Marvel: A Tale of Shadows

As Felicia and Jean entered the main area they were met with Wolverine and Colossus at their viewing area. As they took a few minutes to talk while the next group of kids set up for the next set of matches.

"Piotr let me introduce Felicia Hardy. She will be a tutoring intern at the Xavier institute starting mid-August. Felicia let me introduce Piotr, he shares responsibility in teaching students Physical education and power control with another teacher, they have to teach the students about the birds and the bees of mutant powers so to speak." Jean boldly states with the pair of burly men, oddly seeming uncomfortable about the last statement she made.

"A pleasure to meet you," Piotr offers his hand to shake Felicia nods.

"My pleasure to meet you as well," Felicia shakes Piotr's hand.

But Felicia doesn't say anything about it. "The students are a bit rough but otherwise okay?" The Russian man answered.

Felicia only raises an eyebrow then shakes her head, "That is good to hear, it will be an experience teaching them."

"More of a task than you might think." Piotr declared with a chuckle. They continued to talk for a few minutes.

Unfortunately the conversation could not last as there was a sudden crash as the door flew open. As they looked towards the entrance they saw a man with flames as well as a large blob of a person and one that hopped around like a frog from surface to surface.

Felicia could hear Jean click her tongue in annoyance.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen! We are the Brotherhood of Mutants and we are here to disrupt your fun. Grab the Xavier kids!" Then they started moving towards the group but suddenly Jean grunted in pain and grabbed her head.

"Aargh!" Jean started falling but Felicia grabbed her to hold her up then set her down on a chair.

Piotr reacted by standing in front of the trio from the brotherhood. Piotr turned metal in preparation. "What did you do!" Piotr yelled while glancing at Jean.

But the trio were taken aback and surprised, almost as if they were not expecting it. They looked at each other but could only shrug. "Wasn't us-" but before he could say more he was cut off by Felicia.

"Phone service is being jammed as well. Is there a phone line here?" Felicia started openly looking around until she saw a man standing over by a desk. He lifted the phone line and dialed it then set it down and looked at her.

"Phone lines are down." The man stated in a cold tone. His calm demeanor is surprising considering the situation.

"Who cares we are here for-" The fire man started speaking again when he was cut off again.

"What Felicia is saying is that someone is trying to keep us from contacting the outside." Jean stated as she rubbed her temples. "They are also jamming telepathy preventing us from contacting the outside. But I was able to send Professor Xavier a message when they first arrived."

"But it-" The fire man started speaking again only to be cut off.

"So someone actively set a trap for us and these brotherhood members? Vhy?" Piotr asked, confused.

"I have a vague idea but we need to check to see if anyone is outside." Jean grunted out. Felicia helped her to a chair. As they did they shoved past the trio of mutants and pulled on the door. There was a slight movement but it did not open.

"It's locked from the outside." Felicia states, "do you have an evacuation route in case of emergencies?"

Jean nodded as she started to recover, "yes there should be an access vent around here. Give me a moment, my head is still dizzy."

Felicia turns and starts looking around the room. She notices several of the children seem uncomfortable and scared. "Organize your schools and prepare to leave in orderly fashion! You three hooligans get by the door, you'll be our first line of defense. Piotr go help them."

Felicia turned back to Jean and was about to ask her if her head was cleared up.

"Why the hell should we listen to you, you half witted- '', the fire guy started yelling at Felicia.

But Felicia spun around and walked right up to him and pointed her finger in his face, "yes but I am guessing you aren't the leader of your group. You are way too dim to have snuck into the country on your own. So until your boss comes here and says otherwise you shut the hell up and do what I say." She then walked back to a surprised Jean. "Head clear enough?"

Jean absentmindedly nods a confirmation. "Yes… um… the access vent should be in the middle of the room under the carpet." Felicia walks to the middle of the room then moves the table there with help of some of the people that are around. Lifting up the carpet she threw it to the side to reveal a metal hatch.

"I am guessing this is it." Felicia then opened the hatch just as Jean was arriving next to her. "Well shh…fuey." Jean grunts in annoyance as well. They are staring down at metal bars covering the entrance welded to a metal sidewall.

"Huh… looks like the plans I looked at were not up to date." Jean states with a shrug. "Anyone else got any ideas?" Jean looks around at an uncomfortable and scared crowd. "I am guessing that is a no."

Felicia hums as she starts thinking, "is there a janitor's closet in here?"

One of the balding men in suits, who acted as a host for the chess tournament, raised his hand, "yes there is right over there."

"Perfect! I will need like five minutes, organize these kids in the meantime." Felicia stated but as she started walking over to the closet there was a commotion at the door. They looked towards it just in time to see the door shatter apart and a body come flying through.

It flew right onto a table bouncing off and then spinning in the air before landing and sliding across the ground. When he finally stopped he was only a foot away from her. She stepped forward and looked down.

"Ethan?" She asked quizzically.

"Felicia… I think I broke a few ribs." Ethan stated through a grunt of pain.

"I am surprised that is all you broke. So… Do we have an identity for our would-be attackers?" Felicia asked as she glanced at the door as dust started to settle.

Ethan grunted in pain as he sat up, keeping his right hand off of the ground, "Hydra."

"Hydra!?! I thought they were gone during the second world war." One of the teachers stated in surprise.

"Watch out for the guy in the black armor, he packs a hell of a punch and is really sturdy." Ethan grunted out as he felt around his ribs to see which were broken.

"Anything else?" Jean asked in surprise and the quickly descending events.

"One of them could smell me through a wall."

Jean just sighs then turns to Felcia, "Felicia you were about to open the thing?"

Felicia looks confused for a moment before she runs over to the janitor's closet, "right chemicals chemicals chemicals." Meanwhile Ethan crawled into a chair while the trio from the brotherhood are face to face with a man in black armor with red hydra regalia.

The fire guy was clearly feeling uncomfortable but now he had a target to vent his anger onto. He tossed a fireball at the man in black armor only for him to walk through it like it was nothing.

"Blob!" Pyro called out.

"On it," Blob the massive mass of a human ran into the man, sending him flying back out the door just in time for a pair of others to come in. A woman in pink and black hair threw dozens of knives at once sending them flying towards the crowd. But they suddenly stopped midair as Jean grabbed control of the knives with her telekinetic abilities.

"Take down the mutants and grab the children!" One of them called out, Jean recognized her as Viper. She had encountered her before, always when something sinister and shady was going on.

"Colossus, cover the door!" Jean yelled and Colossus obliged as he turned his skin to metal then stood in front of the doorway. Colossus knocked down goons as they came through the door along with the three mutants from the Brotherhood. Thus a back and forth began as Jean was busy stopping objects with her telekinetic control.

Meanwhile Felicia had returned with a plastic bucket and an array of chemicals. She first covered her mouth with a scarf and put on some sunglasses. Both of which she found in the 'lost and found' container. Then she started putting chemicals in the bucket, eventually mixing them with the mop she had grabbed.

Then with the mop head smoking white as she applied it to the metal bars which caused them to suddenly and increasingly rust and decay until there was a sudden clatter of metal as the bars started falling through the hole.

Jean looked over for a moment then back up, "okay time to leave in orderly fashion. Felicia you take Ethan and lead them out." Felicia nodded in response and started helping Ethan down the hole.

As they were halfway done with evacuating, Colossus came flying into the room with his clothes shredded. He crashed into a wall and then fell to the ground. As he stood up groaning he spoke in Russian, "Hydra Svolach hits hard. How long until all the civies are out?"

"Two or three minutes, if you knock out Viper it could become drastically easier." Jean stated as she continued combatting the flying knives as well as resisting the psychic pressure one of them she couldn't see was trying to push on them. While they fought the children and teachers moved out of the room through the sewer entrance.

"Ha! That won't be-" Colossus was interrupted when a diamond fist connected with his face as he wrestled with the Hydra agent. He forced the Hydra agent back for a moment and went to punch the diamond woman when flashes of yellow light struck him forcing him back.

Jean's eyes widened in worry as she looked around wondering what she could do, fortunately the civilians were almost all out. So she just used her telekinesis to throw objects at the Hydra operatives. It was fortunately enough to keep them back as Colossus fought with three of them.

But just before she could call for a retreat, Sabretooth came flying in. But it was clear he was thrown rather leaped. Jean noticed and saw the last of the civilians filtering out, "Colossus, pull back! We have more company!" 

Viper seemed to notice as well as she turned to the door and watched as several of the people she left by the front door were thrown inside. They were then followed by a flamboyantly covered red and yellow suited Iron Man, a man in armor with red, white, and blue. Then the last one being a man with a bow and quiver of arrows.

"So Cap, what is the plan here?" The bow user asked.

"I… don't know who the bad guys are here. Iron Man?" Steve glanced at Iron Man.

"The one with metal skin, and the redhead in the back are all allies. Take down the rest!" Then he launched himself towards the black haired woman with a snake. Only for the woman to suddenly launch some black orbs that caused the man inside the armor to scream as he fell to the ground.

"Blob, Toad, time to go! Blob! Make a hole in that wall!" The fire guy held a hand up to his ear as he talked and pointed to one of the walls.

Blob nodded then bounded to the wall with a grunt. A loud crash occurred as a hole in the wall appeared. Outside the wall a van was waiting for them. They quickly hopped inside to see an annoyed Mystique. "We're leaving New York immediately. Call him."

A shield bashed into the black armored guy as Tony suddenly realized and flew up and hit the ceiling. Meanwhile Viper started shaking off her stunned state of mind. She was momentarily unconscious after one of her subordinates landed on her.

"Variant! Work with Sabretooth to capture the redhead. If we get her, all our losses here will be less than nothing." Viper spat out in anger.

A minute of back and forth punches and attacks were followed by Jean suddenly being confused by many of the assailants' thoughts. They were split in two, between what they wanted to do and what they were doing. Almost as if they were acting against their will. But she could not sort any of it out because she was too busy putting pressure on the one called Black Mamba preventing her from using her power. While the woman's mind was strong, it was divided just like Viper who was fighting with the archer.

"The civilians are out!" Jean called out just as Iron Man came flying back into the room and sending a few pulses towards the diamond woman. Who easily blocked the pulses even sending them in other directions.

As they were fighting it out with them pushing them back there was the sudden sound of a jet as feet landed on the ground just outside the hole that blob made. There standing in their gear were a few members of the X-men.

Viper clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Time for a tactical retreat! Black Mamba, bring down the house! Sabretooth, grab Asp and Diamondback. Variant, make us an exit while Frost covers us." They followed her directions with Sabretooth quickly picking up Asp and Diamondback who had been knocked unconscious. Then as Black Mamba focused her ability on the entire building.

As a red beam came in from outside. "You won't get away!" Cyclops yelled with a disgusted tone.

"No!" Jean and Iron Man yelled at the same time. Only to be disappointed as the laser was redirected into the ceiling when the woman made of diamond redirected it with her skin. Then the ceiling came crashing down. Jean quickly dove into the access vent that was next to her.

Iron Man launched himself towards the exit, grabbing Hawkeye and Captain America as he left. They landed out on a street crashing into a police car. Colossus braced himself as the ceiling crashed on him.

Meanwhile Cyclops was stunned at what just occurred. He stood still in shock while the rest of the X-Men just looked at him.

"Scott…" Havok spoke with a worried town. "What have you done?"