Issue 1 Downtime

Jubilee was standing near the guard gate, waiting to greet the advance party that was arriving to make sure everything was in readiness and secure for Magneto's visit. And most certainly not wanting to intercept them before something unfortunate happens. she thought sourly.

A little faith in diplomacy, dear, Cassiel thought as he came up behind her.

I'm totally optimistic. Jubliee replied This is me, standing here being optimistic. I'm sure that he isn't sending anyone that I've defeated.

Madison walks out up to Jubilee and Mike, dressed in a professional manner. Though she looked relaxed and almost casual, she kept scanning the grounds with the focus of someone keeping their eyes open for trouble.

"Hey Lee. Asters," Madison says as she gets close.

He isn't a monster, Cassiel thought, amused. He isn't coming to huff and puff and blow the house down. We invited him here.

"Good afternoon, Madison."

"Hi West." Jubilee said absently as a car pulled up to the gate. Some monsters can only enter if they're invited. she pointed out to Cassiel.

"Waiting for our distinguished guests?"

"No, it just seemed like a nice day to get dressed up and go for a stroll." Jubilee replied, straightening her jacket a little.

The guard moved towards the car, being greeted at the window by the driver who presented them with the proper identifications. After a few quick checks the guard waved them in and the gate opened.

The car moved forward to where the faculty members were standing before coming to a stop. Stepping out of the car, the driver moved around to let out the passengers.

Samantha stood on the edge of the crowd, the flock scanning for telepaths among the entourage.

An old woman stepped out of the car, smiling sweetly at the driver and thanking him quietly. Dressed in a modest and professional style, she looked pleased to see the members of the faculty that had gathered to meet them.

"Good afternoon," the old woman greeted the group warmly, standing aside for a moment to let the others out of the car.

The second person to emerge from the car was a young woman, dressed comfortably in a pair of dark slacks and a heavy green sweater. Her mental shields were excellent, but she was clearly on alert, monitoring the emotions of the guard and the people in the arrival party, and as a result some of the nervous anticipation she was feeling would be evident to any telepaths in the area. When the boot of the car opened, several large and small pieces of luggage floated out, and she and the luggage followed the old woman towards the reception party.

"Good afternoon." Jubilee said in reply "I'm Jubilation Lee, welcome to Xavier's University. Its a pleasure to meet you." See, I can be diplomatic. she thought to Cassiel.

"The young one is a telepath, or at least well-trained," she sent to the other faculty.

"Ah, the famous 'Jubilee'," the old woman says, "I am Atrapos. Part of Magnus' personal forward guard, so to speak. And this is my granddaughter, Kushiel."

Atrapos gestures towards Kyra.

"It is a pleasure to visit your campus."

"Nice to meet you." Kyra said, to the crowd All of them seem safe, Grandmother. They aren't all happy to see us here, though. she sent to her grandmother. Her control was really very good, Samantha or Michael would have to concentrate a little bit to pick up on what she was sending to her grandmother.

Thanks for the heads up Jubilee said to Sam. Aloud she said "We're pleased to have such a distinguished visitor coming to our school. What would you like to do first?"

Of course they aren't, dear. Stay sharp.

Livia's mental defenses were iron clad, clearly having long years of experience from dealing with telepathic snoops.

"The guest quarters, if you'd be so kind," Livia says, sounding a little tired, "It's been a long trip."

Binary was also present for the arrival, though she leaves the talking to those who are more diplomatically inclined. Her own thoughts are tuned to a different wavelength and hard to read, but the fact that she saw fit to personally be on hand for the arrival speaks volumes by itself.

Yes, Grandmother. Kyra replied, with only the tiniest sliver of irritation at being reminded.

"It would be our pleasure," Cassiel, one of the few (if not the only one) who wasn't displeased at their presence, said as he gave a respectful nod. "Your rooms have been prepared to the requested specifications."

"Thank you, young man," Livia says.

"The guest quarters are this way." Jubilee said, motioning for them to follow her.

Livia gestures for Kushiel to follow along as they're led to their quarters by Jubilee.

If any telepaths were paying attention, they would notice a brief flash of relief from Kyra. The luggage was heavy and there were several pieces. She could carry all of it at once, but it was a bit of a strain, especially since it would have been undignified to set it down before they got to their quarters, and she was very much aware of the importance of not causing her grandmother, and by extension, Lord Magento himself to loose face by dropping the luggage. Still, it was getting heavy. Luckily, a girl was going by who was in a very good mood and...

Yes, that will do nicely. Kyra thought, her eyes flashing blue for a second as she used the girl's emotions to augment her power. Much, much easier. she thought, following along behind her grandmother.

"She links to other minds as power-sources. It's possibly empathic in nature." She sent to the faculty.

Thanks for the heads up, Sam. Jubilee replied as she lead the group off Its a bit rude of Magneto, don't you think?

It's the honest means of doing it, Cassiel put in. He knows that the school is going to be scanning them all, and we know that he's going to be doing the same. Trying to deny it or hide it would just be insulting our intelligence.