00110. Cut off one head…

00110. Cut off one head... AnnouncementWhat is this, another chapter? Lies...

Within ten minutes of Ezekiel's arrival at the base. He along with most of the others were in their meeting room. The main monitor was already filled with a map of the eastern US and on it was the location of four planes.

Steve was watching the main monitor as he asked, “How did this even happen? I thought we took care of the terrorist cells?”

“Looks like Hydra had a backup plan just in case.” Coulson said as he studied the screen.

Ezekiel glanced at everyone in the room as he said, “We have about an hour before the first plane reaches its target. We need a solution and fast.”

Ezekiel turned to Tao and asked, “Are you able to portal into those planes?”

Tao shook her head as she said, “If we were on the plane we could easily portal out. But something moving that fast, that we've never been on before, it's almost impossible to do.”

Coulson glanced over as he asked, “Then how can you portal to different planets? Aren't they moving a lot faster than an airplane?”

“Let's table that till after we take care of this situation.” Ezekiel said as he waved at the main monitor.

Ezekiel glanced around the room as he said, “Alright, we can portal out but not into the planes. So if we can find a way to get Tao or someone else on the planes. We have a possible solution. What else can we do to stop the planes and save the passengers?”

“If you can set me in their flight path I can probably stop the planes.” Magneto said as he looked at Ezekiel.

Ezekiel typed on his computer as he pulled up information on the planes. He glanced over it for a few moments before he asked, “Most of the plane is non-magnetic. Less than five percent of the plane will be affected by your powers. Do you think you can stop the plane without tearing it apart?”

Magneto thought it over for a few moments before he said, “With its speed I’m not sure. It could be very tricky. If I disable the engines first to slow it down... Maybe.”

“Alright we'll keep that in mind. What else can we do?”

“I could scramble some jets and shoot them down while they’re still flying over large open areas with no people. But we would have to do that soon.” Fury said as he looked at each plane's flight path.

“I’m fine with that, if the planes are empty of civilians. But first we need to get on those planes. Anyone else have any ideas?” Ezekiel asked.

Xavier cleared his throat before he said, “I don’t want to bring my students into this but I believe Kurt and Kitty could help us get on those planes.”

Ezekiel nodded as he said, “With their power set, it would make getting on the planes pretty simple. Actually, would you be able to take over the hijacker’s minds and have them surrender control of the plane?”

“Unfortunately, I won't be able to do something like that. I have set strict rules for myself and my powers. Taking control of another person’s mind is one of them.” Xavier said as Magneto laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Ezekiel nodded as he said, “I understand and will respect your decision... I actually expected it if I’m being honest.”

“But what about Kurt and Kitty? Could you ask them for their help?” Ezekiel asked.

Xavier nodded and said, “Sure, I’ll go ask them now.”

“Good. If they agree, just bring them back here when you return.” Ezekiel said before he glanced around the room and asked, “Unless someone has an issue with that?”

Fury frowned slightly as he said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. They could be a security risk.”

“Storm, Logan, and Beast have all been here and we haven’t had any issues. I think Kurt and Kitty can also be trusted.”

“They aren’t teenage kids who post videos online. Those kids could easily let something important slip in one of their videos.” Fury said as he leveled his gaze at Ezekiel.

“I gave them guidelines to help keep Xavier’s school a secret when they started posting videos. Out of the hundreds of videos every kid at the school has uploaded, not one of them has broken those rules. Including Kurt and Kitty.”

Ezekiel returned Fury’s gaze as he said, “I think we can trust them and I am willing to vote on that if you disagree.”

Fury’s frown faded just a bit before he said, “Fine. We'll give them a chance.”

Ezekiel glanced between Kitty and Kurt as he said, “Your only job is to transport Mordo onto the planes. Once that's finished, you will stay phased and let the others take care of the terrorist. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.” They both answered at the same time.

Ezekiel pointed at another team member as he said, “Good. Until you come back here, listen to everything White Fang says. He is your team leader for this mission.”

Both of the kids turned to look at the silver haired man with a kind looking face. He nodded towards them as he said, “Let's move out.”

After they all left the room Ezekiel turned to Xavier and said, “I'm surprised they were both so calm and collected. It's almost like you've been training them or something.”

Xavier nodded and said, “Logan and Storm run a disciplined training schedule for select kids. It's more to help them train their powers in more creative ways. But it's also meant to get them used to defending themselves, if the need ever arises.”

Ezekiel smirked as he said, “You know it's nice seeing you not raising a child army for once.”

“I would never do something like that.” Xavier said with disdain in his voice.

Ezekiel waved him off as he said, “In this universe maybe, but you've done it in almost every other one. But it's fine. It's one of the reasons I invited you to join us in the first place.”

Ezekiel typed on his computer and said, “But we can talk about that another time though, I think they should be about ready. Everyone has a body cam, so we can watch them work from here.”

The main screen changed to different camera views from each person on squad one as Ezekiel typed. After all the camera’s were up, Xavier glanced at Ezekiel and said, “I would like to learn more about other versions of myself after this. If you don't mind.”

“Sure, but you won't like what you find out. For being so smart, you're kind of an idiot most of the time.” Ezekiel said with a smirk.

vvvvv

Kurt felt like his whole body was a bundle of nerves as he stood in the portal room with his new teammates. He really wanted to crack a joke or something, but it didn’t seem like the right thing to do. People were counting on him and Kitty to help save lives. But a thought creeped into his head... Would they be able to do it and not mess up? As he was lost in his thoughts, Kurt felt Kitty grip his hand a little tighter and he turned to look at her.

Her face was hidden by her mask but he knew she was giving him a reassuring smile. She always did when he was nervous. He squeezed her hand back as White Fang said over their comm unit, “Mordo, you can begin when ready.”

Mordo quickly opened up a portal before the whole group moved through it. Passing through the portal, they were greeted by a grassy field with a plane flying high above them.

As the portal snapped closed behind them White Fang said over comms, “Jester, Dragon, it's your turn.”

Kurt glanced at Kitty who put her hand on Mordo's shoulder and nodded. The next second they disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The first teleport put them just above the middle of the plane.

In the short split second before they started to fall, Kurt reoriented himself and teleported them inside the rear of the plane. No one noticed them when they first arrived since they were phased. And even Mordo didn't draw attention as he appeared out of thin air and made a portal.

Before anyone made a sound, squad one flickered through the portal and within moments all of the hijackers were disabled, except the two men in the cockpit.

Both Kurt and Kitty could only stare in shocked silence at how quickly their teammates worked. The passengers on the other hand had yet to notice the hijackers were incapacitated.

White Fang moved to the cockpit door and with a metallic silver colored blade, cut the door lock off. As the piece fell to the ground, he flickered into the cockpit and disabled the pilots.

Within a few minutes the real pilots were back in control and heading towards the nearest airport to land. While squad one collected the hijackers and moved to exit the plane. On the way out, everyone on the plane cheered and thanked them for their help.

They quickly departed and moved onto the next plane. It wasn't long before all of the planes were cleared of hijackers and told to land at the nearest airport. From the first plane to the last it only took about ten minutes total.

vvvvv

Back at base Ezekiel smiled as he said over the teams comm unit, “Great job team. Return to base and put the prisoners in holding cells for interrogation. And make sure to check them for suicide capsules.

As Ezekiel glanced at the others around the table an alarm blared out and the screen changed to a news alert.

It showed the top floors of a building on fire as a news anchor said, “Just moments ago a plane crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center.”

The room was completely silent for a few moments before Ezekiel slammed a fist onto the table as he asked, “How many fucking planes did they hijack?”