Chapter 2
Charles Xavier was an idealist. He held firm to the belief that humans and mutants could live together, forming a utopian society. Mutants would be able to take pride in their differences and mankind would benefit from their "gifts." However, that was not to be reality any time soon. Not so long as mutants like Magento continued to wage war against those inferior humans. He cleared his throat and looked out among his X-Men -each with his or her own special skills, dedicated to the same ideals that created his school for the gifted.
"As you well know, things have been relatively quiet lately," the Professor began, "But within the last 24 hours, several chemical plants throughout the country have reported theft and destruction. The latest one occured 3 hours ago at CityChem about 20 miles north of here."
Cyclops spoke up, "Do we know who did it? What was taken?"
Xavier tapped several buttons on his mahogany desk and a video screen slowly lowered itself from the ceiling. "A different chemical compound was removed from each facility. I've given the complete list to Hank for his analysis."
Beast raised his large, furry, blue head and turned towards the others, "I'm running the list through the computer. It is still digesting the information. I am hoping for an answer within the hour."
"An hour may be too late," Wolverine mumbled then spoke louder, "Alright, who's behind it?"
Just as Logan asked the question, the video screen came to life. "This is the security footage from CityChem," the Professor announced."
The team watched the fuzzy black and white image as it panned the lobby of the building. The image was jerky and very hard to discern. "You'd think they'd be able to afford a better camera," Jubilee chuckled softly.
Gambit lightly kicked his leg, catching Jubilee in the small of the back. She looked at him and he threw her that "start taking this seriously if you want to be an X-Men" look. She quickly turned back to the screen.
As the camera passed by the main lobby doors, the team noticed that the glass was vibrating. It was very slow at first, then built up with great violence causing the doors to explode hurling glass, metal, and dust everywhere. Between the fuzz and the dust, Logan could barely tell what was happening. Then he saw something move. It was Avalanche! His oversized frame barely fit through the new opening he had created with his sound vibrations. He stopped and surveyed the area, then turned as Sabretooth entered. Wolverine felt the hairs on his neck and arms stand up as he looked at his old nemesis and his claws automatically released. All those feelings came flooding back, the hatred was almost overpowering. It took everything he could to keep from shredding the video screen to pieces. "Sabretooth," he muttered under his breath.
Jean sensed the rising anger in Logan. She reached out to him and grabbed his wrist. "Wait until the Professor is finished, Logan," she whispered. Wolverine slowly retracted his weapons. He continued to watch as the large hairy beast ransacked the lobby, throwing furniture and anything else he could find through the remaining plate glass. The video contained no sound, but Wolverine could hear the deep growls that Sabretooth emitted when he was involved in his two favorite past times - death and destruction.
"Avalanche and Sabretooth were the culprits in this theft," Charles told the group, "Others reported were Toad, Mystique, and Juggernaught."
"It's nice to see the whole gang sticking together,"Rogue said in her typical sarcastic, southern drawl. She flipped her red hair to one side, the white patch of hair in the front still insisting on falling in her face.
"Oui, Cher," Gambit added, his thick New Orleans accent hanging in the air, "The family that plays together, stays together."
This small talk was driving Logan insane! He wanted to take off for CityChem right away. If we were lucky, he could grab onto to Sabretooth's sent and hunt him down. "All this talk is great," he said, moving to the door, "But I'm going after Sabretooth."
"Logan," the Professor called, "I want you all to check out CityChem. Jean, work with Hank on figuring out what Magneto might want with these chemicals."
Cyclops stood. "Alright everyone, let's get to the Blackbird."
With that announcement, the X-Men quickly departed for the CityChem facility.