taking a decisive step away from Drake and the weapons. "Under no circumstances."

Drake gave her a small shrug, as if to say Suit yourself. He tucked the pistol into the waistband of his pants after ensuring the safety was on. "Elevator to the Danger Room is on the first floor... So, we head to the staircase?" He half asked, half stated to her, his voice just above a whisper.

"Sounds about right," she replied then slid out between the doorway and into the deserted hall. Her emotions were churning severely enough that the temperature around her began to drop and the air began to smell of ice and snow.

Sophie tried to think of getting to the Danger Room as no more than an exercise, maybe some really cool video game like her brothers loved to play at home.

Except in this game, she was one of the characters... And once a player were down, there wasn't an option to reset and start over fresh with a full bar of health.

Drake slinked out into the hallway behind her. He held the rifle snug against his shoulder, eyes scanning around the hallway and towards the different dorm rooms, waiting for any uninvited beings to make a move. He shivered lightly as the temperature around them steadily lowered.

[Mir]

Alessandra and Alec made their way down through the hallways of the school, looking in various rooms as they did so. The two of them were walking and not talking to each other, as they conducted their search. Alessandra didn’t know why there was nobody there in the school. A field trip might have been one of the reasons or something like that, but it didn’t explain everything. She decided that it was time to open her mind to other possibilities. She reached out telepathically, deciding that she would be better able to scout out the place and figure out who was there using her powers.

”Hello?” She asked, telepathically.

There was no answer.

”Alessandra?” Came the response.

She sighed. It was Jarlan. She reached out with her mind and found him.

”Jarlan, what’s going on? Where is everyone?” She asked him.

”The entire school is currently in the Danger Room. The technology that Mouse used to remake the Danger Room was apparently sentient and has become aware of itself. It has trapped us and we’re not sure how to fix the problem. You might be able to help since you’re outside.” Jarlan said. ”I will get you in touch with Mouse.”

[Xanamiar]

"Mouse, have you figured out any way that this can be stopped?" Jarlan held the connection with Alessandra so that Alessandra, Mouse, and he were all in on the conversation.

Mouse was a bit busy with trying to keep the program running in the danger room. She had set it up so that the children would have plenty of room to run, and hide from the MRD's. Jarlans voice entered her mind, and she wasn't foreign to the feeling, since he had done it a few times in the past.

"Only thing I can think that may work..." Mouses thoughts dwindled off for a moment. "Since the Danger room is Sentient, my only hope is that Laja, or Mousi are sentient also. If they are, they may be able to communicate with the danger room, or shut it off. All we'd need to do is get them on a console that is hooked into the danger room. But since neither of them are in here, I don't have a clue what to do, Jarlan."

"What can I do?" Alessandra's voice echoed through as well.

"Alessandra? You're back?" Mouse didn't wait for a reply, realizing it wasn't the brightest question. "Get M.O.U.S.I and lay her on the console in the observation room. It doesn't have any override controls, but it is a direct tie in, into the danger room. It should allow her to communicate with the danger room.

"What is M.O.U.S.I?"

Mouse realized that she probably hadn't been in her room with that question.

"Go to your room, I left you a gift. But please hurry, I don't know how long we can hold these things off."

Mouse went back to watching the room below her, when a thought came across her mind... "What if the Danger Room, inside of the Danger Room, also went sentient?" She shook the thought off. Since it wouldn't make to much of a difference, if the plan worked, then both of them would shut down. And Mouse really hoped that it would work.

[SmokeMare]

Steinberg re-materialized in his office. The effort had been fruitless, he could feel himself working his way into the system, but it was so slow and pain-staking - he'd been at it for hours and was exhausted physically and mentally. He reached behind him from his chair and adjusted the blind, golden, morning sunlight poured in. He glanced at his watch, he a had a lecture, and he needed a respite from being in his data form. Standing up sharply he strolled into the kitchen and made some real coffee, he washed down six pro plus - a popular pep pill in the Uk, which was basically pure caffeine. Placing the packet of tablets in his pocket he drank his coffee, had a quick wash and electric shave and set off for work - he would continue his efforts later.

[Mir]

Alessandra smiled then. ”Okay, but new rule. I’m not talking to Mouse anymore unless it’s by using my telepathic power cause you whisper otherwise, sweetheart. Also, we are so going to get you dating using telepathy. I just never thought about it before.”

She opened her eyes then and she turned to Alec. “I know where we’re supposed to go, come on.” She said and started walking at a rather brisk pace, not waiting for him to catch up or do anything at all. She knew he would follow her and furthermore, he was a good bit taller than she was. His long stride would easily catch up with her in no time. He would just be annoyed that was all. She had a finger on Alec Partridge, and she knew how he thought. At least, she thought she did.

“You could, you know, tell me where everyone is, where we’re going, and generally speaking, what the plan is.” Alec said as they walked.

“I could, but where would be the fun in that?” She tossed back with a smile.

They kept walking, and Alec quickly picked up on where they were going. They were headed to the teacher’s quarters. When they reached the floor, he had a very good feeling that they weren’t headed to his room, so he set his destination as the room directly across the hall from his own, namely, Alessandra’s. He was right. The two of them got into the room and Alessandra headed immediately to her desk.

On top of her desk was a bright and shiny new laptop. “Mousi, indeed.” She said.

“What?”

“Nevermind, simpleton.” Alessandra tossed back. ”Mouse, I’m at the laptop, what should I do next?” She asked.

[Xanamiar]

Mouse heard the voice, and paused what she was doing.

"You see the MouseWare logo?"

Alessandra looked at the front of it, and saw the symbol of a mouse on the front.

"I believe I do, what about it?"

"Push it."

Alessandra shrugged and pushed the button on the laptop's front. Suddenly it came to life and a 2 foot image of Mouse appeared on top of the laptop.

"Idenity verified." The image of Mouse with her hood over her head turned and faced Alessandra. "Good Evening Alessandra. I am a Multi-dimensional Organized User-friendly Servicing Interface. But you may call me Mousi." The image looked over at Alec. Then back at Alessandra. "I am designed to help you with any thing you may need. Mouse has been so kind to include all of the major cases in the historical record, and I have an account of them when you need them. I am also designed with a portable chip, that can be placed on any of the consoles here at the school, in case you should need me elsewhere. However, my 2 foot image can only be activated upon this laptop. You may be wondering where the screen is..."

"I'm sorry Mousi, but I don't have time for this. I need something now."

"What is it I may do for you today?"

[SmokeMare]

Gray and Ralph were walking around the grounds, feeling slightly despondant thankfully Ralph seemed to have gotten someway to being able to avoid using his power. He was thinking about this as he knelt down and tapped a few pebbles on the grass, "Hmmph... Not working..."

Gray looked at him, "What's not working?!" Ralph shrugged, "I seem to have been able to stop using it, but I wondered if I could actually use it when I wanted to..." Gray screwed his face up, "And no joy? Can't you just do what you did before?", "I don't actually KNOW what I did before...".

He flicked another pebble with his finger and rolled a centimetre or two, he focused, concentrated on the pebble, let some emotion build up inside him and released it as he flicked the next one...

It roll harmlessly a couple of centimetres. Gray chortled softly, "Hehe, here we are in a school for people with mutant powers and we've got no muta...."

* SHOOP! *

Ralph looked up over his shoulder, and Gray was gone, "Damn!" in frustration he swung his hand at little collection of pebbles he'd been experimenting on, they pinged off at great speed in all directions. Some imbedding themselves in tree trunks, others chipping pieces off the stone wall surrounding the place... And some vanishing into space.

Gray, felt himself materialise, but it was wierd, he could see other kids, lots of them, but they were sort of not there. He could feel himself trying to materialise, but his body wouldn't allow him to become solid there, so he transported again - to a different part of the same area. Again he could see the kids milling about, they were an eclectic bunch, a little Japanese looking girl, a guy with wings... A few others, he wasn't able to catch what was happening, it was too blurry and crackly as he was seeing something on Mexican television with a badly aligned long range receiver or something. Again, couldn't become solid, he tried to call out, but as he did he vanished again.

* SHOOP ! *

Gray popped into existance near the main entrance, he staggered around dizzily , disorientated and confused. His head burt badly, and he felt like he was spinning. He stumbled over to Melissa, " S... Someone should go find Alessandra, I saw the other kids, and maybe the teachers... It was wierd though - I teleported, but it was like a tv signal or something, it was wierd, I couldn't make much out but... Jeez, my head hurts..."

He supported himself on the stone wall and hung his head breathing heavily.

[Halcyon508]

Ian was standing next to Melissa watching as the playful puppy wandered around their feet. He smiled at the little dog and then back at Melissa. “So what do you think is going on?” he asked as one of the others appeared in front of him. The youth gave a grim report of the conditions inside the mansion. Looking at the various members of the group Ian began to think calmly in his head. I’m probably the best choice to go into a dangerous situation. he thought to himself. His gaze fell slowly on Melissa. And I’ll look cool and impressive…. he made up his mind at that moment. “I’ll go in.” he said. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Suddenly his skin began to grow grey and shine slightly in the suns light.

“Are you sure that’s okay?” Melissa asked with concern. She was after all supposed to be looking after the younger students.

Smiling Ian clapped his hands together creating a metallic clank. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be ok.” He said his boyish metallic smirk shining.

“Alright…” Melissa said, “Just be careful!”

“You’ll wait out here?” Ian asked.

“We’ll be here when you get back.” Melissa said nodding.

Turning to look away from the group and at the mansion Ian made a face of pure joy as he ran towards the mansion doors. At first his pace was fast, fast as a track star, however as the metal skin covered the rest of his body he maintained only a modest pace. She’ll wait for me… he thought as he opened up the door. Now all I need to do is find the other gorgeous woman I came in with.

[Mir]

“I need you to interface with the Danger Room and well…I need you to tell it to stop doing what its doing.” Alessandra said. She ran a hand through her hair trying to figure out how best to articulate the problem, seeing as she probably needed to get a little technical in order for the computer program to understand it. In the end, she decided that being simple was probably the best bet and so she went with that strategy. “We’ve been having some problems with the Danger Room, and we need someone to get it to stop. Apparently, you’re our best shot.” She said. She lifted the computer and handed it to Alec. “Drop it, I kill you.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He said in reply as they headed to the observation room.

Alessandra took the laptop from Alec when they got there and she gently set the laptop on the console and she made sure that Mousi was able to interface properly with the console. “Okay,” she said, “do your thing.” She said. “Just make sure to do it quickly, I’m not sure, but I think we’re running out of time.” She added.

She turned and looked at Alec wishing she could borrow the neutral expression on his face. She wasn’t sure what life was like on the inside of the Danger Room, but she had a feeling it wasn’t the best and she wanted to get the people out of there as soon as she could.

[Mir]

Alessandra reached out with her mind, deciding that maybe she could help with whatever was the problem. The laptop was sentient and it could link with her telepathically. It didn’t take long before she had interfaced with the laptop. Her eyes closed and she suddenly slumped towards the ground. Alec caught her before she fell. “Alessandra, are you okay?” She was completely unresponsive. He checked her vitals and found that everything was fine. There was fear on his eyes, for the first time since he had met any of them. He didn’t want anything to happen to her and he feared that something would. He was eventually going to talk to Xander about ensuring that he was with her whenever Alessandra had to go and do things for the school.

This was despite the fact that he knew she was far more powerful than he was, had better control over her powers than he did and furthermore, could take care of herself.

As he cradled her body, he wondered what had happened and knew that if something or someone had caused this, well, there was a damn good reason why he had a healing factor.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Mousi connected and interfaced with the Danger Room with no problem at all. Alessandra’s mind took over when it came to what everything looked like. She was standing in her bedroom, with Mousi next to her, who took on the persona of its creator, Mouse. There were quite a few people in the room, of various heights and sizes. Some were male, some were female. She wasn’t able to sense anything from any of them, but that didn’t surprise her, since they were all supposed to be the Danger Room. At least she thought that they were all the Danger Room. She turned and looked at Mousi.

The short woman nodded, seemingly confirming Alessandra’s thought process. Alessandra looked back and then spoke. “Who’s causing the problems?” She asked.

“I’m not sure.” Mousi said. “These are all constructs based off of your mind, but each is a different persona or identity within the Danger Room. Together, they are all the Danger Room, but each is separate, in its own way.” She said. “I will try to find the persona that is causing all the problems.” She added.

“Thanks.” Alessandra said.

With Mousi leading the way, the two waded into the group of people. It didn’t take them long to discover who was causing the problem. Alessandra found it interesting that the people who the Danger Room chose to use as its avatars were people from her past. She wasn’t surprised because her mind was linked to everything, but she still found it interesting to see who exactly it chose. She saw her parents and with that, she felt the pang of pain again, the feelings of loss since they had passed away only recently. She saw some of her relatives, those that she had left behind back in Brazil, just the way that she remembered them.

She saw her first boyfriend, and other people throughout her life. She didn’t see Alec, which she found as a bit of a relief, but there was also a twinge of loss there as well.

She was definitely surprised when she saw who it was that the Danger Room had chosen to be the avatar for the persona that was causing the problem.

“Is this…a friend of yours?” Mousi asked.

“Most definitely, yes.” Alessandra replied.

She stared into the sad little eyes of Alec Jr.

[Mir]

Alec Jr., at least the Danger Room version, made his way forward. Alessandra crouched and scooped her little precious puppy up. She lifted him up and held him up in the air. His little feet dangled in the air and for a few moments wiggled back and forth, trying to gain purchase, but to no avail. His front paws were balanced on her wrists. He looked back and forth between Mousi and Alessandra, his tongue lolling out. “Alessandra…who is this?” Mousi asked her.

“He’s my puppy.” Alessandra said. “Except….not really.” She said.

“Well, it is this persona that is causing all of the problems for everyone.” Mousi said.

Alec Jr. chose this moment to lean forward and lick Alessandra’s face. “But he’s so cute.”

“I’m sure he is in reality, but that is not your puppy.” Mousi said. “The Danger Room is doing this so that we will feel less inclined to try to stop it.” She added.

“I suppose I should get used to this for the real thing.” Alessandra said. She frowned but then made as stern a face as she could, which, considering, was extremely stern. “Bad dog. Very bad dog. I’m very disappointed in you and you’ve been very naughty.”

Alec Jr.’s face changed, so that he looked even sadder than he did normally.

“I’m very upset with you and I want you to fix everything that you’ve done, right now.” Alessandra said, continuing. She shifted him, so that she was holding him with one hand and leveled a finger at Alec Jr. “You understand me? I want you to fix everything this very instant.” She said.

Alec Jr. leaned forward and licked her finger.

She turned to look at Mousi. “Did…did it work?”

“Not sure yet. We’ll just have to wait and see.”