The next day Harry was amused to see Rogue and Kurt looking decidedly anxious as they sat at the breakfast table, and he nodded at Jean and Ororo who had just come in chuckling about some animal or other they had startled the night before, then turned and smirked at the two teens. "Guys, come on, I know Mystique can be scary, but I really don't think she's going to do anything to make you distance yourselves from her again."
Charles nodded as he pushed himself up to his place at the head of the table. "That is true. I've never really been able to get a read on Mystique, but I can tell you that she is at heart a very lonely woman. Regret and sadness sometimes pour out of her." Charles had seen one example of such when Charles challenged her about her relationship to Kurt at the school.
The two teens looked at one another startled by that idea, but they eventually relaxed. Rogue put her headphones on and began to play some punk rock to take her mind off things. Kurt did what he always did when faced with food and began to scarf it down as fast as possible, ignoring the good natured ribbing coming from Evan and Kitty.
Jean and Ororo started a conversation on where they could go over the summer while Charles engaged Harry in conversation with Logan and Scott. As the meal wound down he asked, "By the way Mr. Potter, I was wondering if you would mind joining me on a little road trip today. I believe I once mentioned meeting someone with power similar to yours to you? I think arranging a meeting between you two would be most beneficial." In point of fact he was uncertain of that, but really he had made so little progress with the patient in question he was willing to grasp at straws now.
Harry looked up sharply at that, his eyes narrowing for a moment then he nodded. "I'd be delighted Charles." He smirked a little, "So long as I drive of course."
Charles wondered why Ororo's and Kitty's eyes had grown so big for some reason at that declaration, but nodded agreement all the same.
Scott frowned a little. "So what do you want us to do visa-vi training Sir?" None of the adults made a big deal about it, but Harry had pretty much taken over their training schedule. Logan led the physical endurance training and Ororo trained those she could in power projection (and flight and languages) and the girls in martial arts. But it was Harry and his team exercises that controlled the training schedule.
"Yer with me Summers," Logan growled. "You and all the others are mine this morning and afternoon."
Ororo smiled a bit. "I think I will lead some exercises this afternoon Logan, I have a bit of shopping to do but after that I'm free."
Jean's eyes narrowed at the beatific expression on her older friend's face. "Why does that idea worry me?"
"Because you're smarter than the average Red," Harry said absent-mindedly, looking at his girlfriend's little smirk and wondering what it meant. I might have to get back in time to watch those exercises, they sound… interesting.
Jean scowled and used her powers to try and pull Harry's seat out from under him. She only succeeded in pulling it out though as he used his flight ability to stay where he was. Another thought however set the chair ablaze in a sudden and fiery conflagration. She smirked at him as he waved one hand gently underneath him, causing the fire to go out. "And twice as dangerous, something you'd best remember."
"Duly noted… Red." Harry smirked at her and Jean couldn't stop herself from laughing a little, while beside her Ororo and Kitty both giggled. A cough from Charles reminded Harry of the wreckage underneath him, and with another gesture and silent REPARO the chair reformed from the burned remains of Jean's prank. Throughout this the others watched on, wondering if they had just seen the birth of Pranks Mistress Jean with decidedly mixed emotions.
OOOOOOOOOOO
Charles looked askance at Harry's Huayra, wondering what it would be like to ride in before Harry came up behind him and opened the car doors then lifted Charles easily into the passenger seat, since his car wasn't fitted with bars to allow Charles to lift himself up. "So exactly where are we going on this fine Saturday morning?"
Charles looked around interestedly at the interior of the car, finding it rather fascinating how retro yet futuristic it looked. "As you know I am a licensed psychologist, I work with several clinically insane mutants and other empowered individuals who have been locked away in a high security institution. Many of them have been there for years, and all of them are deemed too dangerous to their fellow men to ever be released."
He paused as Harry got in and started the car, pulling out of the garage and onto the driveway. "The patient I mentioned when we met, the one with powers like your own, is one such and honestly I haven't made much progress with her." After that he gave Harry the address and Harry punched it in his GPS.
He gasped as Harry suddenly accelerated, the car going from zero to sixty in under five seconds and they reached the front gate in a blink of the eye. Just as he was wondering why Harry was trying to kill them the gate opened and they sped through. "M-Mr. Potter, I, I, that is to say, we're not in any special hurry, there-there's no need to rush."
"Oh, I'm not rushing old boy, this is my normal speed. Now if you want to go fast I can oblige you." Harry smirked a little as the Huayra left the housing area and entered the two lane street that would take them eventually up to the highway.
Charles' voice rose up an octave as Harry maneuvered his car around the traffic. "Th-that's quite alright Mr. Potter. Please don't hurry on my account."
Harry chuckled a little and the two drove on in silence for a time until they merged onto the highway taking them west, at which point Harry broke the silence, his voice much more serious than it had been. "You were right in a way Charles."
"Excuse me?" Charles looked over at him from where had been gripping the sides of the chair in a death grip. "I was right about what?"
"I'm talking about Jean and the entity in her mind. The phoenix was very much an alien entity, both as in not being from around here, and not being totally from this plane of existence."
"So I understand, yet at the same time I was also wrong." Charles replied, seeing where Harry was going with this and why. "Even two days has been enough to tell me how much the mental blocks I put in her mind had seriously stunted her personality and her mental growth. And I have you to thank for helping to correct my mistake."
Harry nodded, but they both knew that wasn't even half of the story. If Jean had kept going on with her emotions bottled up until the blocks gave way under the strain, well, the outcome would not have been pretty. "It's alright, I was happy to help. We're both on the same side Charles, just because I question some of your decisions doesn't mean I don't believe in many of the same things as you do."
"But not all of them," Charles replied shrewdly. "You don't believe in Homo Superior and Homo Sapien coexistence do you?"
"I think your dream is magnificent Charles. I also know it's about as likely to occur as that Jesus character coming back to life and bringing us all to heaven without something else backing it up."
"So you think war is inevitable, is that why you're so set on training the X-men as much as you can?" Charles asked sadly. He knew Harry had a lot of bad experiences in the past yet to see someone so young be so cynical was depressing. He had initially objected to the amount of realism Harry insisted on putting into his exercises, but had seen their efficacy, and knew that some of the missions he had the teens run were very close to some they might well be called upon to do in the future. "Surely you must see that as long as we can prove that once trained to control our powers we're no threat to them?"
"And there we start to disagree. You're relying on two things that are in very short supply from the mob that is humanity. First is you think they may be intelligent enough to see that point, and second is for them to have enough common decency to care. That's not even mentioning the fact that the ones most likely to side with you are also the least likely to stand up and fight for you. You're trying to appeal to the good in humanity, and that's it. No, when I strike out on my own I'll eventually start to appeal to something far more powerful than that."
"And what would that be?" Charles asked. Harry had mentioned wanting to go off on his own, but had never shared any of his plans after doing so with him or with any of the others as far as he knew.
In point of fact Harry had shared quite a few of his long term plans with Ororo, but she hadn't shared any of it with anyone else.
Harry smirked at the older man, then began to step on the peddle a little more seeing a distinct lack of traffic in front of them. "I'm going to appeal to their monetary self-interest."
Charles looked at him wondering what that meant then barely bit down on a yelp as the car accelerated well beyond the speed limit. They zoomed past a parked police car and bit of Charles' mind was wondering how the hell he had missed them zooming past (a notice-me not ward, the policeman's radar might see them, but the policeman wouldn't see anything there and would think it was just a strange system error) but the rest of his mind was too busy whimpering in terror to really think about such things.
It took them about an hour to cover nearly the entirety of the length of the state but eventually Harry slowed down and exited the highway, which allowed Charles to regain control of himself. Within another ten minutes the Huayra was coming to a large building that simply screamed prison. The walls surrounding it are a definite clue, as are the guards on the walls, thought Harry then said dryly,"Interesting institution you've got here Charles."
"I did say they were her for the safety of others as much as themselves," Charles said sadly. "To put it in perspective, besides young Wanda, the patient I want your help with, my brother Cain is kept here in isolation as well as several other super-powered convicts. This is the Vault Mr. Potter, half sanitarium, half penitentiary."
Harry nodded thoughtfully at that as they drove up to the massive guarded entrance. He stopped there and let Charles hand over some kind of ID, and then they were let in. Harry wondered suddenly whether he should have come in a disguise, but seeing the number of cameras around he decided against trying to disguise himself now.
Charles led the way inside and was stopped at another checkpoint by a large friendly looking black man with an easy smile on his face despite his stern eyes.
Those eyes tracked to Harry for a moment, but Harry had assumed as nonthreatening a stance as he could and the black man's eyes returned swiftly to Charles. "Professor Xavier, good to see you again as always. It's been a surprisingly quiet few weeks since your last visit. No troubles on either side."
Charles smiled. "That's good to hear. Is my brother's state still unchanged?"
Captain Stone's eyes narrowed a little at the reminder of what had happened to Cain Marko, but let it pass knowing Charles would be as unresponsive at this point as he had been the first time. "Yes, he's not regained any of his previous strength. He's still far stronger than a normal human, but nowhere near what he had been. Do you want to see him before patient Wanda?"
Charles sighed. "Not this time I think. I'm afraid after this recent setback any kind of reconciliation between us is impossible. Depressing, but even if we could reconcile he would still need to serve out his time for his crimes."
Stone nodded and led the way deeper into the building.
Harry noticed almost immediately that this section was much nicer looking and somehow more medical rather than prison-like, and the rooms he glanced in were much better looking than the prison cells. They still shared the high tech defenses though, and there were cameras facing into each cell and others in the cells.
The singing he began to hear was an odd discrepancy though. He cocked his head, listening a little amused at the song, 'Message in a Bottle', sung by a girl from the sound of it.
They soon came to the cell where the singing was coming from and the singing stopped, a cheery voice speaking out happily from a shut padded door. "Oh Professor sir, you're song is as calming as always! Hello Captain Stone, your song is brighter today, did you have a nice night with your wife?"
Harry and Charles very politely did not look at Stone's blushing yet smiling face. The voice went on not waiting for an answer. "Oh, and who is this, oh my, so many songs all playing at once, that's fascinating, even better to meet someone new, who are you?"
Harry couldn't ignore his curiosity any longer and he tapped gently on the door glass partition in the door. Inside he saw a small, elfin girl of indeterminate age, possibly as young as ten or possibly as old as in her twenties, with long wild hair a riot of colors and thin, pointed ears waggling about on either side of a thin face dominated by wide, vibrant eyes that looked at something he couldn't see. All in all she reminded him almost painfully of Luna, and he wondered briefly if he was cursed to always run into people who reminded him of his dead friends. He shook off the maudlin thought and said pleasantly, "Hello there, my names Harry, what's yours?"
"I'm Melody. Do you sing? There's so many songs going in and around you, it's amazing!" Not once did she look at him, it was almost as if she didn't see him, just the 'songs' she kept mentioning.
"Hmm I don't sing alone, but I suppose I could sing a duet for a bit," Harry replied grinning, leaning against the door and smirking at the two other men. He waved them on, utterly ignoring the fact this was a maximum security prison and he was probably under surveillance even now.
Stone went a little reluctantly while Charles simply smiled and continued down towards the meeting room at the end of the hall, where prisoner W would be brought to speak to him. Unlike Melody, prisoner W, or Wanda, as Charles and captain Stone thought of her, was a maximum security prisoner as well as being a patient. As such she was under guard at all times when out of her specially created cell even with the amount of medication they had her under her.
"Oh, that would be lovely, what song would you like to sing?"
"How about Little Talks?" Harry chuckled, having heard it a few times from Kitty's walkman while teaching her runes.
"Excellent choice!" Melody giggled.
Harry smiled, though inside he was wondering why such a nice sounding girl was here. As nice as this part of the sanitarium is, it's still a prison after all. "We'll both sing the 'hey' bits and the chorus okay? Just don't make fun of my voice, I know it's horrible. On three ready, one, two, three!"
Their voices rang out through the sanitarium, drawing amused, angry, confused and irritated reactions from both nearby guards and the prisoners in the surrounding cells as Melody took the lead. "I don't like walking around this old and empty house…"
Harry took up the song, tapping out the time on her cell door and very slowly gathering his magic, wanting to do something for this vulnerable girl who reminded him so much of Luna. Let's see what I can do to make her stay here better, she looks far too much like Luna for me to just walk away from. "So hold my hand, I'll walk with you, my dear."
"The stairs creak as you sleep, it's keeping me awake."
"It's the house telling you to close your eyes."
"Some days I can't even trust myself." Melody seemed to stumble over those words.
Harry sensed this and frowned a little, but kept it out of his voice as he took up the song, still slowly gathering his magical power, hoping that whatever sensors they had around here couldn't tell what was going on somehow. "It's killing me to see you this way."
Then the two went into the chorus and harry looked around, not having detected any reaction to his gathering magic, not from the electronics shorting out or anything else and he grinned internally. "'Cause though the truth may vary, this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore. Hey! Hey! Hey!"
Melody began to sing solo again, and Harry looked up as a few frowning and a few smiling guards looked down the hallway toward him. He waved at them with one hand and pointed down toward the meeting room, trying to indicate he was here with Xavier. "There's an old voice in my head that's holding me back."
He ignored them after that though, concentrating on trying to shape his magic to do what he wanted without actually seeing it in front of him as well as singing. "Well, tell her that I miss our little talks."
"Soon it will all be over buried with our past."
"We used to play outside when we were young and full of life and full of love." With that line Harry had visualized what he wanted and began to slowly, ever so slowly, let his power reach out and grasp reality.
"Some days I feel like I'm wrong when I am right." Melody seemed to feel something happening, but didn't stop her singing.
"Your mind is playing tricks on you, my dear." After that line the two of them took up the chorus again while Harry's, not spell he couldn't call it that far too complex, enchantment maybe, continued to build and prepare the matter of the outer wall for the change. "'Cause though the truth may vary, this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore. Hey! Don't listen to a word I say. Hey! The screams all sound the same. Hey! Though the truth may vary, this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore!"
"You're gone, gone, gone away, I watched you disappear. All that's left is the ghost of you. Now we're torn, torn, torn apart, there's nothing we can do, just let me go we'll meet again soon!" Melody's voice turned melancholic for a moment as she sang that line, then rose in an almost transcendent joy as Harry's magic began to work. "Now wait, wait, wait for me, please hang around, I'll see you when I fall asleep!"
Harry grinned as he felt his magic take hold and shape reality to suit his design in a very localized space and they entered the last refrain. "Hey! Don't listen to a word I say! Hey! The screams all sound the same! Hey! Though the truth may vary, this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore! Don't listen to a word I say! Hey! The screams all sound the same! Hey! Though the truth may vary, this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore. Though the truth may vary, this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore! Though the truth may vary, this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore."
Melody's voice trailed off as she and Harry finished the final refrain and she stared wide-eyed at what he had wrought. "Thank, thank you Mr. Harry, thank you! Oh, how did you have the song to do this?"
Harry smiled. "You're very welcome my dear." The two guards who had kept walking toward him smiled not having heard what she had said to him, thinking he was just talking about cheering up the girl by singing with her. Melody was a favorite of several of the guards of the Vault, thought certainly not all of them. Most of the guards were afraid of the prisoners, and many had begun to hate them all for being so different, but captain Stone kept a lid on such things as much as he could.
After another farewell to Melody and a promised to see her again, the two guards 'escorted him on to join Charles and prisoner W in the meeting room.
Charles was smiling having been able to hear the impromptu duet, and captain Stone was shaking his head with a smile on his face as he walked out, leaving Charles and his associate alone with their patient.
The girl that was being moved into a chair across from Charles, her arms strapped to her side by a straitjacket did not smile. Her lips were twisted into a sneer.
Harry took a moment to study this girl, already sensing something… off about her, he wasn't certain what yet. She had black hair cut haphazardly that fell to just above her shoulders, and was even more pasty white than Melody though on her it looked less like a product of her confinement than simple skin tone, and her dark blue eyes were locked on Charles and Harry, showing none of the spacey attitude of the song seeing girl.
"Hello Wanda, how are you today?" Charles asked, while Harry looked around and saw a video camera in one corner, but no audio recorder. He tapped his ear for a second surreptitiously looking meaningfully at Charles who shook his head slightly.
Harry didn't believe this however and used the same spell he had to find the listening device when he had the dinner with Mystique and the others. There was indeed one listening device, but he killed it the same way as the one from that night.
As he was doing this Wanda responded to Charles' pleasant greeting with her normal grace. "Like you really care horse-fucker, you're just here to try and twist my mind around again! Well you can go to hell, and take your new asshole friend with you!"
Charles sighed. "Harry Potter, this is Wanda, Wanda this is Harry Potter."
"Charmed," Harry said dryly, leaning forward, his eyes flaring subtly as he activated his mage sight. "Interesting, she has a magical core… But it's... odd. I've never quite seen anything like it."
Wanda's eyes widened in shock then she backed away as far as she could in her chair. "Wh-what the fuck are you talking about, what, magic, that shit doesn't exist!"
"It does," harry muttered, most of his attention trying to puzzle out why her core looked so odd to his senses. "Just because you've never seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. After all, you can't see gravity can you?"
As Wanda sputtered at his nonsensical response Harry kept analyzing her core.
Most wizards back home radiated a certain amount of magical power throughout their bodies, which they called their magical core. The aura around them could tell you quite a bit about any preferences for Light or Dark spells they had. Voldemort and Bellatrix for example had auras so dark they were painful to look at due to how deeply they had delved into the Dark Arts, many of which permanently stained the soul and magic of those that used it.
Steven had said something about necromancy and demon summoning doing the same here, so that would be true with a magic user in this dimension as well. Steven and Madame Harkness both had cores, though their cores were more centered, only defined around the center of their bodies rather than permeating their entire being.
Wanda's was centered around her head and her center, and seemed… almost out of phase with the rest of her. "It's almost like its artificial… like it was joined to her at some point in the past. It's part of her now though..."
And if I try to drain it there's no telling what the effect on her will be. Magic users needed their cores to survive, they were interconnected with their bodies on a fundamental level. Harry didn't know if that was the case in this dimension, and was in no way prepared to take a chance on something like that.
But that wasn't the strangest thing about her core. The aura of her core was the most utterly fucking chaotic thing he had ever seen. Not only is the shape and power of her core pulsing and shifting, but it's fucking changing color! One minute it was pure, almost glaring white, then it was orange then black, then yellow, then green, and then a multicolored rainbow or colors that none of the books he had studied on magical auras had ever mentioned! It hurts my brain just to look at it!
With a wince he leaned back, deactivating his mage sight and rubbing his eyes with one hand. "You were right Charles, she's a mage, but why she's a mage I have no idea."
"Could it be connected to her mutant power like yours?"
Wanda growled at being ignored and yelled, "Hey fuckers, don't talk about me like I'm not even here! And what is this talk about magic and shit, it's just my fucking mutant power!"
Harry looked back at her. "You know you're remarkably sane sounding for someone in a straightjacket." Wanda scoffed at that, but Harry saw her lips twitch just slightly. "And I don't know if it's your powers or something else entirely, but you have a magical core."
Charles saw it too and shook his head in amusement. "Unfortunately it isn't her sanity that keeps her locked up here, but her powers and the fact they are effected by her anger, which as you can see she still has trouble controlling."
"In answer to your question I'm a mage, well a wizard actually." He gestured for her too look below the table out of sight of the camera and he created a small figurine of an otter in his hands underneath the table then made it cavort and dance around a bit before making it disappear.
Wanda's wide eyes tracked back up to his face, the surprise of meeting someone who could use magic startling her out of her normal anger. "S-so… Am a sorceress or something?"
"That is indeed the question. I don't know if you are a natural one, and you're certainly not my kind of wizard, or witch in your case. What can you do with your powers?"
Wanda looked over at Charles then back again, wetting her lips slightly before replying. "I, I can use these things, I call them hex bolts, they're kind of bluish arrow shaped things that when they hit something stuff happens."
Charles took up the tale there. "Wanda's hex bolts somehow effect the laws of probability. If they hit something like a lock for example it will open, or if she hits another mutant with it their powers will backfire on them or become unusable in some fashion, whichever is most helpful to her. If she hits something not living it can change shape into something else entirely, or change from a solid to a liquid or even a gas. That is why I was so worried when we first met Harry, because you used the same powers she has, though with a far higher degree of control."
Harry nodded thoughtfully. "Well I can tell you she needs to start getting some training right away. The more time her core is uncontrolled the more it will become unstable, and the greater danger to herself and to others she will become." He frowned a little. "She also needs to see someone who knows more about magical healing and magical cores in this dimension than me. Her core is… well I've never seen the like and her lack of training can't explain everything I'm seeing."
"But surely you could teach her how to control herself?" Charles asked. Wanda despite herself was also looking hopeful.
Harry touched his scar briefly in thought. "I don't think I should actually. My magic is different from hers, and I don't think she would find it something she could learn easily or at all." Steven had mentioned this, that he could get some of the same effects from his spells as Harry could, but the way the spells worked were very different. "But I can start her off on occlumency and maybe contact someone who would be willing to take on an apprentice."
Wanda gulped then mumbled something. Charles looked over at her quizzically. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
Wanda glowered at him then looked at Harry. "Please," she whispered. "I can't take it anymore, my power, I can feel it going all wonky sometimes, and this place, it's not helping, I'm feeling more and more trapped here! I need to get out!" Her voice had risen with each word and by the end she was nearly screaming hysterically.
Harry made a calming motion with his hands and Charles looked on sympathetically. "I'll get in touch with who I have in mind in the next two days alright? Just hold on until they can get you out. I'd leave you some books to study about a mental discipline called occlumency, it would probably help you control your emotions, but it wouldn't work right away, it would in fact make it worse for a bit as you came to grips with them, and I doubt you'd be allowed books in here."
Wanda looked at his face, searching for any sign of duplicity, but she saw nothing but concern there. She looked away scowling angrily. "Fine, but if I don't hear from you in a few days, I'm going to figure out a way out of here and then I'll hunt your ass down."
'Fair enough," Harry said, chuckling.
Charles took up the discussion then, talking quietly to the young teen for a time, calming her down even further, then alas their hour was up and the two had to leave.
As they left Charles eyed Harry askance as he whistled jauntily. "Alright, I've been around young Kurt long enough to know the signs of a prankster after a successful prank, what did you do?"
Harry simply smirked as the two left the sanitarium and moved through the security checkpoints. "What was that Melody girl in here for? I can't see her as being a threat to anyone." Then again, I couldn't see Luna being dangerous either, and she was a truly frightening duelist.
Charles sighed sadly. "Ah, Melody… her mutant power allows her to see aspects of a person's mind and soul in the form of songs, she sees everything around her like that, animals, trees, anything alive, but it blinds her to the person and to reality. She is utterly unable to be function in the world at large. It is indeed a shame because she is a genuinely happy, kind girl."
Harry frowned sadly. He had known that there were mutants out there whose mutant powers were a curse, but this was the first time he had met someone whose powers had no upside at all. "I see, well at least she will be a little happier now." That will have to hold her until I have my own secure place of power to bring her to. No way am I leaving someone like that alone, no matter how strange her powers.
As he helped Charles into the driver's seat Charles continued to stare at him. "What did you do Mr. Potter?"
Harry merely smiled and got into the driver's seat, which suddenly reminded Charles of something he had forcefully ignored up to this point, that Harry would be driving them back to the mansion. Despite any rumors to the contrary Charles most emphatically did not whimper as that thought hit him.
Behind them in the sanitarium they left one hopeful yet still despondent girl and another who was humming happily to herself, looking out through the giant window that used to be her cell's outer wall. Harry had transfigured it to be as clear as crystal so she could see the forest beyond the outer wall of the sanitarium, and to let in the smell and wind as well, but only for the resident in the cell.
Melody looked out at the world around the sanitarium for the first time in years, and her heart filled with the songs she saw, causing a gurgle of delight to bubble up out of her. "Oh, the hills are alive, with the sound of music…"
OOOOOOOOOOO
Jean, Evan and Scott looked at one another as they entered the danger room, wondering what Storm had in store for them. While Kitty was out on her date with Lance, and rolled and Kurt out with mystique that only left the three of them to work with Storm and Since Harry had helped her come out of her shell Ororo had become a very dangerous yet excellent teacher.
What she was not however was predictable. Jean put this down to the fact that all three of their teachers were trying to get the kids used to thinking on the fly in combat situations, something which all the teens had begun to do far better than they had previously, even Scott.
Scott looked over at Evan. "What do you think she's going to have us do?"
Evan shook his head. "I don't know. Honestly, I don't know what she's thinking these days not at all."
That thought was a rather disturbing one, honed by the fact that when he called his mother and told her about Auntie O dating a younger man he'd not gotten the response that he wanted to. Rather than being concerned or surprised or shocked his mother, Ororo's older sister, had been amused and ecstatic. To her it was simply a good sign of her younger sister finally coming out of her shell. When Evan tried to point out that it was a bad thing to date someone that much younger she had taken offense at the idea that her younger sister could not handle herself. She forced Evan to face the fact that it wasn't the fact that Harry was only a few years older than Scott and Jean that bothered him, but the fact that his aunt was in a relationship at all and she had bluntly told him to get over it. It would be a few days more until Evan was comfortable seeing the two of them together, but he was prepared to make the effort at least.
He turned to Jean and asked, "Do you have any idea?" All of the teens had noticed that Jean and Storm had begun to act more like friends than teacher and student, and were wondering how that change had come about.
Jean thought for a moment then shook her head. "I would assume some kind of battle, but keep your eyes open for tricks. Something to test our situational awareness and making us think fast in crisis situations, something as real as she can make it."
"So in other words," Scott said, "stick together, work together and overcome right?"
Jean looked at him approval for the first time in a while. "That's pretty much it, yes. Much easier said than to do of course."
They opened the door to the danger room and walked in, to see what looked like a vast playing with spires of rock spread out everywhere, each of them at different heights connected by thin rope bridges. The door opened onto one such spire, and there were two rope bridges leading out in different directions.
Jean looked at this and frowned. "She's trying to limit our maneuverability."
Scott frowned as well. "Now would be a very good time for Mr. Potter to have finished those flight arrays or whatever they are."
"You'll get no disagreement from me," Evan muttered, looking around worriedly wondering what else his aunt was going to throw at them.
Jean on the other hand had already turned and stared up at the artificial sun in the sky, one hand shading her eyes "Hello Ororo, this is interesting but what exactly are you going to make us do in here?"
Storm flew down from where she had been hiding in the glare of the sun in her normal X-Men attire and hovered about 20 feet above them. She smiled impishly a Jean. "I should've known that you would be able to find me."
Jean shrugged a little. "Your static clingy sort of mind is rather distinctive," she said dryly.
Storm chuckled a little then became serious. "This is a little exercise of situational awareness, teamwork, and endurance, both physical and of your powers, as well as a few other things. Scattered around here I have some of Harry's mage soldiers, armed with stunners, low powered cutting spells and a few other surprises. Your objective is to get to the other end of this room through them and through me. You will be able to use this spot as a planning ground for 5 minutes, any long and I will have them start attacking you here. If you fall off the cliff edges, then you are mission killed, if you take what would be a life threatening injury in real life, then you are mission killed, any questions?" There were none, and with a final, somewhat impish smile she turned and flew off.
Scott frowned as he looked around. "We're going to be limited in maneuverability no matter what we do here. Evan, you and I will have to take one route. Jean you'll be on guard above us against whatever Storm throws at us from the air. I think Evan and I can handle any of the mage troops that pop up, but handling them and Storm at the same time, no chance."
Jean nodded thoughtfully. "Ororo's the real threat here," she said, a statement that had both boys nodding fervent agreement. The older woman's stand against Juggernaut was fresh in their minds even now, and the fact that she handled them all easily with kid gloves in one-on-one exercises and even in knife fights with Scott was just icing on the cake. "I should probably rush forward and disrupt the mage soldiers as much as possible and draw her out, then you two follow up and take out the mage soldiers where you can and we'll gang up on her."
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