Chapter 29: Chapter 17 part 1

Chapter 17

 

(Ororo Munroe Aka Storm)

February 15th, 1997
X-Mansion
The entrance porch

Ororo didn’t know what to think when the tear in space opened in the snowy front garden facing the mansion and the big white hummer limo slid from it, deliberately bypassing the institute’s iron gates; the vehicle stopped ten meters before the stairs of the mansion’s entrance. The portal closed and another opened in the cloudy grey sky, it was bigger than the first one. An airborne vehicle with a pair of ducted fans with coaxial propellers exited the giant portal by advancing forward.

The weather mistress scowled at it as it landed leisurely inside the garden not far from the wall next to the iron gates. The hummer’s driver exited the vehicle, the man was seemingly afro-american with well kept long dreadlocks, he wore some kind of tight fitting suit with metallic armored panels. He looked around him and then said something in a communicator in his gauntlet.

Multiple other men and women in the same attire as him exited the helicopter like contraption, Ororo asked herself what the hell was happening. *Is some dignitary arriving today?*

The  rear door of the hummer limousine opened and the first person out of it was a caucasian teenager with brunette styled in a fringe with front wavy hair; he looked slim, yet muscular in the way a martial artist would be. He was neatly clothed, and Ororo appreciated his fashion sense, a white shirt covered by a brown waistcoat with blue jeans that showed off his powerful legs. Ororo worried that the girls who weren’t hung up on Scott Summers would target the poor young man.

A tall young woman with a short bob of blonde hair with a headband exited the car, she wore a sky blue midi-dress. She was attractive, toned, an amazon that still looked innocent at first glance. The way she smiled at the young man who first exited the limousine told Ororo that she didn't have to worry anymore about the girls hounding him, he was clearly taken by the blonde. 

Jean Grey seemed to have come with her protective details and her personal friends to the school. Ororo had hoped that it was only two people who had followed the girl, but her hopes were dashed as she saw more and more teenagers exit the vehicle. Three young redheads exited at the same time, and Ororo was bewildered by their numbers, they wore different clothing styles, one had a really conservative purple dress covered by a black winter coat, the others wore matching outfits consisting of a hood, jeans and boots but of different colors, yellow and black.

More girls exited the vehicle and held the door open, then it was the turn of the adults accompanying them, seven women and a man, followed by a rather young black haired girl in red shirt and black overall. The girl held onto her mother's hand, the woman clearly looked like her, they had the same pale green eyes and silky black hair.

The garden was kind of cramped right now with so many people placed inside it. A cacophony of teenagers talking at the same time, but Ororo was used to active and rambunctious children running everywhere. An attractive woman of at least twenty five to thirty came forward, she had her hair up in updo, a set of jewelry set consisting golden earrings, necklace and bangle with sapphire set into them matching her eyes beautifully; the redheaded woman wore a green coat covering a white and dark blue jeans with black ankle boots.

Following the woman was a man in his early thirty as well, with auburn hair and black eyes. He was clothed warmly with a long black coat and a blue business suit under it. He wore exposed jewelry as well; this made Ororo frown and look at everyone, they wore different sorts of jewelry too. 

The redhead reached Ororo and held her hand to her, "Hello, my name is Elaine Grey and this is John, my husband."

Ororo took the woman’s hand and shook it and wondered if she was being pranked; there was no way that woman had three children, she looked too young and fit. "I'm Ororo Munroe, the language teacher here. You have come with... a lot of children."

Elaine grinned at Ororo. "Jean has talked about the school to her friends and they wanted to come with her…"

Ororo wasn’t amused by this, the program of the day was going to need to be revised. Her husband, John, drank in Ororo, not lewdly but like a fine painting that was fine art. The African beauty nodded to him and he answered her with the same. Next the man turned toward the kids behind him and saw something that attracted his attention and walked toward the guards with the flying contraption.

The black beauty’s eyes were on all the teens gathered and she asked low enough for Elaine to hear, "The children, a-are they in the know? About mutants, I mean."

Elaine scowled fiercely at Ororo, put her fist on her waist and said coldly, "Miss Munroe… We don't use this word, it is insulting. We use the name metahuman to describe powered or enhanced people. The 'mutant' word makes us sound like we're monsters."

The hard gaze didn't quite make her flinch, but it almost happened. The woman had faced parents fiercely protective of their kids before, but Elaine Grey seemed to be a dangerous woman to cross. Ororo kept silent for a long moment as she pondered over what the woman said, she was right, how come she never fought against that word to describe them. *Meta-human, I like it, it shows that we are still part of humanity but are still different.*

Slightly bowing her head, Ororo said with an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry if I have offended you, Mrs Grey, I wasn’t aware of any other particular term to use.”

Elaine crossed her arms and looked from head to toe at the weather mistress, satisfied that the woman was decently chastised. She spoke, "I guess I can forgive you, Miss Munroe. I hope no one will use that ugly word in the presence of the kids though... but to answer your question from earlier, everyone present has abilities, though our security details do not." The woman nodded at the people in black suits with holstered weapons and rifles hanging out of their arms, muzzle down with safeties on.

"Everyone?" Ororo was surprised and looked at everyone that had come, it was literally an army that had ended up coming on their doorsteps if this was true. Her gaze settled back on the Grey matriarch. "Even you?"

Elaine raised her hand and made her fingers move and particles of lights manifested from it. "Power runs in my family, Miss Munroe." She winked mischievously at the black beauty. 

Ororo smiled pleasantly at Elaine. "This is unexpected, Mrs Grey. We would be glad to have all of them in our institute." The teacher was enthusiastic with this sudden influx of prospective students.

The redhead averted her eyes from Ororo's, giving her a noncommittal expression. "Um… I don't think everyone will be interested to join though, some already don't like the place compared to what our family can already offer them."

Ororo's smile froze. "Excuse me?"

Elaine looked at the walls and the front of the Mansion and said, "This place is quite not big enough and some of those kids have special needs."

Ororo didn't like what the woman was implying, the Xavier Institute has been successful in helping a lot of kids with dangerous powers to have a modicum of a normal life back. It was with a prideful glare that the black beauty answered, "I can assure you, Mrs Grey, we know how to address some of those."

"I doubt it." Elaine denied.

The weather mistress harrumphed then turned her gaze to the young women that looked similar to Elaine Grey. Ororo couldn't distinguish who amongst them was Jean Grey. There were already five redheads present. By looking at Elaine Grey, she found at least three people who might be the one the professor was interested in.

A young woman with short red hair in a bob cut, piercing in her nose lifted into the air, she was ten meters up when someone shouted at her. 

"Julia, stay down! Who told you that you could fly here?!" John Grey shouted at a rather curvy girl with red hair and goth outfit. It consisted of a frilly black dress with silver shining crystals encrusted the black leather belt at her waist, the outfit was covered by a heavy winter coat with fur in it. 

"But, Dad! I want to see this place from the air. If Jean ever joins, I want to be able to come here." The girl replied in a whining tone; to Ororo, she looked between nineteen to twenty. The weather mistress found her rather childish.

The two redheads on the ground floated up to join her, Ororo marveled at the casual use of flight. Meanwhile Julia seemed to gain altitude at rapid speed. 

"At least wait for Sara or Jean to accompany you!" John Grey shouted at the girl in black.

Elaine Grey laughed at the antics of her children. Four other kids, all girls joined them up, another redhead, the blonde from earlier and a ravenette.

"Who amongst those three is Jean?" Ororo pointed out to the three redheads in the lead that were still ascending.

Elaine pointed her out. "The one with the red jacket, pink dress and boots."

Jean Grey plaits her long scarlet hair with a large pink ribbon. Segmented bangs frame Jean's face, and she has emerald green eyes. She is 170 cm tall and with a curvy yet toned body, she wore an attire that comprises a shin-length pale pink dress that buttons up on the front and a red leather jacket. She wears brown boots and has silver and gold bracelets on her wrists. The redhead looked rather innocent, as if she would never hurt a fly, but Ororo wasn’t fooled; Charles had told her how ruthless the redhead could be.

She didn’t look like any sixteen years old that Ororo had seen before, she looked more like she was in her eighteen to nineteen. "Mrs Grey your girl… Jean, she doesn't look sixteen at all."

The girl was too beautiful and she seemed to know it. Every one of the fliers looked at the mansion from the air, then one by one in flashes of blue light teleported to the ground when Jean Grey snapped her fingers. 

Elaine laughed and pushed up her chest, showing how proud she was of her little girl. "I know right? She's recently experienced a growth spurt."

"I see…" The teens gathered into cliques, Ororo noticed how Jean Grey was surrounded by a brunette with wicks of hair dyed white, an asian girl with silky black hair who linked her hands with the redhead and a tall girl with auburn hair who hugged her from behind. *So Jean had alternative interests. Good to know.*

Ororo didn’t doubt that the girl would join them, the professor has always been good at convincing others, even the more recalcitrant parents let their kind join after he told them how he could take care of their needs; the weather mistress always envied this ability from the Professor. Jean Grey suddenly looked at her, smiled and waved at her.

Waving back awkwardly, Ororo addressed Elaine, "Anyway, are you ready for the tour?"

Elaine made her sign to proceed with her hand. "Please, lead on."

Ororo straightened her white woolen dress and jacket, and walked toward the stable of teenagers. “Everyone gather around please.”

But no one listened, all the kids were talking at the same time. Ororo sighed as she resolved to do her usual trick to get the attention from individuals who barely had the same attention span as a hamster. She raised her hand into the sky, creating a thunder like-sound by controlling the air pressure. Everyone turned to Ororo with different expressions going from scared to not amused at all. 

Now that everyone had her attention she introduced herself. "Everyone, silence please."

“I am Ororo Munroe, the Linguistics Teacher here, and I will be your guide today. Please follow, in order and thank you.” She said firmly but amicably and she turned to the entrance of the mansion.

# # #

 

Westchester County
New York
1407 Graymalkin Lane
Salem Center

It was the first time I saw the school since I came to this world. It was iconic for me, I was really enthusiastic; however, it didn’t mean that I liked the current version of its owner, the Xavier I had in my reality right now. Why couldn’t I have James McAvoy Xavier? That guy was reasonable and personable, I think I got the old sleeze who takes advantage of women. There’s no way he didn’t touch Ororo, I could see so many traces of his slimy green psionic energy all over the african woman’s head.

“Why is Miss Munroe ignoring the staff as if they weren’t there?” Wanda asked with confusion.

“She got fucked in the head hard by Xavier, that’s why.” I simply replied to my adoptive sister.

It was easy to come up with a psionic blocker prototype with a bit of abuse with the time dilation field within my lab, I was a telepath and I knew what needed to be blocked. My psionic blocker could block telepathy and telepathy related skills in a radius of five meters, the more powerful one could cover a larger radius. Chimera had helped me come up with it. She was good at telepathy but she was swamped by work, so she couldn’t fully test it. Wakanda and HYDRA had already come up with their own way to block psionics, so I just had to look at their notes and prototype; then start innovating and creating my own.

A telepath who tries to read the mind of the people wearing my devices would describe it as similar to the feeling of the void of space. I didn’t have one because it caused side effects to telepathic beings like me that remain in its sphere of influence for more than a few hours, whether wearing it or in close proximity. These symptoms include a sensation of itching in and around one's brain, mild lightheadedness, feelings of claustrophobia, and in severe cases, paranoia and depression. 

I was lucky to have caught what the device made me feel… It led me to discover things about telepaths. This effect from the blocker seems to be due to the natural need of most telepathic people to have a telepathic sense of the beings around them. I would compare it to the basic human psychological need for physical contact. Take that away and they would also suffer from depression and other forms of psychological damage. So the damage inflicted by the device seems to be similar to someone experiencing solitary confinement.  

Prolonged exposure to psionic blockers for more than a month has the potential of causing stronger psychological disorders, such as schizophrenia or autism, as the telepath's mind seeks to replace the void. Of further note, these effects can vary based on the person's level of ability in telepathy. In people with no psionic ability, the device has only an unnoticeable dulling effect on their perception.

So even though Cindy and the other wore all those jewelry that made me uncomfortable, I endured it. I didn’t want that fucker to discover any of my secrets or manipulate my friends with his telepathy. Later I would invent a better blocker that didn’t make me itch.

There were at least five maids in the entire mansion. When we entered the gallery, we saw two of them dust the pricey paintings, there were three other maids in the library and the day room. I couldn’t call that a library, it wasn’t big enough… 

Storm was showing us her supposed good stuff in the day room attached to the library where the other kids waited for us. I took care to go stealth to avoid mister eye-beams from seeing me, did the same for Maddy as well by pulling her away from Elektra’s side to mine.

“Big sis-” I put my hand on her mouth to stop her from speaking.

The girls around me didn’t even flinch when we disappeared, they knew why after all. I had to be more open about what I was doing to my friends. They knew that I hated Xavier, but the people were okay in the school, beside Summers of course. I looked into my sister’s eyes. “If you see some tall guy with brown hair, ruby lenses in his sunglasses, don’t ever stay alone with him. Don’t let him touch you or be familiar with you either. Understood?”

I will be damned if I ever let anyone take advantage of the girl; she was my blood, we all loved her, even when she was a bit slow or mischievous. The little redhead nodded obediently, I had felt her shiver when my voice took on that psionic echo from the big bird. Okay, I showed her the stick, now the carrots…

Caressing my sister’s head, I whispered in her ear, “Good girl, I will buy you plushies and games for your PS1 if you listen.”

Maddy’s eyes lit up in joy, then she nodded more fervently. I rolled my eyes at her behavior. *Geek.*

Ororo opened the door to the day room and...

“And then I asked her if she wanted it all at once or just the tip.” An attractive blonde and blue eyed older teen wearing a red and white jacket, white t-shirt and black jeans said. He was sitting leisurely on the beige colored sofa . 

Another black teen in a black t-shirt and light blue jeans with a svelte physique and light blonde hair laughed at the crude joke, or at least I hoped it was a joke. “Wow, Warren, bro, you’re such a riot.”

Cough. Ororo interrupted the two teens and glared at them for their impropriety.

Those guys looked just like the X-men evolution ones, right down to their personalities. Spyke jumped from his seat on the sofa and stood up in fright as he saw how Ororo looked at him. “Oh auntie Ro!”

Warren Worthington III or more colloquially codenamed: Angel, the guy was tall and attractive, might have been my type if I couldn’t read all the self loathing and ‘why me’ from deep in his psyche. Seriously, Summers and him were like the two peas in a pod. With a slow smile appearing on his face he got up from his seat and looked at Gwen in particular. She reminded him of the girlfriend he had broken up with before coming to this shitty school.

He put on his most attractive smile and said to everyone present with a vagina, “Is it already that time of the year? I thought Miss Universe was chosen in May, you brought a lot of beautiful girls here, Miss Munroe. And weren’t we supposed to meet just one?”

Ororo sighed and crossed her arms. “This surprised me too as well, Warren. The good news is that they are all powered like us as well and I need to warn you that you shouldn’t use the M word around them. They detest it and react badly.”

Spyke frowned as he heard his aunt. “You mean Muta-”

Warren’s jacket burst open and his wings broke free, he used his feathery appendages to strike Spyke back into the sofa.

Bones burst from Spyke’s arms and torso, at the same time. I understood at that moment that he had almost no control over them, how quaint. I hoped they didn’t let the guy go to school like this.

“What the hell, Dude?!” Spyke shouted and looked at Warren in disbelief.

“Sometimes man, I ask myself where you stashed your brain.” Warren folded his wings slowly, I knew several of the girls from my entourage suddenly had the hots for him; well I think I will let them experience heartbreak a bit, they needed to know how to deal with it. The guy wasn’t in a good place to be in a relationship...

*Urgh, Patsy, you are such a lost cause.* I thought as my eyes fell on my fellow redhead.

This was the moment a familiar brown haired, tall young man with sunglasses in a blue V necked sweater and brown pants chose to steal the show. “Hello everyone, we are-”

Only to be interrupted by Peter. “Aren’t there supposed to be girls in the student body? Why only you four, where are the others?” My favorite spider boi asked.

*Atta boy. Don’t let the Summers speak.* I snickered.

Peter was doing just like I asked and being the difficult guy, I didn’t want to hear that asshole speak a word. Warren was the one to answer, cutting out Summers. “They are all playing badminton on the courts.”

Gwen took Peter’s arms and put it between her breasts; my homie then lifted his chin tauntingly and shrugged a bit disappointedly. “Cool.” Peter then turned to his girlfriend. “Gwen, we might see new interesting powers.”

“So to start the introduction, I will start; my name is Warren Worthington, or you can call me Angel.”

Patsy and Angelica giggled as they saw him smile, he had a handsome face, good body and knew it. I didn’t know he would be there, so I couldn’t warn the girls about his problems. *Should have sent a drone to watch the place.* I clicked my tongue.

“I am Scott Summers.” Summers said sternly as he crossed his arms, showing off his muscles. The guy seemed to have a rivalry going on with Warren.

None of the girls were impressed, Jessica harrumphed, Angelica didn’t care and looked at Ororo’s ass. Jessie was busy looking at the furniture and any exit point in the room, I think she was gauging what she could use as a weapon. My sisters ignored Warren completely and were busy playing tourist, they didn’t like smooth operators like that guy from the discussions I had with them in the past, they weren't worth the pain of trying to get close to them.

Before Spyke could introduce himself, Warren did it for him, fearing that he would botch it like he always did. “And this is Evan Daniels.” Warren walked toward his friend and whispered something to him. Evan aka Spyke looked at his chest and arms and made the bones disappear. He looked sheepishly at everyone.

Warren then pointed a finger at the last boy in the room, he was completely asleep with a book on his face, the cover read ‘Conan and the Death Lord of Thanza’ there was your typical muscled and long haired barbarian with a sword on the cover. 

With a tired sigh, Warren said, “The one who is asleep with a book on his face is Bobby Drake.”

Bobby has brown hair and is of medium height and lanky. It seemed that he was also a geek, from the book he was reading. Or was it that he liked the bare chested Conan on the cover… *I hope that this Bobby isn’t gay, I want the guy who hasn’t been retconned.*

Everyone looked at Bobby who was dead to the world around him. Spyke strode up to the sleeping boys and smacked him on the thigh. “Bobby, wake up dude. We have company.”

Bobby woke up, stretched and took the book from his face and then suddenly shot up from the sofa as he saw us all. He stood at attention when he saw Ororo glare at him.

Snigger. The girls and Peter laughed at him without being mean about it. Bobby's face was red as he scratched behind his head as the girls smiled at him. *Okay, phew he wasn’t the gay one.*

The girls approached the boys and began asking questions about their lives at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Summers was looking for me, he kept looking at the redhead present, because of the interference of the gathered psionic blockers, I couldn’t read him accurately. It seems that bringing my friends to become decoys was working.

From what I’ve gleaned from the boys here, they trained to master their powers, they had a place where they could let loose and use their powers under supervision by Ororo and Logan. They also had some classes here, but used the local High-school at Bayville to supplement their schooling. *Just like in the Evolution show.*

Our guide, Ororo, decided to cut short the Q&A and brought us out of the day room to the Library where we were intercepted by Xavier and Logan. Logan still looked as manly as ever, basically a double for Hugh Jackman, damn I wanted to put my hands on that chest. He wore a white and black polo with black pants and boots, and he had combed his hair as well. So he has decided to look good to meet his kid.

Sarah and Laura came forward and walked up slowly toward him, unsure of how they were going to be received. Logan looked at Laura with trepidation and walked toward them as well. “Good morning, I’m Sarah Kinney and this is Laura.”

Sarah held her hand before her and Logan took it slowly, looking into her eyes for a while. He must have liked what he saw because he introduced himself with a soft voice. “I’m James Howlett, but everybody calls me Logan.”

Laura smelled him, a frown on her lips. "You're my dad."

Logan mimicked her, his eyes getting as big as saucer when he smelled her. "You do carry a smell that is similar to mine, so yes. It's really true. But can you still show me your proof?"

Laura nodded in assent and showed him her hands and oh so slowly her adamantium claws. Everyone kept silent as they saw the two of them interact. There was a dark shadow that passed on Logan’s face as he saw the metal claws. He looked at Sarah who said, “They hurt her a lot.”

The Wolverine growled menacingly at this revelation. Of course someone had to break the moment of fierce protectiveness. Spyke opened his mouth and commented, "Wait, that cute kid is Logan's?"

Most of the girls turned to Spyke and glared at him. Looking as Jessica stopped herself from moving toward him she must surely be tempted to slam him into a wall. Fortunately, Warren chose to chastise the boy.

The angel slapped him behind the head, eliciting a yelp from Spyke. "Stop ruining the moment, you idiot!"

Sarah spoke aloud for everyone to hear. "We better go speak somewhere more private, Mister Howlett."

Logan glared at Spyke, turned to Sarah and said gruffly, "Let’s go, follow me." He turned heel and Laura and Sarah followed behind him.

"What the hell just happened?" Ororo asked as she looked at everyone.

“Good morning everyone, My name is Charles Xavier and I’m happy to meet you all.” And here came the slimy bastard on his motorized wheelchair. He wore a black suit with a wine red tie. 

Xavier’s smile dipped a little when he looked for me and didn’t find me at all. “Pardon me but… Where is Miss Grey?”

Cindy answered him with a giggle. “Which ones?”

Xavier’s eyes focused on Julia and Sara. “I’m supposed to have a meeting with Jean Grey and her parents, are the two of you her sisters?”

It must be weird to him to not be able to read anyone like a book like he is used to. I saw him sweat a lot and get a bit antsy. The psionic blockers did their jobs.

Mom came forward and said, “She’s here, but she’s being a bit shy.”

Ororo looked for me amongst the girls but couldn’t find me. “How did she disappear? I swear, she’s here Charles.”

I walked to the professor and then stood behind. Only my parents and my people could see me, my power was selective like that, it wasn’t a telepathic power, I was just stopping the light touching me from reaching the X-men, so I was invisible to them. Logan had noticed that I was there by smell earlier. When he appeared earlier he could follow me with his nose.

Xavier began to chuckle, he knew that I was doing something. “It’s okay, Ororo, I know that Miss Grey is just having fun.”

I leaned over to Xavier’s right ear and whispered, “Hello Professor. It’s been a while.”

The bald man jumped from his wheelchair and I allowed him to see me. “Miss Grey... ah here you are.”

Smiling at him, I looked around and said with a girlishly impressed tone, “Swanky place that you got here.”

Anyone who knew me, was aware that I was playing a role here. My friends looked disgusted at me for some reason. The boys from the X-men looked at everyone as if they were crazy by looking into space. They couldn’t see me or hear me. I didn’t have time to play with the mental bomb that Summer was.

Xavier puffed up his chest in pride at my praises. “I’m heartened that you like the school.”

Despite the interference of the blockers, I felt that he really believed that he had something special here and that he was doing good work. If he knew how much I loathed him he wouldn’t try to play grandpa with me. I was not one of the kids he clearly brainwashed to believe in his drivel. I looked at Cindy, Jessica and Gwen; they nodded when they noticed my gaze. They knew their missions after all.

I turned around and faced the professor. He looked like Patrick Stewart, my boy, Jean-Luc Picard. I didn’t like it. 

Xavier maneuvered his chair on the left and let the door to his office unobstructed. “Shall we go? To my office, there’s things you want to know about the school, no?”

“That’s okay with me.” I shrugged, there was nothing he could do to me after all.

I turned to my parents. “Dad, Mom, you coming?”

Mom smiled and Dad looked… as if he restrained his anger. “Yes, let’s.” His cold eyes focused on Xavier who didn’t look alarmed at all, despite the fact that his telepathic tendrils were sliding off the bubble of void generated by the psionic blocker.

“Ororo, could you continue the tour for the others?” Xavier nodded at the black beauty who looked apprehensive when she felt the tense atmosphere.

I guess my good girl act didn’t fool Storm. She looked nervous, I wasn’t planning to kill Xavier yet, she had nothing to worry about. Operating word here was yet.

Ororo dipped her head. “Of course, Professor.”

Dad and Mom followed me into the office. The only thing I heard before the door closed was Spyke talking, “Seriously guys, who was the prof talking with?” 

 

# # #

 

2 minutes later
Charles Xavier’s office

 

Luxurious wasn’t enough to describe Xavier’s office. The lacquered floor was seemingly made of an acrylic based lacquer to make the floor more durable. There were shelves everywhere, full of books, some of the visible walls were covered in painting and Xavier’s degrees. So he was a certified PhD in psychology, I hope he didn’t cheat with his ability. On the desk made of American white oak wood, there was a computer, a phone and framed pictures.

The lighting inside was provided by six windows providing the light. On the wooden ceiling I could see the integrated lighting system, I guess Xavier didn’t need any table lamps. The rest of the decoration was made to give the impression that the one in it was learned and wise. My eyes fell on the Earth globe, it was hollow, and seemed to have something electronic inside it.

The professor returned  behind his desk and me and my parents sat on the chairs facing him. We looked around to see the cool setup the prof had here, my inner geek was happy that I was here in the X-Mansion, too bad that I had a slimy Xavier in this reality.

I crossed my legs and looked at Xavier. “So professor, I heard that you wanted to meet me really badly~”

The joyful tone that I used didn't seem to fool the professor at all, he must be aware that I was threatening him right now.

Xavier linked his fingers together and began to speak. “I had to insist on meeting you, Miss Grey.”

I tilted my head and blinked my eyes and asked, “Oh, what for?”

The baldy looked at mom and Dad in turn, he couldn't feel any of their minds. The psionic tendrils emanating from his telepathic aura slid by them completely. 

“Are you aware of what is happening lately?” The professor asked and I knew what he was going to do. 

Fear mongering, really? “The Hydra stuff? Yeah, Peggy went ham on them for a while when she discovered they were still active.” My tone was nonchalant, I wasn't worried by any earthly organizations on the planet beside the sorcerers and other magic users banding together against me.

Leaning forward, the professor took on a grave expression. "Precisely. And you helped usher their downfall."

*You have no idea, baldy.* I raised an eyebrow at that.

"As a consequence, a lot of people are now interested in you, are you aware of that? Magneto is one of them."

Oh I knew about that, the old guy has been spying on us for days since he caught up to the fact that Wanda was free now and in control. He was going to come for her, but he will get a nasty surprise if he tries to force her to come with him. I gave Xavier my best surprised expression, "Oh Erik wants to see me? He could just ask for a meeting."

Indeed he could, but me poaching Raven from him must be making him wary to approach me. "It's about young Wanda. She's supposedly missing but I noticed that she's present in your… group."

Seeing her standing there and not being a rabid metahuman girl with destructive powers must have been a blow for Xavier. He was unable to help her because her powers were too volatile. "Yeah, I found her in that miserable Asylum, and the poor thing needed help so I decided to teach her how to handle her powers a bit. Then I simply took her home. Wanda liked it there with us in Forest Hills. Mom and Dad even adopted her, Erik with his status as a criminal can't take care of her after all."

Xavier stared at both my parents who smiled at how I described my meeting with Wanda. The girl grew on you after a while, even now she followed me like a little duckling when I wasn't busy. I loved the time I took to learn magic with her, the girl was a genius at it, and I was average at best… I was really jealous, my aspirations at being omnicompetent crashed and burned when it took me weeks to make a ball of light with magic, and it took like five minutes for Wanda. 

"I see, so you kidnapped young Wanda out of the goodness in your heart." Xavier accused me.

He must have expected me to be offended or to deny it, but I didn't care that what I did was bad, sometimes the system must be defied. "Basically, yes. Did you think it was for something else?"

*Hmm.* My eyes fell on the Earth globe from earlier and I focused on it. The guy was… recording me? I used my technopathy to destroy the camcorder and looked for others. There, in the shelves on the right. So Xavier wanted to blackmail me? He will be severely disappointed if he thinks he can.

Xavier looked at me pointedly. "Are you trying to have leverage over my old friend?"

Sigh. "Why would I do that, Prof? Erik has nothing that I want." Seriously, the guy just had brainwashed people from the Brotherhood and it's junior division with him and those yahoos called the Acolytes.

Xavier smiled at that. "You poached Mystique from him, that's true. There's nothing worth taking from his organization anymore."

You are reading story The Raptor of Life at novel35.com

*Waah, Xavier is dissing hard on Magneto, wow.* I shrugged theatrically and uncrossed my legs. "She's good at what she does. So what do you really want, prof? I hate it when people aren't forward with their intentions."

We stared into each other's eyes, his aura slowly trying to gauge mine. I was clearly the winner when he felt that my psionic abilities were stronger than his. He averted his eyes like the biatch he is. "Very well… What I want to do, Miss Grey, is offer you protection."

I laughed in my mind, really? *You can't even defend the kids here from any attack with your paltry defenses and you want to offer me protection?*

"From Erik?" I asked him, taking care to not show him how disdainful I thought his offer was. It seemed the guy was unaware that I had more resources than him. Hmm, though the stuff he has on me are contacts in the government. 

Xavier spread his hands on the desk and said cockily, "From everyone."

My eyes popped, I had to ask Goldie to take control to stop me from laughing like crazy. My dad didn't like what Charles was implying as well. "That’s a bold claim if I ever heard one, Charles."

Xavier raised his hands in placation. Aware that none of us liked that he implied that we couldn't defend ourselves. "Please, listen to me. I promise that I can back it up, John. I have resources I can call upon to help in protecting the children already under my care. I want to extend it to your daughter, and now that I see how many powered people she brought with her to my school, I wish to help."

*Ayo, that guy seriously pissed me off.*

[Irritation: Dispose of him, we should.] Goldie suggested.

Damn, I was tempted. The guy was a waste of oxygen. <Later, Goldie. He will regret everything he said.> My Klyntar felt rather bloodthirsty as of late. Maybe I needed to kill more stuff for her to eat. Or give her another chocolate stash.

"That is why I insisted on this meeting, your daughter is one of the most powerful telepaths on earth and people are attracted by this kind of power." Xavier said in a solemn tone.

Wow, that guy was good, if he wasn’t a cripple I’m sure he would be an excellent actor. He almost made me think that he cared for me. What he cared about was controlling me, I don’t know why. I didn’t expect to be here at all, I clearly wasn’t interested in his little cult. I wish I could just stop this charade and break into his mind to see his plans.

Mom spoke. "Should we take you into account as well, Mr Xavier?"

Oh, my. My parents were playing good and bad cop. Xavier stared at Mom and me. *Yes, we look like each other, and yes she’s young again.*

Xavier backpedalled a bit with what he said next. "I won't lie to you Elaine, Miss Grey is really advanced in the manipulation of her powers and she would be a boon to my institution, but I truly want to help her nurture her talent."

I signalled my parents with a hand sign, telling them to fold a bit. My dad understood the message. He growled in frustration and glared at Xavier. "We need to think about your offer a bit more, Charles. I won't lie to you either, the way you forced us into coming here doesn't sit well with us."

Xavier looked down, a bit contrite. I watched each of his movements, his body language couldn’t fool me. "I'm sorry, but I didn't have any choice. The forces arrayed against her won’t wait. And for some reason your daughter is really against me somehow and you as well…" He was lying.

At least about being sorry to have forced this meeting. He still didn’t know why I didn’t like him, somehow. It was self-evident, I mean even Peggy knew why. Was the guy so blinded by his own hype that he couldn’t guess what he did to me and continued to do to others?

My good girl aura bled out of me, replaced by visible anger. "You are lucky my parents stopped me last Tuesday, I was about to come find you after you threatened to have dad fired from his job and raze your school to the ground. But maybe it was a misunderstanding, and your buddy, the Dean, badly interpreted what you wanted done." Yeah right, I’m still down to dig out that house from the Earth and send it into the sun.

Xavier stopped moving, he must have a modicum of empathic ability if he could feel that I truly meant what I said. "I… see. Yes, there was clearly some miscommunication. Thank you for not destroying my mansion, Miss Grey..."

Good girl aura back on again. I grinned and slapped my hands. "You're welcome! Say, while Dad and Mom are deliberating... Why don't we go look at that danger room you spoke about the last time?"

I needed to fucking scan it with my Celestial handheld scanner to replicate it. My boys in Egypt will surely love to have that tech at their disposition instead of going to Afghanistan to shoot things.

The professor chuckled, understanding that I didn’t come for his bald head. "You only came for this? Didn’t you?"

I gave him an unrepentant smirk. "Well, I wanted to see Ororo and Logan, then the danger room and maybe see how you train your people." And I want to spring your fucking trap and deal with you as someone should have long ago, baldy.

"Ah, you want an exhibition, then please follow me." The prof used his chair to exit from under his desk and nodded at me. 

Turning to mom and dad, I said, "I'm going with the prof, I'll be right back!"

Mom made a predatory smile. Knowing exactly what I was about to do. "Have fun, baby."

 

# # #

(Charles Xavier)

As the elevator descended to the lower levels of the mansion, Charles asked himself when everything had deviated from his plan. He had expected the girl to come with her family certainly, but all those people surrounding her made things more difficult. What about how he was unable to listen or surf through the minds of the adults or the kids present.

Everyone who wasn’t Jean Grey had some kind of device that blocked telepathy. That wasn’t good. He had expected that the girl would spread herself thin to protect her family from his influence by using her own power. But it seems that he severely underestimated her. Somehow the girl succeeded in thwarting him from the get go. And there were those people in the garden with that flying contraption brimming with weapons.

Since when did the Grey have the money to hire mercenaries? There was something that Charles couldn’t guess at. Was Jean Grey still connected to SHIELD? Fury had assured him that she wasn’t a consultant anymore. They descended directly to the second sub-basement where Cerebro and the Danger room were located.

The elevator stopped and Charles led the dangerous girl around toward the control room. Jean looked around herself and looked somewhat disappointed, until she saw the door to the room leading to the Shi’ar power tap feeding energy to Cerebro and the Danger Room. It was as if she expected to have found it, Charles didn’t know what to think. The control room’s door slid open and the girl’s eyes fell on the computer with the giant screen within the circular viewing deck attached to the ceiling overlooking the spherical room with metal panels covering everything. Their surfaces were covered by micro projectors that could produce holographic images that felt, smelled, sounded, and the holograms could even taste like real things.

 

# # #

 

Back with Jean…

 

“Interesting, this isn’t from Earth. How did you get it?” I knew automatically where he got it. So he was already shacking up with Lilandra. Princess-Majestrix Lilandra Neramani, a member of the royal family of the Shi'ar Empire, which was governed by the extraterrestrial Shi'ar race and controlled all known inhabited planets in the galaxies in which the Shi'ar dwelled.

Earth and the Milky Way were fucked. It became even more imperative that I became an independent power on my home planet, fortunately, I was already taking measures to do just that. Xavier looked at me and with what I could only describe as a smug expression he said, “I have my ways.”

*Yeah, your alien sugar mama is footing the bill.* I snorted at that.

With a quick surf of my memories, Goldie couldn’t help comment on the situation. [Nervous: Shi’ar bad.]

<I know, Goldie. I know, but you’ll help me tell them to get off of my lawn, right?> If they found me here, they would all scramble to Earth and take it over and kill my entire family. Damn, things were getting complicated again. 

They had a hard on for every Phoenix Avatar, however, I wasn’t just a simple Avatar. I knew their games.

[Sarcasm: To ask, do you even have to?] Goldie was with me, that’s reassuring. I love her for it, she’s the best Klyntar ever.

<You sassy Klyntar.> I hugged her with my mind.

I looked back at Xavier, now I understood why he was so confident about granting me his protection. “Sure, Prof, sure.”

Then the prof said something that wasn’t world changing as he offered, “Do you want to test the Danger Room?”

I turned to him and jumped up with a fist in the air. “YES!!!”

The professor startled at my reaction, then smiled, believing that he was making inroads with me and that I would forget all of his misdeeds. He brought me to the ready room, even offered to let me don an X-men bodysuit, but no thank you, I would never do that in this reality, ever.

 

# # #

(Charles Xavier)

He looked as the redhead slowly walked toward the center of the Danger room. She was skipping gaily and then she turned to the camera that was at the end of the room and waved at Charles. “I’m ready, prof, start the exercise!” Charles heard through the alien speakers disseminated into the control room. The girl was cocky and her smile grated on Charles’ nerves.

Charles often hid how petty he could be by acting with nobility, but he didn’t appreciate Jean Grey’s treatment of him. In his own self bloated importance, he thought that he deserved respect for all he had accomplished. So that is why he decided to teach the girl a lesson. He entered a command in the computer and immediately on the screen it read ‘Level 4’ and grinned darkly.

The professor was proud of his new Danger Room, previously, the original Danger Room was filled with traps, projectile firing devices, and mechanical dangers (such as presses, collapsing walls and the like) intended to challenge Charles’ students. Meanwhile, an observer was in the overhanging control booth, managing the room's mechanisms to oversee the exercise, while ensuring the subject's safety. But since he romanced his beautiful Lilandra, she had helped him by upgrading the room. The Danger Room had been upgraded with advanced holographic technology and a tactical computer matrix. 

It could now create immersive interactive artificial environments, simulating various situations his X-Men might encounter in the field. The Danger Room was programmed with a prime directive to train the X-Men without ever killing any of them. The objects in the Danger Room were holograms surrounded by force fields. 

Using the advanced holographic technology, the Danger Room could easily give the illusion of being many times bigger than it actually was. Anything from gravity, heat, humidity, or texture could be manipulated from the control room. 

The level 4 of the danger room consisted of armed assailants who attacked the already trained students in an urban setting. The room had replicated part of downtown New York, Lower Manhattan, Soho. It was an excellent rendition of Watts street and the sixth avenue. Jean Grey stood on the sidewalk under a tree. She looked around her, seemingly taking in the scene.

There were cars on the road that were empty, clearly showing that their occupants had fled and people had been evacuated. Empty bags and trash littered the sidewalks and the buildings around the redhead were either locked or broken into. Charles looked as Jean Grey raised her right hand and a pair of sunglasses appeared in it. She put them on her face and walked at the center of the road. 

At the same instant, a group of APCs advanced toward her, full of foes, their roofs mounted with turrets manned by a soldier. Jean Grey tilted her head and the APCs simply vanished in a shower of blue light. “That was weak sauce, can’t you give me more of a challenge?”

Charles sat there, stunned. It took his students to work in teams to stop a convoy of clearly outfitted and armed soldiers. “A moment, Miss Grey.”

This was humiliating to Charles, and it put in perspective how much mastery the girl had reached with Telekinesis. But what struck him hard is how she didn’t even hesitate to disintegrate the soldiers and the vehicles. Charles simply customized a version of level 4 with more soldiers, more vehicles and heavier weapons and changed their goals to capture Jean. They all appeared in a flash, surrounding the redhead and raised their weapons and fired. 

Charles watched in awe as the bullets simply stopped in mid air, not reaching the girl. One of the soldiers fired a rocket launcher at her but just like earlier it stopped in mid-air until all the assaillants ran dry. Another team of soldiers were about to capture her with an electrified net but she must have felt them coming as she simply turned toward them and they disintegrated into motes of lights like before. Something even more ridiculous happened, she sent the bullets and rocket that were floating in mid-air back to the soldiers. Thousands of sonic booms were heard and devastated everything around the redhead.

The buildings ceased to exist or fell to pieces, cars exploded. Charles found it lucky that the Danger Room censored any gore content -to protect the young minds of course- or else he would be puking his guts out. Jean Grey was disgustingly powerful.

“It’s getting boring in here, Prof. Can’t you bring the heat a bit more?” The redhead sounded disappointed.

Charles closed his hands into fists, the young woman’s voice struck a nerve. But he breathed in and out, forcefully calming himself. “It would be ill advised, Miss Grey.” He finally said in the intercom.

Jean clicked her tongue. “Come on, prof. I blew up mountains before, this isn’t even making me sweat.”

The message he had received from Sinister came to Charles' mind, the man couldn't be found anymore, and the professor thought that the mad geneticist had gone to ground because of Jean Grey. Never could he have imagined that Jean Grey, the girl he wanted to control, had killed all his clones on the planet and sent his soul back to Lady Death. No, he was too blinded by his own self importance to even think about it, after all if he, Charles and his old friend, Magneto, couldn't do it, no one else could.

Then Charles thought a bit more, if what he had provided her didn’t offer her a challenge, then he would give it to her. It was also an occasion to see what Jean Grey could do at full power, and maybe this would weaken her mentally for what he had in… store for her later. “Very well, Miss Grey. I hope that the next simulation won't disappoint you.”

Charles decided to make sure that the girl ate her words, he simply deactivated the terrestrial combat option and went straight to allow the Shi’ar combat protocol. It was clear that the final level, level 9 would have been a breeze to her. So Charles resorted to changing the simulation to a desertic tundra.

Alien fighters scoured the red sky, soldiers in antigravity vehicles, and tanks zoomed on Jean Grey, then super powered beings suddenly landed before the redhead. Instead of fear, Charles saw a blissful expression etched on the girl's face… this wasn't what he had expected, on the close up image of her on the screen, he could see how her chest rose and fell quickly and her flushed cheeks. 

Jean Grey began to hover nine feet from the ground, a red aura covering her body. Next, a construct surrounded her, it was some sort of armor. It was red and opaque, but Charles could still see Jean Grey inside. It looked brutal with its flat topped helmet, spikes on its flanks and the strange bands covering it. 

A fighter opened the fight by firing a beam of energy from it's plasma turret at Grey, that did... nothing to her, it was as if she had absorbed the blast. It didn't even make her step back.

“Now we are talking!!” The redhead shouted.

Charles was startled by this realization, that Jean might still be too strong for any settings of the Danger Room. Jean looked up at the fighter that had fired on her and suddenly, part of the facial structure of the armor's helmet retracted downward into the lower face, churning fiery energy was visible inside the helmet and then from the helmet a discharge lanced out in a wide, orange-white, fire like a beam, hitting the fighter, completely cutting it in two.

Jean Grey laughed as the alien soldiers fired at her with the antigravity tanks or their directed energy weapons. "Now, come at me!!"

She ran toward them, kicking and punching them into non-existence as she broke the holographic beings. Charles could only guess that this psionic armor was enormously strong, fast and boosted all the physical attributes of Jean Grey. This was frightening. The tactical computer compensated with the destruction being wrought by Jean by creating more enemies for her.

Tanks, fighters, gunships and super powered soldiers all fell against her or died in a fiery death completely atomized. The computer analyzed the blast of energy that Jean used in this new form and it seemed that her psionic armor can project beams of intense heat, electricity, plasma, microwaves and kinetic energy.

Even when the Danger Room computer compensated and adapted, Jean found the powered aliens' weakness. Some could clearly absorb energy just like her or project it. They even resorted to projectile weapons fired at Mach speed but the girl saw them somehow and punched them.

Charles' eyes widened as the red armor shaded Jean's face. Then a cold sweat ran down his spine as he listened to the girl's speech. “Come to your doom for I Am The Destroyer, Muahahaha!!!” Jean cackles maniacally as she rampages through the simulation.

Something odd happened in the projected red sky as a bank of dark clouds formed and a structure was slowly descending. It was a ship, hundreds of meters long, it resembled a gigantic insect. It's weapon turrets trained on the red armored young woman. Charles looked at the specs of the spaceship that the Danger Room was simulating and it was dangerous, it could easily wipe out a city! He was about to cut short the simulation when he saw the impossible happen. 

Jean's helmet opened and energy built up and then she fired. A large cone of fire struck the underside of the ship and atomized it despite the forcefield shielding it. As the ship crashed in the tundra, it slowly dissipated into motes of light. Jean Grey finished the remaining soldiers and vehicles fleeing by blasting them with concussive beams fired from her hands. There were wrecks all around the tundra like terrain and Jean laughed at her handiwork. "Muhahahaha." 

The redhead landed on the ground and the simulation stopped, the hologram dissipated to let the cold metal walls of the circular room of the danger room appear.

Jean theatrically wiped her brow and looked in the direction of the control room. "Phew, that was a good workout, prof. Thanks for letting me use your room!"

"Y-you're welcome, Miss Grey." Charles stammered as he realized that he was lucky that she didn't come for his head when he forced her father to make her come here. 

The X-men are a well oiled machine and powerful in their own right, but they were not soldiers, just a team designed to be PR friendly for the day of the great reveal. That was why he was so against killing, he didn't want anyone to accuse him of training child soldiers. But if they ever had to fight Jean Grey just like she showed she would be devoid of mercy or hesitation.

The girl suddenly wasn't in the room, Charles looked for her and-

"That was awesome." A husky and joyful voice said.

Charles jumped in surprise and turned to see the girl behind him. "How did you get there?"

She shrugged. "I am a woman of many talents." 

Charles glared at her and she didn't even look remotely repentant. Jean crossed her arms and began to play with the pendant at her neck. "So, old man, do you have anywhere else to show me?"

He was terrified, scared and rethinking wanting to have her here in his school. There was no way he could control her for long. But she needed a firm hand to hold her rein and Charles didn't know anyone else that could do it. He had seen the power she had at her fingertips. There was no other choice but to proceed with his plan.

He sighed and forced a smile and said, "As a matter of fact… yes, yes I do."

 

# # #

 

Cerebro Chamber

 

The two entered the huge, dome-like room. Cerebro, -Spanish for brain- was created in partnership with his old friend Erik in order to track down other mutants. Cerebro has the ability to magnify Charles’ telepathic ability to extreme levels. Making him from a high Alpha level Mutant to a proper Omega level able to scour the planet for his people and bring them ever closer to his reach.

Jean Grey looked down and floated up and flew toward the dish plant with the computer and the helmet. Charles slowly advanced with his motorized wheelchair. Near the computer there was a metal box, something that he had hoped to never use before. A neural interface connected to the recently upgraded Cerebro, with his recent trip to space one year ago, Lilandra had helped him to change the operating system with a Shi'ar one.Charles was now connected to Cerebro all the time thanks to handheld units in his special hoverchair. But he didn’t have it right now, so he would have to make do with the current unit near the original machine.

“That’s a big room professor, but what’s the point of it?” The redhead’s voice echoed in the large spherical room.

Jean tilted her head as she looked at the panels around the room. 

“This is Cerebro. It is an advanced computer designed to identify the location of mutants across the globe.” Charles explained in a proud tone.

“This isn’t its only function then.” Jean said aloud as her eyes were still on the computer and the panels of the spherical room.

Charles didn’t expect her to see through the machine’s purpose with just a glance… still playing coy he asked her, “Why do you think so?”

“Look at this.” She didn’t look at him and simply raised her hand and sent a thin beam of pure psionic energy against the far wall in the chamber facing her. When the ray hit the wall it bounced back multiple times zigzagging until Jean captured it and formed a ball with it. It was bigger than the energy she had expanded to make the beam. “The walls seem to bounce back psionic energy and… amplify it.”

*This girl…* Charles was surprised by that sharp wit of hers. Intelligence was something he valued but combining that with the power Jean had shown it was really scary for someone like himself. The professor understood that he was one mistake away from being turned into paste, and there was the fact that she could easily travel the astral, Charles didn’t think that she would believe him to be dead even if his body was no longer working.

“You are a really smart girl, Miss Grey.” Charles gave her his best fake smile.

Jean was still looking up at the entire room, she was somehow using her powers in it.  “So Cerebro boosts your telepathy, that’s how I could feel you all over the planet at times.”

This surprised Charles. “You could… feel me?”

This wasn’t good news at all. Jean finally turned toward Charles and she looked at him as if he was an idiot. “I’m sure that all the other telepaths on the planet do, prof. Using this Cerebro machine isn’t a subtle act, it’s like you’re a beacon in a dark cave… though, I don’t see the point of using it as well. I can already project my mind all over the planet and beyond.”

Her little revelation sparked something ugly inside Charles. She didn’t need any outside help to reach the mind of someone, it made her sound more terrifying. Sadly, Charles knew that this girl didn’t have the moral compass to use such power responsibly… “Oh really?”

Jean nodded. “Really.”

Charles raised his chin to the Cerebro helmet. “Won’t you try it at least once, maybe you might change your opinion? After all, you have greatly enjoyed your session in the danger room.” He dared her, after all she was a thrill seeking girl, Charles banked on her teenage spirit to succeed in baiting her to use the machine.

She rolled her eyes and said, “Fine, I will.” She floated up the helmet to her hands, took it from the air and placed it on her head. “That's soo going to mess up my hair.” She mumbled.

A light lit up overhead and illuminated where Jean stood. The room darkened and Charles felt the moment when Jean’s mind stretched into the chamber and then the room shook. 

“Oops, it requires a lot of control and accuracy.” Jean said as she settled her mind and then the room stopped shaking.

Now that Charles could feel it from an outsider point of view, Cerebro was indeed not a stealthy tool. He could feel Jean’s mind everywhere. “Indeed, could you try not to destroy the chamber?”

The girl giggled. “Sure.”

A blue form manifested before Jean and she squealed in delight. “Oh, I can say hi to Mystique from here. Heya, Raven!”

Charles closed his eyes and mumbled, “Teenagers, of course she would turn my Cerebro into a phone...”

It was ten minutes later when Jean Grey finished speaking with Raven Darkholm before she then finally focused on the entire Earth, stretching her mind thin, she became distracted. Just like he expected her to do. Charles chose this exact moment to strike. He put his hand on the box linking him to Cerebro, it scanned his palm, then opened. Inside was a device that he took and strapped to his right hand; it looked almost like a glove, but it was mechanical in nature, with this, Charles will be able to link to the helmet and begin the indoctrination of the girl.

From the palm of the glove an aperture opened with some kind of focusing crystal, Charles raised his hand and a green ray of energy emitted from it, connecting to the helmet. Charles focused his will and he was suddenly there in some room inside the mindscape of Jean Grey. He was surprised to see a gigantic tower standing before him. It was tall, he could barely see the top, it was surrounded by conceptual walls. The landscape around the walled tower was that of a lush forest, animals could be heard inhabiting it.

He walked toward the tower, but a moat blocked him from entry. Like a thief in the night Charles tried to find a weakness in the walls, when he found it, it was by following a link that was already established with another mind. Another young woman of asian features that Jean seemed to love unconditionally. Of course, Charles didn’t approve of same sex relationship, as a catholic, he believed in the sanctity of marriage; a man and a woman should marry each other, not a same sex couple. Another thing that he intended to fix with the girl. In fact, he already had the perfect candidate for her, groomed by him to hold the same values of course.

When he used that link to enter the tower, he immediately appeared in a circular stone room decorated with shelves filled with books and journals on pedestals at the center of it. Charles recognized this place as a central node where Jean Grey stored precious memories. Charles smiled and began consulting the books, they were mostly about time spent with the girl, Cindy. They were sexual in nature, Charles skipped them and put them back where he took them. It wasn’t yet time to address the problem of Jean Grey’s orientation. He exited the room and ended up seeing a staircase that would surely bring him up to the central nodes of her personality and behavior were centered.

Something truly strange happened as he looked at the staircase, he saw an amazingly tall woman in a long white dress that gathered at an empire waistline with long sleeves and a giant black hat. She was beautiful in an old timey way with bright red lips and dark lashes. 

The woman stopped in the staircase and her golden eyes stared at Charles. “Oh, what have we here? An intruder.”

“This isn’t good.” She was a mental guardian, maybe one of the first layers of defenses in Jean Grey’s mind.

“Daughters, we have a guest!!” The woman shouted for everyone to hear in a rich eastern European accent.

Charles found himself quickly surrounded by shadows that coalesced into the form of three young women clothed into funeral dresses, wearing veils.

With an imperious tone in her voice, the tall woman ordered, “Take care of this parasite, Bela, Cassandra, Daniela.”

“Yes mother!” The girls said in sync.

They manifested weapons made of shadows into their hands, they glided toward Charles who simply stood there. The halberds struck him and… passed through him. He was already at the top of the stairs, Charles laughed at the beginner level mind guardian. He turned his back only to see the white robed woman stab his chest with claws extending from her gloved right hand.

“You thought you could escape?” She asked him with an eyebrow raised.

“Yes.” Was the only reply as Charles fled. passing through the mind guardian, subverting her like a virus would another program. It was a method he was fond of to fight other telepaths. When the merge was done, Charles looked at his hands, it disturbed him to be so tall and to wear a dress. He shrugged when he realized that he couldn’t change her appearance, it was like it was hard coded in the mental guardian.

With this, Charles covertly climbed the tower and reached its central nodes; Jean Grey’s mind was well organized, there were countless libraries and rooms dedicated to memories and experiences. The girl had made her mind castle as impregnable as she could while also well cataloging as much as possible; Charles could appreciate this. He saw that she was preparing to go to college and later open a company in the biomedical field.

A noble goal certainly, it was ironic that a girl with so much power to destroy wanted to help and to heal. Charles closed the book he had been consulting, and put it back on its pedestal. He knew that he was closer to completely controlling her, he had seen most of her secrets, and learned of her aspirations and wants. Now it was just a matter of time that he found the… how to describe it -The Control Room? The brain?- of young Jean.

He must hurry, there was so much that he could access with her own mind guardian. When he reached the top of the tower, Charles saw that there was a chamber with computers and screen instead of the libraries and workshops he had seen disseminated into the tower. On the walls there were statues of valkyrie holding weapons such as spears or swords with shields. On the ceiling was some kind of black beehive. The door he entered through slid closed, causing the professor to turn and look back at it.

He shouldn’t have as the light inside the new chamber completely dimmed; then Charles heard skitterings. From the corner of his eye, Charles noticed movements. But it was so fast that he missed it. More skitterings on his left side, Charles turned his head only to be face to face with a creature of nightmare, it was black and had a large head crest, its jaws were filled with metallic teeth and stood over ten feet tall, towering over the professor.

Two other creatures stood at his side and held onto him, he tried to escape them but somehow couldn’t move at all. Charles frowned and let go of his hold on the mind guardian he had suborned and fell on the ground. One of the black creatures speared the guardian with its spiky tail, white light coursed through her as if she was being cleansed and then the guardian simply looked down at him.

She strode toward him with anger and hatred burning in her eyes. Charles wanted to escape, he tried desperately to return to his body but he was stopped by some unseen force. The giant woman lifted him into the air with a hand around his neck and she slapped his right cheek. “You, spineless worm! You come into MY tower, lay your filthy man-hands on MY memories and now you even try to brainwash me? How dare you!?” She punched him in the stomach, causing him to spit blood.

*This shouldn’t be possible! This isn’t real!* The guardian let go of him and Charles tried to run when he fell to the ground only to be kicked back toward the guardian by one of the black creatures that had surprised him.

The giant woman laughed. “Like I’d let you get away. You’ll be sliced to ribbons!” She showed him her clawed hand.

Charles backpedalled and tried like crazy to sever the link from his mind to Jean’s, but the woman stabbed him with her claws and said, “Stay right there!”

The professor felt himself dying as he bled out and the woman began slicing his limbs off. It was a harrowing experience for him, as he was reduced to only his torso and head. Everything stopped when he had his last breath. Moments later, Charles reopened his eyes to find himself in a white room without end. He sat on a brown leather sofa facing a familiar redhead in a long black coat and wearing sunglasses.

“Welcome to the Matrix.” Jean Grey announced neutrally.

Charles looked around him and patted his body. “This… none of this was real? I didn’t expect this.”

The girl crossed her arms. “If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain, old man. I can control it all.”

It was a frightening prospect, that the girl had mastered telepathy to this extent, enough to fool him all this while and she was so young as well...

“So… you really thought that I couldn’t feel you in my mind? That I didn’t have measures placed to isolate an attack and make my assailant see what he wanted? You wound me old man, I’ve seen everything you did and let me tell you that I am not happy with you at all.”

Charles should have listened to his instincts, that he should have left the girl alone after witnessing what she did in the Danger Room. “I had expected that my power, while less potent than yours, would let me be more subtle.” His voice sounded tired, and resolute, there was no way that the girl was going to let him live after this.

“Huhuhu, what did you expect to do here old man?” Jean demanded again.

Charles kept silent, but he felt a pressure on his mind and… the girl was so powerful that she bypassed his mental shields like they were tofu. Her expression turned into a sneer. “Seriously, trying to change me? What for? I would never work for or with you. So you decided to force the issue?”

The professor lowered his eyes and shook a bit under her gaze, he felt pressure on his astral body as the girl looked at him. “A-among other things… Are you going to kill me?”

He hoped that he would be able to hop into the nearest body that he had prepared and deal with Jean Grey in a more oblique manner. Jean Grey stood up and walked toward him.

Looming over Charles, Jean gave him a cruel smile. “Ah, kill you? Oh no, no, no. Charlie, since I’m very much the monster you think I am. I'm going to do so much worse than just kill you. As a telepath, you should be aware that the perception of time is such a funny thing to the human mind. What might be an hour could feel like a few seconds and what could be a few seconds could stretch on for hours upon hours.”

“Please don’t...” His plea went onto deaf ears, Jean Grey raised her hand and slowly reached for his head. 

“No, mercy for you. I decided to be ironic in my punishment for you, but whether you survive it or not. Is entirely up to you if you survive the journey of your own mind.” She said, her face showing her no mercy for what she was about to do to him. 

The last thing he saw was the palm of her hand closing in on his face.

---

A/N: And Xavier is finally getting what he deserve, a fate worse than death itself. Tell me what you think of the chapters and please review!

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