Danger Room; Sept 15: Team 1 Training

[Ryan Gabriel]

"And your fearless leader is waiting for the dust to settle enough to see where we should go. All right, three stairwells by the looks of things, unless we want to go to the other side of the building. Nita, which one looks clearest for getting to the hostages? And don't rule out a skrull in the middle. Do you think ropes would stop a shapeshifter much?"

[Anita Fernandez]

Anita points at the middle staircase. "That's our closest approach ta the hostages, FL."

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Then down we go. I want a heads up if it looks like a skrull is even breathing in our direction if you can, Nita."

With that, Ryan led the team into the staircase, descending toward the floor she'd specified.

[Will Stanton]

"Phew. Let's go."

Will was quite impressed by Anita's shooting and Ryan's combat skills, but was going to wait until after the mission to fawn over them.

[Narrator]

The team heads down the stairs to find one of the least destroyed rooms in the hospital, a waiting room area that still has some chairs, and a desk, even some carpet.

A group of hostages sit and lie on the floor, just five of them. They've been tied securely with ropes, and they look a bit the worse for wear, but they aren't badly hurt. None of them make any menacing moves, and they all seem genuinely greatful to see the X-Team.

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Make it quick, guys. Untie them, and let's figure out our best route out of here."

Ryan made his way over to the closest hostage, flash-burning through the bonds where they were tied so that they would fall off.

[Anita Fernandez]

Anita pulls out a knife and starts cutting bonds. "There's a stair right through that door. Seems pretty solid. It'll take us ta the back where there's no traps. That guard guy musta come up when all the fighting started, I don't sense any of em."

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan hesitated as he moved toward a second hostage. "Where's the closest guard that you can feel?" he asked.

[Anita Fernandez]

"There isn't one. What I mean is the guy that was at the back door, musta come up for the big fight, 'cause I can't sense anyone down there."

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan frowned, then shook his head. "All right, let's hurry with this," he said, not trusting the situation at all, but not seeing an alternative. "Fastest path out. Anita, you're the guide, I'll watch our tails."

[Anita Fernandez]

Anita nods, pulls her guns, and heads through that door, then down the stairs. "Hall and stair clear. Movin' down."

[Will Stanton]

"This is too easy. We're sure these hostages are hostages, right?"

[Ryan Gabriel]

"There was a lot of fighting here before we made it here. Chances are, most of the skrulls were taken out by then. Let's get out of here before our rescue gets botched." In truth, Ryan wasn't sure that the hostages they had were hostages... but he didn't think that letting on that he suspected so would be in their favor.

So as they walked, he decided to test. He lit his hand up, passing it along the base of one hostage's neck, right at the spot he'd learned to trigger to force a shifter out of their animal form. Granted, the anatomy and type of shifting was different... but it was all he had to go on.

[Narrator]

The team makes it out of the building, and the simulation ends!

Lumis nods at them. "Good job with that simulation. You managed to succeed at both goals. I'll be sending out emails with your performance evaluation, for now, you'd better get moving. Wolverine is waiting for you in the gym."

[Will Stanton]

"That was it? Hey, alright! Way to go team."

Upon hearing Wolverine's name, Will's face drops.

"Oh, man, I'm gonna go get my ass kicked."

[Domanic Taylor]

Lumis chuckles. "Yes you are."