Part Three:  The New Class

     Emma Frost sighed.  These new Hellions weren't working out
as well as she had expected.  With Tai at the Academy teaching,
Emma had thought that the workload of governing the school would
drop.  Even with the X-Men staying as far away from the club as
possible, these new students were trying her patience.
     How she missed her prize pupils!  Firestar, Warpath, Tarot! 
Why had she let them go?  What could her reasoning possibly have
been?  She at least could have asked Angelica to remain in The
school as a teacher's aid.  Kitty and Dazzler were excellent
assistants, but these new students...
     Frost reclined in her chair and shut her eyes.  Lord, what
she wouldn't give to just cancel the training session today.  But
she knew that she couldn't.  Ignoring unpleasant responsibilities
had not made her the White Queen, and it was a fault that she did
her best to make certain that her Hellions didn't have.
     Some of the new ones were fine.  Two of the new girls were
excellently disciplined.  Silhouette and Firewall, they knew what
they were doing.  Sil's speed was incredible, matched by her
agility and combat skill.  And her teleportation power made her a
dangerous adversary, something that several of her old Hellions
had learned the hard way.  Firewall's heat generated powers
reminded her of Angelica for obvious reasons.  Ming Li wasn't as
powerful as the other girl, but she was more confident.
     No, those two were likely to work out fine, except for their
rather twisted morality.  They were impassioned about certain
things, Sil on crime, Ming on the environment.  They seemed to be
willing to sacrifice smaller parts of what they protected to
defend the whole.  Emma still thought that the circumstances of
Sil's membership were strange.  Her boyfriend joins the club as a
regular member, they discover that he's the crime fighter Night
Thrasher, and he joins the inner circle.  It was a little too
easy.  Still, as a Black Knight, with Cybernetic enhancements,
Dwayne was proving to be a valuable member.  His genius for
economics rivaled hers, and the Taylor foundation was nearly as
large as Frost Enterprises.  Like Silhouette, Dwayne was very
much willing to commit crimes to prevent others.  He had no
qualms about beating a person within an inch of his life so that
he didn't have the chance to hurt someone else, and from What
Frost had learned about Silhouette, she was even worse.  She took
her enemy over that edge.
     Ming had a different value system.  "The environment must be
protected at all costs," Ming had told her, and she used her
abilities to prevent it from being harmed.  Even if she had to
take out a few, individual trees, Ming would make certain that
there were no loggers to be a threat to the rest.  That was
usually by bringing down burning logs on the heads of those who
would have cut them down.  Tai had located her with Mutavic,
Frost's mutant discovery computer system.  An orphanage in Laos
was the girl's first home, and now a prestigious private school
replaced it.  At least she had some friends here, Frost thought.
     But these others...Emma groaned.  That insufferable
Jubilation Lee, Jubilee for short, came unbidden to her mind. 
The little brat needed instruction, someone to tell her how to
act, how to do her homework, and most certainly, how to dress. 
Jubilee was a nice girl, just a very obnoxious one.
     <Hey, Lady Godiva!  I just KNEW you'd be thinkin' o' me and
wanted ta say HOWDY>.  Emma groaned again.  Either Jubilee was
turning out to be telepathic, or her annoyance was part of her
mutant power, and one more was the ability to be annoying to real
telepaths at great distances.
     Jubilation was the least of her concerns.  Kitty was doing a
fine job placating her, but these others...Beef had been a
boorish oaf since the day he joined the academy, but that was
something that she'd learned to deal with.  When worst came to
worst, Frost simply gave him a quick telepathic blow and he'd
calm down.  But what on earth would keep him and the new moron
Bloodstrike from ripping each other apart?  She didn't have time
to keep them separate constantly.  Bloodstrike was just as
strong, just as arrogant, and just as stupid.
     And then, of course, was Smiling Tiger.  He and Catseye
didn't like each other.  The monster was bright orange with long,
red claws.  Sharon was just as agile and much stronger than he
was, but Tiger's claws were something that she couldn't match.
Those two, unlike the musclebound morons, at least had the sense
to stay separated.
     Sil's brother, Midnight's Fire, was as good as his sister. 
Stronger, faster, more agile, he lacked the power of
teleportation and her modesty.  He enjoyed showing off,
especially whenever Roulette was around.  
     Emma rose to her feet with great reluctance.  Roulette was
in her element with more male students around.  The little minx
played one off the other, much to the amusement of Emma.  She had
been the same way at that age, but it was trying her patience
when she purposely started fights between Beef and Bloodstrike.
     Empath enjoyed the situation immensely, but he was tempered,
at least, by Tai.  He seemed afraid of the old woman, and that
was something Frost enjoyed very much.  All the students gave her
enormous respect, almost more, Frost thought jealously, than they
gave to her.  But when Tai and Emma weren't around, Empath and
Roulette played more than Frost would have liked.
     Jetstream was handling the situation well.  He was a good
student and a good Hellion, obedient to Frost and Tai without
question.  Magma, as well, was dealing with the new students. 
Bevatron seemed to have set his teenaged heart on Firewall, but
he flirted outrageously with both Kitty and Jennifer.  
     Emma walked into her elevator, descending into the sub
basement level of the building, into the Hellion training center. 
Her armed guards stood at attention.  Emma had found little
solace in this compound since that ceremony.  Taylor and Firestar
were supposed to visit later in the day.
     She entered the control both.  Dazzler and Black Bishop were
waiting for her, with the Hellions in the room below.  
     "Good Morning," she said without any real enthusiasm.
     "'Morning Emma," Kitty was forcing herself to sound happy.
     "Don't bother," Frost told her.  "This is going to be Hell."
     "Dwayne and Angel are coming," Dazzler reminded her.  "That
should make it interesting."
     "And they're bringing Tai back from New York with them,"
Frost seemed to brighten.  "The animals will be back on their
best behavior."
     "Thank God," Dazzler said fervently.  "I don't remember them
EVER acting like this before."
     "Its the new group," Emma told her.  "And Roulette's still
being petty about last year's graduation."
     "I wish she'd get over it," Kitty said.  "She's so
immature."
     "Jubilee's grating on everyone's nerves as well," Dazzler
reminded her.
     "Jubilee will calm down," Frost said, "Or I'll rewrite her
personality to calm her down."
     "I'd let her put Manuel in his place first," Kitty smiled
viciously.  "His powers don't work on her, probably because she's
too undisciplined, but it should be fun watching her blow up his
face for trying."
     "Let's begin," Frost spoke into the microphone.  "We'll be
releasing the robotic attack units into the room," she told the
other two women.  "Danger Level is going to be on the highest
setting.  I think they can handle it."
     Dazzler looked at Frost for approval, and then pressed the
button to begin.
     "Manuel, look out!" Firewall yelled as the robot leapt at
Empath.  These exercises put Manuel at a disadvantage.  His
telepathy didn't help him against Robots.
     Ming hurled a fireball at the attacker, melting the metal
casing on the creature.  They were designed to look exactly like
real humans, but the Hellions all knew the difference.
     "Gracias," He told his flying teammate.  Ming nodded, and
flew after another automation.
     Jetstream was blasting through the vast room, getting the
robots to chase him with their lasers.  He was providing a
distraction, Frost thought, keeping their fire off the others
until they were capable of dealing with them.  Good, very good.
     Catseye was leaping with all the grace of her namesake,
pouncing on the robots, scratching, biting and punching them into
submission.  The Lasers danced around her, burning her fur. 
Frost was certain that she'd be out of the fight fairly soon,
unless another Hellion could provide some cover while she
finished off these five units.
     The cover came in the form of Silhouette, who appeared out
of the shadows, crushing the metallic skull of her opponent with
her staff and then vanishing again.  Midnight's Fire was moving
just as fast as his teleporting sister.  He struck out with his
billy clubs, breaking metallic limbs while dodging the lasers of
his enemies.
     This wasn't turning out as bad as she expected, Frost
admitted to herself.  They might actually get out of this without
a scratch.  
     Bevatron was blasting through the robots.  Frost sighed. 
<This isn't a game.  You're training to face very real danger.  I
suggest you take it more seriously.>
     "Oui Madame" she heard him laugh, shooting down another
robot.
     With their weapons trained on Jetstream, Jubilee was
sneaking up on five distracted automatons.  With a hearty yell of
"Eat this, Tin-man!", she girl unleashed a burst of pyrotechnics
from her fingers.  Two of them exploded, and the force of their
detonations took down the other three.
     "Jubilee, DOWN!" Jetstream yelled, swooping down and
collecting her in his arms.  Three laser blasts exploded on the
floor where she'd been standing.  
     "They're actually doing something together!" Dazzler smiled. 
"They're functioning as a team, even without your telepathic
prodding!"
     "Yes," she smiled.  It was going perfectly.
     Smiling Tiger was slashing through opponents, but suddenly
leapt forward, running scared.
     "What's going on with him?" Kitty asked.
     "I don't know," Emma said, "Yet."  She reached out with her
psychic powers.  What had scared him?
     Of course.  It had to be that.
     Beef and Bloodstrike were done with their robotic enemies,
had seen each other, and were charging, right where Smiling Tiger
had been standing.  Their excuse was the one robot that Tiger had
left standing.  They both intended to get the enemy, but wanted a
few licks on each other in the process.
     "BLOODSTRIKE!" Empath yelled.
     "BEEF!" Silhouette cried.
     "STOP!" Jetstream shouted.
     It didn't help.  The boys punched at the robot, crushing it,
and then continued, blow after blow, into each other.
     Roulette hurled a black disk at the remaining robots, while
Magma tossed a blob of fiery lava at them.  When Magma's
projectile hit, two of them melted while the rest staggered to
get away.  
     When Jenny's projectile struck, the robot fell apart.  His
limb landed so that another would trip and fall into the pool of
molten metal and plastic that had been its fellow robot.
     The creature's head melted, freezing the body in attack
position.  It held the trigger of its weapon down, sending a
powerful Laser through the last two robots.
     Roulette's luck changing powers were very impressive, Emma
thought errantly.  Of course, she had something different to deal
with.
     She could feel Empath trying to seize control over the
imbeciles, but it wasn't working.  She'd let this play out for a
few minutes before she interfered.  She wanted to know what her
students would do about it.
     "Big Dumb Man STOP" Catseye hissed, leaping into the fray. 
She stood on beef's back, her claw slashing at Bloodstrike's
face.  
     Smiling Tiger favored Bloodstrike, and didn't like his
friend being scratched by the girl.  He tackled her off him, and
the two feral beings rolled along the floor, hissing and
growling.
     Kitty started to swear.  Dazzler joined her.  "Emma?" Kitty
regained composure for a moment.
     "No," she said.  "This has been building.  After they've
beaten each other senseless, then I'm going to reprimand them MY
way."  She looked at Kitty, "But I find your language very
comforting right now, if you'd like to start again."
     Kitty kept going, and Emma began watching the brawl again.
     "Somebody keep the animals on leashes," Bevatron complained. 
     "Shut UP!" Jubilee snarled at him. "This isn't funny."
     "Make me, Chere," he sneered.
     "I've been waiting for this," she growled back.  Fireworks
poured from her hands, knocking Bevatron flat on his back.  He
shot back with his energy blasts.
     "This is getting out of hand," Kitty snarled.  
     "Let's see how far it goes," Frost replied.  "I want to see
how they're going to go about stopping this."
     Silhouette vanished into the shadows.  She rematerialized
behind Bevatron, cracking him sharply across the back of the
skull with her staff.  Jubilee, not seeing Sil's assault, kept on
shooting.  But then the black woman was behind her too, and did
the same thing.  The girl fell to the ground.
     Firewall and Jetstream were both on the ground.  "I'll deal
with those two," she said of Catseye and Tiger.  The asian girl
raised her hands, spilling fire at the scratching mutants. 
Sharon was holding Tiger's claws at bay.  Ming's blast knocked
the orange male away.  Catseye remained where she was, watching
Tiger cautiously.  She was bleeding from several deep cuts in her
arms, but seemed otherwise unharmed.
     "Fire," Silhouette unleashed her brother.  Midnight's Fire
leapt forward with all the agility of Catseye or Tiger.  One foot
caught Bloodstrike in the face, while his billy club knocked Beef
senseless.  Bloodstrike advanced on him, but Fire stood between
the dazed Beef and the snarling Bloodstrike.
     Silhouette materialized at her brother's side, and Catseye
leapt to join them.  Firewall, Roulette and Jetstream joined the
fray.
     "You cannot fight us all," Ming said.  "Stand down, or I
will knock you down."
     "Blood man listen to new flame hair" Catseye hissed, "Or
Catseye hurt Blood man again."
     "Calm down" Empath said from behind him, his voice very
soothing.  Emma could feel him concentrating, breaking through
Bloodstrike's love of violence to placate him.
     Emma decided not to interfere.  The Hellions had prevented
what could have been their civil war without her help.  Now it
was time for punishment.  Beef and Bloodstrike would be most
seriously reprimanded, but Jubilee, Smiling Tiger and Bevatron
deserved a share in it as well.  Firewall, Silhouette, Catseye
and Midnight's Fire, true, had gotten involved, but to punish
them for stopping the fight would only encourage them not to do
it the next time.
     But, as a group, the lot of them needed to be disciplined.

     "Do you have ANY idea just how much DANGER you put the
others in?" Dazzler screamed at Beef.  He made a kissy face at
her.
     "That's IT!" She shouted, pointing a finger at him.  A
sizzling bolt of light struck him in the chest, hurling him back
against the wall.
     "And as for YOU!" She turned to Bevatron,  "What do YOU have
to say for yourself?"
     "Jubilee attacked me!" He protested.
     "You provoked her," Emma told him.  "Don't try to
rationalize it from me, Bevatron.  You wanted her to start."
     "But that STILL does not excuse your behavior," Dazzler said
to Jubilation.
     "I'm sorry," she said.   
     "I'm sorry too," Emma told the Hellions.  "I'm sorry that I
haven't disciplined you enough.  And I'm sorry for those of you
who aren't at fault, that you have to sit through this.  But
you've brought this on yourselves.  Return to your rooms, and
none of you are to leave until dinner this evening.  Beef,
Bloodstrike, you two will be taking dinner in your rooms, alone. 
After which, you will study the Hellfire Club Charter until you
gain an understanding of why you won't ever be members."
     Frost sent out a strong telepathic shock wave, striking the
Hellions who had started the altercation.  Beef and Bloodstrike
clutched their heads, as did Jubilee, Bevatron and Smiling Tiger.
     "DISMISSED!" she said.  The Hellions dashed out of the room.
     At least Angel and Tai were coming today.


Daniel Thomas

"...But I do not enjoy the killing...I AM NOT VIOLENT!! And I will put an
arrow through the brains of
anyone who says I am!!!"-Artemis (Artemis Requiem #4-DC)