griffon8 wrote:Chrono180 wrote:Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I was in the hosptial recovering from my suicide attempt.
Yeah, I know. It was a stupid stupid move that I will never attempt again. Talking about suicide is one thing, actually attempting it is something completely different. I have no idea what goes through my head sometimes...
Anyway, here's chapter 14. When Oddball finishes the next two chapters, this fic will be completed, and I'll have to work on the next sequal, "The man in the mirror."
Chapter 14: Preperations.
As Psylocke led Hanako down one of the hallways in the X-corp building, she stopped at a closet and opened it. Pulling out a black leathersuit with purple highlights as well as black gloves and boots, she handed the ensemble to Hanako.
“This'll be your uniform for the time being.” Psylocke stated.
Hanako held up the suit, “It looks a lot like Misha's.” She remarked.
Psylocke shrugged, “The junior recruits typically get a standard uniform for the first year or so. Unstable molecules are extremely hard to fashion around a nanotube array so we have to make sure whoever is wearing it is in it for the long term before we get them a custom outfit. We have two designs, one for men one for women. Beyond that they only differ in the color of the highlights.” Psylocke paused, “Thought considering Shizune's drive, we might move it up in her case.”
“Really?” Hanako asked.
Psylocke nodded, “She's worked her ass off ever since she got here. Her danger room track record is exceptional. In fact, she's making faster progress than two thirds of the X-men to ever join up. And she spents almost all her free time studying the metahuman database. Not like her girlfriend... ”
Hanako raised an eyebrow, “What about her girlfriend?”
Psylocke sighed, “Misha's motivated, yes. Not as much as Shizune, but she's motivated too. Problem is, she's also immature, irresponsible and reckless. She's barely read any of the files and seems to be in this lifestyle more for kicks than anything else. She doesn't take our business seriously.” Psylocke paused for a moment and added, “If it wasn't for the fact she and Shizune come as a pair, I'd put her on the reserves.” Psylocke then stared straight at Hanako, “If you're going to do this, you need to be better than her. Log plenty of hours in the danger room, keep a constant watch for potential problems, and most importantly read the damn files. Yes, its over a thousand pages long, but every bit is important. Knowing the history of what you're up against can save your life, or the lives of your teammates. Got it?”
“I'll give it a shot.” Hanako replied
“Thats good.” Psylocke stated. “Go change and then I'll show you to the others.”
Hanako nodded and headed into the restroom. Shifting uncomfortably, and making sure nobody was around, she took off the blouse and skirt she was wearing and putting on the leathersuit, she looked in the mirror and gave a disgusted look.
“I look hideous...” She mumbled and shook her head vigorously.
She walked out and rejoined Psylocke in the hallway. “How bad do I look?” She asked
“You don't look bad, Hanako.” Psylocke responded.
“No, seriously. I do.” Hanako replied, “I look like something out of an Ian Fleming novel.”
Psylocke sighed, “Forge just never was one of the most fashion conscientious X-men....”
Hanako looked down at herself and shook her head again. “Do I have to wear this?”
“Well, yes.” Psylocke responded. “ordinary clothes would shred or burn under the kind of situations we face. So unless you want to wind up naked in the middle of fighting a supervillian...”
Hanako visibly recoiled.”O-okay. I g-get what you're saying.” She stammered out.
Psylocke chuckled, “Just teasing you. Well, sort of. Out of curiosity, are any of your other friends going to join up?”
Hanako paused for a moment to collect herself, and thought. “Lilly's not the type to join in a firefight, so she probably won't. Emi might, she's quite active so a lifestyle like this might suit her. Rin, I honestly have no idea. She's a good person, but I don't really understand her most of the time, and her personality is hard to get a lock on. Kenji probably would, considering he's the one who introduced us to superpowers to begin with.”
“I think Wolverine would sooner cut Kenji in half before letting him onto this kind of team again.” Psylocke responded.
“How come?” Hanako asked.
Psylocke sighed, “While back Kenji's talents were hacking were discovered after he broke into the Fantastic Four's files. Since hackers on his caliber are hard to come by, Mr Fantastic decided to hire him as the superhero communities resident data-monger. Ir worked for about a year, until his schizophrenia manifested.”
“Is that's whats wrong with him?” Hanako asked.
“Near as Doc Samson could figure out, yes.” Psylocke shook her head, “We tried to get him on medication, but he wouldn't take it and since he wasn't actively violent we couldn't legally force the issue. His behavior became increasingly erratic.”
“Like he is now?” Hanako asked
“Indeed.” Psylocke sighed “Then on one particularly bad mission, his distorted view of reality led him to to tell a team of X-men, myself included, there was a world-endangering feminist conspiracy with its leaders hidden in this old steamship....” She shook head in annoyance, “We went in to humor him and wound up unleashing the Children of the Vault.”
“The who?” Hanako asked. From context, she was able to guess Forge was the tech designer and Doc Samson was Kenji's psychiatrist, but she couldn't even guess who these others were.
“A species of human variants with some of the most powerful technology to have ever existed. They were isolationist in the extreme, so if we had just left them alone, they never would have bothered us.” Psylocke sighed, “As it is, they realized they had been found, so they tried to kill us all. Came damn close too. We barely escaped, and since then they've attempted to destroy mutantkind numerous times. Theres a lot of bad blood between Kenji and the X-men, particularly those of us who were on that mission.”
“I'm sure he didn't mean it.” Hanako pointed out.
“Of course he didn't mean it, but the last thing we need is yet another civilization of superpowered whackjobs trying to wipe us all out.” Psylocke rolled her eyes and started walking off, Hanako followed.
She walked down the hall and reached a keypad on an iron door. Tapping a code into it, the door opened to show a field where a major battle had taken place. The parts of numerous robots were strewn around a city landscape. Armor, Shizune, Misha and Nate Grey were standing in the rubble.
“I got twenty two.” Armor stated, “How did you do?”
“Seventeen” Misha replied, “Voidstar says she got twenty five. How about you, Mindblast?”
Nate sighed, “I really need a better codename...Anyway, I think I got around thirty five or so.” His eye flashed with light, then he glanced over at Psylocke “Oh, hey there.” he stated. The other three turned to Psylocke and Hanako.
“Hanako!” Misha cried out, “You're joining up after all, right?”
“Yes. She is.” Psylocke stated, “She'll go by the name Survivor when on mission. I need you four to train with her, especially you, Voidstar.”
Shizune grinned and nodded, then made several signs with her hands.,
“She said she'll be happy to help, and that she's very glad you're letting her join us.” Misha stated, grinning.
“Psylocke...” Armor began, “With all due respect, have you lost your mind? Considering it's her fault Angel's insane-”
“Armor.” Psylocke stated, “It is not her fault. Mentat's fault, yes. X-23's fault, quite likely. A case could even be made of it being my own fault. But all Survivor has done the past few days is sit in a bed and pray.”
Armor glared at Hanako, “And you're asking Voidstar to train her instead of me, why exactly? I am the senior member.”
“Two reasons.” Psylocke responded, “First, unlike Voidstar, you barely know her. Second, despite barely knowing her, you seem to resent her a great deal.”
Armor grunted in irritation. Psylocke gave her an annoyed look.
“I don't know what your problem is.” Psylocke stated, “But you need to get over it, fast. My ex is out there plotting something disastrous for humanity and we're going to need all the help we can get to take him down. The last thing we need at a time like this is internal conflict on the team, so take your grudge and bury it. That's an order.”
“Yes ma'am.” Armor stated, though her eyes were still shooting daggers at Hanako.
Psylocke nodded, “Computer,” she stated, “Reset simulation to level one and run on my mark.” She then turned to Hanako, “The best way to learn is by doing. In this program, robots will appear and you should try to disable as many as you can during the time limit through whatever means you have at your disposal. Got it?”
Hanako nodded.
“Begin program in ten” Psylocke commanded and walked out the door to the danger room.
Hanako braced herself. In moments, a series of training robots appeared in front of each of the X-men and began firing energy blasts. Hanako instinctively raised her force field and one of the blasts dispersed again the barrier. She reached out and trapped one of the robots in a field and began to crush it. It proved notably easier than when she had crushed the Chronomancer's armor, and as it shattered, she turned her attention to another, only to feel a nasty zap on back of her leg as a painful electric jolt ran up and down it. She continued to fight, but her eyes traced to the others. Nate, in particular. He was emitting large bursts of power at a near constant rate, destroying everything that came near him. Nothing was even getting close.
A mechanical voice stated “Time is up.” and the simulation disappeared.
“How'd you do?” Misha asked.
Hanako shrugged, “I think I got about seven...”
“Is that all?” Armor scoffed.
Misha gave an annoyed look, “This is her first time, give her a break! I only got nine my first run through of this program.”
Shizune made a couple signs with her hands. “Try again?” Misha translated.
Hanako nodded.
“Repeat program” Misha stated, and the city landscape reappeared.
The second runthrough of the program began much like the first, with Hanako trying with some measure of success to simultaneously raise a shield and crush robots with her telekinetic fist at the same time. However, all of a sudden, after about three minutes, Nate Grey collapsed.
“Mindblast!” Misha cried.
“Computer, end program!” Armor stated and rushed over to him. As the simulation disappeared, she began checking his vitals. “Pulse is strong, pupils are responsive...”
“I'm alright...” Nate mumbled, “Just felt extremely weak for a moment there...”
“We'd better get you up to med bay.” Misha stated to several signs Shizune made.
“Yeah... yeah, alright...” He mumbled and slowly got up and out the door. The others followed.
Forty minutes later...
“Nate...” Psylocke said softly to the teenager hooked up to a half dozen different contraptions. “I have some really bad news.”
Nate winced. “And what's that?”
She motioned to a series of readouts on a computer monitor. “You're power level is immense. Quite possibly the greatest I have seen in any mutant I have ever met. Theoretically, you could surpass Pheonix. Thing is...” she sighed.
“What?” Nate asked.
“It's burning you out. There's no other way to put it.” Psylocke shook her head. “Near as I can tell, Sinister put some kind of failsafe in you that is causing your body to overload from your power. Eventually, it's going to result in your nervous system short circuiting, which will prove fatal.”
Nate was silent for a moment as this information sunk in. “How long?” he asked
Psylocke did some quick figuring, “I'm guessing between three and five years.”
“Is that all? Fuck...” Nate mumbled and tore the wires connected from his body, then he put his face in his hands. He then glanced to the door, where outside the others were waiting. “Do the others have to know?” he asked
Psylocke paused, “Not if you don't want them to. Is there a reason you would rather keep this private?”
“Because I don't want them treating me different than have been.” Nate replied.
“Very well.” Psylocke stated. Then she paused, “It is a rather heavy burden to carry by yourself though. If I may make a suggestion....”
“Yes?” Nate asked.
Psylocke hesitated but continued, “I would suggest you confide in Hisao. He went through pretty much the exact thing you're going through.”
Nate raised an eye. “Really? I'll give that some consideration then.” He got up from the chair he was sitting in and walked out.
“Is everything alright?” Misha asked as he went into the hallway.
“Pretty much.” Nate stated, “I just can't use too much power at once or my cells overload, thats all.”
He then walked off. Misha considered following for a moment, but Shizune tugged on her arm and shook her head.
[Leave him be Misha. Trust me on this.] The blue haired girl signed.
Misha nodded.
For two weeks, Hisao had no contact with Psylocke and then one day, out of the blue, he received a telepathic alert.
“This is a message to all current members of X-corp Tokyo.” It stated. “There has been an update on the Angel front. Assemble in the briefing room in thirty minutes.”
Hisao was only two miles out at the time, changed outfits in five minutes and reached the headquarters in ten. To his surprise, as he exited his car, carrying the neural disruptor he had made, Hanako was walking up the street in an X-men uniform.
“Hanako, why are you here?” He asked, his mind trying to process the scene in front of him.
Hanako blushed slightly from her friend seeing her in her outfit. “Same reason you are.” she replied.
Hisao's brain twisted into knots at that statement. “I... you... what...” he stammered, “You joined up?”
Hanako nodded.
“But... why?” Hisao asked.
“Because I don't want other people to fight my battles for me anymore. I talked to Fitzroy and we spent a long time discussing this subject. About what has happen, what is happening, what likely will happen...” Hanako replied.
“But this lifestyle is so dangerous,” Hisao stated, “I mean, you could get killed!”
“So could you.” Hanako replied, “But that didn't stop you. It's not going to stop me either,” she paused and then added, “My life came at the expense of Angel's sanity. The least I can do is honor his memory.”
Hisao was silent for a moment. “Is this what you want?” he finally asked, “To be a superhero?”
“I don't know if its what I want so much as what I need.” Hanako replied, “Things are different because of our powers. Your heart, Lilly's vision, my face...” She brushed her bangs self-consciously, “Four months ago we thought they would remain the same as they always have, but they didn't. Our lives are changing. Drastically. It's best we learn to adapt.”
Hisao nodded. “I suppose you have a point. Still not what I envision for myself though.”
Hanako motioned to the gun in his hand, “What's that?” she asked.
“It's like a stun gun.” Hisao replied, “But more powerful.” He shook his head, “Telepathy isn't the greatest offensive power, so I'm improvising.”
“It's good you're doing so!” another voice piped up behind him. He turned to see Shizune and Misha walking up beside him. Misha grinned “Preparation is always key to successful mission!”
[Funny that you're the one saying that...] Shizune thought and signed, and Hisao noticed her rolling her eyes. [In any case, we'd best get inside.]
The four of them entered the headquarters and made their way down to the briefing room. They entered to find Psylocke, X-23, Armor and Nate Grey sitting at a table.
[Is Wolverine still busy?] Shizune asked
“The business in the Kree Galaxy is taking longer than expected.” Psylocke replied, “He says he will return in a few days. Unfortunately, we do not have a few days.” She shook her head. “Pity, we could use his help.”
“We've got eight people-” Misha began.
“And we're going to be hard pressed with that few.” Psylocke cut her off. “There was an attack at Project PEAGUSUS today. Angel, as well as his apparent new ally, Holocaust.”
A look of fear flickered past Shizune's face. Hisao blinked,
“Holocaust?” he said, “He took his codename after-”
[Yes, he did.] Shizune stated telepathically and in sign [Which pretty well falls into the category of 'names to run away from really really fast.”]
“Who's this 'Holocaust'?” Nate asked.
“He is the unholy love child of Autumn Rolfson, better known as the first Famine,” Armor stated, “And Apocalypse himself. He is one of the most powerful mutants the X-men have ever fought. Power set includes being sentient energy in a night indestructible containment suit, blasts of nuclear fire that put the Human Torch's to shame, and the ability to drain your lifeforce just by being near you.”
“Like Omega Red did?” Hisao asked, wincing at the memory of that fight.
“Essentially.” Armor stated, “Though he doesn't use that as much as he prefers the physical sensation of blasting someone into atoms. Nasty piece of work. Enjoys wanton destruction more than any of the horsemen. Possibly more than his father as well.”
“I thought he died after that incident with Jamie Braddock?” X-23 asked.
“Apparently it didn't stick.” Psylocke stated, “He and Angel entered Project PEAGUSUS and decimated the staff. Over a hundred and fifty dead. The only survivor was their security head Darkhawk, and he's been beaten within an inch of his life.”
“Do we know why he broke into the faculty?” Hanako asked
Psylocke reached under the table and took out a large manila folder and flipped it open to reveal a detailed schemetic “He took this device, know as project DESTINI. Deep Earth Seismic Trigger INItiative.”
Hisao picked up the files and quickly flipped through them.
“It's pretty much what the name implies.” Psylocke stated, “Can trigger earthquakes at almost any point in the globe. There are a hundred ways he could use it to wreck havoc, but we don't know what his plans are or where he's going or-”
“I know where he's going.” Hisao stated.
Seven pairs of eyes immediately turned in Hisao's general direction.
“Really?” Armor said, disbelieving.
Hisao sighed, “Apocayplse's schtick is “the strong will survive”, right? He wants to wipe out humanity to pave room for mutants and yadda yadda yadda...” Hisao waved his hand, “There's many places Angel could use this machine to create damage, pretty much any major fault line really. But there's one place specifically where a trigger such as this could cause whats essentially an extinction event.”
X-23 raised an eyebrow, “Where might that be?” she asked
Hisao took a deep breath, “He's going to blow the caldera under Yellowstone.”