Template:Featured Articles/10-2018

Julian Keller/Scion: On his first mission since the loss of his hands, Scion has something of a breakthrough. "Ugh..." Kane shook his head. "We need to kill the power." The clearly dazed Canadian pulled himself to his feet. Shifting the debris that he'd managed to catch, Julian looked up and spotted something that appeared to be a large generator. "On it!" he shouted to Kane, grimacing as he thought about how much this might hurt. Centering himself, gathering all the energy he had remaining, Julian sent a massive burst of telekinetic force upward, targeting the machine. "NO, no no no no NO!" The speakers crackled and broke up the mechanical voice, but enough came through that it was clear - a full on tantrum as the wave of green force began to press against the generator. The metal screamed in protest as it ground against itself, and diesel fuel and oil dripped down on the team. "Over here..." Sooraya called out. "It's a tight fit, but we can crawl under it." She was standing next to a strut that had collapsed, but a triangular space was visible next to it. "Shadowcat, Dominon... come on!!!" He was moving much slower than normal as Kane limped over to the space. Sooraya was right. It was going to be a tight fit. He lay prone and started to wiggle under it. Several times, his uniform tore as he pulled himself through an almost too small space, but his omni-skin protected him from any real damage. "OK, I'm through!" Kitty was having trouble concentrating as every drip startled her and threatened to pull her out of phase. Her body was growing tired of the effort, her powers slipping in and out from sheer exhaustion. As she pushed toward the space, she became tangible and a drop of motor oil splashed down on her nose. Gasping suddenly, she phased, following Kane as swiftly as she could without a look back. Julian stood rooted to the spot, still pushing against the machine which was proving more resistant than he had hoped. His reserves were beginning to drain, even more so when he noted he was one of the last ones out in the open. Knowing it wouldn't be possible to keep the pressure up, and move, he made the decision to stay. Resigned, and embittered by the many failures and losses he'd experienced as part of Kane's team, a sudden though sprang to mind and the lessons of the past came back to him. "Ugh...idiot," he said to himself, realizing he'd still been pushing up with his hands. It had been his first teacher who taught him that the mind follows the body, but it wasn't necessary to use their types of powers. A lesson reinforced by an older Doctor Grey, and Sifu Paris. Drawing on his last ounce of energy, he shouted, "It's about to get very interesting in here!" and opened himself to the lines of force that filled the chamber, trying to feel them the way a blind man might try to find a light switch. Grasping onto what he could, Julian pressed upward against the engine with several more points of pressure, the metal beginning to crumple beneath his efforts. Against the far wall, he found a mostly intact piece of concrete and pulled with all his might, hoping to bring it over himself before the machine blew. The metallic voice howled inarticulate rage through the speakers as his machines failed to crush the mutants. The screech of metal straining against invisible force was deafening. It pulsed with Julian's telekinetic force, screaming as the hydraulic presses in the ceiling fought against the young mutant's power and failed. The plates glowed in places, red-hot dimly visible through the green aura, and sparks flew where the friction was the greatest.