Uncanny X-Men (Marvel Omega)

Cradle Robbing, Part I

Xavier Institute; The Danger Room

Her name is Stacy (or Ecstacy, which is the codename she has chosen for herself). Her uniform consists of leather pants and a leather jacket with a large, yellow X overlapping the front. The jacket is unzipped, revealing a leather bikini top underneath. Her skin can only be described as the skin of a snake. She is one of the newest recruits to the X-Men, formerly serving the Theatre of Pain as a slave.

She somersaults across the technologically advanced Danger Room, avoiding the energy blasts from the gun turrets attached to the walls. Unlike some of her fellow teammates, her mutant abilities are useless in a scenario like this. Ecstacy's powers are hormonal based. Her skin secretes a phermone that allows her to elicit whatever chemical response in the human body that she desires.

Makes for an interesting party trick, but not much use against automated gun turrets.

For that reason, Stacy relies on physical prowess. She glances around the room and observes the turrets. She runs towards one of them, and the turrets rotate to try and follow her.

Above in the control booth sits three people. Kurt Wagner, also called Nightcrawler, and the woman called Domino – the two who currently share the leadership position of the X-Men's field squad. Sitting in one of the chairs before the console is Jean Grey-Summers, Phoenix. Former headmistress of the Xavier Institute.

"Ten bucks says she screws up," says Domino.

"Your abundance of faith in our new recruits is simply mind-boggling, fraulein," retorts Kurt with a slight grin that displays his white fangs. A stark contrast to the indigo-blue color of the fine layer of fur which covers his body.

"I dunno..." says Domino.

"Relax, Domino," says Jean. "You can rest assured that your feelings about Stacy's motives aren't accurate. She has no ulterior motives."

"...You know I hate it when you do that, right?" asks Domino.

"Read your mind?" asks Jean.

"Do you have to ask?"

"No," replies Jean. "And I wasn't intentionally reading your mind, sometimes I just pick up stray thoughts. Being a telepath makes it hard to have any private time."

"Dom?" says Kurt.

"What is it?"

"You might want to reconsider that bet..."

Domino and Jean turn their attention to the Danger Room. The gun turret continues to follow Stacy, as she runs by another one. She leaps in front of it, and a stray blast destroys one of the turrets. She repeats the process for the other turrets, until each of them is destroyed.

Domino looks at Kurt, who has a wide grin plastered to his face.

"So she got lucky," says Domino. "Let's see if she's able to maintain her cool like that in the field."

"I don't think that'll be a problem..." says Jean, looking at one of the computer monitors.

"Why's that?" asks Domino.

"Stacy's vitals are all completely normal," replies Jean. "Her pulse wasn't even racing."

"How's that possible?" asks Kurt.

"I'll have to consult Hank to be positive, but I think that Stacy's powers allow her to control her own hormones to the point where she can remain at a level-headed state. So not only can she control chemical reactions in the bodies of others, but she can do it in her own body as well. If she wanted, she could generate a constant adrenaline boost in her body that could keep her going for hours."