X-Men: The Gifted Ones

57. TRAINING ROOM, XAVIER MANSION, WEST CHESTER, NY

Tension filled the air. Everyone was suited up and at the table, as Charles had demanded. Indignity filled the air when Scarlet Witch walked into the room and presumed to join them. As if she were an equal! Polaris seethed with fury. "Why are you here?" she demanded.

Scarlet Witch sat down at the table. "I intend to help!"

Charles didn't argue. "We need all the help we can get right now. The important thing now is to tell you who will be going, and who is staying behind."

"Stay behind?" Sway questioned.

"Yes, stay behind!" he snapped impatiently. "Are you daft? I have a mansion with twenty children in it; we can't just leave them! The children that we have here are the future of our kind! They must be protected at all costs, especially now! I need two of my most powerful members to stay here and guard the children. Polaris, Impetus... You will stay here."

"WHAT?!" Impetus asked incredulously. Polaris looked as if she had been mortally insulted.

"In case I did not make it clear enough, Impetus and Polaris are staying behind," Charles barked, his voice short and filled with frustration. "There are forces other than the Brotherhood that may try to harm the children while I am away and I will not have anything happen to them! Your skills are the sharpest, the ones I trust the most around the children. The two of you can deflect anything that comes your way. If Jane were here she'd tell you that was the most important thing. In fact, by going myself I'm breaking my promise to her not to go rescue her and let Warpath and the others manage it, but I can't stay here when she's there. The two of you are keeping my promise to her in my absence."

Polaris and Impetus nodded. "I understand, Professor," Impetus apologized.

Polaris found she sat up taller. So she was one of the sharpest? Jane was right. Love did enhance her abilities. "Yes, Professor. Thank you."

"The rest of you, you are going!" Charles ordered.

"Me, too?" Scarlet Witch asked. "I know wasn't trained here, but I have powers, too!"

Hank rolled his eyes. "Of course you do, you're a mutant, aren't you?"

"Tell me how you can help us if you come along," Charles sighed, "and I will tell you if you should."

A smug smile crossed her face. "I can make people seem like they have very bad luck. I can set stuff on fire, blow shit up. I can stop projectiles like bullets. I can create hexes that could make guns misfire, people trip and fall over their own feet as they run. To sum it up, I can completely sabotage anything. Useful skills to have in a war zone, huh, Professor?"

Havoc smiled and nodded approvingly. "I think I like this girl. Kind of... wicked."

"Why do you think I'm called the Scarlet Witch?" she smirked.

Charles had no time for the girl's conceit. "Fine,she can go," he dismissed, exasperated. "Hank, see if you can find her a suitand meet us on the jet. We leave at once."