The X-Project

The group arrive at the Danger Room and set up base camp, trying to figure out what's going on. They realize the bad guys are closing in, so they split up into two groups.



Things were, at the least, going as plan. For the moment. They'd managed to rescue the Professor out of the Box, and they'd made it back here to rendezvous with the others not caught in the nightmare without getting caught. Amara offered something of a tight smile to Haller, Crystal and Doug before glancing back to the Professor, just to be sure he was with them and safe.

Barely managing a nod at Amara, Jim stepped towards the group more swiftly than was strictly necessary, even under the circumstances. "Is everyone okay?" he asked, though he was looking at Charles. He briefly touched the other man's mind, the brush flooded with relief -- which was promptly replaced by the psychic equivalent of a double-take when he registered that the professor's current mode of transportation appeared to be Jubilee with her arms hooked through his, fueled only by determination and all the leverage a 104 lbs girl could offer. The professor's slacks indicated at least a portion of their journey had featured dragging.

"Quite well, thank you," Charles replied with something of an embarrassed smile. "Miss Lee has done admirable work as my beast of burden. They have all done extremely well, to free me from my prison."

"So, now that your tall, and much heavier school counselor is here, can I quit with the Burro impersonation?" Jubilee asked, giving Haller a somewhat pained look. While she was incredibly fit, she'd still found it difficult carrying someone not only taller then herself but half again as heavy.

"Um, yes." Quickly, though somewhat clumsily, Jim managed to get the professor onto his back, the man's arms around his neck. He gave Meggan and Amara a smile that managed to be only slightly embarrassed. "Good work," he said, meaning their recovery of the professor and sincere in his gratitude.

Doug kept up a cursing monologue against all technopaths under his breath as he jacked his netbook directly into the Danger Room's door controls. The mansion wasn't precisely his home turf these days, but he had helped Forge install and upgrade much of the software in the mansion, and the pair of them had left themselves certain backdoors into the most essential and sensitive systems. And a technopath unfamiliar with just how complex the mansion was under the hood couldn't be everywhere at once. Doug spared a quick and vicious thought that he wouldn't mind trapping Mastermold in the Danger Room like a rat in a cage, and then after a few keystrokes, the doors hissed open. "Open sesame," he murmured.

Meggan returned the nod to Haller with a small, sympathetic smile, before her attention turned to the opening doors. Being one of the closest, she cautiously poked her head in and took in the scene before entering the rest of the way. So she would know where not to step, if anyone was closest to the doors. She was deeply worried for all the people that were still trapped, unable to extricate themselves from those nightmare scenarios. At a time like this, she didn’t want anyone waking up to a broken rib or bruise shaped like a foot, in addition to anything else going on. She needn’t have worried, though, for they were not placed that close to the entrance.

Crystal followed Meggan into the room, eyes widening as she took in the scene around her. While most people appeared to be sleeping, it was quite clear that not everyone had remained unscathed. She settled down next to a bleeding body, one that no longer had an intake or outtake of breath. Her back to the door, she didn't get up until it was clear that nothing could be done to save the Stepford girl. Crystal could help keep someone alive, but the life had already been extinguished from the young body. None of her powers, and no medical supplies in the world, could bring the blonde back to life. All Crystal could do now was try to make sure no one else suffered the same fate.

Things didn't seem to have changed much in the Danger Room since they'd left it - everyone was still trapped in their dream world, slumped in sleep on the floor. Amara's gaze flickered over everyone before returning to Charles and Haller.

"What do we do next?"

"We need to awaken the rest of our friends," Charles said, sounding much like his usual self, despite his rather absurd position on Haller's back. "Mr Haller and I..." He stopped, eyes going distant. "We do not have much time. I believe my absence has been discovered."

Doug had managed to backtrace the specific biometric information that the intruders had used to gain entrance to the mansion, and so he could track them - as long as the technopath was distracted from what it was Doug was trying to do inside the mansion's systems, that is. And right now several of the intruders looked to be making a beeline for the Danger Room. "Whatever you're going to do, it better be fast, Professor," he said urgently. "They're coming fast," he agreed with the Professor's assessment.

Jim turned to face the hallway. No one yet, but that would change. "We're going to be vulnerable while we try waking people up," he said, swinging back to face the others. "We're not even sure what we're dealing with yet . . ."

Charles looked over to the group of young women. "Amara, Jubilee, I need you to be our protection outside. Act as our front line of defence, try and distract our foes from entering this room. Crystal..." He switched his attention to the princess. "You will be our second line. Mr. Haller and I will be vulnerable while we attempt to break the hold on everyone's minds and we will need someone to ensure we remain safe."

Crystal nodded at Xavier. Hopefully she wouldn't need to act in the role of bodyguard, but if she needed to do it, she would do it to the best of her ability. The telepaths needed to concentrate on their task, and they would have a much easier time of it if they knew they were protected. This place was supposed to provide a safe havens for mutants, and someone had crushed that safety. It was time to take it back.

“I could stay here, with you,” Meggan offered. “If you need any extra help with any sleeping people, that is.” There was always the very high probability more than one person might be in distress, and if there was any way whatsoever that she could be of use here, no matter how tiny, she wanted to put the idea out there.

There wasn't really all that much that could be done with those who remained sleeping, but Crystal could understand the feeling of wanting to be helpful, of needing to keep busy during a time like this. It wouldn't hurt anyone for Meggan to stay here, and for the moment it was actually much safer for the young woman to remain here than it would be for her to be on the outside of the room. Enough people were in danger already. Crystal would protect Meggan along with Xavier, Haller, and the sleeping mutants.

Crystal offered Meggan a smile. "Yes, it will be helpful for you to stay here."

***

Jubilee gestured for Amara to step forward past the entrance to the Danger Room before she exited herself. She closed and locked the door behind them before turning to face the hallway where the bad guys would hopefully be appearing. "Soon as we see them, I'm gonna erect a barrier, can you do a secondary one behind mine?"

Amara nodded. "I can do that, no worries." Anyone who got past Jubilee would be met by a wall of flame - and would probably wish they hadn't. Amara didn't have the same capability for hurting people that the other woman had, but they had come here, invaded a place she thought of as home, and they'd hurt and killed people. And Amara wasn't going to let them do any more of that if she could help it.