psinex@yahoo.com Strange Attractors 11 of 25 by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: They're all Marvel's, except for Danny, Deanna and Todd, who're mine. Please don't sue. WARNING: It's bloody again ... -------------------------------------------------------- Mass. Acad. Front Gate: 9/17/2003: 08:00 hrs EDT: -------------------------------------------------------- "Yes, Emma, I DO have a right to see her ! Kurt and Amanda said I could !" Raven Darkholme demanded, yelling into the microphone at the Academy's main entrance. "Well, they're not ME, and this is MY school, Xavier's funding notwithstanding," Emma replied coldly over the viewscreen. "And I trust you about as far as I can thrwo you." "I've seen you fight, Frost. You're not nearly so helpless as you appear, or have you forgotten the Faneuil Hall incident back in '01 ?" Mystique taunted with mock-sweetness. Emma just blushed and growled, "I was being attacked by genegangers hired by Adrienne through her criminal connections. I'm not about to let myself be killed by stupid children with delusions of grandeur." Her tone darkened further, and she added, "Nor will I let you near my students. ESPECIALLY Alexa and Erik." "'Erik' ?" Raven replied in an innocent tone. #Damnit ! She KNOWS !# she thought, hatred rising against Emma. Emma just smiled wickedly and said, "Never try to beat me on my home ground -" Then the viewscreen cut out as Phantazia walked through the fence. "That should take care of their security," Phantazia said mirthlessly. Toad kissed her cheek and bounded the fence, calling, "FOR THE MASTER ! TAKE THE NEW MUTANTS -" An axe split his skull. "MORTY !?" Phantazia screamed, holding her lover's dying corpse. Mystique cursed as Zaladane appeared with the Savage Land Mutates, her heart sinking. #Adelaida ... !# she thought, seeing Zaladane's costume upon her foster daughter's body. "Rogue" grinned evilly and said, "Hello, 'Mother'. This bratling is MY body now - I assume you're here for Magneto as well ?" "He's a little underaged for you, Zaladane," Raven hissed as Zaladane landed before her. "Let's get it on ..." -------------------------------------------------------- "WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING !?" Emma's shout made the New Mutants jump and sent them running to the control booth of the Danger Room. "Damnit ! The entire front lawn's security grid is off-line !" Tom yelled. "I've got auxiliary sensors - oh this is NOT good," Frank gulped. Emma and Sean looked over his shoulders, repressing curses as Mystique and Zaladane danced in a ballet of martial arts fury. "They're in a killin' mood," Sean glowered. "If it were up to me, I'd let them finish each other ..." "But it's NOT," Emma growled. She donned a Cerebro helmet and sat back in the chair, powering up the device with a dark frown. "Let's try a little pest control," she hissed, pushing a red button. The other telepaths present looked at her in growing fear, then horror, and Ray cried, "You're going to - !?" -------------------------------------------------------- #She's -# GRMMPTH #-better than I'd thought,# Raven admitted, ducking another kick from Zaladane. "Come now, Mystique," the possessed Rogue giggled madly, "Certainly you're not THAT -" She screamed as a visible bolt of gold psionic energy slammed into her from the biosphere, and something left the unconscious woman's head in a black vaporous trail. Raven knelt beside her, careful not to touch Rogue's skin, and whispered, "Adelaida ... ?" Rogue's eyes fluttered open, and she smiled weakly, "... Mama ? She's ... gone ..." Tears rolled down Raven's face, and she hugged Rogue to her. "Brotherhood, we are LEAVING !" Mystique shouted. "Phantazia - ?" She turned, gaping, as Lupo carved Phantazia's stomach, and Barbarus shattered Avalanche's armor with a huge club. "Surrender, witch, and perhaps we'll let you - GHRYAAA !" Gaza screamed, flames consuming him. "Right," Pyro sneered, igniting Worm when he got too close. "Raven, luv, let's leave while we still can - GHUURKK -" "PYRO !?" Blob yelled, his eyes bulging as a dark shape appeared from midair and - CONSUMED - St. John Allerdyce. "DELECTABLE," Emplate chuckled, reaching for Piper and draining him with a touch. "I MAY EVEN FOREGO THE NEW MUTANTS AS A SNACK -" POW. "OW," Marius grunted, falling backwards onto the squealing DOA. Nicole floated above her brother with a glare of hatred and shouted, "LEAVE OR DIE !" "LITTLE SISTER," Marius growled. "OR IS THAT SISTERS NOW ? I GET SO CONFUSED WHEN YOU'RE TRAPPED IN ONE BODY LIKE THAT ..." Nicole's face contorted, and Claudette sneered, "Save it, Marius. I'm getting rid of you once and for all !" She landed and ran around Emplate and DOA with a piece of chalk, grinning as her eyes glowed. "OH NO - THIS TRICK NEVER WORKS, CLAUDETTE !" Emplate cried, the circle surrounding him starting to glow. "You'd be surprised, brother dear," Nicole replied, nodding approvingly as the portal opened. "THIS time, it's not to another dimension." "IT'S TO ORBIT." "What - oh no," DOA whined, falling upwards into a starfield visible through the transportal. Emplate followed, yowling, "THIS IS NOT OVER ! DO YOU HEAR ME -" Claudette snapped the portal shut and let Nicole take over in time to backhand Amphibius into the ground. "As for the rest of you," the girl frowned, "I strongly suggest you leave." "You're gonna -" Blob bellowed before a blue glow surrounded his head. The surviving villains turned, looking very nervous, as Erik floated overhead with an imperious expression. "TAKE HER ADVICE," the boy demanded. "I'm NOT Magneto, I don't want any PART of Magneto, and you 'people' SUCK ASS !" "Ingrate," Mystique growled, lifting the unconscions Rogue into her arms. "Brotherhood - " She gulped when Alexa teleported before her with a fencing foil and held it to her throat. "Ah ah ah, Grammy dearest," the blue-furred girl grinned. "Put Aunty Rogue down NOW, or I'll have to get mean." "Alexa, dear -" Raven began. Alexa shoved the foil closer to Raven's neck and hissed, "You never get it, do you ? Wanting things and people you can't have. ERIK IS MY BOYFRIEND. And Aunt Rogue needs to heal where she belongs, not on the run with the Brotherhood." "Child, we don't have time to argue," Destiny pouted, holding a crossbow to Alexa's head. "Now be sensible and let Raven -" She cried out, kneeling involuntarily, as the air about her seemed to thicken. "Get away from her NOW !" a girl's voice - part Chicago, part British - demanded, ringing through the air with a twinge of fear. "YOU !?" Alexa grinned, seeing a lithe girl her age with curly brown hair walk through the main gate. "DEANNA !" "Who - MY GOD, it's not possible !" Raven cried, meeting the newcomer's blue eyes. "You look like -" Emma burst out of the Danger Room and went dead white. "Katherine - you've been deaged !?" she squeaked. "Deanna Pryde, ma'am," the girl said, smiling faintly. "Kitty's my mom." "O-KAAAY," Avalanche groaned from the ground, "That's enough ..." He depressed a button on his armor, and the Brotherhood vanished while the Mutates ran for the hills. "I DO so love it when the cavalry arrives !" Alexa grinned, hugging Deanna ... -------------------------------------------------------- Danger Room/Biosphere: 09:00 hrs: -------------------------------------------------------- "Wait a minute," Bill demanded as Deanna walked out of the girls' locker room in a training uniform, "if Shadowcat's only 26, and you're 13 -" "It's a long, COMPLICATED, and ugly story, and SHUT UP ABOUT IT," Alexa growled at Bill. "Dee's my best friend in the whole world, and I WON'T have you grilling her !" "It's OK," Dee smiled sadly, hugging Alexa. "Mom was ... REALLY young when she had me." Her face went dark, and she muttered, "Dad ... well, he's back in Russia." "COLOSSUS ... ?" Tom gaped. "Like 'Lexa said, a long story," Ray frowned, hugging Todd to her. The boy looked at her and asked, "Mom ? Why's ev'body mad ?" "We're just on edge because of the fight, kiddo," Ray smiled. "Now, show us your power, OK ?" "OK," Todd smiled. He stood up and walked to the center of the biosphere, and started to glow with a bright white light. "Incredible - th' psi-curve he's givin' off is goin' off th' scale !" Moira gasped from within the control room. "He's transducin' himself int' pure psi-energy !" Todd put one finger through a nearby tree, then removed it with a nervous smile and powered down. "Did I do OK ?" he called, brushing grown-out blond bangs out of his face. "You were GREAT !" Ray cheered, flying to her son and hugging him. "Now, let's let Aunt Dee have her turn." Deanna walked past them, smiling at Todd as he and Ray joined the others in the main control room. #OK, Deanna ... here we go ...# She concentrated, making the tree Todd had "phased" through start to bend over. At the same time, she put her hand through another tree, and ended the process. "Mass shunting," Moira explained to the others. "Deanna cannae precisely phase like Kitty c'n - she needs t'displace her mass, instead o' alignin' her molecules out o'phase with th' matter she's phasin' through. Th' mutation she inherited from Piotr allows Deanna t' project her mass int' other objects - or absorb mass, if nae the object she's drainin'." "That was my next trick," Deanna teased. She concentrated again, making the tree she'd made heavier grow less and less dense. At the same time, the girl kicked at a nearby boulder - - and shattered it. "HOLY CRAP !" Bill yelled. The other Mutants and Todd cheered or whistled, but Gail looked at Joe and hid a grin. Her macho brother was staring at Deanna with a goofy smile. -------------------------------------------------------- NEXT: Stat update ! -------------------------------------------------------- end _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com