Chapter 4 – The X-men’s Plan
As the door opened, light from the hallway flooded into the room. A man entered the room. Or rather, he wheeled in. The man’s face was blank and wrinkled with age. His eyes squinted as they adjusted to the light, and his head was bald, shining in the bright light. He was followed by three more figures; two were men, the other, a woman. The woman was tall with dark skin and bleached white hair, which was shortly cropped around her face.
One of the men was wearing some sort of glasses with only one lens, which was tinted red. His face was serious and almost innocent. But something had ruined this innocence. He was wearing a navy jumpsuit and had shortly cut brown hair.
The other man was taller than the other two, had watchful eyes and was wearing a vest, which revealed solid muscles. His hair was spiked in the corners and his face was filled with stubble. At the side of his face were carefully shaved, and maintained, sideburns.
The group followed the man in the wheelchair, who reached out and flicked on the light switch. He wheeled around the desk until he was facing the three, who had filed into the room. His face seemed tired, and his eyes were dark and outlined with deep dark bags that dragged down his face.
The room was still and deathly silent. Breaking the silence, the man in the wheelchair spoke.
“So… I assume you all know why I called you here.” The other three heads turned and looked at each other. Eyes locked and it was obvious that they had no idea what he was talking about. “I’ll fill you in. As you know, I have made it my duty to make sure that mutants like us are safe, especially younger ones who might be unable to control their powers. Well, I have recently got information that and one of the mutants that I have been watching might be in danger. According to the detector, he is a beta level mutant who can control light. I am worried, as you might think that he might have some sort of flaw, like you, Scott.” His head inclined toward the man with the strange glasses
“So you want us to try and bring him in?” This was the woman who asked this.
“We’ve done this before, leave this to us!” The man named Scott replied. The man in the wheelchair nodded his head forward slightly. Despite the fact that he was constantly planning what to do, he still wasn’t sure that he was doing the right thing. His eyes closed, as if he way praying for silence so that he could think. Opening his eyes, he spoke.
“Well… the reason that I’m worried is that his power level is the highest that I’ve seen for a long time. The only other person that I know to have a power level that high is you, Scott. And… well… as you have hurt people, because you didn’t know how to stop your power, I’m worried that he might do the same. But I’m not just worried for his safety. I think he might be an asset to the X-Men and, depending on his leadership team, I might consider putting him in charge of a younger team.” The woman eyes opened wide as if in shock.
“I don’t feel comfortable for us to use young mutants in case anything bad happens! How would you feel if one of them died out in the field? They still need training. They’re still all too young!” The man in the wheelchair raised his hand and the woman fell silent. He closed his eyes, opened them and continued.
“I wasn’t planning on sending them on missions, I just think that we need a backup team just in case anything was to happen to the main team. Either way, I think we still need to bring him in so he doesn’t do anything by accident. I’ve have prepared a ship that will take you to a landing base in the UK. I have also arranged a truck and a driver to take you to his place of residence. Finally, I think that you three might want to take one of the students with you so that it might make him more likely to listen.” This time it was the man named Logan who responded. His voice was horse and rugged.
“Professor X, I can’t go. I’m doing a training session with the younger students. I can’t let them down; they have been looking forward to training with me.”
“Very well.” The man in the wheelchair spoke. He wasn’t sure if he liked being addressed as Professor X. It made him feel important, but at the same time it made him feel like he was in charge, and he didn’t want to feel like everyone looked to him for answers. He paused, his mind ticking over and weighing up the pros and cons of each decision. His mind had become a well-oiled machine now, making sure that everything was accounted for. This was probably why he was a great tactician. “You two both go.” His fingers pointed out at the woman and the man called Scott. “Logan, you stay behind with the younger students for training.” The women’s spoke again, leaning forward in her seat.
“What about the younger students you said to bring?”
Professor X closed his eyes again, opened them and then responded. “Take one of the students with you. I don’t mind which but they must be fourteen or fifteen. Okay, so now that that’s clear, the ship will leave at 9 o’clock and I expect you both to be on it with the student. As I have no other business with you, you may leave.”
The three stood up in silence, nodded their heads in the direction at the professor as a sign that they had understood what was too be done. They then turned and walked out. The man in the wheelchair was alone. He looked out a window and saw the grass at the front of his estate. It was empty apart from a few students who were sat on the gravel talking quietly. Turning away he wheeled he over to the door and turned out the light. He closed the door behind him and the room was still and empty again…
