X-men: Bast

   *** Legal issues: Kia Jaeger(codename Bast) is an original character and
belongs to me.  All other characters and core X-men concepts are copyright
Marvel, Stan Lee, and other creators.  I do not own any of them, nor do I
profit from them in any way.

   Author Note: This story is based upon the story and setup in the comics
and takes place at no particular point in them, but is instead treated as
it's own events separate from many of the large happenings in the comics.
Also, I am not fully aware of every significant event that has happened in
the X-men's long history, so the information presented in this story and
the information in the comics may not always 100% add up.  Some characters
who might even be dead as of the current X-men issues may be alive in this
story.  ***

   Chapter 5

   Kia woke just after 2 A.M.  several nights later.  Her eyes fluttered
about for a moment before she realized the noise that had woken her was the
Mansion alarm.  She sat up quickly, swinging her legs over the edge of her
bed.  Her heart pounded anxiously.  She hoped the alarm was simply due to a
very foolish burglar, but something in her gut told her that wasn't the
case.

   As in response to her thought, Charles voice abruptly filled her head.

   Attention all students and staff.  Please proceed to the nearest safety
zone as quickly as possible.  Those of you who are Seniors and experienced,
lead your younger friends and associates to safety.  X-men, assemble at the
basement's main elevator.  We have intruders in the Mansion.  Everyone be
careful, and do not attempt to confront any intruders on your own.

   Kia paused for a moment, considering where she fit in this mess.  Well,
either way she would have to put some clothes on, that was obvious.  She
pulled on a pair of underwear and a well-supporting bra, then the pants and
blue t-shirt she'd worn that day.  By the time she finished dressing, her
mind was made up.

   Kia opened the door and stepped into the halls.  The alarm was louder
here, screeching out its warning.  The hall lights overhead blinked on and
off in time to the alarm's wailing.  Several teachers went rushing past,
paying her little mind as they attempted to shepherd several of the younger
students in front of them.  Down the hall, Rogue exited her room and
glanced around, dressed in the same hasty manner as she was.  The X-woman
spotted her and jogged quickly to her.

   "Ya oughta get to safety," Rogue stated.

   "I'm coming with you," Kia stated.  "I could be useful."

   "Ah ain't gonna argue with ya, but don't go blamin' me if the Professor
ain't happy," Rogue nodded.

   The two women ran down the halls, stopping for a moment to direct a
group of students toward the hidden compartments leading to shelters below
the Mansion.  The only sounds were the alarm buzzing incessantly and the
occasional scrambling student coming down the hall.  There was no sign of
the intruders, no sounds of violence or struggle.  Kia felt her palms
growing sweaty as she became more and more tense.

   They found most of the team assembled at the main elevator with the
exception of Hank, Betsy, Bobby and Peter.  Everyone was in various states
of dress, having thrown on clothes as quickly as possible.

   Scott didn't notice Kia as he began to brief them on the situation,
which suited her just fine "The Professor just notified me that the
intruders have somehow advanced into the sub-levels.  We aren't sure how
that happened yet, but they're advancing in the direction of Hank's labs.
They're tearing stuff up along the way, so we can definitely bet on them
having hostile intentions."

   "Hank's labs?  No!" Ororo cried.

   "We'll help Hank fix his stuff up later, Sugah," Rogue assured her.

   "No!" Ororo said firmly.  "Hank found some old science journals that he
was interested in browsing through today.  Last I heard from him, he was
still reading them down there!"

   Scott cursed under his breath and shook his head.  "Dammit.  Fine then.
Kurt, `port Logan into the sublevel and get to Hank.  Rogue, you fly on
ahead and get down there as soon as possible."

   The team rushed to follow his instructions, Rogue quickly descending as
Kurt teleported away with Logan in a puff of smoke and muffled `bamf'.

   "Ororo, you, Jean, and..."

   Scott finally seemed to notice Kia as his eyes fell on her.  "You're not
a member of the team.  Got to a shelter, now."

   "You already know I'm not going to listen to you," Kia pointed out.  "So
you may as well let me do something useful."

   "Look, I don't care what kind of attitude you've got, Kia.  I swear to
god if you don't..."

   "Scott, we don't have time for this!" Jean pointed out.  "Hank could be
hurt down there, or worse!"

   Scott glared coldly at Kia, making it clear just what he thought of her
notions of helping.  "Stay with Jean.  Stay out of the fighting, both of
you, and let us handle this!"

   Kia shook her head, completely disgusted with the man.  Even though she
and Jean didn't really know each other well, even she knew that Jean was
one of the most powerful and able members of the Team.  That Scott was
telling her to stay out of the fray was a practically a direct insult.

   Jean looked equally as unhappy, but her attention was more focused on
what was going on below.  "Fine, we'll watch your backs.  But we need to
move!"

   By the time Kia, Cyclops, Jean, and Storm arrived in the sublevels, they
could already hear the sounds of fierce battle raging in the direction of
Hank's lab.  A firearm went off, and then went off again, followed a moment
later by the sound of crushing and ripping metal.  The corridor shook
violently and Kia almost stumbled into Ororo.

   They raced toward the fighting.  Turning into the corridor leading to
Hank's lab revealed that the corridor had been badly damaged, with deep
gashes in the wall and burn marks.  The thick steel door securing the way
into Hank's lab rooms had been ripped away and flung to the floor.

   As they stepped past the ruined door, Kurt puffed into view.  He flipped
to the side as a massive shock-wave came ripping toward him from around the
corner on the right.  The wave slammed against a wall and a fine tracery of
cracks and tears spread out like webwork in the solid steel wall.

   "Marauders!" Kurt shouted to them over his shoulder, then teleported
away again.

   "Shit," Scott swore, then leapt forward, followed closely by his team
mates.

   Hank's lab was a mess.  Papers were spread out everywhere, several
ripped and shredded.  His research desk was overturned and cracked.  One of
his lab tables was adorned with a scattering of glass from broken beakers
and vials, and there were puddles of liquid solutions here and there that
could have been any number of hazardous substances.  Several expensive
looking technical devices lay scattered and broken along the ground.

   The battle was most intense here, and the close-quarters made the
fighting difficult.  Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Rogue were engaging the
enemy, along with Beast.  Hank had a slight gash over his right brow, but
he seemed to be ignoring it in favor of leaping out of the way of a wide
hail of gunfire.

   The Marauders were a dangerous group of Mutant assassins, working in the
service of one of the X-men's most feared enemies, Mr.  Sinister.  They
were clones, all of them, his personal strike force that had been re-cloned
so many times they had lost almost all sense of identity and individuality.


   The X-men had faced off with them numerous times.  Only five of them
were present for the battle, however.  Arclight, a woman with enormous
strength and the ability to focus seismic energy through her hands to
generate shock waves and tremors.  Blockbuster possessed even more
superhuman strength, than Arclight, surpassing her with unnatural endurance
and durability.

   Harpoon was a burly man with the power to channel various forms of
energy and power into metal substances, typically being that of the weapons
that served as his namesake, the large harpoons he kept in a pack strapped
to his back.

   Scalphunter was the source of the gunfire, as his power of
`technoforming' allowed him to manipulate mechanical devices into deadly
weapons of firepower.  Along with his ability to rapidly regenerate various
wounds and injuries, he was deadly indeed.  Finally, the hauntingly
beautiful and deadly Vertigo completed the team of assassins, with her
ability to disorient and unbalance those she turned her powers upon.

   Rogue was airborn, dodging one of Harpoon's projectiles before lunging
through the air and slamming into Blockbuster.  The Marauder cried out as
the force of Rogue's violent tackle sent him back into a wall.  She pursued
him, swinging wildly.  The sound of her fists slamming into his body and
head echoed in the confines of the room, but the Mutant took each blow with
minimal effect.

   Wolverine growled loudly as he slashed at Arclight then rolled away from
the shockwave she sent his way.  He leapt to his feet and slashed at her,
cutting a shallow gash across her shoulder.  She bit off a scream and
kicked him in the chest, sending him bouncing back.  Logan shook his head
and snarled as he popped up to his feet again.  He lunged forward and
slashed, following it with a leaping kick that drove into her belly. 
Arclight struck out, her fist smacking against his skull with a solid
metallic thud.  Logan stumbled but kept his feet under him.  The second
blow sent him to his knees, his brain rattled in the confines of a metal
cage.  He dropped low as she struck again and stabbed his claws into the
woman's foot.  Arclight howled with the pain, then slammed Logan with a
shockwave that sent him hurtling across the room.

   Hank's agility kept him on the move, bounding and looping around the lab
and away from Harpoon's throwing arm.  He couldn't get close enough to
press an attack, however, as every time he tried to, the dangerously
unstable Harpoon charged up one of his throwing weapons, threatening to
unleash a dangerous flow of energy upon both of them.  For the moment he
contented himself with not being killed.  He was getting more and more
angry at his labs destruction by the moment, but he was pointedly ignoring
that in favor of biding his time for a favorable opportunity.

   Kurt dodged and twisted to the side as Scalphunter let loose with his
firearm in his direction.  The blue Mutant teleported behind his enemy and
leapt up to strike him in the back of the head.  Before he'd raised his
hands to strike, however, his head began to swim and his vision blurred. 
The graceful acrobat stumbled, his equilibrium thrown off severely as
things swayed around him sickeningly.

   "Get off him!" Scott shouted as he loosed an optic blast at Vertigo, the
obvious source for Kurt's problems.  Unfortunately, his cry alerted Vertigo
to their appearance just in time and she flung herself to the side and out
of Cyclops's line of sight.  Her powers turned on them, sweeping over all
four of the new arrival.  Their senses fell into confusion.

   Kurt's head cleared just in time for Scalphunter to kick him in the
belly and send him sprawling back.  Nightcrawler teleported away as several
rounds ripped into the spot he'd just been standing.  Scalphunter was on
edge now, and his gun followed Kurt from spot to spot as the X-man
teleported in and out.  They were at a stalemate at the moment, neither of
them able to make any kind of advance on the other.  Kurt knew, though,
that eventually Scalphunter's gun was going to overheat, and in the end he
would have his chance to return the offensive.

   Rogue pounded her fist into Blockbuster's chest, and stoically received
the return strike without flinching.  The two super powered Mutants
exchanged blows back and forth.  They tested each others mettle, each
betting their own would win out.  Blockbuster was the first to give after a
particularly devastating blow from Rogue.  He reached down and grabbed a
chunk of metal that had been ripped from the wall, and swung it at her like
a massive rock.  Rogue quickly dodged to the side, still floating a few
feet off the ground, and exploded forward.  She drove her fist into
Blockbuster's side and allowed her body to continue forward.  She smirked
with grim satisfaction as she whipped her head into the Marauder's face. 
Blockbuster stumbled back, then crumbled as Rogue grabbed a handful of his
hair and smashed his face into the wall, making a sizable dent.

   Hank sprang off the ground as Harpoon launched one of his harpoon's at
the blue Mutant's feet.  He flipped in the air, his spring carrying him
suddenly forward.  Harpoon fumbled for another of his projectiles, but Hank
was already on him.  He thudded into the man, bearing the assassin to the
ground under his nearly 400 pound bulk.  He sprang up and twisted and began
grabbling with the man on the ground, snarling and baring his teeth to
display the fearsome visage from which his name was derived.

   Harpoon managed to get a hand on one of his weapons.  He sneered darkly
at Hank as the shaft of the harpoon began to glow.  Beast flipped away,
kicking off the man and flipping as far away from him as he could.

   "Look out!" Hank cried a warning.

   Rogue was still pounding on Blockbuster, his face bloodied and swollen
as he attempted to gather himself for a counter.  She ducked the looping
punch he sent her way and yanked him forward.  She hurled the cloned Mutant
away, using his momentum and her own considerable strength to send him
sprawling to the ground.  He skidded several feet and landed with his body
against Harpoon, his head flopping against his comrade's glowing weapon. 
Rogue's eyes widened as they fell upon the energized Harpoon in Harpoon's
hand.  She tried to dive for the two men, but it was too late.

   The sharp explosion deafened the room, sending a shower of sparks and
smoke and metal shrapnel in every direction.  Hank cursed at the
destruction to his lab even as he coughed and choked on smoke.  Rogue went
flying back into the wall with a cry, her hair singed and clothes tattered
from the explosion, but she had been lucky enough to be too far away to
take the brunt of the blast, and thus survived.  If not for her super-human
constitution, she wouldn't have been even that lucky.

   Vertigo was distracted for the barest moment by the rocking of the
explosion and the death of her comrades.  It was just enough for Kia to
reach out with her powers.  She broke down the cells in the woman's lungs,
stopping the flow of oxygen into her body.  Vertigo began to panick as she
started to choke.  Kia was only able to keep her hold for a moment, but
that moment was long enough for Jean to strike.  Jean pushed Vertigo back
with enough telekinetic force to drive the woman into the wall.  Vertigo
cried out as her head bounced off the metal surface.  Jean pulled her limp
body off the wall with her telekinesis, raising her into the air.

   Vertigo's eyes twitched open and she turned her power once more onto
Jean.  Jean swayed where she stood and her hold gave way.  Before Vertigo's
body could crumple to the ground it suddenly jerked violently back,
slamming into the wall again as Cyclops unleashed a massive beam of optic
energy into the woman.  Her badly burned form sagged to the ground and lay
still and unmoving.

   Logan yanked his claws out of Arclight's chest and ignored the stunned
expression on her face.  He shoved her aside callously and advanced
aggressively on Scalphunter.

   The Marauder leapt back as he noticed the berserker X-man coming at him.
He sprayed Logan with shots from his firearm, but Logan advanced, heedless
of the energy blasts ripping into his body.  His wounds closed up before
Scalphunters eyes.  Wolverine let out a roar of rage as he drew closer.

   Kurt puffed into sight just behind Scalphunter and drove his elbow
sharply into the back of the man's head.  Scalphunter began to crumble,
though he stubbornly tried to cling to consciousness.  His gun swept around
the room, firing wildly and sending several of the X-men diving for cover.

   Logan snarled in satisfaction as he drove his claws into Scalphunters
sternum until his knuckles touched the man's chest.  He ripped them out and
then slid them away into his forearms.

   "Dammit, Logan!" Scott shouted.  "He was down.  You didn't have to kill
him!"

   "Oh yeah, 'cause ya did such a bang up job keepin' yerself restrained,
one-eye," Logan snarled.  He spat at Scalphunter's body and stalked away
from it.  "Good fuckin' riddance."

   "We could've used used one of these people alive so we could figure out
what they were here for.  Great job, team," Cyclops quipped.

   "It ain't like they're never gonna be around to harass us again," Rogue
sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead.  "We killed these people how many
times now?"

   "That's not the point," Scott scowled.

   "No, it's not," Jean spoke up firmly.  "The point is, Hank is okay and
so are the rest of us.  Let's just be thankful for that."

   Cyclops glared for a moment longer before finally nodding.  "Let's just
get someone in here to clean up this mess.  The Professor isn't going to
be..."

   Before he could finish the statement, Scalphunter suddenly sprung up,
bringing his firearm around to bear.

   Ororo gave a cry and extended a hand.  Ice suddenly began to form around
Scalphunter's hand, freezing over his weapon and rapidly advancing its
chilling way up his arm.  He screamed as the ice encompassed the lower part
of his limb, then reached down with his free hand and pressed a small
button on his belt buckle.  His body shimmered for a moment, then suddenly
vanished from all view.

   "Fuckin' hell!" Logan growled, "Forgot all about his damn regeneratin'.
Coulda sworn I killed him!"

   "Great," Kia muttered.  "So he's not dead, but he's not around for us to
question, either.  Wonderful."

   "Quiet," Scott glared at her.  "You shouldn't even be here."

   "Oh, thanks," Kia rolled her eyes.  "I help us deal with the chick who's
making all of us feel like we're having the worlds biggest hangover, and
you tell me I shouldn't be here.  See, Scott, that's why I love you."

   "Ahem," Beast cleared his throat.  The others fell silent and turned to
him with suddenly worried expressions.  "I hate to interrupt this cute
little family moment, but I do believe I'm about to start bawling."

   "Are you okay?" Ororo asked as she stepped across the wrecked room and
gripped his arm.

   "Yes," Hank sighed.  He wiped a trickle of blood from his forehead.  "I
guess I need to start making preparations for the burial.  Only you can't
really burry a lab, so I'll have to settle for an urn with beaker shards on
my desk."

   "We can rebuild it," Jean pointed out.

   "Yes," Beast agreed.  "It won't be too bad...most of the damage is
cosmetic...though I certainly lost quite a bit of paperwork I was planning
on filing soon.  And I believe my computer might be beyond salvageable," he
added with a glance to his shattered and shredded computer off in the
corner.

   "What did they want?" Scott asked.

   "I don't know," Hank shrugged.  "I'd stepped out of the lab to get some
caffeine from the kitchen, since my own supply down here has run out, and
when I returned they were attempting to access my computer.  My poor, poor
computer..."

   It was hard to tell if Hank was being serious or not.  Ororo squeezed
his arm anyway.

   "What're we gonna do `bout this?" Logan asked.

   Scott shook his head.  "First, we need to get some of this mess cleaned
up.  Then we need to go find the Professor and report what happened to him.
We'll see if maybe he can come up with something.  Hank, when do you think
you can know if anything important was accessed or stolen?"

   Hank shrugged.  "Give me a few days," was all he said.

   "Make it quick," Scott ordered.  "Logan, Kurt, you're with me checking
the Mansion grounds to see if there are more trouble makers around here. 
The rest of you, clean up here and find the Professor and give a report. 
And try to figure out how they got right under our noses before we even
knew they were here."

   "What do you think happened to the Manor defense systems?" Kia asked
Rogue as the team broke off to their various tasks.

   "Hell if Ah know," Rogue shrugged.  "But it ain't good, either way. 
It's bad enough some folk know how to find us...Ah'd hate to think they can
reach out at us like this again."

   "Comforting," Kia muttered, and followed her friend up to the surface
levels.

   ***



   The next morning Kia woke early and put on her grungy jeans and an old
t-shirt.  Both had seen better days, and were dotted and smudged with
various stains and wrinkles, but they were comfortable.  It was Saturday,
and Kia, along with several others, had promised to help Hank clean up and
repair his lab.  After grabbing a quick and slim breakfast, she descended
to the lower levels and found Ororo and Hank already hard at work.  Kurt
was crouched, welder in hand, getting a new door to the lab rooms set in
place and secure.  Peter was holding the new door up, transformed into his
metal form in order to keep the several ton door from falling.  Rogue
entered just a moment later, carrying a tray of muffins.

   "Hi, Y'all.  Jean had t' take care of some stuff, but she wanted to be
sure we all got somethin' to eat.  These're from her."

   "Wonderful, we'll thank her later," Ororo smiled.

   "Ah might hafta help Peter and Kurt with that wall, but otherwise Ah'm
all yours."

   Kia picked up a broom and began to sweep the heaps of broken beakers and
test tubes all over the floor.  Ororo went through the lab, trying to pick
up scattered papers and anything that appeared salvageable.  Hank sat at
one of the few tables that wasn't overturned, sorting piles of papers and
equipment Storm handed him.

   "I have a question," Kia spoke.

   There was a loud crash as Rogue turned a table over and back upright,
then dusted it off with her gloved hand.  Ororo shifted some tools onto the
newly available surface.

   "What's that?" Storm asked.

   "It seems like everyone except me knows what happened last night.  I
mean...who were those people?" Kia asked.

   Hank and Ororo exchanged glances and Peter poked his head into the room
curiously.  Rogue muttered, "A buncha over-cloned thugs who're stupid
enough to attack us in our own place."

   "Kia, Charles hasn't told you of Mr.  Sinister?" Hank asked.

   Kia shrugged slightly and leaned up against a counter.  "I heard
something about him...mostly that I'm not ready to start the training
settings for those kind of Mutants yet.  So...those guys work for him or
something?"

   "Not exactly," Ororo sighed.  She ran her fingers through her thick
white hair and swept it away from her face.  "Mr.  Sinister controls them.
He clones them at will and uses them to do his legwork, especially in
information gathering and dirty work.  They've functioned regularly as
assassins.  We've dealt with them a number of times, but they always come
back."

   "Sounds lovely.  I'm looking forward to that," Kia muttered.

   Hank glanced up from his papers.  "Indeed.  I assure you, this isn't the
first time Sinister has shown interest in my work, either.  Seems his
interest is piqued, at the moment."

   "So he was definitely after something in here?" Kia asked.

   "It would seem so," Hank nodded.

   "Anythin' missin' yet?" Rogue asked.

   "I can't be sure just yet," Hank shrugged.  "As I said last night, it
seemed as if they were trying to access my computer.  It will take some
time for me to even get started investigating what they may have discovered
in all this mess."

   Kurt popped in and nodded to Rogue.  "I tink we need your help wit ze
door out here, my friend."

   "Gotcha," Rogue nodded.  She dusted some of the dirt from her gloves and
followed her blue skinned friend out into the hall to help Peter with the
welding of the door.

   Kia moved to another area of the door, dusting, sweeping, and cleaning.
She picked up a few miscellaneous parts from some of Hank's broken
equipment and put them on a counter top.  "I wonder what they wanted," she
said.

   "It's hard to tell," Ororo replied, "Sinister is interested in a great
number of Mutants who have been with us at one point or another.  And Hank
has very extensive data on principles and research in the field of
genetics. He could be after anything."

   "At least they didn't break into the vault deeper in my laboratories.  I
shudder to think what would happen if they got their hands on some of the
DNA samples I have stored away inside," Hank added.

   "Good thing you have it locked up tighter than a chastity belt," Kia
laughed.

   "Indeed," Hank nodded.  He took a deep breath and glanced over the messy
lab.  "Still.  It's going to take me a month to assess the full damage that
they've done and get my things back in order and organized.  And who knows
what kind of damage has been done to my computer.  I'm dreading finding
that out most of all."

   "Don't worry," Storm rubbed his shoulder.  "Everything will be okay. 
Let's cancel our plans for tonight so we can figure out just what it is
we're looking at."

   "No, that's quite alright," Hank returned.  "I wouldn't want to change
our plans because my things are a bit mangled."

   Ororo shook her head and kissed Hank on the cheek.  "It's okay.  We can
see a movie any night.  I know how important this is.  And not just to you,
but to all of us.  We need to know what's going on.  I'll stay up with you
and help straighten and clean up."

   Hank put a large, blue hand over hers.  "Thank you, Ororo.  I will make
it up to you."

   "Think nothing of it," Storm smiled.

   ***



   Hank let out a sigh as he placed another slender vial of DNA sampling
back into its allotted place.  It was well past midnight that same night,
and he was meticulously going over all the DNA samples he kept sealed away
in the vault in the back of his lab.  While the outside of the vault showed
no obvious signs of tampering or forced entry, he knew that the vast
collection of DNA from various powerful Mutants were of too great an
importance to leave unchecked.  He'd been working on checking and
re-checking the samples for the last several hours.

   The vault the samples were stored in was a spacious and sophisticated
system, clean chrome and metal walls lined with dozens and dozens of
compartments.  Each had an electronic seal that would have taken someone of
Colossus's power to force open.  On the face of each small compartment
there was a small black pad on the upper right-hand corner, which scanned
the thumb print in order to open the compartment.  Only Hank's print would
open the compartments.  Each compartment housed five DNA samples.  The
compartments were refrigerated at a low temperature to keep them from
preserved and avoid any deterioration.

   Hank's hands were cold after how many icy vials he'd been handling.

   "Ah, Bobby.  Wouldn't want to have misplaced you.  You would probably
melt," Hank muttered to himself as he placed Iceman's DNA sample back into
its place in the compartment.

   "I think Bobby would be insulted," Ororo commented as she walked into
the vault.  Hank smiled at her and slid the compartment shut.

   "Perhaps," he replied, "But somehow I think he would get over it."

   "I finished cleaning the stains on the floor," Storm told him as she
stepped into his arms.  Her slender hands caressed his chest.

   "Good," Hank chuckled.  "I do so hate messes."

   Ororo tilted her head back and smirked mischievously.  "The moment
something else caught your interest you wouldn't have even noticed."

   "True," Beast conceded, "But until then it would've driven me crazy."

   Ororo smiled and rested her head against his broad blue shoulder.  "We
have a lot of work to do still."

   "Indeed," Hank nodded.  "I still have to sort through the rest of these
samples.  And several devices need to be repaired.  Not to mention I need
to regain access to my computer and check my files."

   "At least there doesn't seem to be anything obviously stolen," Ororo
said.  "I still wonder what the Marauders were even here for.  I feel
uneasy about the whole thing."

   "As do I," Hank nodded.  After a few moments of silence he cleared his
throat and looked down at the woman in his arms.  "Thank you for staying
here with me, Ororo.  I don't know how long it would've taken me to sort
through all this by myself."

   "You would've been fine," Storm smiled.  "I've hardly even done
anything."

   "Well, you told me what I should start on.  If not for that I'd still be
walking in circles, wringing my hands and being indecisive about what bit
of my precious lab I should start with first."

   Ororo laughed and smiled at him.  "What can I say?  Women make natural
leaders."

   "That's quite true," Hank nodded.

   "Hank?" Ororo murmured softly.

   "I should shut up and kiss you, right?"

   "Yes."

   Their lips met in a deep, smooth kiss as their embrace deepened.  His
hands ran through her hair, delicately careful not to snag any of the
thick, gleaming white locks on his claws.  His cool blue fingers sent
shivers along her body but she pressed to him still, and soon the warmth of
Ororo's curving body chased the chill from his hands.  Storm ran her own
hands along him, first rubbing and caressing his broad chest before sliding
around to his back and rubbing in slow circles.  She could feel the slight
brushing of his fur through his shirt.

   Her tongue probed into his mouth and explored it, swirling around and
dancing along his with an energy and vivaciousness that thrilled him.  They
stood, embraced and oblivious to their surroundings, exploring each other
with their senses.  Her sweet flesh felt heavenly smooth where her arms
were bared, and his soft and lightly furred hands made her tremble with
desire.

   Ororo's hand reached down and gripped at his crotch, boldly fondling and
squeezing his growing manhood through his pants.  Hank shook for a brief
moment, overwhelmed by the sensations of her long, slender fingers gripping
and pulling on his cock.  Storm nearly jumped, surprised but thrilled by
the feel of Hank's large hands suddenly closing around the generous swell
of her ass.  His fingers squeezed and kneaded at it, prompting her hand in
its turn to squeeze harder as well.

   Hank lifted Storm into his arms and carried her to the wall, pressing
her to the steel faceplates of the compartments and paying no heed to them.
She mewled into his mouth, arching against him.  She opened her legs wide
and wrapped them around him, barely able to fit them around his thick
waist. His dick pressed against her cunt and they grinded together for
several moments, their breathing heavy and labored.

   "Ohh...Hank..." Ororo panted as they broke for a deep breath and then
met in yet another fiery kiss.  Her hands roamed along his body, caressing
him as he held her up against the wall.

   After several moments Hank pulled back a bit and Ororo slid to her feet.
She smiled, gazing into his eyes as she reached down and began to slowly
undo her pants.

   "Someone could come in here," Hank said, not sounding particularly
detered by the fact.

   "I know," Ororo giggled as her zipper slid down.  "Kinda naughty, isn't
it?"

   With a soft plop Storm's pants hit the floor, followed closely by her
slim blue thong.  She turned, glancing over her shoulder as she did so, her
eyes playful and challenging.  Hank reached out and gripped her exposed
ass, reveling in the smooth firmness of the rounded black flesh.  She
pressed her hands against the wall and arched outward, pushing her alluring
backside upward and toward him.  He could just barely glimpse her smooth,
swollen pussy peaking at him from between her chocolate thighs.

   "Hurry, Hank," Ororo groaned as Beast fumbled and pulled at his belt,
desperately trying to undo his pants and free his manhood so that he could
fill the needy cunt before him.  Storm giggled at his muttering under his
breath as his zipper stuck.  She watched him over her shoulder, her eyes
partially shrouded by the fall of her hair.  After several moments she
began to wag her ass back and forth, wiggling her buttocks at him, which
only made Hank nearly tear his zipper off his pants.

   Finally, Hank worked free of his pants and dropped them, along with a
rather large pair of boxers, to the floor.  He kicked them aside and
scooted toward.  His swollen blue member rubbed for a few moments along the
deep crevice of Ororo's luscious ass, eliciting a heavy groan from him. 
Ororo reached down between her legs with one hand, spreading her dark folds
and revealing the soft pink inside.  Hank gripped his dick and pressed it
between Storm's supple firm thighs.  He shivered at the excess of wetness
he felt, a slick warm flood of juices contacting his dick the moment he
pressed it to her sticky slit.

   Ororo cried out as Hank thrust forward, burying his cock into her and
spreading her insides.  Her delicate fingers spread out along the wall and
her chest pressed to it as his weight pushed her forward.  She pressed back
into him, savoring and delighting in the feel of his cock spreading her
open along its length.  Her slick pussy walls milked and tugged at the
swelling sides of his dick in overpowering hunger.

   The pair began to fuck passionately, sliding against each other and
moving in a desperate rhythm.  Hank pounded his cock into the bent and
willing Ororo, thrusting deep into her welcoming cunt over and over.  His
fat shaft plunged into the silken heat of her hole, filling it and
massaging it along the clinging tunnel.  His swollen blue prick filled her,
stretching his lover infinitesimally but oh-so-wonderfully wider with each
throb and pulse along its length.

   Ororo moaned and hissed in pleasure as her man fucked her, plowing her
cunt deeper and deeper with each thrust, driving her deliciously against
the wall with the power of his fucking.  She arched back, pushing her ass
up, up, higher, higher, offering herself to him and his thrusting cock. 
She could feel her folds spreading out around his pumping member,
deliciously open and slick.  Her supple breasts bounced and wobbled,
swishing slightly below her in the confines of her shirt, causing the
material to graze against her nipples and send shivers through her.

   She reached down between her thighs and began to frig her clit, rubbing
it in rapid circles, mashing it with her fingers and squeezing her swollen
bald pussy.  Her inner walls clung to Hank's invading meat, pulling and
sucking at him.  The vault was filled with the sounds of their fucking, the
slap of sweating bodies colliding and the slick, slurping moisture of her
cunt wrapping around his cock.

   Their wild coupling was too much for either of them to bear for long. 
Ororo arched her back sharply, pressing back into Hank as she cried out her
orgasm.  Her sopping cunt squeezed and milked at his plunging blue cock. 
Sticky fuck juice dribbled from her spasming pussy, forming slick trails
along her thighs and dripping slightly onto the floor.  She thrashed about,
tossing her hair as she moaned and screamed in orgasm.

   "Ororo, I can't..." Hank muttered through gritted teeth, not slowing his
pace a bit.

   "Do it Hank!" Storm cried, "Fuck me!  Empty yourself into me!  Fill me!
Yess!"

   Hank exploded into Storm's clinging fuckhole, spurting his seed into the
deepest recesses of her belly.  It coated her spasming inner walls.  It
filled her, load after load of thick sticky globules lining her insides in
hot ropes of jizz.

   "Fuck yes!  Yes Hank!  Fill me, give me your cum!" Ororo screamed as a
second orgasm washed through her, more intense than the last.  Her insides
roiled with his seed, as her quaking tunnel milked him dry, pulling and
sucking the cum out of his wonderfully pulsing cock.  Storms knees quivered
for a moment before completely giving way in the intensity of her climax.
She sank down to the floor, causing Hank's dick to slurp free of her
chocolate pussy's warm embrace.  She nearly cried out with the loss, but
the last vestiges of her orgasm demanded too much of her attention.

   Heaving with exquisite pleasure, Ororo whimpered at the force of her
orgasm.  Her whole body tensed, shaking wildly at the sensations exploding
between her lean thighs.  Her vision swam as heavenly sensations flooded
all her senses, blocking out every other bit of perception she had for that
agonizingly long moment of absolute ecstasy.

   She sank forward, her breasts pressing to the cool metal of the wall as
she sucked in a deep breath, the first in several moments, she realized. 
She could feel cum and cunt-honey sloshing out of her still-open hole and
spattering softly onto the ground, but for the moment she couldn't even
muster the energy to care.

   "Are you alright, my dear?" Hank asked as his big blue hands reached out
to gently caress her back.  His voice was concerned, even through his heavy
panting.

   "I'm...wonderful..." Storm replied as she straightened up.  After
several moments she stood up, and though her legs were shaky for a moment,
she felt wonderful indeed.  She turned to smile at her lover and leaned
forward to kiss away his worried expression.

   After several long, relaxing moments of soft kisses and sweet, murmured
words, the two stepped away from each other a bit.  Hank retrieved his
pants as Ororo glanced down at the puddle of their joined fluids.

   "Seems I've made a mess of your lab," she grinned wickedly.

   Hank smiled, glancing at the puddle and back at her.  "Like you said, my
dear...the moment something else catches my attention, I'll hardly even
notice."

   End Ch.  5

   I feel I should address something at this point, something that readers
need to be made aware of before they get too deep into this story.

   I don't like Cyclops.  At all, really.  This is a personal dislike and
prejudice, and I don't have a whole lot of reasoning and logic behind this.
I just don't like the guy.  As such, I'm unfair to the Scott character in
this story, and he won't be in it for the whole thing.  I know this isn't
very fair, or reasonable, but I feel that I should write in the area of my
comfort zone, and I'm not comfortable writing with that character a whole
lot.

   So, that being said, if you're a really big Cyclops fan, you may want to
either avoid the rest of this story, or come to terms with me handing him a
raw deal.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to discourage anyone from
reading my story, and if you want to speak with me about my writing issues
with Scott, that's welcome.  But I felt it was only fair to give a bit of
warning.

   Okay!  Chapter 6 is on its way!

   Please send all questions/comments/critiques to
Crouching_Buddha2000@yahoo.com