X-men 2099UG #11

ZAKT!

The optic beam struck Tim square in the midsection. The force of it sent him
rocketing backwards onto the hard metal floor, scraping and bouncing backwards
as the beam of bright red energy pummeled and pushed him against the wall.
There was no chance for Tim to catch his breath. Briefly, Tim caught a glimpse
of the insignia on his attackers left breast. An X.

A guttural growl escaping from her lips, La Lunatica charged at Cyclops. She
let her control slip and her rage overtake her. This had been a trap and they
had foolishly walked into it. It wouldn't work. She would tear the Driver's
minions here to pieces. The one in blue was first on her list. He was hitting
Tim hard. Only SHE was allowed to do that.

Luna moved fast. A white streak homing in on Cyclops. But the man in blue moved
faster. With a flick of his head, the optic blast swiveled through the air and
decked Luna. Short bursts of the ruby-colored beam nailed Luna, pushing her
back, almost off her feet. The blasts, though short, were uncommonly strong.
She staggered under the assault.

Abruptly, Cyclops turned his attention back to Tim. Luna growled again, she was
going to hurt that one. She was going to reach inside his mind and pull out
every single fear he ever had. She was going to drain him completely, and she
was going to enjoy every minute of it. Luna charged again...

And was knocked down hard. The punch had felt like a train plowing into her
head. She could have sworn she was just hit by a metal girder. As she fell to
the ground, she got a good look at her assailant. Some well-muscled runt of a
man dressed in yellow. He gently flicked his cigar ashes onto Luna, his
contempt for her was obvious. Like he was disciplining a spoiled child. Luna
scowled, these people were beginning to make her angry.

"Gonna have to watch where you're going," the man in yellow said, his voice was
rough and surly. He raised his hand, smiling, and three thin metal claws popped
out with a SNIKT. "Wouldn't want to run into these, would ya?"

The optic blast had to be some type of energy he could absorb, Tim thought. He
tried to concentrate on it, to see if he could. But it was no good, the beam
kept him too off balance for him to do anything but try and ward the beam off.
Tim filled himself with the electrical energy that he could feel running
through the abandoned mansion. Why hadn't Book told them that the Driver had
friends hiding with him? The Alchemax School of Gifted Youngster was supposed
to be long emtpy. His body brimmed and sparked with the green-tinted energy.
His skin became transparent, his bones visible underneath. His codename,
Skullfire, was very apt.

Tim fired back at the man in blue. The blast of energy shot through the optic
beam, nailing the man squarely in the chest. The man in blue staggered back,
the optic beams ceased for a moment. Tim grinned. That was all the chance he
needed. The yellow visor had to be where those blasts were coming from. Either
that, or Cyclops had risen from the grave. Why would the Driver hire someone to
impersonate the original X-men, though? And who was that other one in yellow?
Gathering his strength, Tim fired everything he could at the man's eyepiece.

The Cyclops impersonator was faster. Before Tim could even think, an optic beam
nailed his legs, sending Tim sprawling onto the floor. Tim's blast went wide,
almost nailing Luna as she tussled with the man in yellow.

The beam of green energy zoomed past as Luna tried a fast right at the man in
yellow. All she had to do was connect. That's all. And then the fight would be
hers. The man in yellow swiped her right cross away and landed a swift kick to
her ribs. Luna winced. The man's bones had to me made of iron, it hurt so
much...

Before Luna could react at all, Wolverine drove the heel of his left palm into
Luna's jaw. Her teeth clacked together violently as her head whipped back. Luna
reeled from the blow, that was a blow meant to stun and incapicatate, she knew.
It almost did. Either she was off her game or her opponent was at the top of
his. He seemed to exert no effort as he smacked her around.

She tried to dart to the side as she recovered from the blow, he was fighting
her into a corner and she had to back away. Her opponent seemed to anticipate
that, though, and tripped her up with a swift sweep of his leg. He moved so
fast, she was barely on the ground when he moved to pin her. Pressing his right
knee hard into her stomach, he stuck his closed fist under her chin. With a
SNIKT, she felt the cold blades move up the side of her face.

"Move and I pop the third one," the man in yellow growled. Luna met his fierce
gaze with her own. There was something inherently feral about him. There was an
animal inside him, she could see. And a rage that could never be completely
quieted. It...excited her. But there was something wrong about him. Abruplty,
she knew what it was. He had no scent.

"Good work, Wolverine," Cyclops said as he approached Tim, also sprawled on the
floor. Cyclops faced Tim. "Who are you? Why have you broken in here? Who sent
you after the X-men?" Cyclops' visor burned with an intense red light. If Tim
even dared to move, dared to power up, Cyclops would blast him into the ground.

"What are you up on, fella?", Tim accused. "This is the 22nd century, WE'RE the
X-men!" Tim nodded towards Luna.

Cyclops halted for a moment, pausing to think. "Wolverine," he spoke up. "Is he
lying?"

Wolverine sniffed, never keeping his eyes off of Luna. "The nose pegs it
everytime, Cyke. These are dipped-in-the-wool liars."

Cyclops put his hand up to his visor again. "All I needed to hear." Tim could
hear Cyclops powering up.

"Wait!", Tim yelled. The two fake X-men didn't seem much interested in the
truth. If they were fake. 'Course, Tim was pretty sure that a lie couldn't be
SMELLED, but he was no expert on mutant physiology. He didn't suppose it was
possible that they were real. But then again, the Driver might have had the
original X-men's DNA information tucked away in that enormous computer of his.
Suppose he reconstructed these two to protect him? "We didn't come here to
attack you!", Tim continued.

"Funny way to express it, breaking into the mansion," Wolvering growled.

"We're looking for someone. We think he's here." Tim put up his hands to signal
their good intentions. "We're, uh, hunting him. He's a criminal and we know
he's hiding in here somewhere. We thought he was in here, but I guess we found
you instead." Tim knew it was outright lie. But if that Wolverine character was
taking the truth for lies, maybe he'd take the lie for truth. It was worth a
try, wasn't it?

"They're still bluffin'. How 'bout I carve the truth out of this one?"
Wolverine smiled at Luna. "Whattya say, Cyke?"

"You can try," Luna threatened. "But that's as far as you'll get." Swiftly, she
grabbed at Wolverine's forearm and grinned maliciously. She had him now. All it
took was a touch to trigger the memories...

Nothing happened. The tingling, the shock, the painful memories that always
rose unbidden to the surface, the way her victims were always reduced to tears.
Nothing. This man, this "Wolverine", was a blank slate. What kind of person
could he be?

Surprise and shock appeared on Luna's face, her mouth hung open. The Wolverine
glanced at her hands, they were still uselessly gripping his arm. "That all you
got?", he taunted. His right hand was poised in the air, his arm was crooked,
the claws were out and pointed directly at her head. Luna began to sweat.

Slowly, Tim got onto his feet, his arms raised above his head. Cyclops tensed.
"Don't move," Cyclops ordered, his finger poised on the side of his visor.

"What are you going to do to us?", Tim asked innocently. Slowly, he charged
himself up, drawing neglegible, minute amounts of electricity through the metal
floor. His mouth tasted like a car battery, but that was simply a side effect
of his power, and one he had long ago learned to ignore. He spared a glance
over at Luna, being held back by Wolverine. Those claws looked like metal.
Hopefully this would work.

"We're going to take you to the Professor and find out why you're really here,"
Cyclops answered.

"And if we don't want to go?", Tim taunted. Almost ready now. There was a
strong buzzing in his ears. He could feel his hair beginning to lift. Oddly
enough, Cyclops' hair wasn't moving a bit. Almost now. If he drew any more
power it would start being noticeable.

Cyclops almost cracked a smile, his tone remained deadly serious. "You'll be
taken."

Tim smiled and let the charge that he had been holding go. He took a hold of it
with his powers and reversed it, channeling it into the floor. Immediately, the
charge coursed along the metal, attracted to the nearest conductors: Luna,
Cyclops, and Wolverine. It fed back into Tim, only to be released again. It
became a neverending loop within him. Releasing and flowing back, the power
building and building every time it passed back through him.

Luna yelped in surprise, her hair beginning to stick out. She sure wouldn't
appreciate the sizable shock, but that Wolverine...if those claws were metal,
he'd sure be feeling it.

Except they weren't, at least not the way Tim had planned it. Cyclops and
Wolverine didn't get electrocuted at all. They simply...disappeared.

Tim went over to Luna and helped her up. She scowled and tried to smooth her
hair. "Did you really have to do that?"

"Hey! I thought it was pretty clever, considering. I knew those guys weren't
the real twencen X-men," Tim said, staring at the spot where Cyclops had
disappeared. "A little disappointing, actually, but I suppose it's too much to
hope any of them ever lived past the Great Purge."

"Those were the original X-men?", Luna said, somewhat surprised. If that
Wolverine had really been one of them, especially a hundred years ago, maybe
they weren't as overblown as she thought...

"Yeah...that 'professor' Cyclops mentioned must have been Xavier. He's the one
who started the whole thing," Tim said wistfully. "It'd be incredible to
actually meet any of them."

Suddenly, a flurry of color flashed past them both, gathering in one spot ahead
of them. The colors seemed to be filling invisible molds. Blues and yellows and
reds, the primary colors streamed and mixed with each other. They formed human
shapes and came into focus. They were forming four distinct shapes. Tim powered
up as they took shape before him and Luna.

"Then prepare to be amazed, non?", one of them, draped in a long brown
trenchcoat said. His accent was thick. He carried a staff in one hand and what
looked like flaming playing cards in the other. Energy streamed off of them.

"Indeed, intrepid intruders. Might that we could settle this cerebellum to
cerebellum, I'm afraid your actions have forthwith required me and my normally
pacific comrades to administer some, in layman's terms, knuckle sandwiches,"
said an eloquent voice that came from a massively muscled blue-furred...beast
that crouched next to the other stranger.

"Layman's terms, McCoy?", Wolverine said, his voice as gruff as ever.

"As layman as I get," the Beast responded calmly.

"This has gone on long enough," Cyclops threatened to Tim and Luna.

Tim gulped, muttering under his breath. "You're telling me..."

*     *     *

Victor Ten Eagles pressed the door panel once more. The Tower holo-agent had
informed him that one of the X-men were in the board room. Apparently,
according to the holo-agent, he had been given unrestricted access to the upper
levels of Halo Tower where the board room was. Most likely that was Krystalin's
doing.

If one of them was in there now, though, it looked like they wanted their
privacy. No one was answering the door call. Sighing, Victor pressed the door
call for the fourth and last time. He really shouldn't have expected them to be
there. He had just kind of assumed they would be in Halo Tower...

The door slid open suddenly and Sham looked out at him, a rushed look on her
face. Victor's eyebrow raised in question. "Sorry I didn't answer right away, I
was talking to Rachel over the comline," Sham explained. "I had to explain to
her why I had to stop talking to her to answer the door but then her teacher
told her she had to go anyway and..." Sham looked up at Victor's uninterested
expression. "Anyway, come on in."

Victor stepped into the X-men's board room. "Is Krystalin around?", he asked
Sham. It seemed wrong that someone so young would be left alone in the board
room. Even with her attending his classes at the Xavier Shelter, he still
wasn't completely sure she could succesfully defend herself if a threat arose.
Perhaps it was time for a pop quiz.

"No, she's still with Xi'an and Cerebra in Oklahoma. They're probably on their
way back now. They said they wouldn't be long," Sham replied.

"Alright, I'll check back tomorrow then," Victor said, heading towards the door.

"You and Krystalin have plans today?", Sham asked, Victor paused. "You two are
such a cute couple. Personally, I don't go for muscley guys, but hey, Krys
wants what she wants."

Victor cleared his throat. "Actually, I merely needed to speak with her about
something. We happen to be good friends, that's all." Although that really
wasn't all, not that it was any of Sham's business.

"Ohhhh, you like her. You should go on a date. How long has it been since
you've done that? I can't really imagine you in that kind of situation," Sham
teased.

"Sham, this is not appropriate," he warned.

Sham took the warning gracefully, a big smile still spread across her face.
"Ohhhh, alright. I'll just have to ask Krys, then. I'll see you later, Victor."

"You have been making excellent progress, Sham, I'll see you next class,"
Victor said as he turned his back to her and headed for the door. Sham had
turned her back as well, she was walking towards the comm station now. Time to
see if his student had been paying attention in class.

Sham didn't even hear him creep up. One moment she was fine and the next she
had his arm locked around her throat. She grabbed at it uselessly. "Victo...!
Urk..." It was hard to take in air to speak. Sham gasped. "I didn't
mean...ack...anything about you and...," Sham's words were strained and quiet.
She could feel the blood welling up in her face. "...Krys...what're you..."
Sham gave up speaking and tried prying Victor's arm away again. It was solid as
rock.

Victor's voice remained calm. "This is not a crippling hold, but you will lose
consciousness soon if you do not free yourself. Consider this a pop quiz in all
that I've taught you."

This was a shockin' TEST? Victor had to be out of his mind. Lucky her, she
studied under the only teacher in Halo that doubled as a psychopath. Black dots
were beginning to swim in her vision. She wanted air so badly. It was starting
to hurt. Her lungs felt like they wanted to explode.

How was she supposed to free herself from this? He was probably four times as
strong as she was. Illusion would do no good. Sound? Could she blast him? It
worth a try. Her only try, it seemed it would be, from the way her vision was
dimming.

As her eyelids grew heavy she mustered all her strength into creating a sonic
blast that would throw Victor off his feet. She unleashed it immediately,
feeling it before she heard it. Victor's feet flew up and he crashed onto the
floor, his hold on her released. The chairs in front of them slid back from the
force of the sonic blast. The window panes darkened as they absorbed the force.
The windows for the board room were military issue double-bonded transparent
adamantium. They absorbed and dispersed any shock as well as a force field
could.

Sham hit the floor gasping and choking for air. She coughed up a fit, her
throat was hoarse and raw. If Victor ever EVER tried that again, she was going
to blow his head off from the inside out. She bet she could do it.

Victor helped Sham up gently. "That is not what I would have done, but it works
in a pinch. Under a choke hold, someone can struggle for a good minute before
their energy wanes and they pass out. Most do not last even that long. If you
had feigned unconsciousness, I most likely would have relented and dropped you.
To which you would then be free to fight back."

Sham coughed again. "Next time my teacher chokes me, I'll remember that. Don't
do that ever again."

Victor's face was serious. "Heed the lesson here, Sham. Always be prepared.
Your friend can become your foe in the blink of an eye. And they know your
weaknesses better than anyone else."

Sham stumbled over to the windows and leaned on them, still coughing and
massaging her throat. "Wonderful, thanks," she said weakly. Abruptly, her eyes
widened. "What is going on down there?"

Victor walked over to the window and looked down. Below, nestled at the foot of
the Tower, was a large group of people. They all seemed to be chanting and
yelling, some were raising their fists, up at the Tower. Up at them. There must
have been more than a hundred. It was an organized effort, yet, as far as
Victor could tell, there was no leader egging them on. Some of the protestors
below had picket signs. Victor could not make out what they said. He wasn't
sure he wanted to.

"Oh no...," Sham moaned. "Another one? I'm staying right here. They're not
gonna pin this one on me.

Victor grunted. "Most likely they're after the entire X-men, not just you."

"Well that's too bad," Sham said indignantly. "The X-men are out of town."

"Someone will have to speak to them. They will not leave, they may even turn
violent if their concerns are not addressed," Victor cautioned, carefully
gauging the situation. There seemed to be only one way out of this.

Sham laughed. "Hah! I'm not. Crowds and me are bad news."

"Indeed. I'll have to," Victor said. Sham gave him a surprised look. "Is there
a way out of Halo Tower where I can pass unseen by the protestors? If I am to
try and calm them, then I need to make it appear I am not affiliated with the
X-men."

Sham was surprised by Victor's statement, but recovered quickly. He had gone
from being her teacher, to attacker, to pacifist in less than two minutes.
There had to be some sort of miswired connection in that man's head.
"Yeah...yeah...," she stammered. "You can go to the garage and vehicle lot
underneath and come out of the east entrance and circle around to the crowd. If
that doesn't look like it will work, you can always try the loading docks or
service entrances. I'm not really sure, but there's some way."

Victor nodded. "Alright." He headed for the door with a final comment. "And
whatever you do, stay up here."

Victor felt odd as he made his way down the lift and out of the Tower. There
seemed to be a sense of urgency about the protest. As if there was something
lying under the surface, waiting to explode. He didn't know why he felt so
uneasy about it. Instinct was telling him to act. And insinct had gotten him
this far in life...it seemed only right to follow through on his feelings.

Few people gave him any sort of attention as he walked out of the Tower and
made his way around the expansive skyscraper. Above him, the twin rings that
criss-crossed around the tower's upper levels glowed brightly. The sky was dark
grey, purple-black thunderheads dotted the cloud cover. The day threatened
rain, but had not yet delivered. The dismal weather seemed to be getting to the
residents of the city. Everyone Ten Eagles passed had a frown on their face as
they stalked by. The weather wasn't making his own mood any lighter either.

He heard the protestors before he saw them. They filled the entire street,
maglev traffic was being rerouted away from the west Tower road. Immediately,
Victor spotted the Guardians spaced around the crowd, waiting. Passers-by were
gathered at the edges, watching and listening to the protestors. The crowd
consisted of both humans and mutants. Several of them had painted picket signs
and pocket holograms. Most of them had an X on them with...an X over the X?
Well, he supposed it was hard to cross out an X.

"And after all that destruction...all those lives that were lost in the
fighting...the X-men brought in the notorious Synge family to rebuild our
city!", said a man at the front of the protestors crowd. The crowd most likely
already knew about everything the ringleader was spouting, but the declarations
were still riling the crowd.

"Get them out of our city!", a miscellaneous voice from the crowd yelled. The
crowd roared in agreement. Victor couldn't tell if they meant the X-men, or
Desdemona Synge.

"The X-men claim to be our protectors. They claim to fight for a better world
where we aren't seen as mere product by the megacorps. But what do they do?
Hire Synge to rebuild our city and invite new businesses in, while destroying
the Market District! And when we protest, they attack innocent citizens!", the
man continued on with his ramble. Ten Eagles stood by. "Well this is OUR city!
Not the X-men's personal playground!"

"YEAH!", the crowd chanted in unison.

"It's time the X-men answered to us!"

"YEAH!"

The man looked up at Halo Tower and shook his fist. "Come down out of your
ivory tower, mutant elitist snobs!"

"YEAH!"

Victor started towards the ringleader. That was it. He had better intervene
before they tried to force their way into the Tower. People would only get hurt
if things went any further. He cleared his throat and too a deep breath, he
would have to shout over the crowd.

"Wait!", Ten Eagles' voice boomed. He held his hands up for attention. "Think
this through. Do we really have all the facts?"

The crowd quieted, puzzled by Victor's arrival. Although most just seemed
annoyed, especially the ringleader.

"Probably not," the ringleader yelled. "But only because the X-men have
probably been hiding them from us!" The crowd's rowdiness picked up again.

"Is that the best evidence we have? Paranoia and fear?", Victor countered,
stressing the "we" part of the sentence. It seemed that crowds like these only
listened to their own.

"Are you shockin' brain-dead?", the ringleader yelled. "We've got a corrupt
corporate family with a grip on Halo City! Are we supposed to allow that?"

"You call one Synge a 'family'?"

"They're all the same, it makes no difference!"

"It makes ALL the difference. Are you going to judge one person by the things
their family did? You're going to kick out the very people who founded this
city on such base generalizations? What's next? Stoning mutants in the public
square?" Victor stopped there. The last statement seemed to have taken the wind
out of the crowd.

"You can't justify their crimes just like that!"

"No, I can't. But has Desdemona Synge done anything wrong yet? Do you really
believe your City Council, the X-men, AND the mayor would have let Desdemona
Synge anywhere NEAR this city if they didn't believe that she would help
support the dream that brought you all here? Do you believe that the very
people who put their lives on the line for you time and again, would so readily
surrender the notion of equality and compassion for your fellow man?" Of course
they thought that, Victor mused, it was the world they had been raised in.
Cycnicism wrapped them all like a suit of armor. Anything good and wonderful
was to be carefully examined and questioned. The hazards of living in a world
dominated by the megacorps.

The crowd quieted and Ten Eagles let himself relax a little. It seemed as if
the crisis had been averted for now. He didn't want to see what it would have
been like if the group had stormed the Tower. And he especially didn't want to
see what it would have been like when they found out the X-men weren't even in
the city.

"Who are you?," the ringleader threatened. "One of them? One of the X-men? You
work for them don't you?"

"No," Victor snapped. "I'm just someone, like you, who came to this city to
start a new life. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let some ignorant buffoon
with a loud voice ruin it all for me." He punctuated the last sentence with a
jab of his finger into the chest of the ringleader.

Victor turned to the crowd. "And what about you people? Are your lives really
so bad? Maybe you lost a loved one when Exodus...or the She-Hulk attacked. Well
so did I," he lied. "And frankly, I'm glad there were dedicated people with
strong morals like the X-men to defeat those monsters. It was bad when it
happened," he paused, eyeing the crowd. "But it could have been worse."

Briskly, he turned and pretended to storm off angrily. He could hear the
ringleader mutter, "Wish I loved the X-men as much as HE does..." under his
breath. He ignored it. The protest was over, defeated, and he knew it. There
were too many sensible people in the crowd.

*     *     *

He watched from a neaby rooftop as the crowd dispersed under him. His lips
curled in disgust and his eyes flashed with the rage he was barely keeping
inside him. It would be so easy to strike now. He would be torn to pieces. The
stranger had interfered.

He concentrated his gaze on the departing stranger. There was anger in that
man, he knew. Yet there was an incredible amount of control. He was not a
common simpleton. Was he an X-man? Why would he jump to the X-men's defense so
readily if he was not? There had to be some relation.

The man turned away from the edge of the roof, red energy streaming from his
pupil-less eyes. He thrust his hands into the pockets of his black leather
trench and stalked off towards the other side of the roof. That man...that MAN
had ruined it all. He would be prepared next time. He would be merciless next
time. To hell with what Shaw wanted.

He stepped up on the edge of the roof and looked down. The ringleader of the
protestors was arguing with a few other protestors as they walked down the side
street. Abruptly, he smiled, his eyes shone with harsh red light. The arguing
below him grew louder and more fierce. The group stopped in their tracks,
yelling and cursing at each other.

The ringleader threw the punch he knew was coming and it started. The group
ganged up on the ringleader, punching and kicking. The ringleader fell prone to
the ground, curled up to ward off the group's blows. His eyes grew brighter.

"Stop right there!", a Guardian yelled from up the street. The group ran off,
leaving the ringleader twitching on the ground. He turned away and walked
across the roof towards the building stairwell, sighing in satisfaction. There.
That was better.

*     *     *

Tim showered Wolverine in a hail of electrical energy. The enormous beam of
green force bathed Wolverine completely, throwing him back against a wall and
pinning him there. Ambient energy flowed everywhere, streaming and floating,
filling the chamber. It collected in pools around its targets and swirled
around Tim. He was fully powered up and throwing out energy like it was in
endless supply.

For him it was, Tim felt, as he swiveled to blast an encroaching Beast. He was
into something much bigger than just generator lines and fusion cells. It was
like he was a doorway to an entire universe of energy. Tim raged with it, he
ached to fill himself with it, to let it overcome him. He directed it towards
his enemies in massive quantities. They would learn just what they were facing
when they went up against Skullfire. He was an unstoppable force, exploding
outwards. He doubted even Brimstone Love could stop him in this state.

To the side, Luna paired off against Gambit. She savagely thrust each blow
forward as Gambit defended with his staff. He was fast, but she was faster, she
didn't even seem to notice the blows that did connect. Luna was lost in her own
rage. She wanted to take Gambit in her grip and use her psychic touch on him.
She wanted to feast on his pain. She couldn't, he wasn't real. It only made her
madder.

Suddenly Gambit's staff was glowing and he thrust downward. An explosion lifted
Luna off her feet and sent her sailing. From across the room, Cyclops nailed
her with a precise optic blast. Luna reeled as she fell back down. She could
feel her muscles slackening and her edge fading. This fight had been drawn out
and long. Their opponents were fighting only to stun and she was off balance.

She landed with a hard thud and rolled as Gambit immediately sent two flaming
cards at her. Those things exploded at the slightest impact, she knew. It had
been Tim's idea that she go after the energy-caster's, and he go after the
physical brutes. The cards whistled past and she got up one knee. She just
needed a moment to regather her strength. Her head felt fuzzy and she was
breathing hard.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the swirling green tornado of energy
that currently was Tim. He seemed to be getting stronger by the second, feeding
on that energy as it looped through him. She couldn't even tell where his body
was, it was so completely lost in the ether.

She looked up. Gambit was running towards her, his staff glowing. So it was
going to be that way, was it? As he approached, she growled and grabbed his
staff. The explosion ripped through both of them, but Luna held on. In one
fluid motion, she spun around, lifting Gambit into the air and sending him
sailing against the wall. A second later his staff followed, darting towards
him in a precise throw.

The explosion even captured Tim's attention.

Luna wasted no time in using the distraction. Coming up behind Cyclops, she
grabbed his head and snapped it at an inhuman angle. His optic blast ceased and
he crumpled to the floor. Nearby, Tim severed the Beast in half with a
relentless beam of energy.

As Tim powered down, the four twencen X-men fizzled away. The smell of the
battle was still thick in the air, smoke came from a hundred holes and gouges
blasted in the wall. Luna stared at Tim as the green energy reluctantly left
his body. Her eyes were excited, she always liked seeing him this way.

"They'll be back in a minute...," Tim said, a halo of energy hovering around
him. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine," she lied. She felt like lying down for a few days. Her body felt like
jello. But if Tim needed her to continue on...she would continue on. "We're
just lucky whatever computer we're up against can't duplicate psionic powers."

Tim began to walk around apprehensively, scanning the walls. "There has to be
some hidden control booth. There can't be just a room you walk into where
people show up to beat the shock out of you."

Luna grinned. "Why not? We've got one of those rooms back home at Halo."

"Yeah, but OUR Danger Room has a visible control booth. I'm going to try
something." Whenever he used his power, he could always sense where the sources
of power were. It was like a sixth sense, he felt everything in the terms of
the energy that was around him. He could use that. If he could start seeing in
energy spectrums, he could probably uncover wherever the control booth was.

It was worth a shot. Tim let himself sink into that halfway state between his
normal state and his powered up state. He let himself sink up to the point
where he could just begin to sense the energy behind the walls. He could see it
running and colliding with each other in an ordered dance. Contained by wires
and circuits, leaking and pouring out slowly from light and computer consoles.
There! There was a massive concentration of it up in the corner there...

Luna heard a buzzing in her ears and darted her around. The four were reforming
again. "Tim! They're returning."

He didn't really hear Luna as he focused on what he was seeing. If he
concentrated he could almost make out shapes.

Behind Tim, Wolverine drew his claws and charged. Luna ran to intercept.
Wolverine was going to gut Tim if she couldn't get there in time. Abruptly her
knees wobbled. She tripped over herself and skidded across the floor. Wolverine
dove towards Tim growling.

An explosion erupted from the side of the wall and the four twencen X-men
vanished. Off to the side, the chamber's door slid open. Tim grinned and turned
towards Luna. She was still sprawled on the floor.

"Whoa! Luna! What happened?", he said as he ran over to her.

Luna hesitated before saying, "Nothing." It wasn't important. "What'd you do?"

"I used my power to see in energy spectrums. I found the control booth and
caused a power surge in the computer. That thing is slagged, baby, and we're
outta here."

*     *     *

"This place is just...full of mysteries," Tim muttered as they made their way
down the dark passageway. The halo of energy that still surrounded Timothy lit
their way. Although there wasn't much to see. More metal-paneled hallways
leading to sealed doorways. Rust and corrodement covered most of them, they
hadn't been used in a long time.

"Think the Driver was watching us fight those holographic minions of his?",
Luna asked.

"Only long enough to smile as he slipped away from us. We gotta find where he
was hiding down here. See where he went," Tim responded.

"What do you think he's doing that he'd spook just at our arrival?", Luna
asked, keeping an eye out for roving guardbots or similar traps. It was
doubtful that the Driver would be undefended once they found him.

"Something naughty."

"Maybe he's afraid we'll spank him," Luna said.

"I'd be." The eerie green light reflected on every surface of the debris strewn
hallway they were in. They stopped as they came to an intersection. Luna tapped
his shoulder and pointed down. In the middle of the intersecting hallway, the
debris was scattered away. A clean, wide line went straight through, off to the
left and right.

"I know that track. That's wide enough to fit the Nitroburn he uses," Tim said
aloud. He knelt down by the track and dusted some of the film onto his glove.
He looked to the left. "He must use this as some sort of passageway outside.
Let's go down here."

Luna nodded and followed Tim down the left hallway. The Nitroburn track was
straight and true as it eventually led to another closed and rusted doorway.

"He can use that car of his to pass through solid material...," Tim said to
himself. "Luna, stand back, I think I can cut through this."

As Luna took shelter farther back, Tim powered up again. A controlled burst
this time. A fine laser instead of the waves of pure force he had been dealing
with up in that holographic chamber. Vaguely, Tim's thoughts mulled over the
chamber. What was a thing like that doing in a school? Had it been a research
facility? Had Alchemax been compiling information on the original X-men here?
He would have to study it later. Or come back with Shakti or the X-men.

A tight beam shot out from his fingertips. The air was bright with sparks as it
impacted against the old metal, blackening and warping it. Tim kept the focus
of his beam short. Before long, it shot through. He moved the beam down and to
the side, cutting out a doorway. The smoke from the vaporized metal wafted down
the hallway. Tim had to cover his eyes to see.

Before long, Tim was done, and the metal that had been cut out fell to the
floor with a loud clatter. Small flames still burned on the sides of the new
doorway. The door itself had been six solid inches of metal.

Tim and Luna stepped over it and into a well-lit, small chamber. Various
circuitry and gadgets were scattered about the place. The Driver had been busy
here.

"He's not here," Luna noticed. "The Nitroburn is gone as well."

Tim looked around the room, confirming Luna's statement. The Driver was gone.
Abruptly, a large wall-sized piece of machinery in the corner caught his eye.
It was familiar. It looked like...

Tim's mouth dropped open. "It's worse than I thought," Tim said to Luna. "Look
over in the corner. That's the Accelerator. The computer that the Driver was
using to turn mutants into datastreams." Luna spotted it. The chair the Driver
put his victims in was off to the side.

Tim continued. "He's starting his insane quest all over again..."

NEXT ISSUE: You'd sure like to know where those X-Men came from, huh? Next
issue! You'd sure like to be there when the Driver returns to find an angry Tim
and Luna waiting for him. Next issue! You'd sure like to see more of the odd
goings-on in Halo City, huh? Next issue!