Generation X wasn't exactly taking the loss of the Massachusetts Academy and the capture of Banshee well. Emma was somewhat more sanguine, but then she'd have to be. After all, she'd lived through the destruction of multiple iterations of the Hellfire Club before, and technically, the Mutant Registration Act would have only been struck down around five years ago or so. That was enough time that most of the Generation X folks wouldn't have been active, save for maybe Jubilee whose X-Gene had manifested before then and who'd hooked up with the X-Men during their Outback days around the time things with that were coming to a head. That might have been why it was Jubilee who approached me first with the question I more or less expected most of them to ask me sooner or later. She found me while I was hammering out the last runes on a Fireshrieker.
"Whatcha making?" Questioned Jubilee as she entered my workshop.
"Something to help you out. It's called a Fireshrieker." I answered, chiseling the last of the empowerment runes and watching as the stylized dragon's mouth at the end of the wand lit up in a pale red glow.
"Cool, what's it do?" Queried Jubilee.
"Doubles your firepower, literally. You should be able to use it as a channel for your plasmatic blasts. When you do, you should be able to hit with something approaching your normal power, even with the Prime Sentinels dampening mutant abilities in the area." I nodded, handing the Fireshrieker over to Jubilee.
"See, this is the kinda thing we should be doing more of. Problem is, most of the others just wanna sit around and mope. Like, that didn't help the last time this sorta thing happened and it's not gonna help now." Grumbled Jubilee.
"They're not using the breather to train?" I asked.
"I mean, Paige is, kinda. Your ghost butler helped her figure out your training area and she's been beating down the various magical construct thingies that the room spawns, but that is so not gonna help us out against enemies that can screw with her mutant powers." Sighed Jubilee.
"And you think you guys should be trying to pick up something else?" I pressed.
"I mean, you're a magic guy and you totally wrecked a buncha those Prime Sentinels. This is a magic tower, I can't think of anywhere better to try and figure out the whole wizard thing than here." Hedged Jubilee.
"Magic isn't something just anyone can wage a war with, you know. Some people make great strides in their magic fairly easily, grasping spells and powers in weeks that would take some lifetimes to learn. Meanwhile, others might study for decades and still only reach the barest scraps of power. While there are ways to cheat, such as with magic items, ill-advised pacts with powers beyond normal comprehension, or rituals, those are not reliable, to say the least. Certainly, you wouldn't want to chance the balance of a war on ritual magic. Magic is certainly not for the fairweather or those who lack dedication, as even a little power may prove a dangerous thing." I cautioned.
"What did you rehearse that?" Grinned Jubilee.
"I'm just saying." I shrugged.
"I get it, really, I do. So how do we tell who can learn what?" Questioned Jubilee.
"I should be able to tell fairly easily, just using my third eye. Fair warning, I might see things you may not want me to see." I warned.
"I'm an open book. Hit me." Smirked Jubilee.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." I remarked, opening my Third Eye and looking at Jubilee.
As I looked at her, I saw her whole self, as you do with this sort of magic. Her soul was beautiful, it was the soul of someone who'd gone through a lot of hard times but still came out the other end optimistic, cheerful, and determined to do good. I only looked for a brief moment to confirm her mystical potential and that was all it took for that image to be seared into my mind forever. After all, when it comes to White Council Magic and the Third Eye, you never forget what you see with it. I closed my Third Eye with a deep breath and nodded at her.
"First thing's first, you absolutely do have magical potential and I'd be happy to help you out on that front." I started, trying to decide whether or not to tell her the truth about her parent's deaths.
"Killer, what else? That sounded like there was a but coming at the end there." Prompted Jubilee.
"Your parents, how they died." I said, deciding that someone with that kind of soul deserved closure.
"You mean the car accident?" Frowned Jubilee.
"Car intentional is more like it. Jubilee, your dad found out that a man named Hunter Brawn was using his bank to launder money. Hunter had him and your mom killed before they could blow the whistle." I intoned.
"What? No, that can't be right. How do you know that? How could you know that?" Growled Jubilee, angrily.
"I told you I might see things you don't want me to. The magic lets me see everything when I do that, I can't screen stuff out." I placated, holding my hands up.
"So what? I'm just supposed to take your word for it that this Hunter Brawn guy did what you said he did? All 'cause of magic?" Scoffed Jubilee.
"You're angry and skeptical, I get it. I would be too if I were in your place. Look, I'm not saying you have to believe me, just check into it on your own time, once this whole thing with the Prime Sentinels is over. If it helps, I can at least prove that your having mystical potential wasn't a lie with some basic spellcasting." I tried.
For a few moments, Jubilee looked like she would rather punch me right in the jaw, but then she took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "Fine, how do I do that? If you can prove at least that isn't bullcrap, then I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, at least until I can check in on this Hunter Brawn guy myself." She demanded.
The next hour or so had me working Jubilee through a fairly basic technique. Magic Dart, which was something that all the Colleges of Magi taught to apprentices back on Mundus. It wasn't as out-of-context sensitive as full-on Amber Magic, being essentially just a standard piece of Ecocentric Magic here in that it manipulated ambient magic in the environment rather than calling on an actual Wind of Magic. I honestly didn't think anyone but me could use Ghur or any of the Winds while not actually on Mundus, after all. This, however, was doable and Jubilee picked it up fairly easily within an hour and a half of me starting her on it.
"Spiritus Plumbata!" Growled Jubilee, incanting the magic and making the correct somatic gestures. As she did so, a small bolt of force, about a foot in length, shot out from her hand and struck the stone wall of my workshop, blackening the stonework and sending small stone chips everywhere.
"Perfect! That's it, you've successfully cast your first spell! How does it feel?" I queried.
"It felt like I was just coalescing things out of the air. Is that really all that does?" Frowned Jubilee.
"It's an apprentice-level spell. It's not exactly tossing fireballs or anything. Still, that apprentice-level spell hits with the same level of force as an arrow. I promise you that if you hit someone with that, they'll feel it, and that's just the start." I grinned.
"An arrow, right. That's why Hawkeye is such a valued member of the Avengers." Snarked Jubilee. I could see in her eyes that she was satisfied with my mystical bonafide, though.
"So, truce?" I asked.
"Yeah, all right. You've got yourself a stay of execution. Least till I can check in on things when life hasn't turned into a bad sci-fi movie." Nodded Jubilee.
"On that note, I had a few ideas for the others, though I'm not sure how many of them will be able to learn Magic in time to be useful, there are other things I can do to help them out. Like making magic items." I offered.
"Let's go find out." Remarked Jubilee before striding out of my workshop and down to where the rest of her team was currently.
I followed after her and as we gathered everyone together, I opened my Third Eye once again, confirming a few things and discovering a few others. Skin and Husk would only ever have moderate talent with magic, I couldn't get a read on Penance thanks to her form but was able to confirm her identity as the real Monet St. Croix. Likewise, I was able to confirm the fake Monet as being the merged forms of Monet's twin sisters, Claudette and Nicole masquerading as Monet. Synch, meanwhile, well I could honestly say that magic wasn't something he'd ever be able to pick up, even at a modest level. His mutation let him copy the powers of other mutants but had effectively gutted his ability to learn magic in the bargain. He'd have to struggle for years just to so much as light a candle.
Ironically, it was Emma Frost who had the most mystical potential aside from Jubilee, though I doubted she'd have deigned to take instruction from me on the issue. Also, I was going to need multiple showers to wash off the spiritual gunk I saw in her soul. As befitting the former White Queen of the Hellfire Club, Emma Frost had so many skeletons in her closet that she could fill a graveyard with them. I only caught a brief glimpse of it and it was enough to make me wish that brain bleach was an actual thing that existed. And of course, that was now stuck rattling around in my head forever. To push past it, I immediately began to launch into my plan for everyone present.
"All right, here's the deal. Some of you have the capability to learn magic. Husk, Skin, you'll be joining Jubilee in magic lessons. You don't have the capability to move mountains in the time we have, but a few spells will go a long way and I'll be making you magic items to help cover the deficits. I couldn't get a read on Penance or M, aside from something I'm sure they don't want people to know, though, in my opinion, they might want to spill the details sooner rather than later, as secrets tend to have a habit of coming back on you when you least expect it. Synch. . .I hate to say it, but your powers have absolutely fucked your capacity to learn magic. Your mystical potential is essentially on the level of a potato clock, but that's the price you pay for having such a broadly applicable mutant power." I intoned.
Penance and M looked at each other but neither said anything, not that Penance could in this form. Meanwhile, Synch seemed offended that he didn't have the capability to do anything magically, but I didn't care. He'd just have to console himself with the immense capabilities afforded to him by copying powers from other mutants. Husk and Skin seemed somewhat apathetic, though at least they were interested in magic lessons. Then there was Emma Frost.
"I notice you didn't mention me along with my students?" She opined, sipping tea as she did so.
"Would you even deign to place yourself in a student's role? Also, quite frankly, I don't want to think about the literal graveyard's worth of skeletons in your closet." I shuddered.
"You saw skeletons did you?" Pressed Emma, I could feel her trying to probe my mind to no avail as her mental probe shattered against the total defense of my mutation.
"I did, and out of a lack of interest in reliving the experience, you can count on my discretion on the matter." I huffed.
"Very well, it will do for now." Sighed Emma.
And with that, training began in earnest, Husk and Skin picked up the magic dart spell, though it took both of them the rest of the day while I got Jubilee started on Chi Manipulation and Telekinesis exercises. Over the next twelve days, Jubilee was able to enhance herself with Chi and Telekinesis up to the ten-ton range in strength with commensurate increases in speed and durability. She also picked up hydromancy and could use the water whip, along with a few other hydromantic spells like the water bullet and mist cloak. Meanwhile, Husk took to Chi enhancement better than Skin did but had no facility for Telekinesis. Skin was the opposite, picking up Telekinesis easily enough but barely being able to feel his Chi, much less enhance himself with it. He also picked up a few basic Aeromancy spells all right while Husk picked up the same for Pyromancy.
All the while, I was crafting. I managed to fashion an amulet out of Brillstone for Emma that should let her preserve some of her psychic abilities when up against power-dampening technology like the Prime Sentinels had going on along with a bracelet that should allow her to summon a mystical shield to block an attack, though it wouldn't block something beyond my current ability to block with my own mystical shields.
I also managed to craft sets of Golem-Skin Gauntlets, Horned Helms, Lightning Greaves, Accorder's Shields, Slagwurm Armor, Aeronaut's Wings, and Banshee Blades for Husk, Synch, Penance, M, and Skin. This way, even if they should have their powers totally drained, they should be able to fight extremely well, being in the thirty-ton category in strength with commensurate increases in speed and durability just off the strength of their magic items alone. When adding Husk's Chi-Enhancement and Skin's Telekinesis, that would increase to the forty-ton range with commensurate increases in speed and durability.
Finally, for Jubilee, I crafted a Headband and Amulet that would double her capability with Chi Enhancement, as well as a pair of bracelets to do the same with Telekinesis. This would, effectively, put her in the forty-ton range with commensurate increases in speed and durability. I had planned to make more, giving everyone and myself a full suite of equipment, but events got away from me. It was Emma who broached the subject, she'd been in touch with the Xavier School this whole time via telepathy. Unfortunately, events were moving apace out in the world. The Xavier School, having been weakened by an ambush that had seen most of the X-Men captured had been under siege by Prime Sentinels, necessitating regular check-ins via telepathic communications.
And they had just missed their scheduled check-in. . .
XXXX
AN: All right, so here we have several of the Generation X Team learning Magic and all of them getting suped-up with Magic Items for the fight ahead. They'll need it, as that fight is going to be pretty brutal. Bastion has managed to grab something special in the hopes of accelerating Operation: Zero Tolerance to completion before Senator Robert Kelly and his faction in Congress can change their minds about the Anti-Mutant Policy currently being undertaken. What exactly he managed to pull out is something I'm going to leave until the next chapter for a reveal, but suffice it to say, it's enough to deal with Cannonball, Iceman, Rogue, and Beast when previously the Prime Sentinels had to settle in for a siege.
As for various other things mentioned or alluded to in this chapter, the thing with Jubilee's Parents being assassinated is canon, though Jubilee wouldn't figure it out canonically for at least a year after the events of Operation: Zero Tolerance ended. The same goes for Monet and the Twins being Penance and the fake Monet as well. Eventually, the Twins would have had their guilt eat at them until they fessed up and took on the Penance Mantle, freeing the Real Monet from her mute, monster-like, form. The Skeletons in Emma Frost's Closet meanwhile are myriad, only some of which have been confirmed as canon. At least one of the ones I'm using isn't confirmed but might as well be, that being her being the Mother of Shinobi Shaw.
At any rate, the next chapter will be the fight at the X-Mansion, featuring Bastion's newest weapon.
Stay tuned. .