"Hello again Kenna. It's always a pleasure to meet you," said Tessa.
"Hello Ms. Tessa, I assume by now you know what I'm here about," said Kenna. The Xavier Institute official that went by Sage more often than not had been met with Kenna in her above ground office almost every day for a month since the event with the Xavier Statue. Even though she had now been addressed by Kenna she was still typing away on both a physical keyboard with one hand and a seemingly invisible one with the other while not entirely looking at either.
"You wish to file yet another complaint regarding our inaction against Ororo Munroe and Kathrine Pryde yes?"
"Yes," Kenna said silently, judging Tessa for wearing sunglasses indoors.
"Excellent, since this appears like it's going to be a regular concern with you, I have gone to the trouble of printing out fifty identical forms with the exact same information filled out on them with the exception of the date and your signatures. Feel free to use them as needed."
"You're just going shred it after I leave, aren't you?"
"On the contrary. I will scan your document and add it to her file. Then I will keep the physical copy for at least one year at which, only at that point, will I shred it for the purposes of getting rid of outdated documents."
"Oh."
"However, at this point, I feel compelled to tell you that no matter how many of these you fill out it will amount to nothing. It might even look worse on you in the end."
"What!? Why!?"
"Ms. Munroe and Ms. Pryde are working well within our bylaws."
"Hazing is within your bylaws?"
"Hazing, by definition, is the imposition of strenuous, often humiliating, tasks as part of a program of rigorous physical training and initiation. As that does not fit what Ms. Waites experienced on the aforementioned dates the Xavier Institute is not obligated to take any action against the accused parties."
"I would appreciate it greatly if I had your full attention please." Tessa paused, performed a few additional button presses, took off her sunglasses, and clasped her hands in front of her."
"Very well Ms. Knox. You now have my full, undivided, attention." Kenna squirmed in her seat. Something about the way she said the words "undivided" unsettled her greatly.
"Kitty shoved Franny into a statue, Ororo drowned her in rain, and I was nearly struck by lightning several times. Surely there's some law or regulation against that."
"I hear and understand you Ms. Knox."
"Great, does that mean-,"
"Have you ever seen that old black and white television show called the twilight zone?"
"Yes?"
"Did you ever see episode seventy-three titled 'It's a good life'?"
"No?"
"Well it's about a little boy that could do anything and he used this mysterious power to terrorize the small town he lived in. And-,"
"The cornfield episode! I know what you're talking about! I have seen that one before!" Kenna blurted with excitement.
"Yes, the cornfield episode, now if you were in the parent's position what would you have done about the child?"
"I would have bashed his brains in with a pan!"
"We all would have bashed his brains in with a pan."
"He was the worst."
"Now imagine how the situation would have changed if he grew up with just one or two more reasonable people that he couldn't have sent to the cornfield."
"I know this one. He could have killed them in their sleep."
"No."
"He could transform the townsfolk into monsters and gotten them to eat the reasonable people."
"No."
"He could have run away to a different town?"
"Yes, all these solutions are as theoretically viable as they are irrelevant, more to the point his upbringing would have been different."
"Different doesn't always mean better."
"Well here at the Xavier Institute we love and care for our student body so much that we use whatever methods are necessary to ensure that nobody needs to bash your brains in with a pan."
"Okay, but where is the line for that sort of thing? Can I be killed by a teacher and it be considered fine as long as I'm brought back to life at some point?"
"No, murdering students has and always will be-," Tessa stopped mid-sentence.
"Tessa?" Kenna waved her hand in front of her face. There was no reaction other than the ever-growing intensity of her stare into space. "Ms. Tessa is everything alright?" Tessa's right eye came back life frantically looking in different directions independently of the other. "Ms. Tessa, please say something. This freaking me out and as you've probably figured out by now, I don't deal with uncertainty well." Her left eye twitched and turned its gaze on Kenna. Tessa unclasped her hands.
"Quickly and calmly go back to your room and stay there until you're given further instruction," she said, putting her sunglasses back on.
"What? What did I do?"
"Nothing, an announcement will be made shortly that will explain everything. But for now, please do as I say," said manipulating invisible components in the air with terrifying speed and efficiency. Kenna backed out of her office. When she closed the door she could have sworn she heard a gun chambering a round from behind it.
The mansion had very different energy. Faculty, teachers, and staff alike were running with purpose in different directions. Kenna would occasionally try to ask what was going on but at best they'd ignore her and at worst they yelled at her. The alarm sounded as she went. A pre-recorded message came through ordering every student to either head for their rooms or follow the lights, and that this wasn't a drill. As she walked through the foyer a man in full yellow and black armor emerged from the elevator. He looked like the type of guy that would have yelled at her, but instead simply pulled one the decorative chairs into the center facing the doors.
"Excuse sir, what's going on?" asked Kenna.
"Kid this about to get real ugly. You need to leave." he said taking a seat.
"Mr. Logan?" she asked, recognizing the gruffness of his voice.
"Go." The ground next him erupted into a flaming pentagram with two other familiar faces emerging seemingly out of nowhere. The massive metal man and his sketchy sister who was now brandishing a massive glowing sword approached her with great concern.
"You should not be here!" said Peter.
"Peter what's going on!? Why is everybody freaking out!" asked Kenna. Ignoring her questions completely he picked her up off the ground.
"Illyanna!" he shouted.
"Da," Illyanna said, summoning another flaming pentagram around them.
"Come on man! I'm starting to get really scared here!" she said as they emerged from the flames in front of the women's dorm.
"Fear is good! Fear keeps one alive! Only in fear can one show courage!" he said putting her down. Dark heavy clouds enveloped the campus with unnatural speeds. Kenna instinctively looked up to the roof of the main building. Ororo was up there, preoccupied with what laid beyond the grounds.
"Peter," said Kenna.
"Be brave. Be strong. Be safe," said Peter as he hugged her. Kenna looked over his shoulder to Illyanna.
"We're all going to die," she said smiling.
Peter let her go and practically shoved her through the door. Kenna paused. The signs of danger were all there, but gravity of the situation could not be fully digested for her without getting to see what it was. She cracked the door back open. A metal door had already begun covering the entrance. Just before it closed completely, she caught a glimpse of lightning breaking the sky as a black jet flew off into the distance.
The halls were quiet. What was usually a place of open doors and odd conversation was replaced with silence and sealed rooms. The only ambience now was the faint sound of lightning striking the earth. When she got to her room she found Ellie huddled up in a corner crying uncontrollably.
"Ellie! Ellie! What's wrong!?" said Kenna running into the room.
"The door's not going to close!" Ellie sobbed.
"Why?"
"It's waiting for everybody to get in here!"
"It's okay! It's okay! I'm in here now! It should close!"
"What about the others!?" Kenna looked down on the pile of clothes she had pillaged.
"Well, shit. Hey at least the window one worked. We got that going for us."
"And as soon as things get bad you're going to use me to get somewhere else!"
"I honestly didn't think about that," Ellie sobbed even louder, "But I'm not going to do that! I promise I won't leave you! Even though you've been trying to get me evicted, I won't leave you! We'll weather whatever this is out together and we'll probably even bond over something that will lead to an oddly close and unique friendship very quickly.
As soon as she said that the metal door began lowering over their room's entrance. "Hey, would you look at that. Elizabeth and Layla must have left the school, that explains this and everything else. See things are looking up Ellie. So please stop crying."
"Yoink," said the deep voice in her head.
"Yoink?" she said to herself. Kenna's legs turned her around and flung her back out under the door before it closed completely. She immediately started beating the door.
"Open! Open! Open! Open!"
"Just, just what in your tiny little mind makes you think that's going to work?" asked the deep voice in her head. Kenna turned around suddenly with her back to the door. "It's called telepathy. You've done this before."
"I, assumed, someone is watching the cameras and will let me back in if they can hear how scared I am," said Kenna.
"Use your thoughts not your mouth dipshit."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...ah...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHAAAAA!" thought Kenna.
"Never mind, just use your words."
"Who are you and what is going on!?"
"It would be a waste of time, I will never get back, telling you something I'm going to burn out of your skull later. As for the ladder we're going to find out."
"Huh?"
"You're going to be my eyes."
"What why me?"
"Not my first choice either. Dead last if I'm being honest."
"Why is everybody so mean here?"
"You, however, do have some distinct advantages."
"Really!?"
"You live in a sensor blind-spot in the girl area, and your mind is about as protected as a McDonald's Wifi."
"Blind-spot?
"There are certain rooms here that are not monitored as well. Don't ask me why. I still haven't figured that one out. As for your next stupid question. I would be doing this myself, but the guy area lacks a giant fucking hole in the side of it."
"And you're trapped in your room like everybody else."
"Sure."
"Well since you're asking so nicely."
"That's the beauty of it! I don't have to! Sure, I could forcibly move your legs, but it's a lot of work and I know you want to see it too."
"I don't know, it sounds dangerous and I could get into trouble."
"If you do this willingly, I'll ingrain into your mind all the information you'll ever need to get your useless degree."
"Really!?"
"Sure." Kenna squeaked with glee. The exciting thought of blowing through the next four years easily sank in a mire of apprehensiveness the closer she got to her old room. The door had already been blown open by the wind and was flapped around at its mercy. The view didn't help. The sky had grown much darker. Clouds above were convulsing in absolute abject anger.
"Fuck" they said together.
"I'm guessing this isn't normal?" asked Kenna.
"Storm doesn't normally operate like this. Tends to draw unwanted attention."
"Could have fooled me."
"Shit must have really hit the fan this time."
"Why can't you go into her mind and figure this stuff out?"
"I could, if I wanted to, but Charlie is broadcasting hard and I really don't want to get on his radar."
"Okay, what's he thinking?"
"Mostly tactical information. It looks like Red and Blue teams were deployed while Gold is creating a strongpoint here and good old Charlie is coordinating strikes with Storm." Lightning struck the ground in the distance. "There, they just downed one."
"One what?"
"That's for them to wonder and for us to find out."
"Are you telling me they don't know what they're shooting down?"
"It doesn't sound like they've confirmed what it actually is. All they know is that it's foreign and it's hostile."
"Like the Russians?"
"More foreign than that."
"Antarcticians?"
"How are Antarcticians more foreign than Russians?"
"Well I've never met one."
"Sage is fluent in every language on Earth and she doesn't understand them. Not a good sign."
"Aliens?"
"It's a possibility."
"Really!?" she asked excitedly.
"Oh you poor dumb potato of human being. There are things going on that you will never begin to understand."
"Okay! I get it! Everybody knows more than me! I don't care! I am comfortably enough with myself to admit that I am not smart! I don't know how electricity works! The government confuses me! And I don't know why buffet is pronounced 'buffett'!"
"It's French."
"That barely helps. But it doesn't matter! I've never needed to know, and I've got along just fine without it! And you're going to shove it all into my brain when we're done with this anyway!" She said climbing down from the third floor. The jagged concrete and metal rebar made for serviceable hand holds during her descent. Over the last week she had finally made some leeway into clearing some of the debris she had created her first day there. It wasn't much but given her a small sense of accomplishment knowing that the effort to fix her mistake had begun.
"Stop, get on the ground, crawl and crawl very slowly towards the forest," said the deep voice in her head. She complied. "It's to avoid the sensors."
"I didn't ask."
"You were thinking it very loudly. You need to go slower than this."
"Do mind answering the other one then?"
"I've tested this before. Seriously, you need to go slower than this."
"Sure thing."
"I said 'go slower' I didn't say 'stop' smartass"
"But if I go any faster you'll yell at me." Lighting descended once again from the sky striking the earth close enough to Kenna to cause her jump. "Fuck!"
"You idiot! You absolute dumbfuck"
"It was loud!"
"Run!" Kenna took off into the woods.
"We've been had, shit for brains, run the other way."
"I can still do this!"
"They know something is out here. The only reason Magik hasn't pulled you into Limbo yet is because I'm causing running interference and I don't know how long that's going to work. You need to get back."
"That last strike was close! Whatever Ororo shot down must be here somewhere!"
"You're not understanding what I'm throwing out here! If they can't see you Storm might assume there's an enemy combatant out here!" The temperature dropped rapidly, and crackling frost consumed the forest around her.
"Cold!"
"No, this is good."
"Frostbite is good!?"
"Better than getting carpet bombed with lightning."
"My hands feel like they're on cold fire!"
"Hold on." The burning sensation of the freezing cold left her hands. They were still difficult to move, but no longer in pain. The rest of her body slowly lost all feeling as well.
"Am I dying?"
"There, now you can't feel anything. Yes, I can do this. No, it isn't permanent. No, this doesn't mean you're invincible. Get checked out as soon as possible. Did I miss anything? Are there any other stupid questions?"
"I like asking the stupid questions."
"Stop for a minute. What are you smelling?"
"Can't you just enhance my sense of smell and analyze the particles?"
"Do you feel better now?"
"Yes," Kenna sniffed the air, "Smoke maybe?"
"Something's burning." Kenna followed the smoldering smokey smell to its conclusion. Catered in the side of quant hill was a pile of twisted metals burning with purple fire. Chained to this wreck was a large grey humanoid. Underneath its mangled appearance it seemed to be reptilian in nature with metal components fused across its body. Its mask had partially broken off in the crash allowing its prominent lipless teeth to bare much to Kenna's displeasure.
"Is it dead?" asked Kenna.
"I don't know."
"Can't you read its mind?"
"Not while averting Charlie's gaze."
"Okay, well, we found out what was freaking everybody out so much. I guess I'll head back and we begin giving me the book smarts."
"Cut off its head and take it back with you."
"Excuse me?"
"I might be able to get something from it."
"Might?"
"You owe me."
"I am not touching that thing."
"We had an agreement."
"Yeah, to find out what's going on. We found out. We did it. Good job team."
"We have no idea what that is or what it is doing here and I'm not gonna give you anything unless you bring me that head." The leaves crunched in the distance.
"What was that?"
"It's getting louder. It's probably Wolverine. Whatever, this has been such clusterfuck. Just get back before he spots you." Kenna started walking back. "Go back a different way dipshit." She changed direction and started following a large clearing that appeared to lead back towards the campus.
"Wolverine? Sage? Charlie? Am I supposed to know these people? I think I know who you're talking about but-,"
"Wolverine is Logan, Storm is Ororo, Sage is Tessa, Charlie is Charles Xavier. Try to keep up."
"Are these just affectionate nicknames you've made for them."
"Everybody has them. They were originally given those aliases as a method of counterintelligence, but some of them have such a reputation now it has become more of a title."
"Weird, but okay. I thought you were jamming them; how did Wolverine even find me?"
"I don't know. He can track by scent but yours is probably all over the place from the last time you were here."
"But I've never been out here."
"Yes, you have. This was where you ran when you freaked out the first day." Kenna didn't know what he was talking about until she looked at the clearing more closely. All the trees had fallen in the same direction. The deep depressions she had been trying to avoid were footprints. If it had only been these alone she could have kept herself. However, caked in the frozen mud she spotted what remained of a crushed deer.
"What? What's wrong?" asked the voice in her head. She remained motionless fixated on what remained of the lifeless creature. "Is it the deer? Are you sad about the deer? Are you really that much of a bleeding heart that killing a deer is this big of a deal to you?"
"Did I even feel it?" she asked herself. The leaves crunched behind her. She turned around expecting to see a very cross Logan. What she found was the alien crash survivor taking aim at her. She hardly had time to register what it was doing, but the voice in her head caught on much more quickly. He forced her knees to buckle, sending her into the pit as the bright projectile fired from the hunk of metal attached to its arm. It narrowly missed. Burnt flakes of bark rained down on her from where it met its mark. The creature launched another volley of the brilliant light hitting in and around the hole she had fallen into kicking up dirt as they ripped into the ground. Kenna tried to make herself as small as possible. Tightly holding her ears to protect them from the aggressive humming of the shots.
Until it stopped. Kenna was tempted to pop her head out to gauge why it ever would, but before the questions could even be asked the metallic beeping answer plopped onto the hard earth next her. While she had never seen anything like this thin rectangular object before, the exponentially quickening pace of the beeps had strong grenade tones. It was at that time several questions went through her mind. Does her mutation work if she's dead? Could this thing be dis-armed? Why isn't she at least trying to run away instead of gawking at it like some slack jawed idiot?
As the object's beeps climaxed Logan, out of nowhere, dove on it. When she mustered up enough courage to open her eyes again, she was a distance away staring at the headless body of her assailant. Not feeling anything in moments in between she looked herself over finding mostly everything there and working. She certainly fared better then Logan. Who's heavily tattered and scorched remains never moved from where it was planted. "Logan," she called out to him. She didn't expect him to answer but given the nature of her betters she secretly hoped he'd get up like it was no big deal. "Hey, whoever you are, is Logan okay?" she asked. Not even the voice that had so blatantly invaded her mind was responding to her anymore.
"Logan!" she yelled out a little louder in hopes he didn't hear her the first time. A chilling thought began to emerge. While she was aware Franny had been essentially killed and brought back to life she had no idea what went into performing such a feat. Did Elixir require all of the deceased to revive them? Was it only specific people? Did he need to get to the victim before a certain amount of time? If she didn't act now would he be beyond Elixir's ability? Unabated by anyone to bounce ideas off of they collected in her brain at alarming speeds as she scrambled towards him.
Despite her best efforts he was almost impossible to move. She absolutely couldn't believe a man of his stature was this insanely heavy. Kenna would be the first to admit her own physical faults, but he would hardly budge. The very best she could do was turn him over and she regretted that instantly. Almost his entire front side was blown off. Just meat and bones. Shiny bones at that, the metallic sheen of his skeleton briefly distracted her from the gruesomeness his visage had become until the flesh started to reclaim it. All that he had lost was sewing itself back together in a grotesque display. Kenna was as relieved as she was horrified.
"You wouldn't happen to have a cigar on you?" asked Logan as his face completed its work.
"No," said Kenna.
"Beer?"
"No,"
"Great," He pushed himself up and reclined against the side of the hole.
"I-,"
"Don't bother Pinky filled me in."
"Is there anything I can do to help with-,"
"Stop talking," said Logan scratching the back of his neck. They sat there for a while with nothing but the occasional stream of lightning. "Are you alright?" he asked, finally breaking the silence.
"Yes sir, I'm fine."
"Good."
"Is this it?" Kenna asked looking up into the sky.
"Is this what?" He asked as if annoyed by the question.
"How it all ends?"
"No."
"Mr. Logan?"
"What?" he asked in the same annoyed tone.
"Are you sure?"
"Look just stick with me and you'll be fine. I'm the best at what I do."
"Teach history?"
"No, but I am pretty good at that too."
"Would you be receptive to some constructive criticism?"
"Are you serious?"
"You seem to focus a lot on the more military part of history."
"Aliens are pouring out of a hole in the sky above Manhattan and you're complaining about my class?"
"I'm just saying other things happened in history that didn't involve people shooting each other."
"Yeah, well, I wasn't around for those."
"And honestly I'd really like to be in one of those parts now."
"Me too kid."
"Are we winning?"
"No, but we're not losing either. Rodgers managed to keep the fight in the Manhattan area, we're just getting some of the bolder scouts right now."
"If you're the best at what you do then why aren't you there?"
"Cause when Summers doesn't have his head up his ass he's actually pretty good at what he does too."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"To keep you alive."
"I like this answer and enjoy everything it implies." Logan grunted as he stood up.
"Can you walk?"
"I think so, why?"
"We need to get moving. Chuck said they just launched a nuke."