Over the years, the formatting of comic books has been changing from lengthy dialogues to using fewer dialogues to tell a story.  So the question here is: are comic books better with lengthy dialogues and story narrations or are they better off with fewer dialogues and narration?

My opinion: I think there’s great potential for using both formats and there are also certain disadvantages in using both formats; so in other words, I actually enjoyed reading both formats for different reasons.

I enjoyed reading the comic book format that uses lengthy dialogues and story narrations for the comic book stories because they help explain so much about the characters and the story itself (such as explaining about the characters’ feelings and thoughts about a certain situation and the narration telling the fans what is going on in the story).  However, the biggest thing that irks me about comic books that have lengthy dialogues and narration is that it takes so long to read the comic itself because you would be spending so much time trying to read through the dialogues and the narration and sometimes you just don’t have the time to read everything in the comic.  Another problem I had with comic books that have lengthy dialogues is that you are wondering to yourself about whether or not all that dialogue is really necessary to the story.  The biggest thing that gets on my nerves is that sometimes the narration tends to repeat a character’s power set in every issue, like for example, in the older X-Men comics, there were times where Nightcrawler’s powers of being able to teleport anywhere with the smell of brimstone behind him were being repeated in every issue of the X-Men comics.

I also enjoyed reading the comic book format that doesn’t use lengthy dialogues and lets the artwork tell the story because for one thing, it makes it easier to read the comic since it’s much quicker to read through.   Another thing I like about comic books with less dialogue is that I can admire the artwork and see it move the story forward if it’s done well.  The main thing that I don’t like about comic books with less dialogue and narration is that sometimes not everything is explained in the story and you’re left wondering how this event happened and what the characters are thinking about in these situations.   Also, if the artwork is done terribly and there is no dialogue explaining what is going on, then it would definitely be difficult to even understand the comic at all if the artwork is not done well enough to explain the situation.

 So, what are you opinions on this?   Do you rather read comic books that have lengthy dialogues and narrations or do you rather read comics that have short dialogues and story narrations?   And do you think that comic books are better off with short dialogues and narration or should they extend the dialogues and the narrations a bit more?

Title: Red Steel #1: The Beginning of Red Steel Part 3

Author: Rabbitearsblog

Universe: X-Men

Rating:  T -  For some violence

Summary:  This series will be about Colossus taking on a secret identity after the events of AvX and trying to help out the city, while trying to atone for what he had done during AvX. Also, there will be a new villain introduced that Colossus will have to face!

Chapter 4: The Birth of Red Steel!

Back at Nigel Faust’s headquarters, an alien was running towards the doors of the headquarters and was admitted in by Nigel’s guards.   This was the same alien that Piotr had thrown across the streets of New York City and the alien had somehow landed near Nigel Faust’s building, with only a few injuries.   Once the alien reached Nigel’s office, Nigel was working on some papers when he looked up and saw the alien standing in the doorway and said, “Well, well, well, what have we here?   You seem to have run to my headquarters in a hurry.   Well, come in so we could…talk.”

The exhausted alien slowly came inside Nigel’s office and Nigel said, “Well, did you complete your job?”

The alien was silent for a moment and then he started speaking to Nigel in an alien language that only Nigel could somehow understand.   Nigel looked at the alien with a cold look in his eyes and he said, “So, in other words, not only have you failed to annihilate our…problem, but our problem seems to have gain an ally…an ally that I thought I had eliminated years ago.”

Nigel then slowly walked up to the alien, who was trying to back away from him, and he told the alien, “I don’t like failures and you have failed to eliminate the problem that could cause our plans to falter in an extreme level.   Do you know what I do with failures like you?”

The alien started to whimper constantly as Nigel got closer and when Nigel touched the alien on its stomach, the alien started screaming as its body started to shrivel like a raisin.   Once Nigel pulled his hand away, the alien fell to the ground in a white, papery mess and Nigel said to himself, “Well, if you can’t use an alien to take out your problems, you have to do it yourself.”

Meanwhile in the afternoon…

Jerome was walking through the streets of New York when he came across a secret entrance way at the bottom of one of the unknown buildings.   Jerome whips out a remote control and presses a red button on it and the doorway to the entrance way opens and Jerome quickly goes inside.   Inside the entrance way was a large den that was filled with numerous computers and weapons that were created by Jerome himself and Jerome approaches a large computer mainframe that was located in the middle of the den.

Jerome presses a few buttons on the computer mainframe and said, “Computer, tell me about the whereabouts of ‘Nigel Faust.’

The computer mainframe then pulled up several locations in New York City and it located Nigel’s building that was near a lake.

“Computer, maximize screen to pinpoint on Nigel Faust himself and turn up the volume to follow Nigel Faust’s speech patterns,” said Jerome to the computer.

The computer zeroed in on Nigel Faust and the volume was turned up to follow Nigel’s speech patterns.   Nigel was saying to his guards, “Gentlemen, it appears that the alien that we had sent to destroy our problem has failed to complete his task and our plans are now in jeopardy.   We must eliminate this problem ourselves if our plans are meant to succeed and that problem is none other than COLOSSUS, the fugitive!”

Jerome looked on in shock and said to himself, “What does Colossus have to do with all this and what is Nigel planning?   I got to figure this all out before it’s too late!”

Later that night…

Piotr was still walking down the streets of New York City when he suddenly heard police sirens in the distance and he ducked behind an old building to hide.   From his hidden position, Piotr then saw a couple of police cars patrolling the area and then he gasped when he saw that the Avengers were among them!

“Have you’ve seen any sign of the fugitives from the Phoenix Five?” Captain America asked one of the police officers.

“No sir.   But, we will let you know if we have any leads on any members of the Phoenix Five,” the police chief responded to Captain America.

“Oh no! The Avengers are with the police! If they see me, I will be arrested and I might never get a chance to explain my side of the story! I must find a safer place to hide!” said Piotr to himself.

Piotr quietly sneaked away from the area and approached the empty roads of New York City and started walking down them.

“How did things ever come down to this? I was once a hero along with the X-Men and now I am a fugitive on the run!   How can I make things right again?” Piotr said sadly to himself.

Piotr than sat down on the sidewalk to think on his predicament.   He did not know what to do about his predicament and he feared that he may never be the hero that he once was. Not with the destruction that the Phoenix Force had caused around the world hanging over his head.   Piotr then looked down at his cloak that he had taken off a few minutes ago and then he had an idea and said to himself, “Well, I may be a fugitive on the run, but I am still an X-Man whose sole mission is to protect innocents from any harm and I think I know how to accomplish that!” With a small smile on his face, Piotr than raced back to the building he was staying at, determined to put his plan into action.  

A few hours later…

A young woman was walking through the streets of New York City alone at night, trying to get back home after working at the medical center.   Even though she normally comes home at this time, since the aliens had started invading New York City, she started feeling uncomfortable about being alone at night.   Just as the woman was near her apartment, a large alien creature suddenly jumped in front of her and caused the woman to scream wildly.   The alien creature then started approaching the young woman while hissing in a menacing manner when all of a sudden, a low rumbling voice echoed through the streets.

“I would not harm that young woman if I were you, tovarisch.   You might find yourself in an unlucky position that would cause you great pain.”

Suddenly, a large red figure came up behind the alien and grabbed the alien by its neck.   The large figure then proceeded to lift the alien in the air and slammed the alien on the ground, instantly killing the alien.  

The young woman then looked up at the large red figure in shock, but was entirely grateful that the red figure had saved her life and she asked the figure, “Who are you?”

The red figure was dressed in a red jumpsuit that covered his entire body and was wearing a red mask over his face.   However, the red figure’s face seem to shine in a way that steel would shine in any kind of light, making him seem like a familiar character.  

The large red figure smiled at the young woman and then introduced himself and said, “Well Miss, I am known as Red Steel and I am New York City’s newest savior!”

  Previous story: The Beginning of Red Steel Part 2

Title: Red Steel #1: The Beginning of Red Steel Part 2

Author: Rabbitearsblog

Universe: X-Men

Rating:  T -  For some violence

Summary:  This series will be about Colossus taking on a secret identity after the events of AvX and trying to help out the city, while trying to atone for what he had done during AvX. Also, there will be a new villain introduced that Colossus will have to face!

Chapter 2: The Mysterious Nigel Faust

The airship continued to sail over New York City until it reached an extremely tall glass building that was located near a large lake.   The glass building was over one thousand feet tall and as the sun bore down on it, it glittered with such beauty, that anyone from miles around can see the beauty of this building.   Piotr gazed at the building in such wonder, but then he remembered why he was riding on the airship and continued to concentrate on the mission at hand.   The airship then headed to the back of the glass building where the lake is; however, when the airship was about to land on the lake, a secret tunnel opened up in the lake and the airship started landing inside the tunnel.   Piotr looked on with awe at this new development and when the airship finally landed, Piotr quickly jumped off the airship and ran around a dark corner to hide.   The door to the airship then opened and Nigel Faust stepped out of the airship with two large security guards surrounding him and started walking towards a small door at the end of the tunnel.   As Nigel Faust and the security guards disappeared from the tunnel, Piotr then came out from the corner and started running towards the door that Nigel entered in and he starting following Nigel and the guards through a lavish looking hallway at a safe distance.   When Nigel and the guards reached a small office at the end of the hallway, Piotr quietly stood by the door to the office, trying not to be seen.   Nigel than began talking to his security guards about his plans:

“Well, gentlemen, I think that we have really proven ourselves to the citizens of New York today.   Those miserable aliens did not know what was coming when we arrived in the airships attacking them out of the city!   However, it seems that our “negotiator” was impressed by today’s performance and wants to congratulate us on a job well done.”

“Performance?” thought Piotr worriedly.   What was going on?   Suddenly, Piotr felt a gun being pushed up his back and heard a low voice, “Back away from the wall, dirt bag.”

“You do not wish to threaten me in this manner, tovarisch ,” said Piotr slowly.

“Oh, a guy with a funny accent, eh?   What nationality are you? European or something?” sneer the guard holding the gun.

“You will see soon enough,” said Piotr and then he turned his body to steel and suddenly grabbed the guard and started gripping him in a death grip where he was slightly squeezing the guard, careful not to kill him but just simply make him unconscious.   Unfortunately, even though Piotr succeeded in knocking the guard unconscious, several other guards suddenly came running up towards Piotr and had him surrounded.

“Well, well, well!   It appears that we have an intruder in our midst, gentlemen!   Or should I say, a fugitive?” said a slick voice behind Piotr.

Piotr stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to see Nigel Faust standing right at the doorway of his office.   Piotr then cursed himself for being so reckless, but said politely to Nigel, “Nigel Faust, I presume?”

“Yes, and you must be…Colossus,” said Nigel coolly.

“How do you know my name?” asked Piotr.

“Oh, it’s not that surprising that I see your name on the wanted posters these days.   It’s amazing how the law had never caught up to you yet.   Although, I have a mind to call the law enforcements right now, unless you tell me what you are doing here,” said Nigel quietly yet in a dangerous tone.

Piotr thought quickly and then said, “Umm…I had heard so much about your accomplishments that I wanted to visit you in person.   I guess I got a bit too excited and started wandering around the building until I got lost and ended up here.   I know that I should have contacted you first about my coming here, but I just could not resist meeting you in person!”

Piotr privately hoped that Nigel would buy that lie, even though he was never very good at lying.   But, Nigel just looked at Piotr with a cool gaze and said, “That’s alright.   I didn’t notice that I have many…fans.   Gentlemen, please escort Colossus to the exit and make sure that the security in this building is handled much better in the future.   And also do something about the guard that is lying unconscious in the hallway.”

The two guards then took Piotr away and left him outside of the building and went back inside.   Piotr then looked up at the building and said to himself, “This is very strange indeed.   I was not able to get enough information about this man, but from what I have heard from his conversation about his “performance,” he cannot be trusted.   I must watch out for him.”  

As Piotr walked away from the building, Nigel was looking down at Piotr through the window of his office.   Nigel then told his guards, “Gentlemen, it seems that Colossus seems to know too much about our plans.   We must keep him…busy so that way our plans will never be discovered.”

Later on…

Piotr was walking down the streets of New York City, witnessing the destruction of the city caused by the alien attack early on.   As Piotr gazed around the streets, he started to remember about when he was the avatar of the Cyttorak and how he had ran rampant in the streets in order to defeat Cain Marko’s reign of terror.   These were memories that Piotr wished that he could forget since they were extremely painful for him.    
 
  Suddenly, Piotr heard high-pitched screams coming from the top of a building and he saw yet another alien being attacking an innocent bystander.

“Another alien attack?” Piotr asked puzzled.
 

Piotr wasted no time in running towards the building and once he reached the top of the building, he grabbed the alien and threw him several feet across the streets.   Piotr looked on with satisfaction on his face, not noticing that another alien was watching him from above. The other alien then jumped on Piotr’s back and caused Piotr to struggle with the alien as he tried to get the alien off of him. As Piotr was struggling with the alien, he and the alien were suddenly blown off the build by a big explosion.   As Piotr landed on the ground, he then looked up to see where the explosion came from and out from the smoke, stood an African-American man who had tattoos all over his body.   When the alien, who was on Piotr moments ago, saw the man and tried to attack him, the mysterious man suddenly slashed the alien in the belly and dark purple blood squirted out of the alien’s body.

Piotr stared at the man in shock and then asked, “Who are you?”

The mysterious man just looked at Piotr with a wide smile on his face and said, “Just a friend, buddy! Just a friend!”

Chapter 3: A New Friend!

“A…friend?” Piotr asked the mysterious man.   As Piotr looked at this man, he noticed that this man was not quite as ordinary as any other human being he has seen.   For one thing, how often is it that a human being would suddenly jump out in a cloud of smoke and slice open an alien in a few seconds? Another thing that was odd about this man was that he had white tattoos all over his body, although his black jumpsuit was covering his body head to toe.   The man’s eyes were a deep brown color that really made him look quite distinguished and his hair was in dreadlocks that were tied up in a ponytail. Piotr cautiously approached the man and asked again, “Who are you?”

“Ah, I could ask the same about you.   Now, don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but you have one weird accent.   Is it European?” asked the man.

“Russian,” said Piotr, a bit annoyed.

“Oh, so that’s what it is!   Well, I might as well introduce myself then.   I’m Jerome Brown and I can tell by the look on your face that you’re wondering how I am able to produce knives out of nowhere.” Jerome than produced the knives from his hands and then they disappeared quickly.   “It’s because I am an alchemist.   Well, not exactly. I’m actually a mutant who has the ability to produce weapons out of my bare hands.   I also can cause small explosions by creating bombs out of my hands.”

Piotr just looked at Jerome in surprise and said, “I have never seen another mutant who could produce weapons out of their hands before.   How…”

Piotr was then interrupted by some yells at the bottom of the building.

“Well, it seems that we have some fans down there,” said Jerome.

“Fans?” Piotr said puzzled.

“You’ll see,” said Jerome and he and Piotr headed down to the bottom of the building to meet up with the people.   Unfortunately, when the people saw that Jerome and Piotr were mutants, they started screaming at them:

“Mutant scum! They brought that alien here to attack our city!” yelled one of the protesters.

“Get out of here you stinking mutants! We don’t want you here!” cried the protesters as they started throwing rocks and trash at Piotr and Jerome.   Piotr and Jerome than ran away from the protesters and came upon an abandoned part of the city.

“Man! We just don’t catch a break here!” said Jerome irritated.

“Well, this certainly was not the first time this has happened to me, my friend,” said Piotr, “This is just the tragic life of being a mutant.”

“Yeah, don’t I know it?   Hey, now that we are on speaking terms, I forgot to ask your name.   What is your name?” asked Jerome.

“Umm…I am…” Piotr stuttered, not wanting to give away his name or his X-Men codename.

“Say, you wouldn’t happened to be one of the mutants that the Avengers are chasing after, are you?” asked Jerome.

Piotr stiffened at Jerome’s inquiry and Jerome quickly said, “Hey, hey, don’t worry. I’m not going to turn you in.   Colossus is it?”

Piotr nodded slowly and Jerome continued, “Well, you don’t have to worry about me turning you in or anything.   Actually, I should say that you and me are in the same boat as in we both seem to be running away from the law.”

Piotr looked surprised and said, “You are on the run from the law also?   But what did you do that would make the police come after you?”

Jerome looked down on the ground for a second and then looked up at Piotr and said, “I’ll tell you more about it later.   For now, let’s find a place to crash for the night.”

“Wait a minute.   Forgive me for saying this, but I do not know you very well and well, I am on the run from the law and it is hard for me at the moment to go off with anyone,” said Piotr miserably.

“That’s alright. I understand your situation and I can see why you wouldn’t trust me at the moment, but like I said, I’ll explain more about myself once we find a place to crash.   You got a place where we could go to?” asked Jerome.

“Well, there is this old abandoned building I stayed at last night.   It is not much, but it will have to do at the moment,” said Piotr.

“That’s fine! Let’s go!” said Jerome, following Piotr.

Piotr and Jerome then went to the old building that Piotr had stayed at last night and the two mutants went to the old mattress and sat down on it.  

“Nice place, for your typical old abandoned building,” said Jerome impressed.

“Yes, it is.   So, about what you had said earlier, why are you on the run from the law?” asked Piotr.

“Well, here’s my story and since it’s really tragic, I don’t normally discuss this with anyone else, but here it goes.   Like many mutants at a young age, I was seven years old when I first discovered my mutant powers and even though I’ve learned how to create things out of my hands, I still couldn’t get control of handling the explosions whenever I created bombs.   My parents were at first shocked about my new powers and the fact that I was able to create weapons, for my parents despised weapons of any kind.   But, my parents really did love me and they tried to keep my powers a secret from the world.   But one tragic day, there was a leak somehow that I was able to create weapons out of my hands and the neighbors thought that I was a walking nuclear bomb and they wanted to kill me before I discovered my full potential.   My parents tried to protect me from the mutant protesters, but…” Jerome paused and took a deep breath and said, “But they were shot by the protesters and died right in front of my eyes.”

Piotr looked shocked and then said, “Oh Jerome, I am so sorry for your loss.”

Jerome nodded and then continued, “Well, my troubles didn’t end there.   After I saw my parents’ lifeless bodies on the ground, I just lost control of my powers and ended up throwing bombs all over the place, blowing up not only the protesters, but my home too.”  

Jerome wiped at his eyes and sighed.

“What did you do after that horrible event?” asked Piotr.

“Well, after that tragic event, I just ran away from it all.   I was only a child at the time and I didn’t know what to do.   After I ran away, the police came and surveyed the area and they guessed that a mutant was responsible for the destruction.   Worst yet, they found out that I had lived there and tried to take me into custody.   But I escaped and the police never found me and for the past twenty years, I was living on my own, trying to gain a new identity for myself so no one will find me again.   You’re actually the only person that I have told my story to, since I saw that you were in the same situation as I was,” said Jerome.

Piotr looked down and then said, “Are the police still looking for you?”

“To be honest, it’s been years since I’ve last check up on the police, so it’s possible that they’re still after me.   That’s why I always have to be careful where I go in case the police find me again,” said Jerome.

“Well, I supposed that we are fugitives together,” said Piotr.

“Yep! Fugitives now and forever,” said Jerome jokily.

Piotr laughed and then Jerome’s beeper started to beep and then Jerome said, “Oh! I got something I need to do really quickly!   I guess I’ll see you later!”

“But wait! Is it something urgent that you might need some assistance on?” asked Piotr concerned.

“Nope! It’s just one of my daily routines that I usually do during the day and I really got to get to it!   Well, it was nice meeting you!   Bye, Colossus!”   Jerome then ran out of the building and disappeared into the streets.

Piotr watched Jerome and he said to himself, “Hmm…that is one unusual man right there.   I wonder if I will truly see him again.”

Piotr then put on his cloak and started walking out into the streets, trying to find some way to make it through the day in one piece.

  Previous story: The Beginning of Red Steel Part 1

Title: Red Steel #1: The Beginning of Red Steel Part 1

Author: Rabbitearsblog

Universe: X-Men

Rating:  T -  For some violence

Summary:  This series will be about Colossus taking on a secret identity after the events of AvX and trying to help out the city, while trying to atone for what he had done during AvX. Also, there will be a new villain introduced that Colossus will have to face!

Prologue:

Not too long ago, there was a great battle between the X-Men and the Avengers that would determine the fate of Hope Summers and her ascension to the Phoenix Force, which was threatening to destroy the world.   Unfortunately, due to a bizarre twist, the Phoenix Force ended up taking over the bodies of X-Men members Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, Magik, and Namor and even though they temporarily ended world hunger and other such disasters around the world, they ended up destroying the world when the Phoenix Force took full control of their bodies.   It wasn’t until the combined forces of Scarlet Witch, who was responsible for the decimation of the mutant population and Hope Summers had stopped Cyclops, who had become the next “Dark Phoenix” when he took the powers of the other members of the Phoenix Five, and managed to put an end to the Phoenix Force once and for all.   Unfortunately, now the Phoenix Five are on the run from the law, due to what happened with them being possessed by the Phoenix Force and one of the members who are on the run is the former gentle giant, Colossus.
 

Chapter 1: The Gentle Giant on the Run

Piotr Rasputin, or is usually known as COLOSSUS, was running through the streets of New York City, trying to escape the disaster that happened back at Utopia, the X-Men’s former home.   As Piotr was running, flashes of memories started invading his mind as so many events had happened to him over the last few months that caused him to run for sanctuary, not knowing where to go or hide.   He remembered when he first possessed the Cyttorak powers and become the Juggernaut in order to save his sister, Illyana’s life.   Unfortunately, it came with a cost as not only did he lose the love of his life, Kitty Pryde, but he also lost his humanity and knew nothing but evil thoughts on defeating his enemies.   However, fate took a more tragic turn when Scott Summers, also known as CYCLOPS, decided to train Hope Summers for the Phoenix Force and believed that they could harness the powers of the Phoenix Force.   Of course, Piotr knew this was dangerous since he saw first hand what had happened to Jean Grey, who was formally possessed by the Phoenix Force and the destruction the force had caused.  What no one knew was that the Phoenix Force had possessed him and the other members of the X-Men and he could not control the destructive tendencies of the Phoenix Force.   Fortunately, however, not only was the Phoenix Force able to knock out Cyttorak’s influence over him, ridding him of the Cyttorak influence, but Hope Summers and Scarlett Witch were able to defeat the forces of the Phoenix Force, restoring mutant kind.   Even though Piotr was happy for this, he knows that his life is now on the line since he is now a fugitive.

Where would he go?   He can’t go back to the X-Men, since he will be arrested and he cannot go back to the Jean Grey Institute since he did not want to risk the lives of the mutants who reside there and he still had not forgiven himself for what happened there.   The only option he has now is to run away from the law and find a safe place to hide until everything quiets down.

After a few more miles, Piotr spots an old abandoned building that was in ruin and he decides to run in there.   Once inside the building, Piotr starts walking around, seeing the ruin of the building and he thinks to himself:

“This building is decaying, just like my own identity and my hope.   First, I was the Juggernaut, then I became the host of the Phoenix Force and now, I am just a mutant on the run from the law.   I cannot go back to the X-Men for I have no place there, so what can I do?   What is my purpose if I am meant to be a fugitive with no home or family?   I am getting tired. I must rest now.”

Piotr sadly found a spot on the ground that had a broken down mattress and he quietly laid on the mattress for some rest.   While Piotr lay on the mattress, he dreamed about the X-Men, his friends that he may never see again and his lost love Kitty Pryde, who he may never sit under the sun with ever again.
 

The next morning…

Piotr awoke to the sun shining on his face and he breathed in a sigh of relief, for it had been a long time since he was able to appreciate the beauty of the sun, ever since he was so busy fighting enemies most of the time.   He got up from the mattress, yawned and started walking towards the open entrance of the abandoned building, when all of a sudden, a large frightening looking alien jumped in front of Piotr, growling ferociously in his face.  Piotr was taken aback for a moment, but being an X-Man for many years and fighting various enemies, he quickly changed into his steel form and punched the alien several miles away from the building.   Piotr then quickly ran out of the building and he saw that the streets of New York City were being run with many frightening aliens like the one he just punched. All of the citizens in the city were running away from the aliens in fear of being killed by these monsters.

Piotr saw the destruction and mayhem caused by these mysterious aliens and he wanted to defeat them before they harm anymore innocent people. However, before Piotr had the chance to run out of the streets to help, the sky had suddenly grown dark as there were huge airships coming towards the city.   The airships then started shooting lasers at the aliens and the aliens were disintegrated right before the citizens’ eyes.   One of the airships that was larger than the others, then landed on the streets of New York City and the door to the airship suddenly opened.   Out stepped a man who was dressed in a white business suit and had short blue hair that was swept to the left side of his face.   Once the mysterious man walked calmly to the bottom of the airship, he started speaking loudly to the citizens:

“Citizens of New York City!   I am Nigel Faust, representative of the Natural Resources Division and commander of the Alien Demolisher Army and I have come to be your savior in these terrible times!   It seems that aliens have overtaken our fair city with a plan to steal the Earth’s precious resources and use it to power up their battalions!   If this horrible deed is done, then the Earth is doomed as we know it!   So, we must act now and destroy these invaders before they destroy our precious planet with the help of my armies who will provide the safety for the citizens which is needed in this hour!”

The citizens of New York City then started cheering loudly while Piotr stood around the building, unnoticed by the crowd and he started thinking to himself:

“Nigel Faust?   Hmm…how could I not have heard of this man before and what does he know about the alien invasion?   In fact, when was there such an invasion to begin with?   This man claims that he will protect the people from the alien invaders, however, he seems shifty and mysterious to me.   I must find out more about this man.”

Since Piotr did not want anyone to notice him, he spotted a black cloak lying on the ground nearby and put it on himself.   Then, when the airship with Nigel Faust inside started lifting off the ground, Piotr quietly sneaked about the crowd and grabbed onto the airship without anyone noticing and was riding on the airship to the mysterious destination that would lead him to Nigel Faust’s quarters.

Hey everyone! I know that this is a bit late since Marvel NOW was announced months ago, but I just wanted to give out my opinions on Marvel NOW in this video:
 
  

Title: X-Men Institute #3: Ice Skating Mutants Chapter 5: And the winner is…

Author: Rabbitearsblog

Universe: X-Men

Rating: K+

Summary:  When Professor Xavier asks the X-Men to earn some money for the Institute, the X-Men decided to enter a skating contest to win the prize. However, hilarity   ensures when the X-Men are having trouble practicing their skating moves!

 
Rogue and Gambit then began skating out into the ring, with their skating uniforms glittering in spotlight and then they began doing some impressive moves.   First, they did the death spiral, where Rogue was skating on a deep edge with her body close to the ice and was skating in circles around Gambit who was in a low pivot and holding her arm. Then they performed the side by side techniques as they started spinning and jumping next to each other.   After they finished their skating moves, the crowd cheered wildly and the announcer shouted out:

“Fantastic!   Let’s hear it for our new skating couple: ROGUE and GAMBIT!”

After the audience’s cheering died down, the moment had finally arrived (again) to announce the winner of the skating competition.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen!   Now that everyone has finally competed, it’s time to announce the winners of the skating competition. Drum rolls, please.”

A dramatic drum roll then sounded out and the announcer said excitedly, “And the winners for the National Ice Skating Competition are… ROGUE and GAMBIT!”

The audience cheered wildly (the loudest cheering coming from the X-Men since now they won the money) and Rogue and Gambit went to get their prize.

“Congratulations! You two have won the five-thousand dollar grand prize! And now, what are you two going to do with the grand prize?”

“Well sugah, me and my skating partner here are goin’ to give this money to tha school ta help the little ones with their education,” said Rogue smiling.

“Ya, mon ami. Let’s just say dat dis here money is representin’ da children who need a school t’ git some serious learnin’,” said Remy.

“Well, that is truly inspiring!   Let’s hear it for our two charitable winners ladies and gentlemen!”

The audience then cheered wildly at Rogue and Gambit and Rogue and Gambit then skated towards the back of the arena.

“Rogue! Remy! Hey! How and when?” asked Scott.

“Well, as for tha how sugah, we just up and decided that we wanted ta try out skating and give this thing a whirl!” said Rogue.

“Not t’ mention we git some good ole publicity in being da best skating couple eva!” said Remy.

“Professor X con you guys into this didn’t he?” asked Bobby.

“Like a moth to a flame,” said Rogue and Remy together.

“Well, at least we got the prize money!” said Jean Grey happily.

“I’ll say. Let’s go back to the Institute and give this money to the Professor!” said Scott.

“YAY!” everyone yelled out and they exited with the crowd.

A couple of hours later at the Institute…

“Well done everyone! Now the Institute is able to sustain itself on the funds that you have honorably won!” said Professor Xavier happily.

“Yeah well…” everyone started mumbling, happy that they were able to help out with the finances of the Institute.

“However, there is one other thing I wanted all of you to help out with.   You see, we will be receiving visitors from two elementary schools from downtown.   The teachers at the elementary schools are so impressed by the education that we have given the students here that they want to come and visit the Institute with the kindergartners!  So I took the liberty to set you all up with your assigned groups of kindergartners and have you showed them around the school while watching over them!” said Professor Xavier.

The X-Men then looked at each other wildly and they all screamed out:

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”

Title: X-Men Institute #3: Ice Skating Mutants Chapter 4: Let the Contest Begin!

Author: Rabbitearsblog

Universe: X-Men

Rating: K+

Summary:  When Professor Xavier asks the X-Men to earn some money for the Institute, the X-Men decided to enter a skating contest to win the prize. However, hilarity  
 ensures when the X-Men are having trouble practicing their skating moves!

 
“Aw man! Why do we have to wear these sissy tights?” complained Bobby.

“Well, it’s a part of the rules Bobby.   You didn’t think that we were competing in jeans and T-shirts, did you?” asked Warren.

“Well, I would rather compete in jeans than wear these tights and looking like I just came out of a ballet class.   Although, I will admit that we would seriously get some major wedgies if we wore our jeans while skating,” said Bobby.

“Well it could have been worse. We could have been playing guitars and drums while we were skating. Now, that would be a sight to behold,” said Hank.

“And we would have fell on our butts in the process trying to master holding the drums and guitars while skating,” said Scott.

Suddenly, Kurt teleported in front of the guys in a cloud smelling of brimstone and said: “Hey everyone! The championship is going to start in five minutes! We better get ready!”

“Hey Kurt, where’s Logan and Peter?” asked Bobby.

“Oh, Logan really did not want to wear his skating uniform. So, Peter had to turn into his steel form to hold Logan down and get the uniform on him.   And, they should be coming out right about now,” said Kurt.

Logan came out with his blue and yellow skating uniform, looking extremely agitated at having to be forced into wearing that uniform.

“Hey Logan…” began Bobby.

“SHUT UP!” yelled Logan.

“Okay!” said Bobby backing away slightly.

Then Piotr came after Logan with his red and yellow skating uniform and looked exhausted.

“Boize Moi! It was hard trying to get that uniform onto Logan.   I thought I was going to die in there, but I have managed to get the uniform on him!   It is a wonder about how powerful steel can really be,” said Piotr, a bit relieved.

“Hey, you’re lucky I didn’t take my claws and stick them up your butt!” said Logan angrily.

Suddenly, a voice over the intercom came on and said: “Attention all ice skating contestants! Please report to the skating ring immediately for the championship!”

“Oh! That’s our cue!” said Warren.

All the male X-Men members quickly came out of the dressing room and began running towards the skating ring.   It was then that they met up with the female X-Men members.

“Hey girls! Wow, all of you are looking good!” said Bobby.

“Thanks Bobby! I never would have thought that some flowery looking skating uniforms would make us look nice for some serious competition,” said Jean Grey.

“Ugh! This suit is still so tight on me! These are uniforms that would have fitted better if I was a seriously super skinny model,” said Kitty.

“Well, perhaps it will not be so bad. This is probably the first and last time we will participate in a skating competition,” said Ororo, tugging at her black and white skating uniform.

 “Well, not only do we have to worry about our uniforms, but Kurt and I took the liberty to make sure our holographic inducers are working so that way, no one will be running and screaming the moment they see two blue ‘Cookie Monsters’ on the skating ring,” said Hank.

“Hey! I am not a cookie monster!” said Kurt irritably.

“Sorry, but I do think being called a ‘cookie monster’ lessens the furry blue monster nature a bit don’t you?” asked Hank.

Kurt looked at Hank briefly and said, “I suppose, although now you just gave everyone a new nickname to call us now.”

Everyone laughed until a booming voice came over the intercom and stated in a grand voice: “Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the National Ice Skating Championship! Today we will see many talented skaters showing off their abilities as they compete for the five-thousand dollar grand prize!”

“Five-thousand dollars, five-thousand dollars, five-thousand dollars…” said Bobby to himself.

“Keep on saying that, Bobby.   The five-thousand dollars will still be there until someone (hopefully us) wins it,” said Scott.

The booming voice continued, “So everyone, give us your best cheers for these competitors of the ice skating championship!”

The audience then began cheering loudly as the ice skating competition began.   As the first set of skaters began twirling on the ring, Warren looked at the skaters who were spinning around and started to look a bit green.

“Hey Warren! Are you okay?” asked Jean Grey.

Warren said sickly, “Sorry, but after doing all of those spins during practice, just seeing these skaters spin around is making me feel nauseous again…”   Warren then put a hand over his mouth again and started running towards the back of the ring.   The X-Men then heard more vomiting in the back.

“Do you think that he will be okay in the competition?” asked Kurt concerned.

“Well, I would want him to sit this out, but we got no replacements.   So, hopefully, he’ll be alright. Hopefully…” said Scott.

Finally, it was the X-Men’s turns to compete in the skating ring and since the competition starts off with the skating pair contest, Kitty and Piotr was the first pair to go up.

“Good luck you two!” cheered Jean Grey.

“Thanks!” said Piotr and Kitty together and they both began skating on the ring.

At first, everything was going well for the cute couple as they performed the unison skating and the Russian splits perfectly. But then, they began to try the dreaded throw jump!

“Alright Peter! Please don’t throw me up too high again!” whispered Kitty worriedly.

“Do not worry Katya! After doing this move for the past twelve times, I think I am able to suppress my strength long enough to pull this off,” said Piotr confidently.

Piotr then began to lift Kitty and then threw her up in the air.   Suddenly, Piotr glimpsed something red and cuddly underneath Kitty’s skirt and looked shocked for a moment.   However, despite his shock, he was able to catch Kitty easily, finishing the skating move.

“And there you have it folks!   Let’s hear it for the cute skating couple!”

The audience cheered wildly as Kitty and Piotr skated back towards the edge of the ring.

“You two were fantastic!” complimented Kurt.
 
“I think we really got this thing in the bag!” said Bobby cheerfully.
 
“Thanks you guys!” said Kitty proudly.

Piotr just looked at the others with a spaced out look in his eyes.   “Peter? What’s wrong?” asked Kitty.   Piotr looked at Kitty, turned her gently away from the group and whispered in her ear, “Katya, you did not tell me that you wear Elmo underwear.”

Kitty looked shocked for a moment and then grabbed Piotr lightly by the ear and said, “And if you mentioned this to anyone, we won’t kiss in the ‘comfy’ parts of the hallways ever again.”

“I understand, Katya.   And my ears will understand too as soon as you released them,” said Piotr smirking.

Next couple up was Scott and Jean Grey and they began the ice dancing technique where they both did a choreographed dance together.   Both Scott and Jean Grey were doing the moves so well that the audience were cheering loudly for them.

“What a spectacular finish! Let’s hear it for the perfect couple!” yelled the announcer.

Scott and Jean Grey started skating towards the back of the skating ring.

“See, Scott? I told you it would be easier skating once you get the hang of it!” said Jean Grey smiling.

“Yeah, I will admit that I’m glad that I didn’t fall on my face this time. Or for the twelfth time this week,” said Scott, making Jean Grey giggle.

Afterwards, the other X-Men began doing their skating moves and all of them were doing extremely well (with the exception of Warren almost throwing up on the ring when he did the spinning moves and Logan almost jumping at a man who insulted his uniform during his performance with Ororo).  

Finally, the competition was coming to a close and the announcer stated, “Well ladies and gentlemen! We have just witnessed the brilliant techniques shown by all of our competitors! And now, for the moment you all have been waiting for…”
 
Suddenly, an assistant came and whispered into the announcer’s ears.   The announcer then cleared his throat and said, “Ahem! Ladies and gentlemen, it seems like we have accidentally missed two more competitors in this competition.   So, allow us to introduce our two new competitors…ROGUE and GAMBIT!”

 Next chapter: Chapter 5

Title: X-Men Institute #3: Ice Skating Mutants Chapter 3:  Practice Makes Perfect!

Author: Rabbitearsblog

Universe: X-Men

Rating: K+

Summary:  When Professor Xavier asks the X-Men to earn some money for the Institute, the X-Men decided to enter a skating contest to win the prize. However, hilarity   ensures when the X-Men are having trouble practicing their skating moves!

The X-Men continued to practice skating on the ring, trying out different figure skating moves to use in the ice skating contest.   Unfortunately, things are not going well for our mutant heroes since they can’t skate at all!

“Come on Scott! Let’s keep practicing! The contest is in two days and we all still haven’t mastered the basics of skating!” said Jean Grey, skating ahead while grabbing Scott’s hands.

“Sorry Jean, but leading a team of mutants through the battlefield is way different than trying to skate without falling on your face and risking total humiliation for eons,” said Scott, fighting to stand up straight.

“Aw, don’t worry! We’ll get the hang of it soon,” said Jean Grey brightly.

“You mean you’ll get the hang of it. I will have to try to avoid getting any kind of injuries before the contest comes or we’re sunk,” said Scott, still struggling.

On the far side of the skating ring, Bobby Drake is using his ice powers to easily skate on the ice by shooting out an ice bridge underneath him and skating on top of it.

“Hey look! I’m skating away, baby!” yelled Bobby happily.

“I think that’s cheating,” said Hank, looking on.

“So? It’s not like the usual cool moves I show in the missions we go on,” said Bobby slyly.

On another corner of the skating ring, Kurt and Warren were practicing spinning around on the ice.

“Whew! I do not think I can whirl around anymore, mien Freud,” said Kurt, all tired out.

“That’s alright Kurt! I’ll just practice my spinning moves on the ice while you count how many spins I do. Ready?” asked Warren.

“Ready!” said Kurt.

Warren then started spinning slowly at first with Kurt counting, “1…2…3…4…5…6…”

On the other side of the skating ring, Kitty and Piotr are practicing the throw jump, where Piotr is planning on throwing Kitty high up into the air.

“Um, Peter? Have you ever tried this move before?” asked Kitty worriedly.

“Nyet, but do not worry Katya. With enough practice, we should be able to get this move right,” said Piotr, with false confidence.

“Alright,” said Kitty worriedly.

Piotr then lowered Kitty and with a small grunt, he threw her up into the air. Unfortunately, he threw her a little too high up into the air…

“Uh oh,” said Piotr, as he watched Kitty sailed through the air.

Kitty was screaming like crazy, waving her arms wildly and was yelling out, “OH MY GOD! I’m going to end up into the stratosphere unless I do something!   DO SOMETHING, DARN IT!”

Kitty was heading straight for the roof of the skating ring until she phased through it! Then a few minutes later, Kitty phased back through the roof and was walking on air back towards the skating ring down below.

Piotr quickly skated over to her as she reached the ring and asked, “Are you alright?”

Kitty looked up at Piotr and said, “I’m fine. I’m just wallowing in embarrassment because in my moment of panic, I forgot I could just phase away into the roof and come back down like nothing happened.”

“It was definitely…unusual,” said Piotr.

“It was totally your fault,” said Kitty with her arms crossed.

“I like to think so, yes,” said Piotr smirking.

Kitty smirked at Piotr too and said,” Aww…I can’t stay mad at you!” and she went and gave Piotr a big kiss on the lips.

Cue back to Warren and Kurt, where Warren is still spinning around while Kurt is still counting, “…24…25…26…27…28…29…30…”

In the other corner of the ring, Ororo was practicing the axel jump where she jumps into the air and lands by gliding backwards.   Logan just stood by the sidelines.

“Come on Logan! You must practice for the skating competition or we will never earn the money to support the school,” said Ororo.

“Forget it! I ain’t practicing no sissy moves like that, just so we can get Chuck some money for the school,” Logan growled.

Ororo then skated towards Logan and looked him straight in the eye and said, “If you do not participate in this sport…”

“Don’t try to threaten me with lightning bolts. I got healing powers, you know,” said Logan.

“I was not going to threaten you with lightning bolts.  I was just going to say that if you do not participate in this event, we will take away all of your beers for the next three months,” Ororo finished.

Logan just looked at Ororo with a scowl on his face and then he said, “Come on, let’s get this skating thing out of the way.”

And now we head back to Warren and Kurt!   Kurt finally finishes counting and said, “45…46…47…48…49…50!   Wow! That was splendid Warren! I have never seen anyone done so many spins in my entire life!”

Warren stopped and he was about to speak, when he threw his hand over his mouth and skated quickly to the wastebasket. Once at the wastebasket, Warren started vomiting like crazy.

“Umm…well, at least he broke a record for the most spins done in one area,” said Kurt uncomfortably.

At the other corner of the skating ring, Bobby skates over to Piotr and asks him, “Hey Peter! You’re Russian right? Can you do the Russian split?”

Piotr looked at Bobby and said, “Well, yes. I am Russian, but just because I am Russian it does not mean that I could do the Russian split. That is like saying that French toast is from France because the toast is called “French.”

Bobby looked at Piotr strangely and said, “Okay, that was so random.”

“I know, but since we were on the subject of how some countries’ nationalities are being used to name certain objects, I thought I should bring that point out,” Piotr smiled and then said, “Oh, excuse me for going off subject. As for the Russian split, I could try out the move.”

Piotr then positioned himself and leaped into the air and performed a split jump while his body formed a “v” shape.   However, as soon as Piotr leaped back down, he ended up falling on the ice on his bottom and the ice started to crack slightly.

“Oh my god! The ice!” yelled Bobby.

“Oh dear god! My rump!” yelled Piotr.

“Don’t worry Peter! I’m coming!” yelled Kitty.

Kitty and Bobby then started trying to pull Piotr out of the ice, grunting with much effort.

Scott and Jean Grey were staring at the other X-Men struggling with the skating moves and Jean Grey said, “Well, at least they’re getting better at skating. We might actually have a shot at this championship.”
 
Scott grunted as he tried to stand up and said, “Yeah, that’s if we don’t destroy the skating ring in a matter of seconds. But still, we won’t give up! As X-Men, we have to keep going until we are able to beat the odds at the skating competition and get that money!”  

Then Scott fell down on the ice and Jean Grey said, “Uh baby? Why don’t you try doing the pep speech while standing up on the ice?”

Scott just looked up at Jean Grey and said, “This is going to be the longest training session of my entire life.”

  Next chapter: Chapter 4

Title: X-Men Institute #3:Ice Skating Mutants Chapter 2:  Ice Skating Contest?

Author: Rabbitearsblog

Universe: X-Men

Rating: K+

Summary:  When Professor Xavier asks the X-Men to earn some money for the Institute, the X-Men decided to enter a skating contest to win the prize. However, hilarity  ensures when the X-Men are having trouble practicing their skating moves!

In the last chapter, the X-Men left the Institute to search for jobs that would help them earn money for the Institute. Waitress jobs, business  corporations, anything to get some quick cash; but unfortunately, they were not really accepted at any jobs they applied for since the employers did not take lightly to mutants.   When the employers found out that they were mutants, these revelations caused them to run away from the company buildings to get away from the X-Men and it prevented any of the X-Men members to get a proper interview.

 “Man! This isn’t going anywhere! I’ve tried to apply for a job at the social services and the minute the employers learned that I can phase through things, they just put down my application on the table and then jumped out the window,” said Kitty frustrated.

 “Well, at least you had it a little better than I did, Katya.   I have tried to apply for a job at the construction site.   However, when the other workers found out I could change my body into steel, they tried to throw rocks and sticks at me.   However, one of the sticks accidentally bounced off my steel body and hit one of the switches on a tractor that was controlling the wrecking ball.   The wrecking ball ended up hitting the nuclear plant which ended going up in flames,” said Piotr.

 Kitty looked at Piotr with her mouth wide opened and said, “What did you do about it?”

 “Luckily, I ran inside the nuclear plant and managed to save all the workers who were inside.   Then I had to run away because I saw police cars and lawyers coming towards the plant and I did not want to risk getting the Institute sued for whatever crime they were going to put on me,” said Piotr.

 “Good call,” said Kitty relieved.

 “Thank you,” said Piotr smiling.

 “Well, it looks like our chances of obtaining a job is looking slim,” said Hank.

 “Yeah,” everyone agreed, looking glum.

 Suddenly, the X-Men saw a poster on an old building that stated that a figure skating contest is being held at the skating ring. The winner of the figure skating contest will receive five-thousand dollars as an award.  

 “FIVE-THOUSAND FREAKING DOLLARS?!” everyone screamed out.

 “This is awesome! We can get five-thousand dollars for the institute easy!” said Bobby happily.

 “Except for one problem mien Freud.   Does anyone know how to ice skate?” asked Kurt.

 “No!” everyone said shamelessly.

 “Well, it’s either ice skating or wearing pretty little aprons and dresses for some waitressing job in a night club,” said Scott.

 “Ice skating it is!” said Warren.

 “So to prepare for the contest, we got to practice long and hard every day until the day of the contest arrives,” declared Scott.

 “Hard practice for days? Yuck! Now I regret getting excited for this thing,” said Bobby.

 “Nice pep talk, Bub.   But you ain’t got a chance against me on the ring,” said Logan smirking.

 Scott looked at Logan oddly and then smirked himself and said, “Well then Logan, let’s see which one of us can skate the best.”

 “And here we go,” Jean Grey muttered.

 The next day, during the afternoon, the X-Men went to the skating ring to practice some skating moves for the contest.   Near the edge of the skating ring, Logan and Scott were preparing themselves to race against each other on the skating ring by putting on their snow outfits while laughing to themselves.  

 When they finished dressing up, Logan and Scott started walking towards the ring and then they both yelled out, “Let’s go!”

 And as soon as they both put their foot on the ice, they both slipped and fell over backwards on their backs and started moaning uncontrollably.

 “Maybe these two should try to practice standing up on the ice first before they skate,” said Ororo chuckling to herself.  
 
Next chapter: Chapter 3

Title: X-Men Institute #3:Ice Skating Mutants Chapter 1: Money Trouble at the Institute! 

Author: Rabbitearsblog

Universe: X-Men

Rating: K+

Summary:  When Professor Xavier asks the X-Men to earn some money for the Institute, the X-Men decided to enter a skating contest to win the prize. However, hilarity ensures when the X-Men are having trouble practicing their skating moves!

It was a beautiful day at the Xavier Institute (as long as you don’t have your usual mutant-hating crowds hanging out by the doors of the  Institute trying to break in) and all was well with the students and the teachers at the Institute.   Inside the Institute, two X-Men members (or teachers depending on what they are doing at this moment) are walking down the hallway discussing about how their day in teaching classes went.  

“Alright, it’s officially day two of teaching law class and the students hadn’t even asked me about whether or not I was worthy of taking on the “law master” mantel,” said Bobby Drake.

“I’m glad that the students are taking you seriously.   Me and the others on the other hand, we’re not so sure, but we’re starting to believe it,” said Scott Summers smiling.

“Very funny,” Bobby muttered.

“Anyway, the students are starting to see that I’m not so stiff and boring as they originally thought,” said Scott.

“Don’t know about that,” said Bobby to himself.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” said Scott.

Suddenly, a voice rang out through the com system.   “Attention, please! Will all staff members report immediately to Professor Xavier’s office?   This is an urgent matter that must be discussed as soon as possible!”

All of the teachers immediately ran towards Professor Xavier’s office and when they arrived there, they started asking Professor Xavier all kinds of questions.

“Are Sentinels attacking the school?” asked Scott.

“Is Magneto up to his evil plans again?” asked Kurt.

“Is the world coming to an end as we know it?” asked Bobby dramatically.

“What?” Everyone asked looking at Bobby strangely.

“Well, no the Sentinels are not attacking the Institute and Magneto is not up to anything evil at the moment.   And the world is most definitely not coming to an end.   Actually, I have summoned you all here because we seem to be experiencing…financial difficulties for the Institute,” said Professor Xavier.

Everyone looked at each other in a confusing way and then Jean Grey asked, “Financial difficulties?”

“Yes, it appears that during a field trip where I took the students to the Museum of Natural History, one of the students seem to have accidentally destroyed the dinosaur exhibit due to the fact that she had a fear of large reptiles (despite the fact that I was trying to explain to her that the dinosaurs in the exhibit were skeletons and they have been dead for over a million years now).   So after that, I was forced to pay for the damages done to the exhibit, which had cost a vast amount of money,” explained Professor Xavier.

“So why don’t ya get back the funds for the Institute?   I mean, you must be a millionaire or something to get this Institute started up, right?” asked Logan.

“In a way, yes Logan, but even a “millionaire” like I have limits in funding this Institute,” said Professor Xavier.

“So you want us to find a way to provide funding for the Institute?” asked Ororo.

“Why yes Ororo! That is exactly why I have called you all here.   To help this Institute received the funding it needs; you all must find a way to provide more funding for this Institute. I will try to provide as much funds as I can.   However, the funds I provide might not be enough to sustain the Institute, so it would be more helpful if you all find some way to provide more funds for this Institute.   I wish you all good luck!” said Professor Xavier.

As the X-Men left the office, Kitty said, “Umm… is it just me guys or is the Professor just using us to get more money for the school?”

“Well, there have been stranger cases, Katya.   The question however is how we can manage to obtain more money for the Institute?” wondered Piotr.

“Well, my family is rich, so I could help out too,” said Warren.   Suddenly, Warren’s cell phone rang and Warren answered it.

“Hello? Oh, hi father! How is everything with you?   Uh huh…WHAT! What do you mean that the family funds are cut off?   The bank accounts somehow froze up and you have to investigate?  Oh no…well, let me know if things go well with the bank account.   Goodbye father.”

Warren put his cell phone away and said, “Well, this is bad news.   My family’s bank account has somehow frozen up. So now I officially can’t help you guys out with the money.”

“And your family’s bank account somehow froze up at the same time we needed funds for the Institute.   What a strange coincidence,” commented Kurt.

“Indeed. Why do these things happen constantly? It’s like we have an easy way out of a difficult situation and then somehow that simple way gets shattered at the last second.   It’s even worse in the superhero business,” commented Hank.

“Well, I guess as superheroes we should be used to this by now.   Anyway, we’ve been in tougher situations before but we always came out on top.   So, let’s try to get that money and help out the Institute!” said Scott valiantly.

“Great pep speech, Fearless Leader,” said Logan sarcastically.

“Hey, don’t push it Logan,” said Scott.
 

 
Next chapter: Chapter 2