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Title: The New Mutants II, Volume VI: Debrief
Author: kanedax
Fandom: X-Men Movieverse
Spoilers: The New Mutants I & NM II, Vol I-VI (see above)
Pairings: Bobby/Kitty
Rating: R for language
Summary: The X-Men debrief the previous night, and someone knows more than they're letting on
Notes: I'm definitely having a lot of fun bringing the XMMverse into the larger Marvel universe, and I hope everyone's enjoying it, too. There's definitely more to come. As usual, I don't own the X-Men, Marvel Comics, 20th Century Fox, or Good Eats Volume III. Cursed Target, pulling it from the shelves so fast.
Previous Chapter (Fantastic) / Next Chapter (Steppin' Out)
Ororo Munroe opened the door to her office, where the four X-Men were seated. Sean Cassidy followed close behind. Ororo closed the door and walked to her desk.
“You all got enough sleep last night?”
“Yeah,” Bobby said, and Kitty and Rogue nodded. Peter was hunched over his sketchpad, scribbling furiously.
“No injuries that you need to report to Moira? No signs of hypothermia?” this last question she asked Kitty in particular.
“No, I’m fine,” Kitty said, suddenly feeling like she was in an interrogation room.
“Okay,” Ororo said, sitting at her desk. “So what happened?”
“Well, pretty much like we told you last night,” Rogue said. “There was a bus crash on the bridge.”
“The news reports are saying it was brake failure,” Ororo interjected.
“Part failed brakes, part asshole driver,” Rogue continued. “The bus wouldn’t have been swerving if it weren’t for that sports car. Anyway, the bus crashed. We got out and tried to assist as well as we could.”
“Kitty was able to get most of the passengers off by the time everything was over,” Bobby said. “And Pete was doing a great job keeping the bus from sliding.”
“And then the new players showed up.” Ororo said.
“In a helicopter, yeah,” Kitty said.
“What did the helicopter look like?” Ororo asked.
“Um, I don’t know,” Bobby said uncomfortably. “Black. With a door on the side. Spinning blades?”
“Sorry, Bobby,” Sean said. “These questions may seem to be shooting pretty fast, but it’s standard procedure for X-Men. Kind of a debriefing. We’re just trying to get as much information as we can get, especially if there’s a new mutant organization involved.”
“If they were mutants,” Ororo said.
“Well, they would have to be, wouldn’t they?” Rogue said as Peter reached into a leather pouch and pulling out a blue pencil. “They had abilities that weren’t human. Where else could they be?”
“Well, all but one,” Peter said, the blue-tipped pencil brushing across the page.
“The iron man,” Ororo said.
“Could have been,” Bobby said. “Could have been a robot for all we know. Artificial intelligence? We never actually saw his face.”
“What were they calling him?” Rogue asked. “Tony?”
“Tony sounds right,” Peter replied. As he did, he tore off the page and pushed it across the desk. “This is the suit like I can remember it.”
“Yeah, there’s a full faceplate,” Ororo said, studying the sketch. “And the colors are right? Blue and white?”
“They were all in blue and white,” Rogue said. “The designs of their outfits were pretty similar to Tony there, but he was the only one masked.”
“So you have a group with a high-tech robot or robotic suit,” Sean said, leaning over the desk, “And their own helicopter. They’re certainly not lacking for cash. Could they be government? The blue and white might be S.H.I.E.L.D.”
“The US Government hasn’t been too keen on mutant ops,” Ororo said. “At least not anything as high-profile as this. Weapon X was the only one that I’ve heard of, and that was top secret.”
“The suits that the others had were pretty funky, too,” Bobby said. “The stretching guy had a suit that could stretch with him. The flame guy had a suit that stayed intact after it was torched.”
“And the woman who put up the force field could make her suit invisible with her,” Rogue continued, “But that might not mean anything, if her invisibility is a field, as well.”
“What about the other two?” she said, turning to Peter. “You said there were two big guys, right?”
“Yeah,” Peter said, pulling two more colored pencils from his bag. “Both of them were bigger than me. One who could talk, they called him Ben. He was made of rock. Seemed like a nice guy, though.”
“And the other?”
“I don’t know,” Peter continued. “Big. Green. He didn’t say a word. He had to be told by Ben to stop pulling on the bus, and when Ben tried to stop him, the green guy turned and screamed at him. I thought he was gonna smack him, but Ben talked him down, and the green guy hugged him.”
“Hugged him?”
“I guess,” Peter said. “Not a between friends hug, or anything. It reminded me of the type of hug that a monkey gives to his trainer.”
“So basically it didn’t seem like the green one didn’t have much control?”
“Not so much no control,” Rogue said. “More that he didn’t have a lot of smarts to begin with. I like Peter’s ‘monkey’ description. I couldn’t peg it last night, but it seems right now.”
“So we have a giant orange mutant,” Ororo said, counting on her fingers, “A giant green ape. An invisible woman, a human torch, a man who can stretch, and a robot man. We have a Tony and a Ben. Anyone else remember any other names?”
“Well, the fire guy was called John,” Bobby said.
“John?” Ororo said, straightening up. “And he had control over fire?”
“Not Allerdyce,” Rogue said, shaking her head quickly. “Believe me, I thought it for a second, too. Not anything I like to think about.”
Bobby turned to Rogue and squeezed her hand. He was the only one in the room, besides her, who had been in the Academy the night John Allerdyce and the Brotherhood had attacked. The fact that he had been unconscious during the fight between John and Rogue which had resulted in his death, along with the death of Jubilation Lee, didn’t make him feel any less responsible for trying to help her come to terms with the incident.
“It wasn’t him,” Rogue continued softly. “He was taller. Blond. And a lot cockier and a lot less psychotic than John ever was.”
“Besides,” Bobby said, “Kitty and I had been around John for years. He could always control fire, but he could never make it. He couldn't stand heat, either. There’s no way he could have covered himself in fire like that without burning himself.”
“And he couldn’t fly,” Kitty said. “This guy could, I guess. I was in the bus most of the time, so I didn’t see a lot of the action.”
“So he could set himself on fire and fly,” Ororo muttered, tapping her finger on her desk. She turned to Sean. “Can you think of any connection?”
Sean shrugged. “Hot air currents? It’s possible it’s a secondary mutation. It sounds like the woman had one, too, since she could turn herself invisible and create force fields.”
“How about any other names?” Ororo asked the four.
“I think I remember Ben calling the big green one ‘Bruce’,” Peter said.
“I don’t remember the other two,” Bobby said. “I think they called the stretching one Rick? Something like that, started with an ‘R’.”
“And the robot guy called the woman something, but I didn’t hear it very well,” Rogue said. “Bobby was closer.”
“I was…” Bobby said, looking over at Kitty, “I was focused somewhere else for a while.”
“Well,” Ororo sighed, standing up, “It’s a profile, at least. I’m going to contact Hank, see if he has any information. Sean, get Moira on this. See if she can use any of her connections to find mutants matching these descriptions.”
“What about us?” Bobby asked as the group left the office.
“Get this sketch to Forge,” she said, handing it to Peter. “He might have read up on something like this. Or if you give him a full description of its capabilities, we might be able to back-trace some components. Find buyers, that kind of thing.”
“That’s gonna be like a needle in a haystack, isn’t it?” Rogue asked.
“We don’t have much to go on,” Ororo said. “Since we don’t know if they’re good guys, bad guys pretending to be good guys, or just bad guys with good intentions, I want to make sure we’re…”
“Professor Munroe!!” A voice screamed from the base of the stairs.
“Jimmy certainly has a set of lungs,” Ororo flinched as they turned to the top of the stairs. “What is it?”
“There’s a press conference on TV about the crash last night,” Jimmy said as they reached the bottom.
“Maybe they’ll have some more information for us to work with,” Ororo said.
As they entered the living room, they found the entirety of the class and faculty had responded to the sound of Jimmy’s voice, and were sitting on every available inch of floor and couch. The television was showing the front steps of a modern-looking tower. There was a microphone-covered podium, and flashbulbs were currently lighting up the face of the US Secretary of Defense, Bolivar Trask.
…But the incident in New York last night forced us to make this project known to the public earlier than anticipated, Trask said as the group entered, his baggy eyes showing a combination of embarrassment and excitement.
“Project?” Bishop asked to the television.
So, at this time, Trask continued, I would like to introduce the individuals responsible for the rescue of thirty-five American citizens last night. They are known by us as Project Defender, and, um… he looked off-camera, as if listening to someone speaking, and smiled broadly, Apparently it’s a name they wish to keep, at least for the time being. So, um, Project Defender.
“Or maybe they’ll give us a lot of answers,” Sean said quietly as six people lined up behind the podium. “They didn’t save the thirty-five lives!” Theresa said, turning in shock to Kitty. “You did! They just saved a bus, and ended up blowing it up!”
“Well,” Kitty responded quietly to Theresa, “I wouldn’t have been able to save everyone if they hadn’t shown up.”
Ororo furrowed her brow, and turned back to the monitor, where a man had stepped to the podium. He wore his black hair slicked back, and he had a black mustache and goatee. He was dressed in a blue and white metal suit, and held a matching helmet under his arm. A small murmur erupted through the press representatives.
“Holy shit,” Forge said, leaning forward on the back of the couch, “Is that who I think it is?”
Good morning, the man said. I can see some of you already recognize me, but for the others, my name is Anthony Stark. I’m the founder and CEO of Stark Industries, based here in New York. I’ve been elected the mouthpiece, if you will, of our little rag-tag band. But before I start answering questions, I’d like to introduce the world to Project Defender.
First, to my right, at this time he motioned to a small, bespectacled man wearing a suit that was about two sizes too large for him, is Dr. Bruce Banner. He’s a nuclear physicist with a degree from Empire State University in New York.
”Bruce Banner?” Ororo said quietly. As the man appeared, she saw that Franklin, who was sitting in front of everyone on the floor, had straightened up.
“There’s no way that’s the same Bruce,” Rogue said. “That guy’s a shrimp.”
Next is Sgt. Benjamin Grimm of the United States Marine Corp. The large covered man raised his hand slightly, as though embarrassed to be acknowledged. The flashing bulbs from the cameras increased to almost a strobe-like speed.
Stark cleared his throat. Next up is Jonathan Strom, a private citizen from-
At this, the young blond man jumped forward and grabbed a random microphone, pulling it towards his mouth.
Actually, he said with a cocky grin as he leaned over the podium, pushing Stark out of the way, The name’s Storm. Johnny Storm. And, ladies, I’m available. Just call 911 and I’ll be-
Thank you, John, Stark interrupted, wrestling the microphone from Strom as a wave of laughter erupted from the press.
“Oh, good,” Rogue muttered. “He just wasn’t a prick at the crash. He’s just a prick, period.”
“Kinda cute, though,” Paige said. “Anyone have a phone around?” She smiled and looked at her brother, but Sam’s narrowed eyes wiped it from her face.
“It’s a joke,” she said nervously.
“Not a very funny one,” he growled.
“Él es el intentar justo protegerle, Paige,” Cecelia said, laughing. “Tengo un hermano, él lo hago toda la hora.”
Paige and Sam stared blankly at Cecelia, then at each other.
“I’m working on a translator,” Forge said to them, “Don’t worry.”
And the final two members of the team, Stark said. The camera panned over to the last male, as well as the final female of the group. Ororo saw Franklin stiffen considerably, leaning towards the screen.
“Franklin,” she said. “Franklin!” the second time, he jerked around, as if pulled from a trance.
“We need to talk.”
“What?” he said, his voice wavering, his eyes not blinking.
“Come on,” Ororo said. “Jones, Tivo.”
“It’s been on since Trask first showed up.”
Franklin slowly pulled himself to his feet, and followed Ororo down the hall. As they turned the corner, she felt something in her thoughts, like narrow fingers pulling apart her mind. She whirled on Franklin.
“Stop reading my thoughts,” she said angrily.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Franklin said loudly, answering the question that she was preparing to ask. “This is the first time I’ve heard about their super-powers.”
“You didn’t know about…”
“The eye color thing is all they’ve told me about,” Franklin continued.
“Stop it,” she repeated.
“No, I don’t know that military guy,” he maddenly pressed on, the fingers digging through her mind. “Stark is my dad’s boss, he hired him before I was born. Bruce is my dad’s friend, and Uncle John is my mom’s brother.”
“Jimmy!” she yelled, her hands flying to her forehead.
And stop trying to think about what Uncle John looks like naked, Franklin said in her head. That's kinda sick.
“Get out of my head!” Ororo growled. As she did, Jimmy turned the corner, and the fingers left her mind as he raised his nullification field.
“One of the things you’re going to learn, Franklin,” Ororo panted, “Is that a person’s mind is their own, and not your own personal Rolodex.”
“Whatever,” Franklin snorted.
“You’re telling me you don’t know anything,” she said as Jimmy approached the two.
“My dad, my mom, and my uncle are on TV,” Franklin said firmly, “saying that they’re fucking superheroes.”
“And you didn’t know anything,” Ororo repeated, “despite the fact that you seem to have no problem digging into people’s minds.”
Franklin shrugged. “They’re my parents,” he said. “I wouldn’t do that to them. They’re ten times the person you are, Munroe. You’re just a teacher.”
“What?”
“I’m going to watch in the dorm,” he said, whirling around and walking towards the stairs. Ororo stared after him, seething.
“Professor?” Jimmy said quietly, pulling back his field. As he did, electricity began to crackle through her hair.
“Professor?” he repeated, and as she spun, he took a step back. Her white eyes were full of anger. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine,” she growled, and stalked back to the living room.
Well, I told them I’d only be on board if I could wear the suit, Stark was saying, to a polite roll of laughter.
“X-Men, I want a full report on the press conference,” Ororo ordered, walking through the room. “I’m contacting Beast to see if he knows anything about this Project Defender.
“Someone’s lying, and I want to get to the bottom of it.”
Previous Chapter (Fantastic) / Next Chapter (Steppin' Out)
Title: The New Mutants II, Volume VI: Debrief
Author: kanedax
Fandom: X-Men Movieverse
Spoilers: The New Mutants I & NM II, Vol I-VI (see above)
Pairings: Bobby/Kitty
Rating: R for language
Summary: The X-Men debrief the previous night, and someone knows more than they're letting on
Notes: I'm definitely having a lot of fun bringing the XMMverse into the larger Marvel universe, and I hope everyone's enjoying it, too. There's definitely more to come. As usual, I don't own the X-Men, Marvel Comics, 20th Century Fox, or Good Eats Volume III. Cursed Target, pulling it from the shelves so fast.
Previous Chapter (Fantastic) / Next Chapter (Steppin' Out)
Ororo Munroe opened the door to her office, where the four X-Men were seated. Sean Cassidy followed close behind. Ororo closed the door and walked to her desk.
“You all got enough sleep last night?”
“Yeah,” Bobby said, and Kitty and Rogue nodded. Peter was hunched over his sketchpad, scribbling furiously.
“No injuries that you need to report to Moira? No signs of hypothermia?” this last question she asked Kitty in particular.
“No, I’m fine,” Kitty said, suddenly feeling like she was in an interrogation room.
“Okay,” Ororo said, sitting at her desk. “So what happened?”
“Well, pretty much like we told you last night,” Rogue said. “There was a bus crash on the bridge.”
“The news reports are saying it was brake failure,” Ororo interjected.
“Part failed brakes, part asshole driver,” Rogue continued. “The bus wouldn’t have been swerving if it weren’t for that sports car. Anyway, the bus crashed. We got out and tried to assist as well as we could.”
“Kitty was able to get most of the passengers off by the time everything was over,” Bobby said. “And Pete was doing a great job keeping the bus from sliding.”
“And then the new players showed up.” Ororo said.
“In a helicopter, yeah,” Kitty said.
“What did the helicopter look like?” Ororo asked.
“Um, I don’t know,” Bobby said uncomfortably. “Black. With a door on the side. Spinning blades?”
“Sorry, Bobby,” Sean said. “These questions may seem to be shooting pretty fast, but it’s standard procedure for X-Men. Kind of a debriefing. We’re just trying to get as much information as we can get, especially if there’s a new mutant organization involved.”
“If they were mutants,” Ororo said.
“Well, they would have to be, wouldn’t they?” Rogue said as Peter reached into a leather pouch and pulling out a blue pencil. “They had abilities that weren’t human. Where else could they be?”
“Well, all but one,” Peter said, the blue-tipped pencil brushing across the page.
“The iron man,” Ororo said.
“Could have been,” Bobby said. “Could have been a robot for all we know. Artificial intelligence? We never actually saw his face.”
“What were they calling him?” Rogue asked. “Tony?”
“Tony sounds right,” Peter replied. As he did, he tore off the page and pushed it across the desk. “This is the suit like I can remember it.”
“Yeah, there’s a full faceplate,” Ororo said, studying the sketch. “And the colors are right? Blue and white?”
“They were all in blue and white,” Rogue said. “The designs of their outfits were pretty similar to Tony there, but he was the only one masked.”
“So you have a group with a high-tech robot or robotic suit,” Sean said, leaning over the desk, “And their own helicopter. They’re certainly not lacking for cash. Could they be government? The blue and white might be S.H.I.E.L.D.”
“The US Government hasn’t been too keen on mutant ops,” Ororo said. “At least not anything as high-profile as this. Weapon X was the only one that I’ve heard of, and that was top secret.”
“The suits that the others had were pretty funky, too,” Bobby said. “The stretching guy had a suit that could stretch with him. The flame guy had a suit that stayed intact after it was torched.”
“And the woman who put up the force field could make her suit invisible with her,” Rogue continued, “But that might not mean anything, if her invisibility is a field, as well.”
“What about the other two?” she said, turning to Peter. “You said there were two big guys, right?”
“Yeah,” Peter said, pulling two more colored pencils from his bag. “Both of them were bigger than me. One who could talk, they called him Ben. He was made of rock. Seemed like a nice guy, though.”
“And the other?”
“I don’t know,” Peter continued. “Big. Green. He didn’t say a word. He had to be told by Ben to stop pulling on the bus, and when Ben tried to stop him, the green guy turned and screamed at him. I thought he was gonna smack him, but Ben talked him down, and the green guy hugged him.”
“Hugged him?”
“I guess,” Peter said. “Not a between friends hug, or anything. It reminded me of the type of hug that a monkey gives to his trainer.”
“So basically it didn’t seem like the green one didn’t have much control?”
“Not so much no control,” Rogue said. “More that he didn’t have a lot of smarts to begin with. I like Peter’s ‘monkey’ description. I couldn’t peg it last night, but it seems right now.”
“So we have a giant orange mutant,” Ororo said, counting on her fingers, “A giant green ape. An invisible woman, a human torch, a man who can stretch, and a robot man. We have a Tony and a Ben. Anyone else remember any other names?”
“Well, the fire guy was called John,” Bobby said.
“John?” Ororo said, straightening up. “And he had control over fire?”
“Not Allerdyce,” Rogue said, shaking her head quickly. “Believe me, I thought it for a second, too. Not anything I like to think about.”
Bobby turned to Rogue and squeezed her hand. He was the only one in the room, besides her, who had been in the Academy the night John Allerdyce and the Brotherhood had attacked. The fact that he had been unconscious during the fight between John and Rogue which had resulted in his death, along with the death of Jubilation Lee, didn’t make him feel any less responsible for trying to help her come to terms with the incident.
“It wasn’t him,” Rogue continued softly. “He was taller. Blond. And a lot cockier and a lot less psychotic than John ever was.”
“Besides,” Bobby said, “Kitty and I had been around John for years. He could always control fire, but he could never make it. He couldn't stand heat, either. There’s no way he could have covered himself in fire like that without burning himself.”
“And he couldn’t fly,” Kitty said. “This guy could, I guess. I was in the bus most of the time, so I didn’t see a lot of the action.”
“So he could set himself on fire and fly,” Ororo muttered, tapping her finger on her desk. She turned to Sean. “Can you think of any connection?”
Sean shrugged. “Hot air currents? It’s possible it’s a secondary mutation. It sounds like the woman had one, too, since she could turn herself invisible and create force fields.”
“How about any other names?” Ororo asked the four.
“I think I remember Ben calling the big green one ‘Bruce’,” Peter said.
“I don’t remember the other two,” Bobby said. “I think they called the stretching one Rick? Something like that, started with an ‘R’.”
“And the robot guy called the woman something, but I didn’t hear it very well,” Rogue said. “Bobby was closer.”
“I was…” Bobby said, looking over at Kitty, “I was focused somewhere else for a while.”
“Well,” Ororo sighed, standing up, “It’s a profile, at least. I’m going to contact Hank, see if he has any information. Sean, get Moira on this. See if she can use any of her connections to find mutants matching these descriptions.”
“What about us?” Bobby asked as the group left the office.
“Get this sketch to Forge,” she said, handing it to Peter. “He might have read up on something like this. Or if you give him a full description of its capabilities, we might be able to back-trace some components. Find buyers, that kind of thing.”
“That’s gonna be like a needle in a haystack, isn’t it?” Rogue asked.
“We don’t have much to go on,” Ororo said. “Since we don’t know if they’re good guys, bad guys pretending to be good guys, or just bad guys with good intentions, I want to make sure we’re…”
“Professor Munroe!!” A voice screamed from the base of the stairs.
“Jimmy certainly has a set of lungs,” Ororo flinched as they turned to the top of the stairs. “What is it?”
“There’s a press conference on TV about the crash last night,” Jimmy said as they reached the bottom.
“Maybe they’ll have some more information for us to work with,” Ororo said.
As they entered the living room, they found the entirety of the class and faculty had responded to the sound of Jimmy’s voice, and were sitting on every available inch of floor and couch. The television was showing the front steps of a modern-looking tower. There was a microphone-covered podium, and flashbulbs were currently lighting up the face of the US Secretary of Defense, Bolivar Trask.
…But the incident in New York last night forced us to make this project known to the public earlier than anticipated, Trask said as the group entered, his baggy eyes showing a combination of embarrassment and excitement.
“Project?” Bishop asked to the television.
So, at this time, Trask continued, I would like to introduce the individuals responsible for the rescue of thirty-five American citizens last night. They are known by us as Project Defender, and, um… he looked off-camera, as if listening to someone speaking, and smiled broadly, Apparently it’s a name they wish to keep, at least for the time being. So, um, Project Defender.
“Or maybe they’ll give us a lot of answers,” Sean said quietly as six people lined up behind the podium. “They didn’t save the thirty-five lives!” Theresa said, turning in shock to Kitty. “You did! They just saved a bus, and ended up blowing it up!”
“Well,” Kitty responded quietly to Theresa, “I wouldn’t have been able to save everyone if they hadn’t shown up.”
Ororo furrowed her brow, and turned back to the monitor, where a man had stepped to the podium. He wore his black hair slicked back, and he had a black mustache and goatee. He was dressed in a blue and white metal suit, and held a matching helmet under his arm. A small murmur erupted through the press representatives.
“Holy shit,” Forge said, leaning forward on the back of the couch, “Is that who I think it is?”
Good morning, the man said. I can see some of you already recognize me, but for the others, my name is Anthony Stark. I’m the founder and CEO of Stark Industries, based here in New York. I’ve been elected the mouthpiece, if you will, of our little rag-tag band. But before I start answering questions, I’d like to introduce the world to Project Defender.
First, to my right, at this time he motioned to a small, bespectacled man wearing a suit that was about two sizes too large for him, is Dr. Bruce Banner. He’s a nuclear physicist with a degree from Empire State University in New York.
”Bruce Banner?” Ororo said quietly. As the man appeared, she saw that Franklin, who was sitting in front of everyone on the floor, had straightened up.
“There’s no way that’s the same Bruce,” Rogue said. “That guy’s a shrimp.”
Next is Sgt. Benjamin Grimm of the United States Marine Corp. The large covered man raised his hand slightly, as though embarrassed to be acknowledged. The flashing bulbs from the cameras increased to almost a strobe-like speed.
Stark cleared his throat. Next up is Jonathan Strom, a private citizen from-
At this, the young blond man jumped forward and grabbed a random microphone, pulling it towards his mouth.
Actually, he said with a cocky grin as he leaned over the podium, pushing Stark out of the way, The name’s Storm. Johnny Storm. And, ladies, I’m available. Just call 911 and I’ll be-
Thank you, John, Stark interrupted, wrestling the microphone from Strom as a wave of laughter erupted from the press.
“Oh, good,” Rogue muttered. “He just wasn’t a prick at the crash. He’s just a prick, period.”
“Kinda cute, though,” Paige said. “Anyone have a phone around?” She smiled and looked at her brother, but Sam’s narrowed eyes wiped it from her face.
“It’s a joke,” she said nervously.
“Not a very funny one,” he growled.
“Él es el intentar justo protegerle, Paige,” Cecelia said, laughing. “Tengo un hermano, él lo hago toda la hora.”
Paige and Sam stared blankly at Cecelia, then at each other.
“I’m working on a translator,” Forge said to them, “Don’t worry.”
And the final two members of the team, Stark said. The camera panned over to the last male, as well as the final female of the group. Ororo saw Franklin stiffen considerably, leaning towards the screen.
“Franklin,” she said. “Franklin!” the second time, he jerked around, as if pulled from a trance.
“We need to talk.”
“What?” he said, his voice wavering, his eyes not blinking.
“Come on,” Ororo said. “Jones, Tivo.”
“It’s been on since Trask first showed up.”
Franklin slowly pulled himself to his feet, and followed Ororo down the hall. As they turned the corner, she felt something in her thoughts, like narrow fingers pulling apart her mind. She whirled on Franklin.
“Stop reading my thoughts,” she said angrily.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Franklin said loudly, answering the question that she was preparing to ask. “This is the first time I’ve heard about their super-powers.”
“You didn’t know about…”
“The eye color thing is all they’ve told me about,” Franklin continued.
“Stop it,” she repeated.
“No, I don’t know that military guy,” he maddenly pressed on, the fingers digging through her mind. “Stark is my dad’s boss, he hired him before I was born. Bruce is my dad’s friend, and Uncle John is my mom’s brother.”
“Jimmy!” she yelled, her hands flying to her forehead.
And stop trying to think about what Uncle John looks like naked, Franklin said in her head. That's kinda sick.
“Get out of my head!” Ororo growled. As she did, Jimmy turned the corner, and the fingers left her mind as he raised his nullification field.
“One of the things you’re going to learn, Franklin,” Ororo panted, “Is that a person’s mind is their own, and not your own personal Rolodex.”
“Whatever,” Franklin snorted.
“You’re telling me you don’t know anything,” she said as Jimmy approached the two.
“My dad, my mom, and my uncle are on TV,” Franklin said firmly, “saying that they’re fucking superheroes.”
“And you didn’t know anything,” Ororo repeated, “despite the fact that you seem to have no problem digging into people’s minds.”
Franklin shrugged. “They’re my parents,” he said. “I wouldn’t do that to them. They’re ten times the person you are, Munroe. You’re just a teacher.”
“What?”
“I’m going to watch in the dorm,” he said, whirling around and walking towards the stairs. Ororo stared after him, seething.
“Professor?” Jimmy said quietly, pulling back his field. As he did, electricity began to crackle through her hair.
“Professor?” he repeated, and as she spun, he took a step back. Her white eyes were full of anger. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine,” she growled, and stalked back to the living room.
Well, I told them I’d only be on board if I could wear the suit, Stark was saying, to a polite roll of laughter.
“X-Men, I want a full report on the press conference,” Ororo ordered, walking through the room. “I’m contacting Beast to see if he knows anything about this Project Defender.
“Someone’s lying, and I want to get to the bottom of it.”
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