In The Shadows | Loki

ADDING A SURPRISE

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        "Ophelia?" I turn as Xavier rolls into the kitchen, as does Rogue. "What happened here?" I point at Rogue.
        "It's her fault."
        "What?! No it isn't! You started this." She exclaims pointing at the flour that was coating... everything. I narrow my eyes before looking away, snatching a cookie off the cooling rack. I offer it to Xavier.
        "Cookie?" He chuckles before taking it with a smile. "There are supposed to be more, but... yeah." He takes a bite.
        "Delicious." I don't miss Rogue's smile at that as she ducks her head. "Ophelia, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind showing off a little in the training room. show the students how you fight." I shrug.
        "Sure." I glance down at my flour covered clothes and skin, then to Rogues. I blow it off of both of us and onto the counter. Rogue blinks, taking a step back in surprise. "Telekinesis." I explain, and she nods. "Alright. Lead the way Xavier." He chuckles  again, turning his wheelchair and heading for the elevator. Rogue and I follow behind him. I'm surprised by the lack of students. "Are all of them watching?"
        "Most. The younger ones are outside playing. Scott is watching them." I let out a dry laugh. It didn't surprise me that he wasn't going to be there. The elevator ride is short, and the silver hallway is filled with students who turn to look when they hear the doors open. I hear the whispers begin, and I roll my eyes.
        "This door, right?" I ask, pointing to my left. He nods once, and I disappear inside.

Rogue~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        The Professor leads me to the window that looked into the training room, making sure I had a front row seat. Logan moved to stand next to me as Ophelia walks into the center of the room. I had seen the X-men use the room before. It was amazing how everything worked. "Are you ready Ophelia?" Xavier asks through the intercom system. Ophelia nods once. I glance around the crowd. There was a man I wasn't familiar with standing next to Storm, murmuring quietly. He was tall, blond, and packed with muscles.
        "Wait, can I use my swords, or do you just want powers?" She asks.
        "The swords are fine." Xavier responds, and she nods, pulling two cylindrical objects from her back pocket. Funny. I hadn't noticed them before. She presses a button, and I nearly jump when the swords pop out. Long, curved steel made up the main blade, though there were what looked like tiny daggers on the hilt. Her knuckles were covered with yet another blade. She twirls the one in her right hand, grinning like a maniac. The whispers behind me barely stop.
        "I hear she took down half of the brotherhood by herself-"
        "She's a level six. A level six!"
        "Magneto is scared of her. I didn't think Magneto was scared of anything-"
        "She's an Avenger too! She was in the battle-"
        "Do you think she knows Iron Man?"
        "What if she turns on us-"
        "She's so dangerous. And the scars-"
        "She looks freaky."
        "Starting now Ophelia." Xavier warns. She just nods once. The Professor presses a button, and the room suddenly springs to life. Ophelia scans the now full room. She's in ruins, surrounded by a mix of monsters. Sentinels. More than I had ever seen.
        "I thought you were going to give me a challenge?" She asks before lunging at the closest Sentinel. She uses both swords, hooking them around either side of the neck before cutting the head clean off. She runs towards a piece of rubble, using it to launch herself into the air. One of her hands sprays out.... ice. I glance to the side, not missing Bobby's grin. She slides on the ice, one sword held down to cut through sentinels as she slid.
        "I need to try that." I hear Bobby whisper. Ophelia stops creating ice, sliding to the ground in an area where there are less sentinels. A fog begins to melt into the room, clouding vision. Her swords return to cylindrical objects that she slides back into her pocket. I watch her hands raise, and the metal in the room begins to shake. The people around me had gone silent.
        Metal begins to shoot into sentinels, hitting the critical points  There were less than half the sentinels left now, and it had only been a few minutes. She disappears behind a large piece of rubble as sentinels frantically search the room, avoiding the metal still shooting towards them. All movement stops, and the sentinels look around, scanning the area. Where Ophelia had disappeared, a small girl appears in a little pink dress and pigtails. One of the sentinels step forward, scanning the girl.
        "No mutant detected."
        "She's channeling Leech." Beast exclaims suddenly. "I didn't think she could do that." The sentinel moves away, and the girl turns back into Ophelia. The room alights with red as lasers suddenly erupt from Ophelia's eyes, destroying so many sentinels. There were only three left, and they were firing at her frantically. Xavier leans forward, typing something into the machine.
        "What are you doing Professor?" I ask.
        "Adding a surprise." He replies. I look back up in time to see Ophelia disappear and reappear behind the sentinels. She destroys them quickly, in the blink of an eye. She relaxes for a moment, and the fog disappears. When the ruins don't fade back into the training room, she tenses again. Something snarls inside the room, and a creature appears. There are gasps from the students behind me, and the blond man next to storm tenses, eyes going wide.
        "How-"
        "It's part of the simulation Captain. No need to worry." Xavier replies quickly. Ophelia, takes a few cautious steps towards it, and I finally recognize it. It's one of the creatures from New York. One of the aliens.. Another one appears, and another. Three total. Ophelia stares at them for a moment before fixing her footing. A few students jump in surprise when a red laser erupts from her chest, killing two of the aliens. The third fires at her, and she dives out of the way. It walks forward, trying to aim, and Ophelia lunges for it. She wraps her hand around it's arm, and it snarls, trying to throw her off. Its struggles get weaker, and it takes me a second to realize what she's doing.
        "She's using my power." I gasp, and the Professor nods. The creature falls to the floor, and the simulation disappears. Ophelia looks towards the observation window, where all of the students are basically staring at her in awe.
        "What level was that?" She asks. I glance over Xavier shoulder before he shuts down the machine. Level ten. The highest level we had. Someone had told me no team had made it above a level seven. 
        "Eight." Xavier lies, winking at me. "Better not to inflate her ego." He murmurs. He turns his chair to face me. "You'll start your training with her tomorrow." He says, and I nod. He looks to the unfamiliar blonde. "Captain, you two do have to leave by next week, correct?" The man nods once. "Well, might as well make use of your time while you're here."