"Interesting choices, Ms. Cooper... But I'd have to go with Sally Blevins, AKA Skids. If she's been accepted to the FBI Academy, she's the cream of the crop. She'll adequately round out the team." Gyrich closed the file folder and put it on the table. He straightened his glass and stared at Val.

"Now, about this leader." Henry also took a drink, but of coffee.

"Yes..." Val paused.

The door to the room opened dramatically and a voice said, "Hi Mr. Gyrich. Robert Drake at your service...."

Henry Gyrich stared at Robert Drake, known to the rest of the world as Iceman, a former member of the mutant group known as the X-Men. "No." He flat out said the word. The tone didn't leave room for arguement.

"Bobby, I asked you to wait outside..." Val sighed. "Could you...?" She gestured to the door.

"OK Val. Sure." He smiled at Gyrich, then winked at Val as he exited the room.

"Absolutely not Ms. Cooper." He got up and stalked over to the door, his back to Val. "He was a member of the X-Men, a group most consider to be outlaws. Not to mention that he's childish, irresponsible, and reckless. If I had my way..."

Val cut him off, "You don't have your way, Mr. Gyrich. Remember, you said this is my show. I call the shots. He will make a great leader to this group. He's creative, adaptable. He's got years of team experience. And the team seems to like him, minus the Vanisher, who is just in a bad mood all the time." She muttered the last part.

Gyrich turned around and faced Val. "It's your neck Ms. Cooper... I just hope I'm not around when this blows up in your face, cause it's gonna be messy." With that, Henry Gyrich left the room, not even bothering to close the door. His angry steps could be heard echoing down the building corridor as he stormed away.

Val stood there in the silence, staring at the open door. "It'll work this time, Henry. This X-Factor will surprise everyone..."

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"Why did I join this team again?" Jamie Madrox sighed.

"I can't speak for you, but I joined for the money and the federal pardon," Rupert Wells, the Vanisher said dryly.

"Very funny, Rupert," Fixx brushed away a strand of black hair from her face. "Can we all try concentrate? This is important. When Drake isn't here, I'm in charge. And I say we need to practice our teamwork."

Allison Crestmere rolled her eyes. "We know your co-leader of this team, Fixx. There's no need to remind us of it every 5 seconds..."

Ignoring her comment, Fixx turned and glared at Magma. "In the heat of battle, there's no room for indecision, Allison. We've got to be prepared..."

"Yeah, yeah... Can we get on with this..." The Vanisher leaned against the wall of X-Factor's new state-of-the-art training facility. The room looked like a gigantic, metal box. There were observational, reinforced windows high above the floor, where government officials could observe the training exercises. The Vanisher didn't care for their presence or for the room itself. He felt like a lab rat being lead through a maze.

Fixx sighed. "OK. Here's the exercise: It's two on two. Madrox and I versus Magma and Vanisher. The primary objective is to neutralize the other team with a minimal amount of force. The secondary objective is to capture the ball, which will be floating around the room. First team to do both will win. Any questions?"

"What do we win?" Madrox grinned. "An all-expense paid trip for 2 in the Carribean?" He snapped his fingers and a duplicate appeared. When no one laughed Madrox (and his dupe) frowned, "Tough crowd, huh?" His dupe answered, "Yep."

"OK. Ready? Action starts when the ball appears... Dr. Parks?" Fix stared up at one of the windows, where a pretty, blonde woman nodded and activated some sort of control. Immediately, a glowing green ball floated out of an opening in the floor.

"Got it!" Both Jamie and his dupe sprinted for the ball.

"And I've got you covered!" Fixx said. In an instant, hundreds of glowing fairies burst from the strange nodule on her forehead. The fairies flew ahead of Madrox and formed a wall between him and the other team.

As Jamie and his dupe reached the ball, the Vanisher suddenly appeared before him, as if he had always been there. "A telekinetic shield can't keep me out..." He reached out for the ball, but it glided out of his grasp, flying higher into the air. As the Vanisher stared at the new situation, Jamie's dupe jumped on top of him, knocking him to the ground. "Keep him there, Jamie," Madrox told his dupe. "Cover his eyes so he can't teleport accurately."

Fixx yelled to her teammate, "Jamie head towards the ball, I'll telekinetically knock it down to you."

"Oh no you won't. Try to do that with a mountain of fire in your face!" Magma concentrated and her form ignited, covered in red, orange, and yellow fire. Her hair flowed upward like wild flame. She gestured towards Fixx. Immediately, the room shuddered and a rumbling could be heard. A metal-tearing sound caused Fixx to gasp. A hump of rock and earth burst from the floor before her. A second later, red-hot lava popped out of the mound, spraying its lethal self into the air. Fixx jumped back, out of the way of the deadly cloud of burning liquid earth. Her fairies faded from existence as her concentration broke.

"Magma, I said MINIMAL amount of force! You almost incinerated me!" Fixx screamed.

"I...I'm sorry Fixx, but... I... can't control..." Magma's face showed her fear and desparation. There was another rumbling sound and another mini-volcano erupted from the floor, near the Vanisher and Jamie's dupe. They rolled out of the way of the lava. The dupe's hand left Vanisher's face, so he teleported to a safe corner of the room.

Jamie felt another tremor beneath his feet. He sprinted away from his position, seconds before the floor tore open, revealing a lava filled pit. "Magma, you've got to stop it! It'll tear this place appart!" he yelled.

"I can't!!" She yelled. She screamed again as another hole opened up beneath her. She fell towards the pit, grabbing the side to keep from falling all the way in.

"Magma! Hold still, I'll grab you telekinetically!" Fixx called. But before she could act upon her plan, another volcano sprouted violently in the corner, near Vanisher. Rock from the explosion hit the Vanisher, knocking him to the ground, seemingly unconscious. A stream of lava rolled down the volcanic hill towards his form.

Madrox tried to run to help Vanisher, but another crevasse opened up, preventing him from getting to his fallen teammate.

I've got to help them, but who should I help first? Fixx thought. Several scenarios flashed through her mind:

1. "Jamie! Help Magma! I'll telekinetically grab Vanisher!" she yelled.
2. I could push my telekinetics to the limit, grabbing everyone and removing us from the room... she thought.
3. I could try to telepathically take control of Magma's powers... she thought.
4. "Magma, pull yourself up! You can do it! Jamie, figure out a way to get across that gap and protect Vanisher. I'll use my telekinetics to shield you all from the lava, heat, and rock!" she shouted.
5. With a focused telepathic blast, I could knock out Magma. That should end this volcanic activity and stop the lava flowing towards Vanisher. Magma's powers should protect her from the lava, if she falls in... Fixx considered.
6. "Dr. Parks! Contact Iceman and get him here pronto! His powers should be able to conteract the lava and heat. I'll protect the others using my telekinesis until he gets here..." she yelled.